It's been more than 50 years since the Canonsburg Train Station has welcomed visitors from excursion trains, but it will happen again Aug. 7 when the historic station becomes a stop for the annual Pennsylvania Trolley Museum train ride.

The train usually picks up passengers from East Main Street in Carnegie, but this year, it will be taking on passengers at 10:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. at the Canonsburg Train Station at 3 Murdock St. The train will follow the Pittsburgh and Ohio Central Railroad to the Trolley Museum in Chartiers.

At the museum, passengers will transfer to trolley cars and be taken to several new trolley display buildings at the Washington County Fairgrounds. Those riding the 10:30 train will be treated to a lunch, while passengers on the afternoon train will be served a dinner buffet.

Riders on the 3 p.m. train will return to the Canonsburg station by 6:30 p.m., just in time for a country music concert in the Canonsburg borough building parking lot.

Excursion trains will be leaving East Main Street in Carnegie Aug. 8, 14 and 15. The trains will use the former Pennsylvania Railroad branch that winds along the Chartiers Creek valley, which has been used as a freight-only line since the 1950s.

The trains will depart from Carnegie on each day at 9 a.m. and arrive at the Trolley Museum, where lunch will be served, along with a tour of the new display buildings. On Aug. 14 and 15, the Washington County Fair will be under way, and passengers will get to spend time at the fair before returning to Carnegie at 3 p.m.

According to Trolley Museum Executive Director Scott Becker, this year's train will be a classic 1950s streamliner, with air conditioning, carpeted floors, reclining seats and picture windows.

Becker said it would be reminiscent of the Broadway Limited or Superchief, both famous diesel trains from the 1950s.

"Quite frankly, it's one of the nicest excursion trains you'll see in the country," he said.

Reservations are required for the train rides and are limited. The costs for the Aug. 8, 14 and 15 train rides are $40 for adults and $35 for children (age 2 -15), and includes the train ride, lunch, admission to the Trolley Museum and fair Aug. 14 and 15. Costs for the Aug. 7 train ride are $30 per adult and $25 for children and include train ride, trolley ride and catered lunch or dinner. Detailed maps of each train station will be included with the tickets, Becker said.

To make reservations, call the Trolley Museum at 724-228-9256 or visit the museum's Web site at www.pa-trolley.org.