Reviews of Connecticut Trolley Museum (Museum)

Kameka Johnson

Cute outdoor play train for kids. Inside they have toy train table and costumes kids can wear. You can actually get on a few of the old trolleys and the trolley ride is great for adults and kids alike. They have a small fire museum next door that has some very cool old firetrucks. Worth a visit

Patrick Shields

Their Christmas rides are great and the kiddos can visit Santa and see all the model trains

Richard LeDuc

Too expensive for 2 seniors...28.00..Will not return..EVER

ken p

Awesome trolley museum in Connecticut, had a amazing time exploring and being able to ride on a couple of the trolleys.

Thomas Lyman

Great trip for buffs and fans and educational for kids and adults alike.

Nate Arnold

Wonderful museum for rail fans. Also has working Trolleys you can ride in the warm weather months. A bonus is the associated fire museum with several local retired fire engines.

Jacob Clark

Had a great time with my Dad there!

Doyahn Stewart-Risby

Went on the haunted trolley ride. Staff didn't even try to scare my friend and I. We are both of darker complexions and I'm assuming that's why. People in front of us and behind us who were white had people jump scare them and approach them. A clown had the nerve to ask if I was enjoying myself as he proceeded to scare the people in front and behind me...

Joseph Niquette

Super fun, my daughter loved it. Great place to bring the kids and really fair prices.

Steve Powell

The Trolley Ride is a Cool Flashback. Great opportunity for all ages. All volunteer staff. Great displays and story boards Interesting vintage documentary film. Must see. Easy access and ample parking.

daniel Britschock

Beautiful pice of history here. I have been a member here for years it is worth the time and money. The winter festival is super cool. Highly recommend coming here it is fun for the whole family or just by yourself.

brian

HORRIBLE MUSEUM! Really pathetic... We went during October, and the museum, which does not seem organized during any other time of year, was in complete chaos. Evidently they cater to the Halloween crowd at this time. This means that for patrons who are actually interested in the historic displays, you are out of luck, because they cannot be viewed due to the Halloween 'decorations'. Even the displays that could be seen were very amateurish. There was no organization, and we were not sure where we were allowed to walk on the property, to see the equipment that was advertised on the website. We decided to bail, before we got hurt, as the place literally looks more like a scrapyard, than it does a museum. Its a shame, because there are some amazing pieces of history here. If only they could get their act together, it would be a beautiful museum... :(

Satish Singh

Had fun on train ride..tunnel of lights. The museum was decorated with Christmas theme. Great place for kids.

Sana Saeed

Such a fun and friendly place. Kids loved the trolly rides and also loved the firetruck show taking place this weekend.

Vivian Cirillo

2 trolley rides very fun. Plus trolleys inside. Reasonable admission price, too.

Treasure Tree Wire Wrapped Jewelry

Fun with grandson

Travis Dumas

Nicely priced. Very clean

Stephen Taffe

Very short and no info from the conductor, thank goodness it was free through a discount on Groupon. RE-edited, I didn't get the deal through Groupon. I thought my wife did but, I found out she didn't so I have the right place. Also if anyone decides to venture there, don't go when it's raining because, the conductor will stop the train constantly because it leaks really bad and you will end a little wet.

Jeff Bassett

Excellent educational musuem! Their Rails to the Dark Side is the best!

Ryan Bouchard

Has been about 10 years since I have been to this place, not much has changed but it's a great few hours to spend with you loved ones, I went for winterfest and we had a pretty good time, the trolly rides were fairly short.

Glenn Zinn

Great time at the trolley. Got to ride to the pumpkin patch and pick out a pumpkin. Grounds are nice and the old trolleys are pretty cool. Nice little gift shop.

prafull jagalpure

Nice one and half mile historical trolley ride. Fine gentleman drives and gives info about the track and trolley's.

Heretic

Great cheap day trip

Randolyn L.

