Valley Girl Views: When Danville Had A Trolley

The first car of D&B left Bloomsburg Oct. 3, 1904, for Danville.

Two trolley lines opened in Danville during 1903: the Danville- Bloomsburg Trolley and the Danville-Riverside Trolley. Both ceased operation by 1926. A third line, the Danville & Sunbury line, ended on December 31st 1924.

In October of 1906, the Danville Morning news reported that the trolley had carried 2,000 passengers to the Bloomsburg Fair, on Thursday Oct 11th.

The D&S reportedly carried 185,357 passengers in 1913, the peak year of trolley travel in Danville.

According to Danville historian Sis Hause, D & B (Danville and Bloomsburg Street Railway Co.) trolley tracks left Bloomsburg and followed Old Bloom Road, went over a trestle at Twin Hills and entered Danville in Mahoning Township, following Bloom Street to A Street where the underpass was built under the Reading Railroad tracks. The trolley continued on Walnut Street to Mill Street where it stopped at the DL&W railroad tracks since it couldn’t cross due to a court injunction. Passengers left the car, walked across the tracks and got onto a different car to continue their trip, she said. D&B got involved with another trolley company in the area – D&S from Riverside which also had tracks in Danville in the south and east end of town.

The Trolley in 1920

"Charted on September 7, 1903 as the Danville and Bloomsburg Street Railway Company, its first run was made on October 3, 1904. The trolley left Bloomsburg at 8:20 pm and reached Danville almost three hours later, at 11:00 pm. This rather leisurely trip was a celebration of the trolley’s inaugural run, and was soon replaced by hourly service. The Trolley’s last run took place on March 2, 1926 at 11:00 pm, the trolley killed off in large part by the automobile. After that year, the tracks came up and the trolley was gone. Cost of construction and equipment for the Company was capitalized at $465,000.00"

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THE BRIDGE

BETWEEN DANVILLE & RIVERSIDE

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Trolley on the new river bridge, Danville Pa

In September of 1903 the Danville and Riverside Street Railway Company received permission to operate an "electric street passenger railway" [trolley] "upon and over certain streets in Danville".

Trolley on the bridge between Danville and Riverside, about 1908

Car #10 of the Danville And Sunbury Street Railway, on the end of Mill Street by the bridge, July 4th 1905. The trolley was making it's very fist run to Riverside Park.

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THE A STREET

UNDERPASS

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Workmen use wheelbarrows to excavate under the Reading Railroad tracks at A Street in this photograph from 1904. The underpass was constructed to allow the tracks of the Danville and Bloomsburg trolley to pass underneath.

Here the trolley is shown under the completed underpass

Another view of the trolley under the underpass, about 1921.

In 2010, when natural gas lines were being upgraded along Bloom street, a piece of trolley track was unearthed. The steel track was found about 8 inches below ground, encased in concrete. The section was estimated to be 2 feet long

1907 Time Table for the D&B trolley

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THE TWIN HILLS
TRESTLE

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Danville & Bloomsburg Trolley At Twin Hills

The Twin Hills trestle, between Bloomsburg and Danville

Located approximately a mile and a half from Grovania.

Another view of the Twin Hills Trestle

The D&B line was 10 miles long, beginning near the intersection of Upper Mulberry and Bloom Streets, then running east to Walnut, North up A street to Bloom street, and it paralleled the old Boom Road into Bloomsburg.

The trestle was 21 feet high and "upwards of 200 feet long".

"By thus bridging the hollow between the Twin Hills, a very ugly grade is obviated and the line between Danville and Bloomsburg made a comparatively easy one."

1911 Map showing the location of Grovania

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SNOW NEAR GROVANIA

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Snow on the tracks, near Grovenia PA.

One source labels this photo as 1904.

Danville Morning News, January 28th 1905

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TROLLEY BRIDGE
AT FISHING CREEK

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The Danville Trolley Bridge Crossing Fishing Creek at Bloomsburg

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TROLLEY TRACK VIEWS

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Danville Pa

The center banner reads, in part, "Merchants"

1915, Danville, showing the trolley tracks.

The decorations were for the Grand Opening of Geisinger hospital - but the celebrations were cancelled due to a typhoid outbreak. Read more about that here:

https://susquehannavalley.blogspot.com/2020/03/when-typhoid-outbreak-cancelled-parades.html

Mill street west in Danville, showing trolley tracks

Bloom Street Danville Pa, showing trolley tracks

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Misc Trolley Photos

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"Car 7 was regular warm weather care in latter years, along D&H Avenue in Riverside, about 1915

Crew is" Left, Clyde Shultz, right Ira Baylor. Seated in the car are left Chub Faust and right, Dick Fogal

In January of 1925, the Sunbury and Danville trolley company of Danville asked the Northumberland county commissioners to be freed from their obligation to keep up the bridge across the North Branch at Danville. The company made a similar request to the Danville commissioners. The D&S Company went out of business on December 31 1924, and the Sunbury bus line was expected to take over the trolley's route.

"According to Danville historian Sis Hause, D & B (Danville and Bloomsburg Street Railway Co.) trolley tracks left Bloomsburg and followed Old Bloom Road, went over a trestle at Twin Hills, and entered Danville in Mahoning Township, following Bloom Street to A Street where the underpass was built under the Reading Railroad tracks. The trolley continued on Walnut Street to Mill Street where it stopped at the DL&W railroad tracks since it couldn’t cross due to a court injunction. Passengers left the car, walked across the tracks, and got onto a different car to continue their trip, she said. D&B got involved with another trolley company in the area – D&S from Riverside which also had tracks in Danville in the south and east end of town."

The Danville and Bloomsburg Street Railway Company was chartered on September 1, 1903 and capitalized at $36,000. It took 13 months to build. The first trolley car left Bloom on October 3, 1904. Frank C. Angle and Charles Hancock of Danville were among the entrepreneurs who financed it.

The company had a dispute with the D.L. & W. Railroad about crossing their train tracks on Mill Street. The issue was settled in the courts and the D & B lost the case and were forced to have their trolley tracks end near Lower Mulberry Street where their passengers would leave their car and cross the train tracks to board the Danville and Sunbury trolley cars if they were traveling further than Mill Street.

The D&S route was Mill, E. Market and crossed the bridge into Riverside.

The underpass on A Street avoided that issue with the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad that crossed Bloom St. at Church St.

The last D&B car departed from Danville at 11p.m. on March 2, 1926 at 11p.m. with 9 passengers.