Cleveland — Trolley Museum Plans Scrapped

Rail Transit Online, June 2009

A non-profit group's proposal for a trolley museum featuring more than 30 historic cars has been abandoned because of insufficient funding. Lake Shore Electric Railway Inc. was formed in 2002 to take over the collection of Trolleyville U.S.A., which had been located in the Cleveland suburb of Olmsted Township until the owner's death forced it to close.

The cars were then stored in a Cleveland warehouse under a $1 annual lease with the city. Lake Shore wanted to build a new carbarn on a city-owned site near downtown Cleveland along with a track loop through the Warehouse District where some of the restored trolleys could operate.

But Lake Shore simply could not attract enough contributions or grants, especially in the current economic climate, and now plans to auction its fleet this summer. "They had a unique asset with the collection," Cleveland Planning Director Bob Brown told The Plain Dealer. "It was worth giving it a try... It was well-intentioned, but they weren't able to raise the money."

The proceeds of the auction may provide enough of a reserve to keep one or two cars and restore them to operating condition.