Trolleyville History

My friend Ralph Taylor gave me a newspaper clipping you might find interesting: an article from May 1962 about Gerald Brookins acquiring the first four CA&E cars for his new trolley museum in North Olmsted. (The 450's were acquired separately a couple of months later.)


Sharp-eyed readers will notice a few errors in general facts about the CA&E, but it's still a good look at Mr. Brookins' intentions. At the time, the only other cars in his collection were the four Fox River lightweights and two Cleveland cars. By modern standards, $20,000 sounds like a bargain!

Now that the collection is being distributed, somebody should make an effort to write a history of the Brookins museum. (I, of course, have no first-hand knowledge.) Gerald Brookins deserves to be remembered with gratitude for all he did to preserve electric railway history.