THE TROLLEY TO THE FAIRGROUNDS.

The Pennsylvania Trolley Museum in Washington, Pennsylvania, south of Pittsburgh, are close enough to the county fair grounds to provide a park and ride service in the traditional manner.

People rode to all sorts of recreational activities. Trolley companies even constructed amusement parks along or at the ends of trolley lines. One of the first trolley parks in Pennsylvania was Kennywood constructed in 1899 by the Monongahela Street Railway Company. There are only eleven trolley parks still in operation in the United States and four of those are in Pennsylvania: Lakemont Park in Altoona, Dorney Park in Allentown, Kennywood in West Mifflin, and Waldameer Park in Erie.

The trolleys and the county fairs had traditional ties as well.

The Washington County Agricultural Fair has a storied history that began well before streetcars came along. However, it was in the streetcar era that the fair really began to see success. They found their permanent home, saw increased participation, and increased attendance. From the beginning of the trolley era, riding the streetcar to the Fair has been a big part of the experience. Pittsburgh Railways Company (PRC) ran service to Arden, a simple two minute walk from the Fair. Trolley service to the Fair ran from 1911 when the Fair moved to its current location until the interurban service from Pittsburgh to Washington ended in August of 1953. By then, the trolley era had been in a steep decline. As soon as February of the following year, the founders of the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum had purchased a portion of the abandoned PRC track. Both the Museum and the Fair have grown and changed over time, but the tradition of riding the trolley to the Fair has somehow managed to survive.

The trolley ride adds some play value to the fair visit.  Alas, this weekend's destination, the Winnebago County Fair in Pecatonica, Illinois, no longer has rail service.

The gravel path is the former Galena and Chicago Union, later Chicago and North Western, that got as close to Galena as Freeport.  If the fair was established early enough, the Rockford and Interurban would also have transited the grounds here.  Alas, it's only motor cars these days, although perhaps some locals can ride in on a horse.

There are still a few weeks of summer.  Find yourself a county fair, or a preservation railway, and go to it.  Oktoberfest season is also under way.