Capital Transit Company 1934 Pass

The Capital Transit Company was famous for the colorful weekly transit passes they issued. Each pass featured an elaborate illustration on the front that reflected the season (and any applicable holiday) occurring when the pass was valid. Thanksgiving was no exception; this turkey-themed 1934 pass, valid on street car lines within the District, expired 86 years ago today, just a few days before thanksgiving. This pass is representative of thousands that the museum holds in the Mills Dean III Library.

We wish everyone a safe and happy thanksgiving.

Story time: Spaceships!

 Join us for story time with Ms. Lipson! Click the image below to view the video and download the activity.

Remembering the last day of street cars

This photo (left) of DC Transit 1101 at the Peace Monument on the last day of street cars has been a favorite among our visitors and social media followers, and remains one of the most iconic images from that historic day. NCTM Member and Trustee Thomas Petersen recently paid a visit to the site and took the picture on right, which we matched up with the original image taken almost 59 years ago.

This January will mark the 59th anniversary of the end of street car service in Washington. Although it is highly unlikely that we will be open at that time, we will publish several commemorative activities on our TrolleyTime Blog (trolleytime.blogspot.com) to mark the occasion.

TrolleyTime will return this Thursday with story time videos and activities for the kids!

Artifact Showcase: Capital Transit Company Bus Rollsign

 Capital Transit Company Bus Rollsign

Click to enlarge images.

This week we're featuring a rollsign from a 1940s Capital Transit bus (the Capital Transit Company operated a large fleet of buses in addition to the traditional electric street cars.) This particular linen rollsign was made by the Hunter Illuminated Car Sign Company, in Flushing, New York, and is dated August 27, 1947, as shown in the image above. A feature of transit vehicles for decades, traditional rollsigns are largely obsolete now, with digital electronic technology replacing the old material rollsigns in virtually all modern public transit. This particular sign features 20 exposures for destinations in and around the DC area, a few of which are shown here, and likely came out of a bus built by the White Motor Company in the late 1940s.

The NCTM Mills Dean III Collections Library holds dozens of historic rollsigns similar to this one, including multiple from street cars - stay tuned for a future edition of TrolleyTime when we feature rollsigns from the museum's collection.

For more information on this rollsign and a view of all 20 exposures on an identical one, we invite you to visit rollsigngallery.com (click HERE.)

The rollsign shown is held in a private collection. Our thanks to Joseph Chemerys / RollsignGallery.com for assistance with this brief article.

Land Transportation Word Search

 NCTM Director of Education Karen Lipson has made another word search for the trolley and transportation enthusiast. Feel free to download and share if you feel up to a challenge.

Click here to download.