PA Museums

PA’s Best Trolley Museums | A Visitor’s Guide

Collage of four photos featuring vintage electric streetcars at Pennsylvania trolley museums, including restored trolleys outside a brick museum building, a conductor operating a trolley through a wooded rail line, a bright yellow Steelers-themed trolley at a station platform, and a red historic trolley labeled Scranton on display with a museum staff member nearby.

While you may have never stopped to consider the importance of trolleys in the growth of Pennsylvania, they quietly played a crucial role at a pivotal moment—before the automobile reshaped how the nation moved.

Historic photograph of an early electric streetcar in Pennsylvania with two uniformed trolley operators standing in front, showing the enclosed wooden trolley car, route sign reading Front & Arch Sts, and a fenced street scene in the background.

By providing an inexpensive and reliable form of mass transit, electric rail service helped drive industrial expansion and made suburban life possible across the Keystone State.

Black-and-white photograph of a vintage electric streetcar stopped on a Pennsylvania city street, showing its enclosed passenger cabin, overhead trolley pole, steel wheels on tracks, and surrounding early 20th-century buildings.

We are fortunate that Pennsylvania is home to three exceptional trolley museums:

The Pennsylvania Trolly Museum in Washington County
The Rockhill Trolley Museum in Huntingdon County
The Electric City Trolley Museum in Lackawanna County

Together, these three museums preserve the story of how streetcars and interurbans once shaped everyday travel and community life across the Keystone State.

Vintage PCC streetcar painted in white with gold and black stripes on display inside the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum in Washington County, Pennsylvania, featuring a 47D Drake Shuttle route sign and surrounded by other historic trolleys.

Why Trolleys Mattered

Trolleys and railroads served different niches, with trolleys handling short, frequent trips while steam railroads focused on longer hauls.

Historic street scene showing a vintage electric trolley traveling down a downtown Pennsylvania street past the Roxian Theatre marquee, with brick storefronts, overhead trolley wires, and additional streetcars and automobiles visible in the background.

During the golden age of trolleys in the early 1900s, electric streetcars ran often and cheaply, making mobility accessible to workers and shoppers alike.

Black-and-white photograph of a vintage electric streetcar stopped along a wooded Pennsylvania trolley line, with overhead power wires, a uniformed conductor standing beside the front entrance, and the route number displayed on the trolley’s front sign.

Interurban lines blended street-running operation in towns with faster, private rights-of-way in the countryside.

Historic color photograph of a vintage electric streetcar traveling down a Pittsburgh street with parked 1950s-era automobiles on both sides and the towering Cathedral of Learning rising in the background.

Their importance lay in connecting small communities, moving mail and light freight, and encouraging suburban growth.

Color photograph of a vintage Philadelphia streetcar stopped on a city street, showing a transit worker standing at the front of the trolley, overhead electric wires, and storefronts and historic buildings lining the route in the background.

Ultimately, automobiles, buses, and road-building shifted public investment away from rails and led to widespread trolley abandonment.

One of three parallel tracks of old trolley cars located on the grounds of the Vintage Electric Streetcar Company, more commonly known as the Windber Trolley Graveyard. — A scene from the now-defunct Windber Trolley Graveyard in Somerset County, PA.

PA’s Best Trolley Museums

The Pennsylvania Trolley Museum in Washington County introduces visitors to a collection of over 50 restored streetcars from across the region.

Collage of four images from the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum in Washington County, Pennsylvania, showing vintage trolleys inside the Trolley Display Building, a Steelers-themed trolley at the boarding platform, a motorman operating a trolley during an excursion, and the entrance to the museum’s Trolley Display Building.

Exhibits explain how trolley companies powered cities and tied them to surrounding towns.

Exhibit panels at the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum in Washington County, Pennsylvania, featuring historical photos, text, and a video display that explain the role of trolleys in moving people and goods during the height of the trolley era.

A 4 mile round-trip ride on the operating line demonstrates the smooth, quiet feel of electric traction.

Motorman operating a vintage trolley at the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum in Washington County, Pennsylvania, with a view through the front windows of the trolley tracks stretching into the distance on a sunny day.

Interpretive displays place these cars within the broader story of American transit.

Exhibit area inside the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum in Washington County, Pennsylvania, featuring colorful displays about trolley history, vintage transit signs mounted on the wall, and interactive educational panels for visitors.

The Rockhill Trolley Museum in Huntingdon County operates along a scenic former right-of-way that runs through Blacklog Valley.

Scenes from the Rockhill Trolley Museum in Huntingdon County, PA.

Here, historic cars run a 3 mile round-trip through wooded countryside rather than city streets.

View from the operator's compartment inside a vintage trolley at the Rockhill Trolley Museum in Huntingdon County, PA, during the Santa's Trolley excursion. The controls of the trolley, including levers and gauges, are in the foreground, with a small festive snowman decoration. Through the front window, the trolley tracks extend straight ahead, flanked by bare winter trees and decorated with a string of colorful Christmas lights. A sign reading 'Blacklog Narrows' is visible to the left, adding to the historical charm of the scene.

The setting highlights how interurbans once carried passengers between rural communities and nearby markets.

Trolley 163 at the Rockhill Trolley Museum originally operated in York, PA.

Its working equipment shows the mechanical side of early electric railroading.

nside a vintage trolley at the Rockhill Trolley Museum in Huntingdon County, PA, two trolley operators in uniforms are standing at the controls, looking out the front windows, presumably driving the trolley. The interior is warmly decorated with festive holiday signs and a snowman figure, bringing a cozy Christmas spirit to the ride. The wooden benches and interior details highlight the trolley's historic character.

The Electric City Trolley Museum in Lackawanna County focuses on the role of trolleys in an industrial city shaped by coal and commerce.

A collage of photos capturing the history and charm of the Electric City Trolley Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Visitors can explore cars that once moved workers through Scranton’s neighborhoods.

Interior view of the Electric City Trolley Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania, showcasing a front view of a red and cream historic trolley car number 651, with another vintage trolley in the background.

Interpretive panels trace how transit supported urban growth during the trolley era.

A sign at the Electric City Trolley Museum in Scranton, PA, explaining the history of the Anthracite interurban railways in northeastern Pennsylvania in the early 1900s.

The museum operates seasonal excursions along a 5.5-mile route that passes through the Crown Avenue Tunnel, one of the longest interurban tunnels ever built.

A view looking down the illuminated Laurel Line tunnel on the Electric City Trolley Museum’s 5.5 mile excursion in Lackawanna County, with blurred reflections creating a glowing, dreamlike effect around the tracks and tunnel walls.

Final Thoughts

A visit to Pennsylvania’s three trolley museums highlights how different, dynamic, and vital trolley service was across the Keystone State.

Together, they offer a living reminder of an era when electric rail defined everyday travel, before automobiles rewrote the rules of the road.

Inside look at a trolley car in the Rockhill Trolley Museum collection.

PA’s Top Railroad-Themed Attractions | A Visitors Guide explores Pennsylvania’s rich railroading past and highlights the many railroad-themed attractions that continue to captivate today’s railfans.

A collage showing 4 of the best railroad-themed attractions in Pennsylvania, including the East Broad Top Railroad, the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, The Lehigh Gorge Scenic Railway, and the Horseshoe Curve.

Discover more than 1000 exceptional destinations worth exploring all across Pennsylvania with the interactive PA Bucket List Travel Map!

Did you enjoy this article?

If so, be sure to like and follow PA Bucket List on Facebook, Instagram, and/or Pinterest to learn more about the best things to see and do in Pennsylvania!

Click on any of the icons below to connect with PA Bucket List on social media.