Awesome holiday fun

Karen Pallotti

We had a horrible experience with a toddler in tow. Very disorganized, expensive. In 45 min we saw only one open & one closed trolley car. The line barely moved in that time. No one bothered to let us know if there was a problem with the cars. We made the decision to leave with a crying toddler but it was clear we would have been there for hours. Not worth it at all, complete waste of time & money. Extremely disappointing!

EYE of - RA

Went on a rainy day, the trolley ride was nice, didn't get to ride in the open car because of the rain. The trains inside for the most part need some upkeep to be able to view them all. Dress up for the kids to be conductors and coloring your own paper hat was very enjoyable for the kids. The Fire museum is more of an outdoor visit so the rain prevented that. A nice gift shop inside, my son loves trains so he wanted every gift inside. The conductors diving train give you some nice history of the trolleys driven. I highly recommend a visit, very affordable and rides all day. The winter time is very enjoyable and must be put on the top do list when visiting the area at that time. I heard the Halloween time was also very fun

John Holchin

The kids love trolley rides. The volunteers are passionate about the trolleys and it adds to the experience. A chance for some really unique experiences, like the open sight seeing trolley used for the Christmas lights. I have a toddler and a preschooler and the ride is a good length for them. We have a membership and through the summer we pop in for a quick ride every week or two

Danielle Hallam

Great little museum. Lots of interactive opportunities. Kids love to ride on the trolleys and drivers are always informative and helpful.

csv.csv sreenivaas

Knowledgeable Place ..

Gunther Cox

We had an awesome time here this October participating in the Ride to the Dark Side event for Halloween.

Brandon Sullivan

I was here today and it was awesome it was nice to ride the trolley and look at the trolleys and see the fire house museum and it was nice to see all of that would defenitely come here again

Linda Bellanfante

I injoy the place and the people was nice thanks

Heather PuzzledParent

Holiday tunnel. As a family & friends group we drove an hour and a half to check it out. We thought it would not be busy since it was black Friday, (you can not pre buy tickets)... We were wrong. The line was about a half hour to buy tickets then an hour or more to go on the trolley. The trolleys were cool to look at and the decorations were nice. The kids and adults enjoyed going on the 20 min ride BUT unless you sat in the isle you could not see the 'tunnel' of lights. Even in an isle you could barely see it. :( They do stop at some point so you can see a small quick light show on a fence, people enjoyed that. It was a neat experience but not really seeing the lights was a bummer. We saw an open car trolly go out as we came in, I imagine they probably got a better view then in our trolly car. The inside was cute and the info was interesting. My youngest enjoyed seeing Santa on the trolly car and watching the models run. Great decorated spots for family photo opportunities. It was not crowded in the museum during the event. We went as a group of 10 and I paid 44$ for my 2 kids, myself and spouse. The employees and conductors were kind. Experience wise I lean toward 3 stars.... but service wise, 500 stars for autism families. We had two young teen kids with autism with us. When we saw the two giant lines there was panic and tears. We decided to drive the hour and a half home as our kiddos and us mommies freaked. In the end my fellow autism mom hunted down an employee and asked about accommodations and how it was extra challenging not being able to pre buy the tickets, etc. Some very nice employees helped us get tickets quickly and we waited by the gift shop, to avoid crowds, until we could board the trolly. They walked us a back way to get on and we were able to board first. I did show documentation as proof. Always carry a letter that says my child can not wait in lines, has anxiety and autism. So be sure to have some kind of documentation before you go as a special needs family.

Stephen Eder

This was a great place for kids and family.

Kathy Fowler

This was our 5th annual trip for Rails to the Darkside and we will definately be back again next year! Thank you to all the volunteers who make this possible.

maggie barker

Story time on Mondays is awesome for the kiddos!

Laura Hammond

Perfect palce for little ones

Benjamin Russell

Love this place, we go every year to get some pumpkins. They take you on a ride down the tracks to a pumpkin patch and let you get some. The trolley operator said (who was an old dude) siad when he was a kid he rode that very trolley to school.

Tec. Roberto Miguel Peralta Torres

If there were a sixth star this place will have it. It's two museums in one! Side note : car #4 is awesome!!

