The York Railways car #163 mentioned in my previous post was a trolley, a summer home and then a trolley again. Doris McClane sent in a picture of the trolley when it was enclosed as a summer home on the Little Conewago Creek in East Manchester Township.
Morris Harbaugh, McClane’s grandfather, bought the trolley-turned-bungalow in 1947. It sat with three other trolleys as summer homes along a tight bend in the creek. (link to Google map of the location). Trolleys that weren’t burned after the York Railways Company ceased operation in 1939 took on other uses, like homes and billboards.
Harbaugh willed the trolley summer home to his daughters Helen Emig and Rose Shirey, who at age 95 is a resident of Manor Care North. Shirey’s husband Roy enlarged the summer home by adding porches and a bathroom. The trolley by itself was large enough to hold two double beds, a china closet, table and chairs.
McClane remembers climbing up inside the trolley-turned-summer-home and rolling over the sign that listed the trolley’s destinations. She specifically remembers, “East York�
For many years the family enjoyed the summer home. One rainy, dreary night in 1972, McClane remembers deciding not to stay the night. By the next day, Hurricane Agnes had swept away the porches and gutted the trolley home, pulling it from its foundation. It was at this point that the Rockhill Trolley Museum took ownership and restored it.
Rose Shirey had the opportunity to see her former summer home, restored as a working trolley, make its maiden ride in 1989 at the Rockhill Trolley Museum.
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