Rescued after being swept away in the floods of Hurricane Agnes, Jersey Shore and Antes Fort Railroad Car 3, which once traversed up and down Allegheny Street, has been preserved and reinterpreted at the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum as a summer cottage.

“We are honored to receive this prestigious award from PA Museums, which recognizes the important work of preserving the Trolley Era in American History,” said Jeanine DeBor, Pennsylvania Trolley Museum’s executive director and CEO. “Our Jersey Shore exhibit not only tells the story of the small streetcar company that was integral to life in that town, but also the car’s life as a private cabin for the owners after the company ceased operations.”

The car is one of two in the fleet of the tiny (4.75 mile) former Jersey Shore & Antes Fort Railroad. Built in 1905, the trolley operated until 1925, when the company ceased operations. During those years, it connected Jersey Shore with the Pennsylvania Railroad in nearby Antes Fort, according to the museum’s website.

After the railroad shut down, both cars were relocated to a site along Pine Creek, where they were converted into a seasonal residence.

PHOTOS PROVIDED The Pennsylvania Trolley Museum's Trolley Cottage Interpretation is seen.

In June 1972, flooding from Hurricane Agnes devastated the Pine Creek Valley, dislodging the cars from their foundation and carrying them downstream. They eventually came to rest near a railroad bridge, sustaining significant damage.

According to the Trolley Museum, the remnants were later located by Jeff Pritchard, who, along with Paul Vassallo, dismantled Car 1 and worked to stabilize the body of Car 3, preventing its loss.

In 1999, Vassallo and his wife donated Car 3 to the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum.

The Pennsylvania Trolley Museum (PTM) has over 50 trolleys in its collection, many of which visitors can either ride during a four-mile round trip or step aboard as a static display inside the museum.

During the mid-20th century abandonment of electric railways, thousands of streetcars across the country were scrapped. A small number, like Car 3, survived only because families repurposed them as cottages, hunting cabins and homes.

PHOTOS PROVIDED A photo of a trolley used in the early 1900s is pictured.

The reimagining of the static Jersey Shore & Antes Fort Railroad Car 3 (JS&AF 3) into the cottage it once was tells a revival story often overlooked in transportation museums, the curators said.

On view in PTM’s Trolley Display Building, JS&AF 3 stands out as an immersive and unexpected exhibit. The trolley spent much longer as a cabin than it did carrying passengers, and its transformation marks the first time the Museum has interpreted the post-retirement life of trolley cars this way. Envisioned by Manager of Visitor Experience Kristen Fredriksen, the exhibit was furnished almost entirely with donations of era-appropriate items and antiques from PTM’s staff, museum volunteers and locals who took interest in the project.

“We wanted the cabin to feel authentic and for visitors to walk in and say, ‘oh! I had one of those!'” stated Fredriksen.

Nearly all of the furniture and accessories date from 1972 or earlier when the cottage was destroyed by Hurricane Agnes.

PTM’s new exhibit demonstrates that historic survival can be accidental, fragile and rooted in ordinary people’s decisions. It also challenges the traditional machine- or transit-centered interpretations of trolleys by reframing the narrative to one of home life, sustainability and local preservation, the museum added.

PHOTOS PROVIDED The trolley that originally was used in Jersey Shore is pictured.

PA Museums, Pennsylvania’s statewide museum association, has honored the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum with an Institutional Achievement Award for the third year in a row, with the Trolley Cottage Reinterpretation to be recognized at their Annual Conference on April 19, 2026.

PTM has previously been recognized for their Welcome & Education Center in 2024 and for the career of the former executive director, Scott Becker in 2025. PTM’s relocation and preservation of Wexford Station was awarded by PA Museums in 2017.

Pennsylvania Trolley Museum is currently open during our spring seasonal hours, which are Thursday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., through Memorial Day. Memorial Day through Labor Day, the museum operates Tuesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The Pennsylvania Trolley Museum is located at 1 Electric Way, Washington, Pa.