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Museum Celebrates Centennial
The Shore Line Trolley Museum celebrated the centennial of
its historic Branford Electric Railway on Saturday July 29th 2000.
Dana Bowers, a local member for more than 30 years, was the Master
of Ceremonies, which began in front of the Sprague building in the
early afternoon with the unveiling of the Trolley Towns Connecticut
web site. G. Ernest Anderson, a 25+ year member from Madison CT, and
Director of Educational Outreach, addressed the crowd. He thanked the
Southern New England Tele-communications Company (SNET) and the Connecticut
League of History Organizations who provided grant funding for the project.
The funds were used to award scholarships to a pair of students from
East Haven High School: Mark Bendel and Sean O'Brien. Ernie thanked
both students and their teacher, Jim Schroeder, and presented complimentary
memberships.
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| Branford First Selectman Unk DaRos {left-center} and East Haven Mayor Joe Maturo {right-center} jointly cut the ribbon opening the new Connecticut Trolleys exhibit, with {l-r} John Koella, Bill Horne and Jane Bouley assisting -- Ken Rosen photo |
The project was
executed collaboratively with the Connecticut Trolley Museum of
East Windsor. Troy Sulser, Executive Director of CTM, spoke about
the importance of local heritage and of inter-museum cooperation.
Jeff Hakner, technical coordinator of the project for Shore Line, talked
of the growing potency of the Internet as a means of promoting
educational outreach.
Museum members, dignitaries and guests then boarded one of two Connecticut
Company trolley cars in front of Sprague station: car 775, built in 1904, and
car 1911, built in 1919, both of which saw many years in passenger service
on the Branford line. Branford's First Selectman Unk DaRos was invited
to operate 1911, while his East Haven counterpart, Mayor Joe Maturo, took
the controls of 775. George Papuga and George Boucher were the pilots.
The two-car move operated over the 100 year-old line to Short Beach,
recreating (save a few hundred feet), that first trip on July 31, 1900,
then returned to the carbarn area.
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| East Haven Mayor Joe Maturo {right} is guided by George Boucher in operating Connecticut Company car 775 |
From the platform of Lynchburg VA open car 34, the first car to be owned
by the museum, various people addressed the large crowd. John Koella,
one of the founding members of the museum, recalled its nascent days
and the struggles of its volunteers to preserve the Branford Electric
Railway, to collect and restore cars from many cities, and
to establish a functioning museum out of the meadow grass. He spoke of
the museum's three key assets: its superb collection, its scenic line
with much local flora and fauna, and its dedicated members. He thanked
the many donors over the years who have made the museum grow, in particular
the Sprague family which funded the construction of the museum's Sprague
Visitor's Center in 1957.
Museum Vice-President Bill Young, another 40+ year member, set the mood
of a century ago by telling the crowd the news events, songs and prices
of the day. He explained how the trolley allowed, for the first time,
the common person to live beyond walking distance from work, and how
that boomed communities such as East Haven and Branford into suburban towns.
Bill Horne of the Branford Land Trust recognized the museum's involvement in
the mid-1990s in preserving adjacent Beacon Hill, which is now a protected
wildlife area, and pointed out the many interesting nature experiences
to be had along the trolley line.
Jane Bouley, Branford town historian, likened the museum's collection
of trolley cars to antique treasures that can connect future generations
to the experience of daily living of a bygone era. She mentioned that
her own parents courted on the Branford trolley.
East Haven Mayor Maturo and Branford First Selectman DaRos both addressed
the crowd and stressed the importance of volunteerism and community
involvement, recognizing the strong volunteer spirit at the museum.
Both town officials expressed their appreciation of the museum as
a major asset of their community.
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| Branford First Selectman Unk DaRos addresses the crowd from the platform of Lynchburg open car 34 -- Ken Rosen photo |
Each town was presented with ceremonial posters --
``Trolleys in Branford'' and ``East Haven Trolleys'' -- in appreciation
of the support they have given to the museum.
Then both town officials jointly cut the ribbon at the doorway to the
museum's first barn, the Quonset hut, and unveiled a new barn-wide
exhibit, ``The Connecticut Trolley''.
The exhibit replaces the usual cars on display
in Barn 1 with a special Connecticut-oriented selection. Entering
the building, the visitor sees the world's oldest commercially-operated
electric locomotive, the ``Derby'', built in 1888. Open car 401,
of 1906 vintage, and Birney car 2350, built in 1922, illustrate two
extremes of passenger-carrying capacity. The opulent Connecticut Company
Parlor Car 500, built in 1904, is on display along with ConnCo 1802,
built in 1915. The latter car is undergoing restoration, and the interior
has been used as a gallery. Photographs are mounted in the windows
down the length of the car, and along the outside of the car below the
windows.
The interior of the barn has been decorated with flags and bunting, while
the corrugated metal walls have been hidden from view with a clever
imitation of construction site planking, pasted to which are reproductions
of historical advertising posters. There are two video screens in the barn
running continuous videos of ConnCo trolleys.
The museum extends its thanks to all the members and friends of the
museum who helped to make the day a success.