Boni Alim

Very amazing place and the train ride was the best

Valerie Hitchcock

Awesome day and experience for my granddaughter.

FNT Statickillers

It is fun and u can get to ride a trolley

Christian Vogt

Went for their Halloween event and it was well put together and certainly scared a lot of people. Definitely worth the price of admission.

Dan Bloking

Paid $25 for 2 adults and 1 toddler to take a 5-10 min trolley ride to a field where we got to pick out 1 small pumpkin and get right back on the trolley to go back. Some small play areas set up for the kids, but not much else.

Stephen Lewis

Great experience! Love their Winter fest program. We go every year!! This museum is a little know gem and I'd highly recommend it to any railroad enthusiast. It's also a great place for kids as they can ride the trolleys.

Jeff Grigg

GREAT place for kids! And a hidden treasure of historic fire trucks.

Bill Zerio

Great place nice people

Dennis Moura

Great little place. Kids had a blast at a birthday party here, riding the trolleys and walking around some of the old street cars.

R C

Nice trolley ride and light show

Sharon M. Corley-Morin

Such a great place for young and old and very historic and educating not to mention entertaining

Abhishek Gupta

Nice place to explore the natural beauty along with historical trolley ride... if you are lucky .. you might end up seeing deer

Boyd Reed

Nice museum. Christmas lights were meh

Alicia Sharon

Very friendly and fun

Run_It_To_Redline

Great place to spend the afternoon with the family

Adam Damm

What a great place! With two young kids I thought we would be there for only a couple of hours. The kids were so into it that we were there for almost 5 hours!

paul gagnon

The dedication of the people to keep these old trolleys going is great.

Meghan Gibbs

Rails to the Darkside is a fun night out and the volunteers were super nice. Can't wait to visit again for Christmas!

Ashley Highland

We go very year for the Christmas trolly rides and inside museum it has numerous activities and a lot for the kids to see not to mention they have the pumpkin patch for Halloween. It’s a fun filled day and interesting old school trains and Trollies.

Sarah Hawn

Both of my kids enjoyed this thoroughly

PEGGY ATWELL

This Place is unique and set you back in time. The staff are all volunteers and love to talk about trains and trolleys.

Kevin Hufford

Nice place to bring your grandchildren

Rachel B

The kids love riding the trolleys!

Carlos Rangel

Love it fun for kids and adults

Axel Diaz

Tunnel of lights: a waste of a drive and money. I was in shock how terrible of an experience this was. A very old and cold trolley takes you into the woods and back on a round trip with the poorest excuse for a light show I have ever witnessed. The intentions may be well and all but don't waste your time. Would not go again if it was free and down the street.

Jeffere Walker

Great place to visit. Lots of history. Trolley displays are historic.

Stephen F.

Fun place to visit. For adults or children. Love the history and has many great artifacts! Have fun

Cynthia Wiggins-preli

My husband had visited as a boy and brought my self and the grandchildren to visit. The staff were wonderful and answered our questions. We even picked a few pumpkins from the patch

Katrina Mattern

A great place to visit with the kids. The inside had some toys and dress up area with several trolleys to explore. The fire museum was also nice to walk through, though not as interesting for the little ones. Trolley rides are always fun and entry gets you unlimited rides. Museum passes are often available from your local library so check that out first!

Michael Dalton

Fun and easy trip with the kids. A little vague on what you're doing when you get there, when you buy the tickets and upon arrival. They are all volunteers so 5 stars for effort. They even do it in the dead of winter for zero pay, impressive. Grab a hotdog and chill with the kids in between trolly rides.

