Long gone are the days when trolleys carried up a million passengers per day across the Pittsburgh area.

Even though much of the region’s sprawling 600 miles of trolley and streetcar track have vanished, anyone interested in learning about the public transportation system that shaped Pittsburgh and its surrounding suburbs can do so at the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum in Chartiers in Washington County.

The museum boasts more than 50 trolleys and streetcars — about 30 of which are operational — and 4 miles of track that allows visitors to take a ride on one, or all, of the museum’s working streetcars.

Last year, the museum saw record high attendance, and it is on track to surpass those totals this year, according to Jeanine DeBor, its executive director and CEO.

“I think people really want to enjoy an immersive experience, not just look at street cars,” DeBor said.

In an effort to encourage even more people to visit, the museum is offering free admission to children under age 18 throughout September, the third month this year that the museum has offered free admission for children.

“We want to do this for families who otherwise wouldn’t be able to come because times are hard right now, and we understand that,” DeBor said. “We want as many people to come as possible and we want children to come and learn why this is relevant.”

Pittsburgh’s trolley system dates back to the late 19th century and played a role in creating the suburbs that surround the city.

Before Pittsburgh’s trolleys ran on electricity, the city used horsecars, usually pulled by two horses or mules.

The city used horsecars throughout the late 1800s, and the last line — on Sarah Street in the South Side — operated until the 1920s, when the 78-year-old driver of the last car retired.

After that, Pittsburgh Railways decided not to electrify the line, and service ended in 1923.

For more than four decades, the trademark of the Pittsburgh rail system was the “yellow car” — which was a model that was lower to the ground to allow passengers to enter and exit the car more easily.

More than 1,000 yellow cars were built between 1910 and 1926, two of which are on display at the museum.

However, not all of the trolleys and streetcars featured at the museum are of local origins.

Among the fleet is a trolley built in 1911 and used on tramways in Rio de Janeiro, which visitors are able to take a ride on at speeds of up to 30 miles an hour.

The car, the Rio de Janeiro 1758, is made of Brazilian hardwood and has an open-air design, so riders can feel the breeze as they travel the museum’s rails — a style that disappeared in American cities in the 1920s but remained in use in parts of Brazil until the 1960s.

The Pennsylvania Trolley Museum was not the first stop for the Rio de Janeiro 1758.

It was initially purchased and restored by the Magee Transportation Museum in Bloomsburg, Pa., where it was operated until the museum closed due to damage from Hurricane Agnes in 1972.

The car was purchased in 1973 by the owner of a hobby shop in New Jersey, which used the vehicle as a prop until the owner retired and moved to Florida, taking the car with him.

It was later bought by the city of Orlando, Fla., and was used to try to generate interest and federal funding in a proposed streetcar line in the city, which was never created, then sat in an indoor storage unit for years until it was sold at auction in 2006.

Now, the car takes Pennsylvania Trolley Museum visitors on 20-minute rides on a loop that reaches the neighborhood of Arden before returning to the museum.

On Sunday, dozens of visitors piled into the trolley to experience it firsthand as it barreled down the museum’s tracks.

Among those on board was James Jones, 56, of Ellsworth, who brought his three grandchildren on a trip to the museum.

Jones said he was excited to show his grandchildren versions of the trolley that he used to take as a child to ride into the city.

“It’s just something nice to bring the kids out and let them start enjoying it,” he said. “I lived out in the suburbs, and that was our main transportation, to get on a trolley and take it into Pittsburgh and see concerts and hockey games and stuff like that.”

On sunny days like Sunday, the entire museum and trolley car system is powered by the more than 900 solar panels on two of its buildings.

“We believe in sustainability,” DeBor said. “It’s very important for us. It’s amazing that we’re using 21st-century technology, solar panels, to run 20th-century vehicles, vehicles that are 100 years old. It’s really just kind of a cool legacy.”

The museum also hosts events, DeBor said, including a wedding on Saturday and a birthday party on Sunday.

This Saturday, the museum will host the Terrible Trolley Tailgate from 6-10 p.m. to kick off the NFL season with cocktails, music and rides aboard its one-of-a-kind Pittsburgh Steelers-themed streetcar.

DeBor said museum’s operations and events are made possible by the more than 200 volunteers who run the trolleys and take visitors on tours.

DeBor, who became executive director in 2025, said her grandfather volunteered at the museum from 1985 until about 2009.

Now, she said she is hoping to share the museum, which has had an impactful role in her life, with as many people as possible.

“I want people to experience living history,” she said. “I want them to see why this wonderful mode of transportation is still relevant and important today.”

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