Branford Electric Railway Association

For the year ended December 31, 2023, BERA operated the following programs:(i) Curatorial & Exhibits:BERA maintains several collections which preserve the history and heritage of urban and suburban electric street rail. BERA owns 100 unique, antique vintage transit vehicles. In addition, BERAs archives contain over 100,000 photographic images, over 600 books and documents, and nearly 1,000 small artifacts such as tokens, hat badges, and ticket punches. Some highlights of the collections include the oldest existing horse-drawn streetcar (Central Park, NYC ca 1851), a remote post office mail car, a cable car surviving the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, August Belmonts private subway car, one of only two subway cars surviving the Twin Towers attack on Sept 11, 2001, and a vast selection of one-of-a-kind antique and unique street cars from CT, NY, NJ, RI, and Canada.(ii) Repair & Restoration Shop:BERA has an active program of repairing and refurbishing antique equipment. 99% of the repairs and restoration are done in BERAs own shop. BERA has the necessary equipment to make the repairs and restorations from lathes, woodworking tools, and sheet metal equipment to power and steam washers.(iii) Trolley Car Rides &Tours:A standard public program includes a ride on BERAs historical railway on a trolley car, and a tour of some of BERAs collection stored in the car barns. For groups or individuals wishing to visit the museum separate from the general public, charters are available on a year-round basis.BERA allows guests to take the controls and operate some of the vehicles in the collection on specified "Guest Operator" weekends, after receiving instruction from a qualified instructor. (iv) Special Programmatic Events:BERA has several special programmatic events held during the year. These events include a fall festival Pumpkin Patch, visits with Santa and the Easter Bunny, summer programs including a weekly Storytime hour, and various community fairs and events. The museum begins its summer program with Museum in Motion where a select number of specialized vehicles are placed on display and operate during the day. Also, BERA has an annual open house for members only on Members Day where cars of the collection, that are rarely seen or run, are seen and run that day. The museum also initiated a sensory-friendly program during the summer operating program.(v) Education and Internships:The museum has been affiliated with The Railroad Technology Program at Gateway Community College since 2012. This is the only program of its type in New England, and one of only a half dozen of these programs offered in the United States. The museum hosts the practical part of this curriculum where students receive certification in electromechanical, signal and communication, or track build and repair. The majority of the students graduating from this program have gone on to successful careers at Metro North, Amtrak, and CSX Railroad. The museum also hosts college credit internships with Central CT State University, Southern CT State University, and the University of New Haven in curatorial and archive studies, and media and communications. (vi) Volunteer Program:Since its inception in 1945, BERA has been a volunteer-driven organization. There are over 700 current members, many of whom are active volunteers in operating cars, restoration, track and signal work, building maintenance, archive and curatorial maintenance, tour guides and docents, information technology, web design, and administration and clerical duties.