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SWOYERSVILLE — A special event on Saturday will help raise funds for the restoration of a piece of Wyoming Valley history.

“Trolley Fare for Car 790” will be held from Noon to 6 p.m. on the grounds of Baut Studios, 1095 Main St., where the streetcar is being housed and restored.

A celebration ribbon cutting and speakers program will begin at 1 p.m.

Nonprofit group Anthracite Trolleys Inc. was founded to rescue and restore the car, which was built by the J.G. Brill Co. of Philadelphia in 1924.

It was sold off as a summer cottage after the Wilkes-Barre trolley system closed 69 years ago next week, on Oct. 15, 1950. Car 790 was then moved to a site overlooking Perrins Marsh, where it remained until being relocated to Swoyersville this summer.

The event will feature food trucks, music, antique cars, a basket raffle and historic presentations, including by Harrison Wick, an author of a book about the history of trolleys in the Wyoming Valley.

Admission will be $5, with children 12 and under free.

Anyone wishing to help the effort can also send donations to Anthracite Trolleys Inc., 228 Pollock Drive, Pittston, PA 18640.

Plans call for the trolley body to be restored at Baut Studios, after which electrical and mechanical gear will be re-installed with a view toward operating the trolley once again at a museum in Scranton.

Baut has estimated the entire project will take three or four years and cost $300,000, which the group aims to raise through donations.

Car 790 is believed to be the last surviving trolley from a far-flung rail transit system that extended up and down the valley from Nanticoke and Hanover to as far north as Pittston and Old Forge in the early 20th century.

https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/web1_790_trolley.cmyk_-1.jpg.optimal.jpgMervin E. Borgnis | Courtesy Anthracite Trolleys Inc.

A special event on Saturday will help raise funds for the restoration of the last surviving Wilkes-Barre trolley car. Members of nonprofit group Anthracite Trolleys Inc. are seen with Car 790 at Baut Studios in Swoyersville. Front row, left to right: Tom Musso, Sandra Serhan, Joe Brandolino and Emil Augustine. Rear row from left: James Wert and Conrad Baut.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/web1_10-7-2019-trolley-790-1.jpg.optimal.jpgA special event on Saturday will help raise funds for the restoration of the last surviving Wilkes-Barre trolley car. Members of nonprofit group Anthracite Trolleys Inc. are seen with Car 790 at Baut Studios in Swoyersville. Front row, left to right: Tom Musso, Sandra Serhan, Joe Brandolino and Emil Augustine. Rear row from left: James Wert and Conrad Baut. Frank Paczewski | Special to Times Leader

By Roger DuPuis

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