Forgotten Americana at the Windber Trolley Graveyard (part 2)

[image error]One of western Pennsylvania’s oddest attractions is the trolley graveyard in Windber. On a 20-acre piece of private property, you can find dozens of forgotten and weatherbeaten trolleys. Some sit on track they never ran on. Others lay on their sides as if they were forgotten toys.

One of the streetcars at the graveyard that has been kept indoors is a 1925 streetcar that ran on the Johnstown Traction Company Trolley System. It is a double-end car that didn’t need to be turned around. When the car reached the end of the line, the motorman simply walked to the opposite end to run the streetcar in a new direction.

“At the end of the line when they wanted to go back the other way, they just take the seatbacks and flip them, so they’re the other way,” said Ed Metka, president of the Vintage Electric Streetcar Company and owner of the graveyard.

The Johnstown Area Heritage Association acquired the trolley from the Fox River Trolley Museum in South Elgin, Ill., and is working towards restoring it so that it might be used once again in Johnstown. Other cities that have done similar things have found that it spurs economic development.

“When they bring a streetcar line back in, it spurs private development along a core within two blocks of the line,” Ed said.

It will be an expensive undertaking, though. Ed points out that one Johnstown Traction Company trolley car was restored to like-new condition, but it cost around $300,000.

“But it looks like brand new, and it’s running at the trolley museum in Orbisonia [the Rockhill Trolley Museum],” he said.

Streetcars are a significant part of Johnstown’s heritage.

“Johnstown was one of the important centers for the development of street railway systems,” said Richard Burkert, president of the JAHA. “Not just for layouts but for a time owned the rights to the electric motors.”

The Johnstown Passenger Railway began operation in Johnstown in 1883 with horse-drawn trolleys. After a serious accident in 1910, the Johnstown Traction Company leased the cars and rail lines to run the trolley system until its closure. At its peak, the Johnstown trolley system had more than 35 miles of track and 100 streetcars.

The city was also one of the last cities to stop using trolley transportation. The final trolley ran in Johnstown on June 11, 1960, and now there is a chance that one might serve as an economic development catalyst carrying tourists around to the city’s different attractions.

Five trolley cars that Ed bought from Toronto are now used in Kenosha, Wis. They run on a two-mile loop that connects tourist attractions with the bus hub and commuter rail system.

[image error]If you want to visit

Over the years, interest in the Windber Trolley Graveyard has grown as more and more people hear about it. They come to Windber to hear about the graveyard’s history and take pictures. However, you can’t just walk onto the private property. Two years ago, Ed started allowing scheduled group tours of the graveyard and has been surprised to find visitors coming from all over the eastern United States.

If you are interested in visiting the Windber Trolley Graveyard yourself, you can sign up to join one of the periodic tours that run by e-mailing the Vintage Electric Streetcar Company at vesco@aol.com.

You might also enjoy these posts:

Forgotten Americana at the Windber Trolley Graveyard (part 1)
Chambersburg’s (Pa.) trolley days
The final trip of Maryland’s last interurban trolley