The Connecticut Electric Railway Association, Inc. is the owner and operator of The Connecticut Trolley Museum. Founded in October 1940, it is the nation's oldest incorporated organization dedicated to the preservation of streetcars and the Trolley Era. As a non-profit institution, its educational and historical aim is the establishment of a full size operating street and interurban railroad system with the appropriate accessory equipment and buildings, to recreate an important phase of New England's business and social life from 1890 to 1945. A three mile round trip streetcar ride with an educational narrative is provided to the museum's visitors during their visit.
Dedicated volunteers provide labor for operations, maintenance, and management.
The Association owns over 80 pieces of rolling stock of which approximately half are housed within five storage barns. The collection consists of passenger and freight trolley cars, interurban cars, electric and steam locomotives, freight and passenger cars, cranes and service cars. All major buildings and the Museum's center of operations are located on a 17-acre facility adjacent to State Route 140 in East Windsor. The right of way used is a 3.2-mile portion of what was originally the Warehouse Point to Rockville branch of the Hartford and Springfield Street Railway Company. Void of all track, the property was purchased when the organization was formed in 1940.