For Immediate Release                                                                                                                    Contact

December 23, 2008                                                                                                                               John Haigis (610) 583-0788

Christmas Eve Day Trolley Ride and Carol Sing Celebrates the 150th Anniversary of our Oldest Trolley Line

Wednesday , December 24,

11:00 AM to 3:00 PM

To celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the first streetcars to connect Philadelphia with DelawareCounty, and celebrate our region's oldest surviving trolley line, a Christmas Eve Day Trolley Ride and Carol Sing will take place on Wednesday, December 24, 2008. "Christmas Eve is the actual 150th Anniversary of the date the first streetcars reached the Blue Bell Inn on Cobbs Creek from Philadelphia" said  John Haigis, local historian and part of the duo Past Times Present.   "Like the Rt. 11 Subway-Surface (Green Line) does today, streetcars drawn by horses traveled down Woodland Avenue to 9th and Main in Darby over pretty much the same route for the past 150 years..  Woodland Avenue was the main stagecoach road between Philadelphia and the southern colonies and everyone from Washington traveling to and from the Battle of Brandywine, to Rochambeau's Army  marching to Yorktown, to Washington traveling to New York for the first inaugural used that route. "

JOIN US as we celebrate this important milestone.

Schedule

11:00 AM - Gather at Darby TransportationCenter,

9th and Main, Darby to Ride the Rt. 11 trolley into Philadelphia

(Cost is $2.00 into CenterCity, $1.45 with a token)

Noon   Carol Singing in City Hall Courtyard

(East Portal, outside VisitorCenter)

1:00 PM Return to Darby on Rt. 11 for Historic Tour

(Cost is $2.00 to ride $1.45 with a token)

2:00 PM Reception at Darby Library, 1001 Main St, Darby

(America's oldest public library, founded 1743

(All events, except as noted, are free

Local Artist Ted Manchour painting the Trolley Mural at the Darby Transportation Center

For information, call (610) 583-0788 or visit  www.TimeTravelTrolleys.com