Members of Anthracite Trolleys, Inc. stand with Wilkes-Barre trolley car 790 recently at Baut Studios in Swoyersville. The group is continuing with restoration of the car, which was the dream of Conrad Baut, a founding member of the group who died in 2022. From left are Baut’s twin sons, James and Peter Baut; and on the other side of the car, Emil Augustine, Tom Musso and Frank Paczewski.
Roger DuPuis | Times Leader
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Peter Baut is seen inside the stripped-down shell of Wilkes-Barre trolley 790, discussing the extent of work which will be required for restoration.
Roger DuPuis | Times Leader
Peter Baut shows off relics from the Wilkes-Barre trolley network: A metal Nanticoke route sign which would have been displayed on the front ends of the cars, and a framed notice prohibing spitting in multiple languages.
Roger DuPuis | Times Leader
Peter Baut talks about a vintage color photo of Wilkes-Barre trolley 790 as it looked when in service prior to the end of the system in 1950.
Roger DuPuis | Times Leader
Anthracite Trolleys, Inc. President Conrad Baut welcomes about 75 people to ‘Trolley Fare for Car 790’ at Baut Studios in Swoyersville in 2019. Baut died in 2022. His sons and members of Anthracite Trolleys have vowed to continue work on restoring Car 790, believed to be the last surviving trolley from the Wilkes-Barre system.
Times Leader file photo
Peter Baut, right, and James Baut talk about their late father, Conrad Baut, during an interview at The Baut Studios in Swoyersville. On the table is a model of Wilkes-Barre trolley car 790, the last surviving streetcar from the system, which closed in 1950, and which Conrad Baut worked to rescue and restore. ‘We realized that the trolley was an important thing for my father,’ said Peter Baut. He and his brother are working with volunteers from Anthracite Trolleys, the group their dad co-founded, to keep the restoration project moving.
Roger DuPuis | Times Leader
Vincent Shea of Bieber Dustless Blasting removes old paint and rust from Wilkes-Barre trolley 790 on July 3, 2019.
Times Leader file photo
SWOYERSVILLE — Conrad Baut had a dream.
Over 30 years ago he was biking around Mill Road near Perrins Marsh in Franklin Township when he saw the ends of a trolley car poking out from an otherwise ordinary cottage.
“I was just fascinated,” said Baut, who had a long interest in rail transportation, going back to childhood encounters with model trains. From that time on, he had a dream that someday the trolley could be removed and restored.
Baut did see an important part of that dream realized.
Believed to be the last Wilkes-Barre trolley in existence, Car 790 was finally extricated from the site in 2019 and moved to the shop at The Baut Studios, his family’s business that specializes in ecclesiastical art.
Work got underway, and Baut was a major force behind a volunteer nonprofit group called Anthracite Trolleys Inc., which was raising money for the project.
In the summer of 2022, Baut died suddenly at the age of 62.
His twin sons, Peter and James, have stepped up into leadership of the family business.
Together with fellow members of Anthracite Trolleys Inc., they’re also stepping up to keep the trolley restoration project in the public eye and moving ahead.
“We realized that the trolley was an important thing for my father,” Peter Baut said, a note of wistfulness in his voice as he held up one of the trolley models from his dad’s collection during a conversation around the conference room at Baut Studios with his brother James and three members of Anthracite Trolleys: Emil Augustine, Tom Musso and Frank Paczewski.
Two founders lost
Conrad Baut’s passing was followed one year later by the passing of Rev. Jim Wert, 94, a fellow member of the group who had been instrumental in getting the nonprofit organized for the major task of rescuing the trolley from the Perrins Marsh cottage.
“They developed a really good friendship that lasted 30 years,” Peter Baut said of his father and Wert. “With no disrespect to anybody else involved, they were the heart of the project in a lot of ways. It started because of their friendship.”
Their deaths were major blows for the project, but members of Anthracite Trolleys also vowed that the work will go on.
“We decided it’s time that we introduce Peter and James and their role, and let people know the project is alive,” Paczewski said. “These two fellas are running the company and they have taken on the challenge to continue the project. They’ve done a lot of manual work on the trolley.”
