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The clock was set at 1:55 p.m., but the trolley whistle is months ahead.

At the National Capital Trolley Museum in Colesville a new clock was dedicated, informing the public that the newly renovated building would have an open house Sunday to show off the new building that celebrates the trolley, a formerly common form of transportation in the region.

The building was modeled after period trolley stations and the tracks were laid for a working, full-sized demonstration trolley system using the museum's collection of 17 antique streetcars, architect John Stoal said.

"It's a period example of architecture during the early stages of the trolley," Stoal said, describing the sidewalk, brickwork and windows.

"There's work yet to be done."

The new museum, which was funded by the Maryland State Highway Administration at a cost of $5.63 million and is on county parkland, is an expansion to the facilities that were founded in 1959. It will reopen this summer.

"We are thrilled to be moving into a beautiful, new and spacious facility," museum Director of Development Wesley Paulson said in a statement.

"For a long time we have needed to modernize and expand our facilities to meet requirements for our conservation, education and interpretative programs, but the financial pieces just did not fit."

At the event, Paulson said he was thrilled.

"It's incredible. Fifteen years in papers, designs and buildings," he said about the development of the new facility which includes not only the historic cars but a 1,000-volume library with 6,000 photographs, 10,000 postcards and thousands of major and small historic artifacts.

The museum found new life in a more practical application. A trolley-like streetcar is possible for the proposed Purple Line, and the museum's collection was used for sound studies of the trolley car.

"A group came out and did a field test of a couple of streetcars for noise levels. The collection also has applications for the light-rail in Alexandria," Paulson said.

The county is lucky to have such a collection, said Douglas Alexander, acting chief of the Park Development Division of Parks of the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission.

Nowhere else in the area can you see a museum collection of this historical value, he said. "Anywhere in the region we're fortunate to have this museum."

The history of the streetcar is a history of the region, its transportation and development.

"Streetcars shaped a lot of the traffic patterns," he said. Some bus lines, Metro stops and streets were shaped this way, he said.

The museum features not only the 17 street cars, but a movie, interactive street car stations, a miniature train workshop, and a children's education room.

Although the train whistle is months away, the new clock which overlooks the track ensures the trolley will always be right on time.

The National Capital Trolley Museum will hold a Visitor Center Preview from noon to 5 p.m. Sunday at the museum, 1313 Bonifant Road in Colesville. For more information, call 301-384-6088 or visit www.dctrolley.org.