UPCOMING EVENTS AT
THE TROLLEY MUSEUM
“Kim is a real pro who we met through
her son, Brett, also a volunteer at the
museum,” says Wells. “It’s really helpful
she’s doing the brushwork.”
For authenticity, Freithaler and other
volunteers use old photos of trolleys to
guide them in the restorations. All the
letters, numbers and other graphics are
from printouts that were traced from
original trolleys. Everything is done by
hand—from creating and cutting out
stencils to lining up the stencils on the
trolley and brushing on the paint.
An appreciation for the artists who
did the original painting on the trolleys
has come from this experience. “It was
a separate art done by sign painters,”
Freithaler explains. “There was none of
this computerized stuff. They were guys
with steady hands and brushes and paint,
Kim Freithaler
and they could letter things that looked
pretty darn good.”
Restoring trolleys for the public
to experience at the museum helps
demonstrate the impact trolleys had on
Pittsburgh’s growth starting in the early
20th century. “The trolley era was the
transition from the horse and buggy era,”
says Scott Becker, executive director of
the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum. “You
have to put yourself back to the time
when the trolley lines were built—such as
the Harmony Line in 1908.”
The Harmony route operated from
Pittsburgh to terminals in Butler and New
Castle. Along the way, this line passed
through Bradford Woods, Marshall,
McCandless and more.
“In those days, most of the roads
were dirt, especially outside the city of
Pittsburgh, “ notes Becker. “So in the
winter, after the snow melted, the roads
were muddy. It was hard for people to get
around with horses going four miles per
hour—that’s a pretty slow slog. Then, all
of the sudden, you had an electric trolley
that could go 50 miles per hour and carry
passengers, crops and livestock.”
Getting out and making a difference in
the community is important to Freithaler:
“Volunteering for organizations, whether
it’s at the Trolley Museum or the Art
Center, makes us a stronger community
because we’re helping to preserve that
sense of history of where we’ve been,
where we’re going and how we can
enhance it.” ■
Daniel Tiger’s Weekend
May 11-13 and 18-20
(Friday, May 11, and Friday,
May 18, will be discount days.)
Western Pennsylvania
Trolley Meet
June 1 & 2
Trolley Fair
June 23 & 24
Regular 2018 Visitation
Schedule:
April through May, and
September through mid-
December
Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to
4 p.m. (last tour at 3 p.m.)
Summer Hours:
June through August
Tuesday through Sunday, 10 a.m.
to 4 p.m. (last tour at 3 p.m.)
The museum is closed on
Mondays, except for Memorial
Day, August 13, and Labor Day.
» For more information on volunteering and other details, visit pa-trolley.org.
NORTH ALLEGHENY
❘
SPRING 2018
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