There were two major trolley lines in Sunbury:
The Northumberland County Railway Company
& The Sunbury and Selinsgrove Transit Company
But there were several other companies, including one connected to Thomas Edison's factory.
Trolley's At Cameron Park
The North Side of Market Square just after the trolley line was constructed showing the streets being paved for the first time. This would have been 1891 - when did the trolleys first come to Sunbury?
Trolley tracks on Market Street in Sunbury, looking west toward the edge of Cameron Park. Zion Lutheran Church can be seen on the left, at the southwest corner of 5th and Market.
1908 View looking north from Market Street in Sunbury. The east end of Cameron Park can be seen, along with trolley tracks circling the park. On the left is an advertising sign for the Chestnut Street Opera House. On the opposite side of Market Street is Brosious Brothers clothing store, with the office of the Sunbury Daily newspaper on the building's second floor.
Northumberland County Railway Company
The track for the Sunbury & Northumberland Trolley was laid in April 1890. It was tested for the first time with an "improvised trolley" on Monday April 14th 1890. Another test was made on April 29th, testing it on the bridge.
It ran successfully to Northumberland for the first time in late May.
But on May 27th Car #2 caught in a beam of the bridge and the trolley was broken.
Sunbury & Northumberland Trolley, 1906
Same photo as above in the new s clipping, but with a better view of the trolley shaped sign.
The Sunbury & Selinsgrove Line
The Sunbury and Selinsgrove trolley began operation in December 1907. The line ran from south end of Orange St, in SG, to 2nd St at Cameron Park, in Sunbury, with a stop at Rolling Green Park. Plagued with years of financial difficulties, the trolley line was dismantled in 1934
Only one trolley of this kind - with the unusual center entrance and homemade double truck wheels and vertical wood siding - was said to have been made.
Colorized photo of the trolley shown in the above news clipping
Car 102 of the Selinsgrove Sunbury Railway
October 1951
Car 103
Car 104
At Rolling Green Park
S & S trolleymen assembled in an unknown location.
===============
Trolley Bridges In Sunbury
===============
===========
MISC & Unknown
==========
Sunbury Transit Company
1926
Car 121
Trolley Lights
Trolley Workers On North Front Street
Car 102 of the Selinsgrove Sunbury Railway
October 1951
==============
READ MORE
==============
Susquehanna trolleys Paperback – January 1, 1951
by Gene D Gordon
Fascinating history of the various electric street railways that ran through Northumberland County and the cities of Sunbury and Selinsgrove, PA. The two major streetcar companies were the Northumberland County Railway Com and the Sunbury and Selinsgrove Transit Co. but there were several others, including one connected to Thomas Edison's factory in Sunbury. This informative booklet untangles the confused corporate histories and explains where the lines were built, the services offered and why they failed. Illustrated throughout with black and white photos of the charming trolleys. Includes rosters and maps.
===========================
Traveling on the Trolleys
For about 50 years, trolleys were a popular method of transportation all across the country. The electric street railway companies were backed by power companies and private investors who believed that the demand for trolley service to carry passengers and light cargo would surely be profitable as it was the first form of motorized transit. Those who invested in the trolley lines often created a destination for leisure activities along the line to increase traffic. Among those fair weather destinations in our area were Edgewood Park near Shamokin, Rolling Green Park in Hummels Wharf, and Island Park between Sunbury and Northumberland. Trolley riders could relax and enjoy a variety of outdoor activities, musical entertainment, dancing, and theatre acts. The initial success of the trolleys led to ambitious plans to build a network of lines to link many rural towns throughout the region but the cost of running track and purchasing cars proved to be too costly so service was limited between larger towns along the Susquehanna.
