People can still trolley to Washington County Fair
By Christine Haines Herald-Standard
WASHINGTON – Taking the trolley to the county fair was a regular occurrence in the years that followed the turn of the 20th century, and in Washington County, it is once again a trip fair-goers can enjoy.
The Pennsylvania Trolley Museum this year is operating a Park and Ride service from the Cooper Crouse-Hinds parking lot (the former RCA lot) in Meadow Lands to the Washington County Fairground every night this week from 5 p.m. until midnight.
“It’s a big lot. It can hold 400 cars. It’s paved and well-lit,” said Scott Becker, the executive director of the Trolley Museum. “We’re also selling fair tickets. You can get off the trolley and already have your ticket and not have to wait in line. We think that’s going to be a plus on busy days.”
More than 10,000 people are expected at the Washington County Fair on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday, traditionally the three busiest days at the fair, up from the regular daily attendance of 6,000 to 7,000.
The new trolley route, which adds more than a mile of track to the previous lines, is something the museum has wanted to do for years.
“It started about 20 years ago. It’s been a lifelong dream of the founders of the museum to extend the line back toward Pittsburgh,” Becker said. “We opened the line for service to the public July 1 of this year.”
The line extension wouldn’t have been possible without the donations of poles, lines, switches and other equipment from numerous area businesses, including Koppers, and the Port Authority of Pittsburgh.
“We’ve been getting a lot of support from the community. We basically built from scratch a brand new 1920s track. The Port Authority of Pittsburgh was one of the biggest contributors. They are rebuilding the Overbrook line. They donated all the used signals and other equipment,” Becker said.
The museum also relies heavily on volunteers. One Uniontown woman, Lynn Keller, first went to the museum for the Santa Trolley with her children. As her sons grew, they got involved with the museum through service projects with Boy Scouts, and she started volunteering as well.
“One year they asked me if I wanted to join the spring operator’s class,” Keller said. My kids got their Eagle Scout awards and moved on and I’m still here.”
Keller is now one of the motormen for the trolleys. Monday she drove the streetcar named Desire, which once ran on the streets of New Orleans, down to the new parking area and over to the fairgrounds.
Sarah Wells, a California University of Pennsylvania student from Pittsburgh, was among those on the ride. Wells is the granddaughter of one of the founders of the trolley museum and intends to be at the museum all week to help with the crowds from the fair. The museum volunteers logged more than 27,000 hours of time last year, the equivalent of 13 full-time employees.
“The whole concept is we are interpreting and preserving Pennsylvania’s trolley heritage,” Becker said.
Ed Lybarger, an archivist with the museum, said it is fitting that the museum has trolleys from around the country, since many of them have Pennsylvania roots.
“A lot of streetcars were made in Pennsylvania,” Lybarger said. “Pennsylvania had a vested interest in the trolley industry. Both Westinghouse and General Electric had facilities in Pennsylvania that serviced the industry, and the biggest builder of streetcars was in Philadelphia.
“Pennsylvania also had more streetcars than any other state. There wasn’t any town over 5,000 that wasn’t served by a trolley line,” Lybarger said.
Ironically, last Friday marked the 50th anniversary of the last trolley run in Brownsville Borough, Lybarger said.
Trolley rides are still available daily at the trolley museum, not just during the county fair week. There is a special reduced admission to the museum during the fair, however. The $2 admission includes trolley rides, exhibits and a gift shop that is open daily from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. tours are also available of the museums carbarn and restoration shop.
Shuttle rides to the main gate of the fairgrounds are $2. Admission to the fair is $8, with a discounted price of $6 before 4 p.m. Fair admission includes all exhibits and amusement rides on the midway.
Tuesday’s events at the fair include rabbit, poultry and cattle judging in the morning, harness racing at noon, the open feeder calf show at 2 p.m., the Mon Valley Cloggers in the show tent at 3 p.m. and the market steer show at 6 p.m. The evening entertainment in the grand stand area will be the Pro Stock Smokers – Diesel Pickups at 7 p.m. and the Poverty Neck Hillbillies country band in the show tent at 8 p.m.
Wednesday’s events include the showing of draft horses, light horses, dairy clipping, goats and lambs, as well as Senior High Band Night and the School Bus Demolition Derby in the grand stand area in the evening.