Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Trolley museum keeps early mass transit alive
by Peggy McEwan | Staff Writer
Merry Rowe and her son, Truman, 4, of Silver Spring take a trolley ride through the woods at the National Capital Trolley Museum after the weekly story and craft time for children.
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There definitely is something appealing about the clang, clang, clang of a streetcar bell.
At one time taking a car ride meant traveling on the streetcar. Now the streetcars are gone, their tracks covered over or torn up and the cars themselves are only found in museums.
The only streetcars and track left in Montgomery County are in the National Capital Trolley Museum in Colesville.
The museum offers summer programs for young people to teach them about this old-fashioned form of public transportation. Visitors can see working models of streetcars and enjoy a trolley ride through the woods.
Last Thursday was the opening day for summer programs for children at the museum. The story and craft time was full, with about three dozen children and adults at the early session.
Children sat on the carpet as Joanie Pinson, director of education, read the story of ‘‘The Little Red Car,” by Esther Meeks. The book described the changes in trolley cars over the years, starting in the 1800s to about 1958.
‘‘We always have a really good turn out for the story and craft time,” Pinson said. ‘‘It is a novel thing to do and [the kids] get a craft to take home.”
The children made paper trolley cars, gluing on wheels, a museum logo and windows with pictures of children riding inside the car.
‘‘I think it’s fun so far. I like the craft,” said Kara Szydlowski, 9, of Laurel, as she glued the finishing touches on her trolley. ‘‘I’m really looking forward to the trolley ride. I’ve never been on a trolley before.”
Anne Siegle and her children, Aaron, 4, and Sarah, 2, live nearby in Silver Spring and are practically regulars at the museum.
‘‘Because we like trolleys and we love to see them,” Aaron said.
‘‘It’s like discovering you have Brookside Gardens in your backyard; it’s another resource,” Siegle said. ‘‘The volunteers are always interested in helping the kids. They are very patient and nice.”
Bettie Simon, from Nutley, N.J., did not need any explanations about trolley cars — she grew up in Washington, D.C., before they stopped operating in the city in 1962. She took the streetcar to college at Howard University, she said.
Simon was visiting grandchildren in Silver Spring and brought her grandson Teddy Rapelyea, 3, to the museum.
Teddy liked riding the trolley — an excursion many of the parents and children took after story time — and Simon liked talking about Washington in the days of old.
‘‘I remember the trolleys; they called them streetcars,” she said. ‘‘To me they were more efficient than the buses. They just sailed along; cars didn’t drive on the tracks. The problem was when we got snow, they wouldn’t work. I think that is one of the reasons they got rid of them.”
Older residents can reminisce with docents at the museum, many of whom remember riding streetcars or enjoy studying the history of the trolleys and the role they played in the development of the suburbs.
All the docents at the museum last week had stories to tell of their involvement with the trolleys.
Peggy Longo of Germantown said her father was a streetcar operator. Longo grew up in Washington, D.C. Vernon Winn, who grew up and still lives in Tenleytown, had memories of streetcars going back to when he was 2 years old.
‘‘My first toy was a block of wood with a decal on it that made it look like a streetcar,” he said. ‘‘You pulled it along with a string.”
If you go
The National Capital Trolley Museum is located at 1313 Bonifant Road in Colesville. Summer hours are 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday and Friday and noon to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Children’s programs are offered Thursday and Fridays. Story and craft time is 11:30 a.m. and noon every Thursday. Movies are shown 12:10 p.m. Fridays. The children’s activities are free. Trolley rides run every half-hour and cost $3 for children and seniors, $4 for adults. Call 301-384-6352 or visit www.dctrolley.org.
