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All the United States Maine Kennebunkport Seashore Trolley Museum

Seashore Trolley Museum

The world's oldest and largest museum of mass transit vehicles.

Kennebunkport, Maine

Added By
Marie von Kampen
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Old Boston trolley car.  
Old Boston trolley car.  
Inside one of the carbarns.  
Trolley ride.  
A steeple cab freight locomotive, used on interurbans that hauled freight as well as passengers.  
  secretsofmanhattan / Atlas Obscura User
View from the trolley ride.  
Old signal box   davym195 / Atlas Obscura User
  secretsofmanhattan / Atlas Obscura User
A very rare type of open air trolley.  
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About

Here you can see and board trains of different eras from around the U.S.A. and many other countries.

Founded in 1939, the Seashore Trolley Museum is the largest electric railway museum in the world. It was conceived when a group of rail enthusiasts, led by Theodore Santatrelli, noticed a growing trend of railroads and trolley companies purchasing motor buses. The buses, which were finally becoming a viable and economical alternative, were slowly but surely replacing the trolleys that the rail-fans loved. They, along with another group of enthusiasts, began to purchase the trolleys for posterity, storing them on plots of land outside of the city. Just before WWII the two groups merged into one and created a museum.

During the war, the museum was put on hold as many of the members were serving in the military. Ironically, while they were overseas, rubber and gas rationing led to increased trolley services and a brief revival of the vehicle they so admired. Once the rationing ended there was another surge in trolley retirement and the museum was off and running again, this time with a whole new slew of exhibits to choose from.

The Seashore Trolley Museum lets you roam and explore at your own pace. The collection exceeds 260 vehicles from all over the world including the U.S., Canada, Australia, Germany, Japan, England, Hungary, Italy, and Scotland. You can view the restoration process of a streetcar from the observation gallery in the restoration shop or ride a streetcar out along a rebuilt portion of the Atlantic Shore Line Railway. The museum continues to collect new vehicles and has, ironically, acquired the bus that originally began the trend that put trolleys out of business, the Biddeford and Saco #31, itself now obsolete.

Related Tags

Museums And Collections Retro Tech Amazing Automata

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http://www.trolleymuseum.org/visit/directions.php

Community Contributors

Added By

mmvk

Edited By

Martin, davym195, secretsofmanhattan, lwillsdudich

  • Martin
  • davym195
  • secretsofmanhattan
  • lwillsdudich

Published

July 27, 2012

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  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seashore_Trolley_Museum
  • http://www.nycsubway.org/wiki/Seashore_Trolley_Museum
Seashore Trolley Museum
195 Log Cabin Road
Kennebunkport, Maine, 04046
United States
43.40699, -70.489639
Visit Website
Get Directions

Nearby Places

The Wedding Cake House

Kennebunk, Maine

miles away

Palace Diner

Biddeford, Maine

miles away

One Blue Sky Mural

Biddeford, Maine

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Maine

Maine

United States

Places 129
Stories 23

Nearby Places

The Wedding Cake House

Kennebunk, Maine

miles away

Palace Diner

Biddeford, Maine

miles away

One Blue Sky Mural

Biddeford, Maine

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Maine

Maine

United States

Places 129
Stories 23

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