About the Department

The Trolley Coach Department of the Illinois Railway Museum is responsible for a fleet of 16 trolley coaches. Among them are the last two trolley coaches to run in Chicago (CTA Marmon-Herrington 9553 and 9631), the last trolley coach to run in Cleveland (CTS Pullman 874), the last trolley coach to run in Milwaukee (M&ST Pullman 350), and the oldest operating trolley coach in the world (CSL Brill-American 84). We also have the largest fleet of preserved Chicago trolley coaches (6) in the world, the largest fleet of preserved Dayton coaches (3) outside of Dayton, and (we believe) the only known preserved coaches from Des Moines and Milwaukee.

Among the responsibilities we have are yearly and as needed inspections of each operating coach, maintenance and repair of anything found to be defective, preservation and restoration of both operational and non-operational coaches, providing training and guidance in maintenance and restoration for department volunteers which can lead to operations training, and providing service for the public on an ongoing basis. We currently have no set schedule of service, but we will be providing service as often as we can. As is always true when operating antique vehicles, our ability to provide service, among other factors, is subject to the condition of the equipment and overhead.

Our demonstration line, which was the first one in the world in a museum setting and still the only one in this hemisphere, is approximately 2/5 of a mile. It starts with a loop in front of the garage, runs west down the museum's Central Avenue, crosses Depot Street, past the O'Mahoney Diner, then turns north on Railroad Avenue to a Wye near the admission booth, then returns down the same route.