The Shore Line Trolley Museum is a trolley museum located in East Haven, Connecticut. Incorporated in 1945, it is the oldest continuously operating trolley museum in the United States.
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When I was a kid, my mother took me here from time to time. Since then, there have been some upgrades and restored trolleys and subway cars. Today I was a 'guest operator' and was taught and allowed to drive one! WOW. Worth the money, as far as I'm concerned... It was super fun, AND how often do you get to operate a piece of history?! The volunteers are super nice and really opened up to me and my girlfriend even more the more interest I showed. Big shout-out to Ethan! You really made the day special!
Tangentially to my operator experience, I attended on a day where they opened up an exhibit put together by volunteers that let visitors on a subway car that was part of a subway train partially crushed during the attack on the WTC on 9/11. It was a surreal surprise to set foot on that car and such a welcome surprise to find it here. For this, shout-out to "Subway Al," who was kind and generous with his stories, experiences, and personal property that he added to the museum to enhance the exhibit.
Overall, I got a very serious sense of a community of volunteers who work together to make this a really special place. All those who have contributed over the years have polished up what was...
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This was our fourth year visiting the trolley museum. It is one of our summer stops that we look most forward too. Our children love to explore the trolley yard and ride the trolley.
We were very disappointed this year with our experience. Our “tour guide” stuck to a strict schedule that we feel he created and took us on a quick tour of the trolley yard, explained them quickly and then corralled everyone back on the trolley.
Previous years we were able to walk around freely, ask questions, sit in the subway car from the World Trade Center and explore the inside of other trolleys, learn about the tool used to fix them, where they used to travel to and from and other fun and interesting facts of history. This year we experience none of that. Our children were devastated and family members who were with us visiting for the first time have no desire to go back.
Just wasn’t the same fun experience we have always had. Hopefully next year we will have a...
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This is truly a wonderful museum and experience, especially for families. My three little ones were entranced by their ride through the Farm River Estuary, and the trolley car we rode was windowless, which meant we enjoyed a lovely breeze on a sweltering day. We viewed the nesting ospreys in the near distance, and millions of crabs could be seen under our track scuttling away from the shore. Our conductor, Ethan, was very knowledgeable and welcoming; his tour of the shed area with preserved trolleys was just great. The museum holds fascinating exhibits and information for both children and adults.
In short, this is a local gem that really celebrates the wonderful history of trolleys, not just in Connecticut, but all over the country. One ticket enables you to ride all day if you wish, and the prices in the museum shop were very fair and not gauged at all.
Again, this is worth the visit, and we look forward to going in other...
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