Trolley Restoration was a documentary photographed from 1998 to 2000. It focused on the efforts of the Brooklyn Historic Railway Association (BHRA) to build a ¾ mile heritage trolley line along the Red Hook waterfront.
The imagery focuses on the assistant trackmen, a wire lineman, welders, and voluntary artisans who worked laboriously to restore the vintage Presidents’ Conference Committee (PCC) Streamliner trolley cars. Building a railroad from scratch, artisans are seen prepping the trolley, painting, and restoring the exterior details. Images depict assistant trackmen moving track, preparing track foundations, blocking out rail beads, pouring cement, and securing track foundations. The BHRA’s president Bob Diamond, worked tirelessly with Greg Castillo to extend a half-mile of track along the Brooklyn waterfront. Together they bent and cut track, oversaw the work by the assistant trackmen and expert artisan volunteers.
I can faintly recall riding aboard the Electric Railway in Red Hook. I invite you to page through this story so that you too will feel the rock and sway of historical trolleys.