Connecticut Company #303, #838, #1391 & #1468

Long after open cars had been withdrawn from regular service, the Connecticut Company kept many of them in New Haven to shuttle football fans between the railroad station and the Yale Bowl on game days. Although these cars had a nominal seating capacity of 75, they often carried several times that number standing between the benches and hanging on outside. New Haven streetcar service was discontinued in September of 1948, but the last Yale Bowl open cars ran in the 1947 football season. A number of these cars were made available to museums, among them were Nos. 615, 838, 1391 and 1468.

When the Connecticut Company undertook its equipment donation program in 1948, it also donated nearly two miles of operating rural trolley line between East Haven and Short Beach, Connecticut, for the newly established Branford Electric Railway Association's trolley museum. At the time, New Haven's city system was still residually operational, and there was a physical track and trolley wire connection to the Branford line. This feature enabled Branford to become the first operational trolley museum by purchasing power from the transit company, and donated cars could simply be driven out from New Haven's James Street Carbarn to the museum's property. This benefit was shared with other museums, particularly Seashore. When car donations from the Connecticut Company were being offered far faster than the resources could be mustered to move them to Maine, cars could be run out to Branford and stored for later movement. This support from a sister museum enabled Seashore to save several important cars that would otherwise have been scrapped.

After its service in New Haven, No. 1391 was first preserved by the Boston Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society, and later came to the museum in 1949, after a fire destroyed one of the original Connecticut open cars the museum had received. In 1997, No. 1391 participated in the 100 year celebration of the Boston subway system and was placed on display at Boston's South Station as No. 1572, the first revenue streetcar to pass through the subway.

While No. 615 is preserved at the museum as No. 303, this car never carried such a number while under the ownership of the Connecticut Company. Originally this car was built for the Winchester Avenue Railway as No. 303 in 1901 and carried that number through the ownership of the Fair Haven & Westville Railroad Co. and Consolidated Railways. When Consolidated was taken over by the Connecticut Company in 1907, No. 303 was renumbered to 615.

History from Historic Cars: The National Collection at the Seashore Trolley Museum by Ben Minnich
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