All Aboard For The Trolley Museum 'Train-ing' Course

EAST HAVEN, CT — You can't be Sir Topham Hatt, that job is already taken, but you could be Ms. or Mr. Conductor.

After a few Saturdays of learning, and a brief time as an apprentice, you can too can operate a trolley at the popular museum in East Haven.

The Shore Line Trolley Museum is offering its annual Trolley Operator Training course beginning Saturday, Feb. 29. The course to become qualified as a volunteer trolley operator at the museum is held on five consecutive Saturdays: Feb. 29, March 7th, 14th, 2nd, and 28th. No previous experience is required.

The course will cover the mechanical aspects of trolley car operation, railway rules and safety, history, and visitor interaction.

You must be 18 years old by the conclusion of the course and you must hold a valid motor vehicle operator's license, from any U.S. state.

The fee for the class is $75 for members and $115 for non-members which includes your first year's membership. The fee covers all the course training materials including rule book and instructional handouts.

Upon successful completion of the course, graduates get a hat badge engraved with membership pass number, two shoulder patches, and a uniform name plate. There's an apprenticeship period before one is "fully qualified to operate solo."

Class size is limited to provide a quality instructional experience. During the past few years, the class has sold out so it's encouraged people respond quickly.

Contact the museum office or mail training fee check directly to the museum, marked to the attention of 2020 Operator Training Class. For more information, call (203) 467-6927 or email info@shorelinetrolley.org

And if the class isn't for you but would like to be involved, volunteers are always needed.

"We always need volunteers and people don’t realize that we offer more volunteer opportunities than just running trolley cars," said John J Proto, CEO and Executive Director of the Branford Electric Railway Association/Shore Line Trolley Museum.

The Shore Line Trolley Museum was incorporated as the Branford Electric Railway Association in 1945. The Museum is home to the last 1 ½ miles of track that was part of the Connecticut Company New Haven Trolley system.

The line opened in 1900 extending the New Haven line from the East Haven Green to the village of Short Beach and to resort areas along the coast line. The last passenger service trolley left Short Beach bound for New Haven in the early hours of March 8, 1947 and marked the end of trolley service in East Haven.

One year later, trolley service ended in New Haven.

The Museum’s trolley line was recognized as historically significant and was added to the National Registry of Historic Places in 1983. Today, the Museum hosts approximately 24,000 visitors annually and is a key educational component for local students understanding as to how suburbs formed and how the trolley system is coming back as an efficient form of transportation. The Museum also partners with Gateway Community College for practical studies in the school’s Railway Technology Program.

The Museum is also home to many local traditions such as annual visits with the Easter Bunny, Fall Festival and Pumpkin Patch, Super Heroes Day and visits with Santa. On over 77 acres, one of a kind artifacts exists such as the oldest horse drawn streetcar, a cable car surviving the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, one of the two surviving PATH subway cars surviving the 9-11 attacks, over 70,000 photos and over 300 rail journals dating back to the 1860’s.