The Shelburne Falls Trolley Museum didn't open officially until Fourth of July weekend last year, but I was lucky enough to stumble upon a dedicated band of volunteers when I visited the museum in May of 1999. Peter Johnson, the museum's treasurer, told me that, after all, they were FRNs. "FRNs?" puzzled me asked. "F---ing Rail Nuts," was his grinning reply!

Electric trolleys had their heyday  in the 1890s to the 1920s, when they brought a new traveling "freedom" to residents of rural New England villages such as Shelburne Falls. But just as quickly as trolleys rose to the fore, they were abandoned for the even greater freedom promised by the automobile.

The museum's prized possession is Number 10, the "combination" car that carried both freight and passengers on the 8-mile route between Shelburne Falls and Colrain from 1896 to 1926, across what is now the Bridge of Flowers. This only remaining car from the Shelburne Falls & Colrain Street Railway has undergone extensive restoration at the museum--I got to see and photograph it in progress (and got some gold paint on my posterior to prove it!)--and now visitors to the museum can board and ride the historic trolley and learn more about how the trolley opened new worlds to turn-of-the-century residents of Shelburne Falls.

The Shelburne Falls Trolley Museum is now open Memorial Day through the first weekend in November from 10 a.m. until 
5 p.m. Saturdays and holidays and noon until 5 p.m. Sundays, and by appointment. Group tours are welcome; call (413) 625-9443 for group reservations. Admission is free.

Joe Pagano paints Number 10 as part of the effort to restore the trolley car.

Much work has been done to refurbish the trolley's interior.

The Shelburne Falls Trolley Museum is also home to other trains and railway memorabilia.