SHELBURNE FALLS — Trolley no. 10 rolled slowly out from the shadows of the barn and into the blazing sunlight, creaking and squealing along the steel tracks.
The conductor, wearing a black vest and cap with gold trim, pulled the trolley to a halt and stepped down beside the tracks. Cupping his hand around his mouth, he bellowed “All aboard!”
Young children, adults and elderly alike gathered round to board the trolley for what was to be its maiden voyage out from the new trolley car barn at Shelburne Falls Trolley Museum.
The new barn was dedicated during the 17th annual Trolleyfest held Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Sam Bartlett, president of the Trolley Museum, led the barn’s opening ceremony at 11 a.m. He described six years of planning — deciding where the barn would be, what it should look like and how to fund its construction. The barn, he said, was the vision of his late father, David Bartlett, one of the museum’s founding directors.
David Bartlett had seen many fires at museums and railroad yards where wooden buildings burned to the ground, taking precious, historic trolleys with them.
“He proposed a fireproof building,” Sam Bartlett said. The new building, made of metal, is fire-resistant, and will be a great home for trolley no. 10, which is 120 years old, Bartlett said.
In addition, it will give the museum a nice, enclosed space in which to restore other trolleys to their former glory.
Bartlett said the barn’s construction would not have been possible without the help of volunteers.
“We did use contractors for some of the work,” he said. “But we did have a ton of volunteers. We’ve had anywhere from teenagers to 80-year-olds working on this building.”
Volunteers were responsible for installing windows and the track. Civil engineering students from the University of Massachusetts assisted with the design, and Franklin County Technical School students wired the building, making its construction a community effort.
Additionally, funding for the $130,000 building came from five different grants and numerous individual donations.
Though spectators young and old filtered in and out of the museum grounds throughout the day, Bartlett was pleased with the turnout, estimating that 100 people were present at noon.
“We could be well on our way to a record,” Bartlett said, adding that Trolleyfest typically sees anywhere from 50 to several hundred spectators.
Bartlett believes the old-fashioned displays and rides on trolleys, pump cars and cabooses attract participants.
“I think it’s traveling back in time,” Bartlett said. “It’s giving people a chance to see what things were like 100 years ago, right here in Shelburne Falls.”
The festival featured weaving and cider, butter and toolmaking demonstrations, harkening back to the days when the trolleys transported milk, apple cider and textiles.
“I think it’s fun for kids to think about, that that used to be an industry,” said Suzanne Taylor, a Trolley Museum volunteer who operated the butter making demonstration.
There was also a wooden cow with functional rubber utters that children could learn to milk.
Janet Tolg, 75, of Greenfield attended Trolleyfest for the first time because of her love for trains and trolleys. She enjoyed participating in weaving and reading “The Little Yellow Trolley Car.”
“It’s a great event for kids,” Janet Tolg added.
Her husband Tom, 75, enjoyed the blacksmithing display and admiring the craftsmanship in the trolleys’ design.
“I was impressed by how they restored the trolley,” Tom Tolg said. “They’ve done beautiful work.”
Bartlett explained that there are two kinds of people in Shelburne Falls: people whose grandparents grew up riding the trolley to school, and people who aren’t familiar with the trolleys at all.
“This is a way for everyone to become familiar with them,” he said, adding that through Trolleyfest and the Trolley Museum, everyone from Shelburne Falls can connect with the town’s past.