End of the Pittsburgh line for Molly's Trolleys

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ^ | Friday, October 08, 2010 | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

[Willie Green]

Molly's Trolleys, the old-fashioned trolley service popular with wedding parties, is closing its Pittsburgh office and ending services here Dec. 28

The red-and-green shuttles have been a common sight in Pittsburgh for 15 years -- the company's clients, it said in a press release, have included politicians, professional athletes and family reunion guests. Bridal and wedding parties account for the lion's share of business, accounting for more than 2,500 tours, or more than 160 weddings a year.

[Willie Green]

OH NO!!!

Now all the newlyweds are gonna have to take a PAT bus to Permanti's for the reception anat.

[fieldmarshaldj]

That ain’t no trolley, it’s just a bus.

[Paladin2]

The solution:

[airborne]

Ping!

[Army Air Corps]

What in the hell is that?

[Paladin2]

That's the future of gov't rail systems.

Here's the future for the lovers of personal liberty:

[Army Air Corps]

The Rhodes car. All it needs is a lawnmower engine...

[re_nortex]

I'm old enough to remember taking Horrell Transporation to West View Park. That was a private bus line before the era of PAT. Another I remember was Brown Bus Lines.

My dad always referred to "Horrell Transporation" as "Horrible Transportation". Little did we realize how much worse things would be under the Port Authority, especially after they started ripping out most of the streetcar lines, leaving just a few left on the south of the Mon.

[MarineBrat]

When we were kids we could ride the street cars all the way from the Brookline turnaround to West View Park. Thems was the days!

[re_nortex]

When we were kids we could ride the street cars all the way from the Brookline turnaround to West View Park. Thems was the days!

The number of ex-Pittsburgers here on FR is amazing. Seems like any mention of West View, Kennywood or White Swan (for us oldsters) bring us out of the woodwork.

As per my posting on this, I'm old enough the remember the pre-PAT days when the trolleys were run a private company, Pittsburgh Railways. I was fascinated by the car barn just north of West View off Perry Highway.

I'm sure Willie already has this in his collection of URLs but others may enjoy these memories of the PCC era such as this which captures so much in one shot -- the cobblestone streets, the smokey view of downtown, the overhead wires, the housing stock and an all-American classic auto:

[Paladin2]

Fords from that era always looked like they were smiling.

[Petruchio]

This is another

Willie Green Happy Choo-Choo thread.

Promoting 19th Century technology for the 21st Century.

On second thought . . .

This one is a Willie Green sad Choo-Choo thread.
(everyone, turn your monitor upside down when looking at the choo-choo)

[swpa_mom]

The sad thing is to see so many ‘ex’ Pittsburghers. The mass exodus from this area in the 70’s had hundreds of thousands of honest, decent people moving to different areas.

I also remember Rainbow Gardens, a small amusement park near McKeesport.

For anyone ever visiting Western PA, by all means, schedule a visit to Kennywood. A true family amusement park.

[re_nortex]

The sad thing is to see so many ‘ex’ Pittsburghers. The mass exodus from this area in the 70’s had hundreds of thousands of honest, decent people moving to different areas.

I simply had to bail on the area because of the politics, the unions and the overall attitudes of entitlement finally got to me. I admire Pittsburgh area Conservatives, such as yourself, that stick it out and fight for change. It's got to be a tough battle up there.

Nevertheless, I do enjoy looking at pictures of the place of my birth and youth. Even though I've become thoroughly Texan (sorry Willie!), I can't alter the fact of being just a kid from the Rox.