KINGSTON, N.Y. — A railcar from the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority has joined the collection of the Trolley Museum of New York, arriving at the museum on Tuesday, April 25.
Car No. 510, built in 1981 by Société Franco-Belge, will be on display when the museum opens for the 2023 season on Saturday, May 6. The car, part of the last group of CQ310 cars delivered to MARTA between 1979 and 1981, is part of a growing number of subway cars, trolleys, and buses from cities throughout the Northeast and Europe to join the museum’s collection.
The museum worked with MARTA and Silk Road Trucking, which delivered the car, for two years to make the donation a reality. It becomes the second MARTA car to be preserved, joining car No. 509, at the Southeast Railway Museum in Duluth, Ga. [see “Georgia museum to preserve original MARTA railcar,” Trains News Wire, Nov. 22, 2022]. Like that car, No. 510 was built as a single car, with cabs at both ends; it and all current MARTA rolling stock is being replaced by a new fleet of Stadler-built equipment [see “MARTA unveils new cars …,” News Wire, Dec. 16, 2022].
In conjunction with the arrival of the MARTA car, the museum’s Port Authorth Trans-Hudson Car No. 143, one of two to survive the 9/11 attacks, has been moved inside the museum building to become part of a revised exhibit to debut on the 22nd anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
I visited Seashore Trolley Museum, one of the oldest trolley museums, a few years back. Seashore’s collection is extensive with > 250 vehicles: 121 streetcars & interurbans, 30 rapid transit cars, 17 trackless trolleys, and 55 (!) buses. Most of the vehicles are stored outside and the plethora of decrepit buses made the grounds look like a junk yard. Except for bus aficionados, it must be unappealing to patrons seeking to take the family for a trolley ride. IMO, there are too many transit cars, as well. Net: the trolley cars are not as prominently presented as they should be for a trolley museum. I think Seashore has lost track of its mission and is spread far to thin. The same could happen at Kingston.
Location does not matter The important thing to remember is that we have museums and rail historical societies and sites that are willing and eager to take these pieces of rolling stock to save and restore {when funds become available} for future generations to see and appreciate. How many pieces of artwork and paintings created by the old masters of Europe are on display here in museums in the United States and vice versa. The important thing to remember is preservation and restoration for all to see and enjoy
Joseph C. Markfelder
Looks like they have plenty of projects to work on.
Yes but what does it have to do with New York
SP 4460 is in St Louis, what does it have to do with St Louis?
Nice addition to the collection