Scott Oconnor

Good to see a place like this still around. Great place to take your kids when they have certain events

jim catalfamo

Connecticut and the whole northeast is a wonderful place to hike in. not only do they have great trails but the charm of these small towns throughout the northeast. just make you wonder what it must of been like 100, 200, 300 years ago. Connecticut does disappoint. the night before i put a little tower of power hiking trip together. being from a small town in NY i could wait to start my little weekend trip. we tried to hike to 7 towers, 2 museum's and a water fall in two day. we could only do 5 tower because 2 were closed. our fourth stop was the Trolley museum. first off let me say this museum most run on a low budget. it needs a little face lift here and there. i also believe its run for families with small children. if you are planning to come here for the haunted ride don't expect to be scare out of your wits. again the Christmas lights, haunted ride and pumpkin patch are for the small children. but if you have a love for old trains and trolley you will love this place. my 15 year old son is one of these people. even tho the trolley ride was only a 3 mile out and back ride he loved every second of it. he said to me that he wish he could take the trolley all the way back to NY just so he could listen to the wheels on the tracks. we spent 2 hours here and if he could ride each trolley, he would of. even after staying here for 2 hours it was hard for him to go. we both enjoyed our stay but what i really enjoyed was watching my sons amazement and appreciation for these old trolley and a day gone by. i thank the trolley museum for another memory my son and i can fall back on. if you want to follow my trip the next stop was Soap Stone Mountain. the whole trip made for a great weekend. in order: these were the stop we made in case you would like to try it. (Mount Tom, Haystack Mountain, New Gate Cooper Mine & Prison, Trolley Museum, Soap Stone Mountain, Talcott Mountain, Sleeping Giant State Park, Roaring Brook Falls)

Joseph Gaboury

A super fun experience. With lots of fun things for the kids to see. The Christmas decorations were great. They got to see Santa and take a great ride on an old trolley car. We will definitely go back.

Naser Shareef

I have no interest whatsoever in trolleys and this place made them as interesting as possible. Kudos to the all volunteer staff!

Adam Overlock

There events are fun and add to the experience. Beer and wine tasting.

Gail Reynolds

The ride was so much fun and the museum is excellent!

Bob Roy

Great time!! Busy in December

Shan Jiang

If you geek out over trains, this will be a great place. Lots of history and really cool trolleys. Make sure to use bug spray since these are open trolleys.

Susan Wavada

Decorated for the Holidays! Don't miss Santa for a photo, working model trains, and a great ride through the lit up woods! Watch for deer.

Charlene Bready

Unfortunately the winter fest tunnel of lights was a disappointment. We drove an hour and immediately started waiting in a long outdoor line for tickets. It was 24 degrees and we only got indoors for 5 minutes before waiting in another outdoor line for the train. We ending up freezing after standing still in the cold for almost 2 hours! We still never made it on the train because we would have had to wait an additional half hour. But it felt like frost bite was kicking in! There was no warning on the website to dress warm. We did get a refund, but our son left crying of disappointment!

Roger Pierson

Wonderful place to visit history in motion And learn about the railroad and trolley era

Kathleen Greenwood

One of the best haunted attractions I've been to in a while.

D Barnes

The Trolley Museum is a jewel. Ride on beautiful preserved Trolleys with knowledgable conductors. Fun for the kids and adults as well. Worth the trip.

Elizabeth Arce

The day we went the lines were LONG, the wait was LONG & it was freezing outside. My toddler was excited to ride the "train" so it was worth it seeing his excitement.

Kayann Willis

This is a nice historical please for children to learn about in a fun way.

Blondiekam Beck

Went to Halloween event it was AWESOME

Robert Brogle

Great place for kids to learn trolley history!

Justin Howlett

It is a lot of fun for everyone

Justin Lemay

Very fun, great night out.

Alex Cavanaugh

Absolutely great for children, pretty tiny but a lot to see

Heather Pratt

We went for the haunted ride and museum we had a great time. Half hour wait and actors were great!!!!

Google Reviewer

I had a great experience there. There would be three trolleys running on three miles of track. There would be only one track the most of the way. The admission isn't bad considering you would get to freely walk around the grounds and get unlimited rides on the trolleys. Inside the main building, there are several trolleys inside for display. A few of is accessible to the public. Behind the main building, there is the Kelly Barn and the Connecticut Fire Museum. The barn is simply where the trolleys are kept. In the fire museum, there are many fire trucks and several buses. Overall, the volunteers who worked at this museum did a good job at building, maintaining and everything else that goes into this museum. As their motto goes: Volunteers are not paid because they are worthless; but because they are priceless.

