One Tank Trip: Rockhill Trolley Museum

Author: Karin Mallett, Anchor / Reporter, Karin.Mallett@wfmz.com
Published On: Aug 24 2011 12:10:28 PM EDT  Updated On: Aug 24 2011 11:54:35 AM EDT

One Tank Trip: Rockhill Trolley Museum

ROCKHILL, Pa. -

There's a place in the tiny town of Rockhill, Pa., population 414, that pays homage to the way things were.

Trolley cars were the way you used to get around, and for Jack Mobray, it was love at first ride.

"They went 50, 60, 70 miles an hour and wow, for a 9-year-old kid, that was incredible, just incredible," said Mobray.

But the rest of the country was falling in love with the automobile, and in the 50s, the lines Mobray rode, and eventually operated, came to an end.

In 1962, the Rockhill Trolley Museum opened and trolleys have been running in Huntington County ever since.

The museum runs a program where you can get behind the controls and operate a trolley for yourself.

The scenic three mile ride takes you into Blacklog Narrows.

Along the way, you'll learn about the role trolleys played in American life, even after the lines stopped running.

Mobray explained that Car 163, in which we went for a ride, was set up by a creek and used as a summer cottage.

"It took us 17 years to rebuild it in the absence of all the material that was taken from it and sold for scrap," said Mobray.

Now, Car 163 and other trolleys are back to their original beauty at the Rockhill Trolley Museum and giving Mobray and riders a thrill from another time.

To and from downtown Reading and Rockhill, Karin put 340 miles on her odometer.

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