Peer Behind the Locked Gates of the Windber Trolley Graveyard

Some of the more colorful graffiti towards the back of the property at the Windber Trolley Graveyard.
Some of the more colorful graffiti towards the back of the property at the Windber Trolley Graveyard.

Important Note: As of November 2023, the Windber Trolley Graveyard is no more! All the cars have either been sold to museums, trolley car collectors, or scrapped. This article will remain up in tribute to what was an amazing abandoned attraction in Pennsylvania.

If you’re looking for information about the Windber Trolley Graveyard, you’re in the right place!

One of the old trolleys awaiting possible restoration at the Windber Trolley Graveyard.
One of the old trolleys awaiting possible restoration at the Windber Trolley Graveyard.

The Windber Trolley Graveyard was a privately-owned collection of more than 50 trolley cars, train cars, and busses, housed on the grounds of a former coal company rail car shop.

A map showing the location of the Windber Trolley Graveyard in Windber, Pennsylvania.
A map showing the location of the Windber Trolley Graveyard at the dead end (perhaps fittingly) of 19th Street in Windber, Pennsylvania.

But as reported by multiple media outlets, including railfan.com, the Windber Trolley Graveyard was sold to a scrapping company in early 2023, meaning this destination especially popular with “urban explorers” will soon cease to exist!

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.
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.

The scrapping company has reportedly agreed to hold off dismantling the cars until the end of 2023, to provide museums and collectors one last chance to purchase parts or entire cars from the eclectic collection.

A little piece of Philadelphia at the Windber Trolley Graveyard as this vintage SEPTA car rusts away on the tracks.
A little piece of Philadelphia history at the Windber Trolley Graveyard.

Known officially as the Vintage Electric Streetcar Company, the company was owned by Ed Metka, a gentleman with a passion for collecting old streetcars, with hopes of restoring and preserving them.

A look inside the former Berwind Coal Company Railroad Shop, now part of the Vintage Electric Streetcar Company.
A look inside the former Berwind Coal Company Railroad Shop, now part of the Vintage Electric Streetcar Company.

He began storing his collection of vintage trolleys at this former site of the Berwind Coal Company Railroad Shop in 1992, and amassed a collection of nearly 50 trolley cars in various states of repair.

A retired SEPTA trolley sits inside the Vintage Electric Streetcar Company repair shop.
A retired SEPTA trolley sits inside the Vintage Electric Streetcar Company repair shop.

Unfortunately, time, the elements, finances, and vandalism appear to have conspired to prevent the restoration of most of the trolley cars in the collection.

Nature and the elements have reduced many of the vintage streetcars at the Windber Trolley Graveyard to skeletons of their former selves.
Nature and the elements have reduced many of the vintage streetcars at the Windber Trolley Graveyard to skeletons of their former selves.

Hopefully some of the more well-preserved cars stored indoors will be purchased by individuals or museums with the money and expertise needed to restore them.

This trolley once carried passengers to Boston College, but now sits inside the repair shop at the Windber Trolley Graveyard.
This trolley once carried passengers to Boston College, but now sits inside the repair shop at the Windber Trolley Graveyard.

But for most of the trolley cars in the collection, photos will be all that remains of them after 2023.

The parallel train tracks where many of the vintage trolley cars sit rusting away in Windber, Pennsylvania.
The parallel train tracks where many of the vintage trolley cars sit rusting away in Windber, Pennsylvania.

For the sake of posterity and as a tribute to Ed Metka’s vision, I’ll leave this article and photo gallery intact on my website.

Some of the most antiquated streetcars at the Windber Trolley Graveyard sit protected from the elements inside the former Berwind Coal Company Railroad Shop.
Some of the most antiquated streetcars at the Windber Trolley Graveyard sit protected from the elements inside the former Berwind Coal Company Railroad Shop.

All the photos were taken during a personal tour of the property with Mr. Metka several years ago, and I’m grateful I had the chance to experience his passion for history with him.

A look inside one of the more restored streetcars at the Vintage Electric Streetcar Company in Windber, PA - AKA the Abandoned Trolley Graveyard.
A look inside one of the more restored streetcars at the Vintage Electric Streetcar Company in Windber, Pennsylvania

Touring the Windber Trolley Graveyard

Some of the oldest and potentially most valuable trolley cars were stored inside the repair shop, protected from the elements.

This once-bustling rail car shop now sits silent at the Windber Trolley Graveyard.
This once-bustling rail car shop now sits silent at the Windber Trolley Graveyard.

The majority of the trolley cars belonging to the Vintage Electric Streetcar Company were housed on 3 parallel lines of railroad track (nearly a mile in total length) that ran east from the back of the repair shop.

