The museum was incorporated on August 13, 1945, as the nonprofit Branford Electric Railway Association (BERA), dedicated to both the preservation of streetcars and the opening and operation of a museum railroad. Its first streetcar was donated by the
Five Mile Beach Electric Railway in New Jersey. The
Connecticut Company (or ConnCo), which operated most of the streetcar lines in the state of Connecticut, had been making plans since the early 1930s to abandon its "F" route, cutting it back in stages from its long-time terminus of
Stony Creek until by April 1946 it ended in front of the post office in
Short Beach, its original terminus when the line was opened for service on 31 July 1900. Ahead of the Connecticut Company's impending replacement of its remaining streetcar operations with buses, the BERA formed an agreement to purchase up to 14 of the company's streetcars then operating on routes in
New Haven. The BERA assumed ownership and operation of the approximately line from
East Haven to Short Beach on March 9, 1947, after the Connecticut Company ran its final streetcars on March 8. The association claimed approximately 150 members when it began operations. On startup, the museum gained four streetcars provided by the Connecticut Company along with three cars donated by the
IRT Third Avenue Line of New York City. As no storage facilities existed on the museum grounds yet, the Connecticut Company agreed to store the museum's equipment in their facilities until the museum was able to complete its own car barn. Greenaway described the need for the museum upon opening by stating "It won't be long before [streetcars] won't run anywhere". The Connecticut Company ended all remaining New Haven streetcar service in 1948. The line started out as
double track but one of the tracks was torn up and sold for
scrap to raise money. Eventually 20-year bonds were issued by the museum and its fortunes improved. By 1949, the BERA counted approximately 1,000 members and 35 preserved streetcars. 40 percent of the museum's collection was donated directly by streetcar operators for preservation in light of the widespread retirement of streetcars nationally at the time. An article by
King Features Syndicate reported that BERA's ultimate goal was "to own one of each trolley type made, recondition them and have all running as well as they did the day they stopped to pick up first fares". In 1957 a new visitor center, named for traction pioneer
Frank Julian Sprague and known as Sprague Station, was built out of brick at the East Haven end of the line with help from funds donated by his widow. Over the intervening years, BERA's collection has grown to become the third largest collection of electric railway equipment in North America, with a focus on equipment from
Connecticut and
New York City. It operates a variety of streetcars, rapid transit cars and work cars throughout the year. BERA currently does business as the Shore Line Trolley Museum which is run almost entirely by volunteers. Antique equipment is repaired and restored at the museum. The museum, including its line and equipment, were added to the
National Register of Historic Places in 1983 as the Branford Electric Railway Historic District. 220, the oldest operating streetcar in the United States In August 2011,
Hurricane Irene caused the worst flooding in the museum's history, with water up to 2 feet deep covering the grounds and almost 90 streetcars damaged. The damaged portion of the streetcar line returned to operation in May 2012, while repair of streetcars continued. The collection also includes a small number of
"trackless trolleys" (trolley buses) and
motor buses (diesel- or gasoline-powered buses). In fall 2008, construction was started on a short trolley bus line, to allow the museum's trolley buses to operate. The line is a loop about long, with a branch into the maintenance and storage building. Regular operation – proposed to take place about once a month – has not yet begun (as of 2023), because the vehicles need more work (such as painting) before they are considered ready for public rides. The Shore Line Museum also owns two other trolley buses: Ex-
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (
Boston-area) 4037 is a 1976
Flyer E800 which the museum acquired in 2009 and which was able to operate at the museum at that time; it is not operational as of 2023 but is expected to become serviceable again eventually. The other trolley bus is ex-Philadelphia 210, which is identical to No. 205 (and was acquired at the same time) and is being used only as a source of parts. ==Highlights of the collection==