national capital trolley museum

The museum was small but interesting, they had a model train and it included a 2 mile trolley ride. However the volunteers clearly did not know how to work with young children and were annoyed when they acted like you would expect young children to act. i.e. touch stuff.

Its easy to miss to miss this small museum but worth finding. We had my son's 4th birthday party here, when he was mad fir trains and it was perfect. They have restored trolley cars that run every 15 minutes or so. If this is all you do, its worth the trip. The inside of the museum is fairly small, but they hqve a "garage" where they work on restoring trolley cars that you can walk through. Very good way to spend a couple hours. Make sure you check the hoirs beforw making the trip, as they vary by the season and are usually only open during the weekends.

While not huge, this museum is a fun find for folks interested in trolleys/transportation, or just learning more about the history and evolution of the DC area. It presents interesting information on the ways in which DC and the surrounding suburbs have changed over the decades (and how technology, as well as social and economic changes intersect). I learned a lot about landmarks that still exist today--and cool parts of this areas' history I had never heard of. Admission is inexpensive and includes a 2 mile ride on a trolley. Great collection of trolleys from across the globe, fun short movie clips highlighting trolleys in American culture and some interactive activities for kids. Informative and friendly staff.

The plan to reintroduce trolley cars into Washington, DC makes this museum even more interesting. Set off in country acreage in Colesville just north of Route 200, the Museum opened in 1969-1970 and has continued to grow its collection of trolley and street cars. Two buildings house an interesting array of historic cars stretching back into the late 19th century. The staff brings each car to life with a short narrative account of its place in the storied history of urban transportation. A dedicated crew of volunteers has teamed up with expert craftsmen to refurbish many of the cars. The highlight of the visit is a 20-minute ride in a 1950s streetcar out into the woods and back. The guide acts as motorman with all the required stops along the way (including a family of deer this afternoon). The creaking rails and periodic bumps around the turns jog memories of the past in cities that were committed to public transportation by rail. Very knowledgeable and welcoming staff makes the visit ($5) well worth the drive.

We keep going back to this place again and again. We started going with a children and now we take our friends and their children there to visit.They have a very good educative program about trolley cars which includes story time and hands on coloring activity for the children. There is a small movie area and we do enjoy the hilarious movies they show there. They also have an interactive train exhibit that children love to watch and play with.The crown jewel is the train ride through the park. The train driver/conductor always tells a little history about trollies. Children get excited about having their own ticket stamped. On a good day you can spot a deer or two along the way. Check opening times from their website. You need to buy tickets to ride the trolly but every other activity is free.

Don't be put off by the narrow country lane that leads to this attraction as a little gem awaits you at its end. Not too much to see in the museum area although there is a great model trolley layout and if you like silent films there is a selection featuring trolleys. The fun starts with the trolley rides and I had two and the guided tour of the Trolley Barn, although I got into some trouble when discussing the English Blackpool Tram and had to disagree with the guide.

I never knew this place was here!! I went with the Hubs to one of his photo meet-ups and this is where we ended up! I was fascinated by the history of trolleys and the vintage cars they had on display. It is also a great place for kid birthday parties

Following a sumptuous Sunday brunch, Mrs Too and I drove just a few miles to revisit the National Capital Trolley Museum. This was our first visit to the museum’s new facility, replacing a previous one which was badly damaged by a fire.The museum is not exciting for adults in any sense, but it is very interesting and provides an enjoyable few hours especially on a most welcome spring afternoon, following a protracted and unusually harsh winter. The collection of trolleys (street cars to many of us) is intriguing and features vehicles from numerous international sources. Although we are both now domiciliary Marylanders, Ben was born in Washington and Mrs Too in Boston. We grew up riding street cars, Ben to Griffith Stadium, she to Fenway Park, and other fun destinations in both cities.One of the features in the exhibit hall is a powered model layout consisting of a compressed section of the old Connecticut Avenue line, which carried funseekers from downtown Washington to Chevy Chase Lake, an amusement park and entertainment center owned by the trolley company. Another Washington-born native named Kate Smith sang here early in her career in the 1920's. Mrs Too was quite delighted to see that the model trolley passed within one block of our home.Volunteers act as docents, as well as operators of the various trolleys as they take visitors on an out and back trolley ride through the museum property. The ride is fun, and humming along through the park spotting wild turkey and deer, it is hard to remember that one is only fifteen miles from the White House. If you are visiting Washington by auto with children, an afternoon at the trolley museum is a great way to let them work off some pent up steam. The exhibit hall also houses a small alcove which shows a series of old silent films featuring “street cars”. These are more fun to watch than you might think.Be sure to check their website before visiting, as days and hours are in some flux.

A fun place for trolley and history buffs to spend an afternoon. Kids enjoy the trolley rides that come with the price of admission. The entry for this museum is misspelled, hence the title of my review. Also, don't ask the great volunteers about "trains," as these are trolleys and streetcars!

There is not much there but it does keep the kids entertained for about an hour. Everybody that works there is a volunteer and extremely nice.

Take a stroll back in time to the time of trolley cars and also take a ride on an operating trolley. Tour the history of trolleys and view artifacts related to trolleys especially in the Washington DC Metropolitan area. Guided tours are available in their car barns of their collection of trolleys from the DC Transit, from Europe and other American cities. A trolley ride on one of their trolleys is a delight. Trolleys from their collection are rotated for the rides on specific days. A great outing for families and people of all ages.

Open weekends,the museum operates streetcars from DC and other cities on a wooded park site. A model layout of a neighborhood in the 1920s can be activated by visitors. Good parking.

Spacious, rail museum with tour of about 10 cars, a movie from the 1920s starring silent star Harold Lloyd, suspended from high edges above streetcar-traveled streets, and offering rides. Besides a car from DC which ran the last day of service, January 28,1962, older and newer cars run, usually one or two a day. These give visitors the sense of days gone by, and days to come again, as streetcars are coming back to American cities in certain metropolitan areas. An open car from England has no roof, may be in service if the weather is suitable.

A small museum great for younger kids or the trolley car lover. There's plenty to learn from displays and the docent and a miniature trolley on tracks. Admission also gets you a ride on the trolley. They have a couple different ones that they switch out. With trolleys returning to DC in 2014 I'm sure this museum will have more traffic. The museum is all volunteers (docents, trolley drivers, mechanics) except the cashier.

Don't go expecting too much from this small, regional museum and you can have a very enjoyable experience here. There are basically three parts to it. First, a ride on an old trolley takes you past a small field and through some forest. There's nothing to see, but it makes for a very pleasant outing on a day with good weather. Second is the trolley barn which contains about 8 old trolleys in a large, dimly lit room. Several of them are pushed up against each other making them hard to see and the information signs do not clearly identify which of the trolleys they are discussing, but it's still interesting to see the old trolleys and hear the docent talk about them. Finally there's the Main Hall with its informational placards describing the many trolley lines which used to exist in the DC area and a small auditorium showing short clips of some Harold Lloyd films featuring street cars.