About the car
A sprawling network of electric trolleys served the Wyoming Valley from 1888 until October 1950, carrying coal miners, railroad and factory workers, office employees, students, shoppers and pleasure seekers along an iron web that radiated out from Public Square as far as Nanticoke, Hanover, Plymouth, Larksville, Edwardsville, much of the West Side, Plains, Dallas, Harveys Lake, Pittston, Avoca, Dupont and as far north as Old Forge in Lackawanna County.
The last two routes, connecting Nanticoke and Hanover Township with Public Square, closed in the early hours of Oct. 15, 1950.
Car 790 was one of 10 constructed for East Penn Railways of Pottsville, in Schuylkill County. Those cars were sold to Wilkes-Barre Railway Co. — later reorganized as Wilkes-Barre Transit and both predecessors of the Luzerne County Transportation Authority — in 1933, where they operated for the next 17 years.
Wilkes-Barre followed the lead of many other cities, with the trolley lines gradually replaced by gas and electric buses. The bodies of the trolley cars were either scrapped outright or sold for use as cabins, sheds, or diners.
The late Mary and Walter Krakowski, residents of the city’s Rolling Mill Hill section, acquired the body of 790 for use as a cottage near Perrins Marsh, a small lake in the Back Mountain.
There it stayed for nearly 70 years, until Anthracite Trolleys successfully extracted the car four years ago.
Much work to be done
The good news for 790 was that the Krakowskis built a roof over it and a home around it, so much of the body was protected from the elements, especially its roof. Once extracted, original red, yellow and silver paint from its working days could still be seen in some spots. Even the cloth destination signs remained intact in the front windows.
But much also was missing. The seats, controllers, motors, trucks (wheels and axles), and other electrical equipment are long gone.
The group has access to many replacement components, which will come in handy once the body work is done. That work is expected to be extensive, however.
During a recent visit, the Baut brothers and members of the group showed off the car in its current state. The exterior is looking better than it had thanks to sandblasting by Bieber Dustless Blasting of Wilkes-Barre. Work on replacing body panels and frame members has been ongoing, but much still has to be done.
Most challenging, perhaps, the floor has had to be completely disassembled as part of efforts to make the car structurally sound once again.
The plan ultimately is to restore the car to running condition so it can operate over the line at the Electric City Trolley Museum in Lackawanna County, but Anthracite Trolleys has to restore it themselves first.
“We just have to get all the work done here,” Peter Baut said. “And that is a lot of steel work, a lot of paint work, woodwork and carpentry. And then you have electric, hydraulics, all of that.”
How to help
The group has been fortunate in securing donations of materials and work, and information from other trolley restoration groups, but they are always looking for more volunteers.
Originally projected to cost $300,000, the work is expected to run to $500,000 or more — not uncommon on a project of this kind.
They’re hoping to organize some fundraisers in the coming year, and attract more volunteers to the project. Meetings are typically held monthly at Baut Studios.
One of the key goals is to plan a special event for September 2024, when they’ll celebrate the trolley’s 100th birthday.
For more information on the group and how to help, visit https://www.facebook.com/anthracitetrolleys or https://anthracitetrolleys.business.site/.
More about Car 790
Times Leader stories
• Group aims to rescue, restore Wilkes-Barre’s last trolley – 9/22/18
• Events spotlight group’s effort to save Wilkes-Barre trolley – 3/4/19
• Wilkes-Barre trolley history on display at first of two events – 3/16/19
• New home for Wilkes-Barre’s last trolley – 7/2/19
• Wilkes-Barre company puts new technology to work restoring old trolley – 7/3/19
• Retired Wilkes University professor visits trolley restoration project – 7/27/19
• Crowd turns out for trolley restoration fundraiser – 10/12/19
• Conrad Baut dies at 62 – 7/19/22
• Baut’s untimely passing a loss for the entire region – 7/20/22
External sites
• Railpace Newsmagazine: Streetcar 790 Progress Report – 10/27/21
• JPVideos: The Trolley House – Trolley 790 Restoration Project – 10/28/18