Nature is slowly reclaiming the tracks and streetcars at the Windber Trolley Graveyard.
Nature is slowly reclaiming the tracks and streetcars at the Windber Trolley Graveyard.

Walking through the cars was the easiest way to navigate the property, on account of the high grass and weeds.

Touring the streetcars at the WIndber Trolley Graveyard is trip back through time.
Touring the streetcars at the Windber Trolley Graveyard is a trip back through time.

Once you got towards the back of the property, things opened up a bit and you could wander around on the outside of the cars more easily.

Urban explorers and fans of post-apocalyptic movies will feel right at home at the Windber Trolley Graveyard.
Vandalism was rampant for decades at the Windber Trolley Graveyard.

Being a fan of sci-fi and post-apocalyptic movies, I found the entire setting and experience fascinating.

One of the trolleys located near the front of the Windber Trolley Graveyard property.
One of the trolleys located near the front of the Windber Trolley Graveyard property.

And while the owner of the property certainly didn’t intend for it to become a graveyard, it seems most of the trolley cars here will indeed meet the scrapper’s torch in 2024.

An instrument cluster on a long-defunct streetcar at the Abandoned Trolley Graveyard in Windber, Pennsylvania.
An instrument cluster on a long-defunct streetcar at the Abandoned Trolley Graveyard in Windber, Pennsylvania.

For those who wish to make serious inquiries into obtaining entire cars or parts before that happens, the contact person is Bill Pollman at (617) 828-7309.

This forlorn-looking trolleybus sits near the front of the property at the Windber Trolley Graveyard.
This forlorn-looking bus sits near the front of the property at the Windber Trolley Graveyard.

If abandoned transportation history is your thing, then you ABSOLUTELY MUST check out the Abandoned Pennsylvania Turnpike located in neighboring Bedford County.

The Abandoned PA Turnpike Pike 2 Bike Trail
The western portal of Rays Hill Tunnel on the abandoned Pennsylvania Turnpike.

This 13 mile stretch of abandoned superhighway features two unlit but intact tunnels, each around a mile long!

A photographer illuminated by a spotlight inside the Sideling Hill Tunnel.
A photographer illuminated by a spotlight inside the Sideling Hill Tunnel.

The Abandoned PA Turnpike can be legally accessed for recreational purposes 365 days a year!

A group of hikers entering the Sideling Hill Tunnel.
A group of hikers entering the Sideling Hill Tunnel.

Concrete City in Luzerne County is an abandoned early-1900s industrial housing complex.

Houses along the eastern side of Concrete City.
Houses along the eastern side of Concrete City.

Now owned by the city of Nanticoke, Concrete City is equally fascinating and forlorn.

4 of the 20 duplexes in Concrete City in Luzerne County.
4 of the 20 duplexes in Concrete City in Luzerne County.

The abandoned Alvira munitions bunkers are a series of 149 concrete, dome-shaped structures built to house TNT manufactured for the war effort during WWII.

Inside one of the abandoned Alvira bunkers.

Residing on what is now State Game Lands 252 in Union County, the Alvira bunkers can legally be visited 365 days a year!

Entrance to one of the bunkers on State Game Lands 252 along Alvira Road.
Entrance to one of the bunkers on State Game Lands 252 along Alvira Road.

The abandoned nuclear jet engine testing bunkers in the Quehanna Wild Area are all that is left of a secretive Cold War-era facility built to test jet engines, including the possibility of nuclear jet engines that would never need to be refueled.

Entrance to the northern nuclear jet engine testing bunker in the Quehanna Wild Area.
One of the abandoned nuclear jet engine testing bunkers at Quehanna.

The base was abandoned by 1960 and now sits in dormant in the Quehanna Wild Area.

Observation windows in the nuclear jet engine testing bunkers.
Observation windows in the nuclear jet engine testing bunkers.

33 Abandoned Places in PA You Can Legally Visit will give you directions to even more of the Keystone State’s best abandoned sites to explore!

Natural light illumintaes a cell block at the abandoned Cresson State Prison in Cambria County.
Natural light illuminates a cell block at the abandoned Cresson State Prison in Cambria County.

If you want to ride on functional, restored trolley cars, plan a visit to the Rockhill Trolley Museum in Huntingdon County, the oldest operating trolley museum in Pennsylvania.

A Johnstown trolley car, built in 1925, in the Rockhill Trolley Museum collection.
The Rockhill Trolley Museum in Huntingdon County.

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Rusty Glessner
Rusty Glessner is a professional photographer, lifelong Pennsylvanian, and a frequently-cited authority on PA's best travel destinations.