Jennifer Gascoigne

Went to the haunted house here tonight. It was so awful a complete waist of money and time. Went last year and it was pretty good. This year they basically stole my money. They changed it completely and made it such a waist of money. Do not go to this one save your money !

Larry Licata

Cute trolly musuem. If you can work the timing right. Ride the 2 trollys that are in service. The fire musuem is small but cool.

Mark Raymond

Historical place, lots of old trolley cars and buildings, guides provide background and historical information. Very cool place for Halloween.

Matthew F

If you love trolleys, streetcars, and history, I highly recommend checking this out! I really enjoyed the trolley rides!

Thomas Blakely

Delightful indoor and outdoor exhibits, rides on multiple trolleys, climb aboard many of the stationary cars. A window on a previous era bringing history to life. Fun for railroad buffs and kids of all ages.

Markus Pfotzer

Interesting museum. They also offer a ride in an actual oldtimer trolley.

Kenny n Melissa Kaplan

The people here are so nice. Love riding the trollies. They let my two year old stomp to ring on the bell!

Stephanie Charette

We went for the Christmas light festival. Our train conductor was awesome but there were barely any lights on display and other passengers on the train were rude

Kevin McCandlish

A perennial favorite but could use some sprucing up.

Jodi MacRae

Great for young and older kids.

Santhosh G

We drove from Boston just to experience the Festival of Lights in Christmas season 2018. Turned out to be big disappointment and quite boring night. They had both open and closed trolleys which is a relief. The actual content is a huge disappointment at least for adults. It is around a 3 mile ride on trolley but none of the lights were attractive. There were very few lights and not well organized, I felt the lightings of nearby houses were more amazing than this. Not worth the money and time.

Melissa Waxman

Nice exhibit of trolley cars and the trolley ride.

Seth Besselsen

Amazing fun. Great bit of history that gets overlooked.

travis martinez

Nice fun place

Joseph Adams

I am a trolley buff. Place run down. Limited number of trolleys. Will not revisit.

Dat MoFo

Great place for children.

Kelly Hunt

We always have fun going here, wether it's the rails to the dark side, the festival of lights, or just everyday business! Theybhave very reasonable prices too!

Jessica Hamilton

We had such a fun time riding the trollies! Always a great experience!

Jeff Chase

My son loves trains, and this was perfect. Very affordable, unlimited trolley rides with a rotating selection of trolleys each day, plenty of places for the little ones to run around and have fun or for the bigger ones who appreciate rail history.

Irving Valentine

Good Place to visit, whether you're a rail fan or not it is the place to go to see old trains from the past.

josh mattice

Good times great price. This place is run by volunteers who take great pride in the work and maintenance at this museum. Ride working trolleys as much as you like. Also visit the fire equipment museum (included with admission)

Bruce Thompson

Very interesting collection of historical trolleys. Went to their Christmas lights show. Worth seeing

Shanna LaBarre

Old but fun. Very interesting.

Laura Milvae

Love the events they put on. A little run down looking but so fun.

Rebecca Radcliffe

Had a great evening with my family experiencing the tunnel of lights.

Michael Laferriere

Oldest trolley museum in the US. Lots of fun here and special events throughout the year. If you live within driving distance I recommend a seasons pass as you will want to come back!

Carlos Branco

Great place to bring young children and babies. Their Fall Pumpkin picking is very sweet for kids, and will leave you with great memories. It's fun to relive the gone-by days of these trolleys. I saw lots of grandparents bring their young ones, and some coming to relive memories without kids. It's an incredible place, considering it's all run by volunteers.

Patricio Morales

Awesome ride on the trolley

James Searles

Great place to take kids, nice people and a delightful trolly ride

Monique Caye

Great place to take your kids

Michelle Williams

Kids enjoyed the ride on the Trolley!

