FPT Makes Substantial Gift to Multiple Museums

The ability of six trolley museums to maintain their historic electric vehicles in running condition in future years received a major boost thanks to a recent gift from The Friends of Philadelphia Trolleys, Inc.

Lifetime trolley fan, collector, and long-time proprietor of the Middletown & Hummelstown Railroad, Mr. Wendell Dillinger, passed away in late 2023. Over his lifetime, Wendell collected more than a dozen examples of electric railway rolling stock, and amassed a large collection of spare parts for his collection for a planned electric railway operation which, unfortunately, never came to fruition. Following Wendell’s passing, the rolling stock and parts collection became the property of the M&H Railroad, which determined that all but a few vehicles would be surplus to its needs, and sought to dispose of the remainder of the collection in a manner that would both support settlement of Wendell’s estate as well as find owners who could utilize and appreciate the materials that Wendell saved from scrap.

As options for disposal of the collection were proposed, The Friends of Philadelphia Trolleys (FPT) were invited to be part of the discussions due to the organization’s reputation for fairness and unbiased support of many museums over two decades.
Accordingly, FPT made a proposal to the M&H Railroad to purchase the entire spare parts collection from its own resources and then develop a method to disperse this collection at no cost to trolley museums within a reasonable driving distance to central Pennsylvania. This proposal was accepted by the M&H Railroad, and FPT developed a method to fairly disperse the parts collection to the following museums: Shore Line Trolley Museum, Electric City Trolley Museum, Rockhill Trolley Museum, Pennsylvania Trolley Museum, Baltimore Streetcar Museum, and National Capital Trolley Museum.

95% of the parts were dispersed on October 31, November 1, and November 22, 2024. Each museum identified a lead representative who worked with FPT Directors Matt Nawn and Bill Monaghan through the necessary advance paperwork, approvals, and release documents. The distribution process was balanced among participating museum based upon identified need, and items dispersed included trucks and truck hardware, traction motors, MG sets, controllers, numerous switchgear components, air compressors, brake valves, brakeshoes, body hardware and numerous other unique and hard to find parts to ensure historic vehicles at the participating museums can continue to operate for the educational benefit and enjoyment of visitors for years to come.

FPT extends its thanks to the staff of the Middletown & Hummelstown Railroad for their unfailing cooperation throughout every step of this process and their shared commitment to ensuring the parts purchased by FPT are put to good and appropriate use. FPT is honored to be able to make this contribution to the long-term preservation of the electric transportation heritage of the greater Philadelphia area.

Matt Nawn, FPT Founding Member

One car that comes to mind in particular is the Pullman Orange State