Terrible Trolley from 80s acquired by Pennsylvania Trolley Museum
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- For over 100 years, Pittsburgh's trolleys have served as a practical and central means of transportation throughout the city. But if you were around in the 80s, you may remember a trolley car that was more than just a ride Downtown.
Now it's going to be a piece of history.
In 1980, one trolley car stood out from the rest. Pittsburgh Area Transit 1713, AKA the Terrible Trolley, was not Pittsburgh's average trolley car.
"It has the Steelers logo on the side. What I think is kind of cool, it has the four Super Bowls and it has the players' numbers along the top, along each side of the car," said Scott Becker, the executive director of the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum.
Becker said the idea came to be when 9-year-old Kim Sever wrote to Mayor Richard Caliguiri in January 1980 suggesting that they paint a trolley to honor the Steelers.
"My grandmother who I lived with at the time was really into letter writing," said Sever. "And so I brought this idea of the Terrible Trolley to her and she said, 'Well, write a letter to the mayor about it, maybe they'll do it.'"
Shortly after receiving Sever's letter, Mayor Caliguiri wrote back, saying he would forward her idea to the Port Authority. Seven days later, the Port Authority filed a document greenlighting the Terrible Trolley.
That year, the Terrible Trolley ran every day until it was retired for good in 1998 and later sold to a collector in Ohio. There it remained in storage for over 20 years up until Wednesday, when the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum in Washington received a special delivery.
"We got the first phase of our terrible trolley project accomplished which is the acquisition phase. We moved the car from Ashley, Ohio, to Washington, Pennsylvania," Becker said.
Becker said they're going to accurately repaint it to 1980 so it'll have four Super Bowls on it instead of six.
"We got permission from the Steelers, the Eamon Foundation, which owns the rights to the Terrible Towel since this is called the Terrible Trolley and also the NFL," Becker said.
And for the 9-year-old from the 80s who generated this?
"I love the idea that I'm provable, verified responsible for the existence of the terrible trolley. It makes me happy," she said.