Nicholas Cerruto

Great time went to winterfest and had a ball!

Thomas Loubier

Great place for children & grandchildren!

Dave Tedder

Decent for filling those 2-3 hour blocks of time for young children. Trolley rides were great for my toddler. I enjoyed the fire engines, could have spent and hour checking them out.

patrick miers

Cool history

Arnold T

Best Trolley experience. You actually go for a ride with one for a few miles. Great collection of fire trucks. Great for kids. Relaxing for grownups.

Gerri Moniz

Fun place to take a little trolley ride. Interesting to see the old trolleys and the staff is knowledgeable.

Luis Rodriguez

We have a great experience. Nice friendly people. Well know the History of trolley. We enjoy the ride and the grandkids love it!!! Kids color and make Coductor Hat

Eileen Canny

Great place, superb staff!!! Always lots of fun

Diane Allen

Loved the winter wonderland, and trolley rides

Gari Auretta

Fun ride and great history

Richard Graczyk

Great place to go to. Love this place during Halloween. Must go there!

John Hillis

Great place

Eric Hoffman

The review by "anonymous" is a typical knee-jerk review by an individual who clearly has no idea what they are talking about, and has no appreciation for the time and effort people put into businesses, particularly businesses such as this, which depend on volunteers and nearly always run at a loss. I'm proud to review this excellent business, and to affix my actual name to the review. The folks at CT Trolley Museum do a fantastic job. The trolleys always run on time, the drivers are informative and polite, the building and grounds are always clean and immaculate (seriously - a scrap yard? There's carcasses of old machines laying around, yes, but nearly all of them are out of sight and many of them are kept on hand as part of their triumphantly wonderful Halloween fright fest). There's a fire engine museum on the premise, for those who love fire engines, and an amazing number of vintage trolleys, including the streetcar named Desire, direct from New Orleans. Yes, it's the actual trolley! Their Christmas festivities are also top notch, with plenty of Christmas lights, layouts, and fun activities for kids, including a visit from Santa. We've been visiting CT Trolley Museum for nearly a decade now, my kids love it, I love it, my wife loves it, everybody I know loves it. "Anonymous" is entitled to his/her opinion, but it's wrong (I wonder if he/she has an axe to grind?). This is an amazing museum, and one of the best places to go in CT if you love trains, trolleys, or just looking for a relaxing ride on the rails. 5 stars!

James Davis

Stopped by here to take a step back in time, really enjoyed my visit, I will be doing it again!

shmyla siddiqui

If your child likes trains and fire engines as much as mine does expect to be here for at least two hours! Went today for the pumpkin patch event and we loved it! Staff there were nice and made sure we enjoyed the trolly ride. We will definitely make this a yearly tradition now.

Diana Stone

Nice folks run the trolleys. There are 6 different trolleys that they bring out to ride in. There are a lot of family friendly activities.

Joanna kranz

Tooked our children here when they were little some years ago. We all liked it. Enjoyed the train ride and looking at the trains.

Wendy Blevin

We had a great day here

Tony Alfonzo

Was not worth the 2 1/2 Hour drive there

Leah Pound

We have gone to both the Pumpkin Patch and winterfest - such a perfect outing for our toddler! Would highly recommend to anyone.

Caroline Beltre

Had a wonderful time. The trains and trollies are beautiful.

durakingdiesel

I really hoped from my child hood to now 20 or so years later that they would have expanded the line or made the museum a little more interactive. Cool stuff there and the fire museum is really cool as there's more to look at.

x x

We loved the haunted attraction! Very long and fun, the decor was great. Worth the money for sure!

Amanda Zhou

graet place to visit. We enjoyed the ride very much.

Thomas Regan-Lefebvre

Very entertaining

Efrain Lopez

If you enjoy a bit of history and like trains, this is the place to visit. I took my family there and we had an awesome experience. This place has actual old trains and a section with firetrucks. My kids had a wonderful blast. Oh, they even have a dress up section. Really Cool place.