The Sunbury and Northumberland Street Railway Company received its charter on January 25, 1885. Legal concerns regarding the constitutionality of granting such charters caused a lengthy delay and the company waited to begin construction of the 3.2 mile line until the matter was resolved in 1889 by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Construction began in July of that year and Daft Electric Company of New York City was awarded the contract for $120,000. Only $95,000 could be raised in the Sunbury area so P.B. Shaw of Williamsport secured the balance from investors there. Shaw was an associate of Thomas Edison and assisted in raising the capital necessary for the Edison Electrical Illuminating Company of Sunbury several years before. Daft provided the electrical equipment and supervised the construction, purchasing ties and poles locally. Rail for the line came from Johnstown. Workers constructed a power station and car barn on Edison Avenue below Packer Street. Daft failed to complete the project within 90 days as promised and the railway was finally tested on April 17, 1890. One more obstacle needed to be overcome before service could begin. As the cars were being tested during a trial run in late May, they were not able to run on the bridges because of electrical problems. After Daft’s superintendent G.M. Broadmeadows designed new insulators to be used on the spans, all was well. The line was opened for service in July and carried about 800 passengers each day. Passengers were charged a nickel to ride the trolley in Sunbury, six cents to go to Northumberland, or 20 tickets could be purchased for a dollar.
The trolleys were the talk of the town, and the novelty of riding them made business boom for a while but the electric cars had their share of maintenance headaches and service was often interrupted. Derailments were common but the passengers were patient as the car was pushed back onto the track by the motorman and conductor. Trolley service between Sunbury and Northumberland was suspended for two years while repairs were made after the March 1904 ice jam and flood tore out the bridge on the Northumberland side and heavily damaged the one on the Sunbury side. Ferries transported passengers during this time.
The invention of the automobile enabled an independence that eventually made the trolleys obsolete but a need for public transportation still existed in the area. Bus service became available and the trolley between Sunbury and Northumberland made its final run on snowy March 11, 1939.
=======================
April 28th, 1934
Connection of the two local trolley lines on Market square was broken this morning in the same way it was made more than 20 years ago, when a group of city workmen removed a section of rail, 8 feet long, and flagged traffic thereafter on the Sunbury and Selinsgrove road. When the connection was made in 1918 by Sunbury and Selinsgrove employees across Second St. city firemen hurled a barrage of water on failed to prevent the union with the Sunbury and Northumberland line. At 2 o'clock this morning a score of men took out a small section of rail in front of the residence of C. M. Clement, near Market street and River avenue, starting with the departure of the car for Selinsgrove. When the next car arrived at Sunbury it was flagged. The motorman called up George W. Rockwell, who is in charge of the line for the new owners. The latter came down to Market Square, and watched the group of workmen in their next activity.
This was the removal of leading northward from the S. and S. to a junction with the Northumberland Railway line, on Second street, just above Market. The Northumberland trolley cars were flagged at a point 100 feet above intersection. The bricks were torn out and the rails jacked up while workmen with picks knocked off the ties beneath them.
Mr. Rockwell remained watching the operations, until daylight, at 4:30 had no comment to make on the latest development of the situation, pending a conference with the owners, E. E. Brunner and G. Diehl.
No attempt was made to stop the workmen. The removal procedure this morning was a "coup" on the part of Mayor Michaels, who engineered the out of the tracks removes the last obstacle to continuance of the repaving of Market street from Front to Third. A large concrete mixer was on hand and the first crushed stone was received preparatory to laying concrete. Presence of the trolley rails at Second and Market streets had threatened continuance of the work. With their removal, the only recourse of the traction- -company is to go into court for a definition of its rights.
Mayor Michaels, commenting upon the action, pointed out that only the unused section of rails at Second and Market streets had been used. These have been a source of controversy for some time. The Mayor declared that the issue of operating S. and S. cars to Second street or even to Third street was not involved in the procedure.
This matter can be ironed out later, he said. He declared the contractor had given the city a letter stating that he could not proceed with the rails remaining at Second and Market streets and that the city had therefore taken action.
"We want to get the street paved from Second to Third street without further quibbling, and the argument can go on after that is done," he said.
The workmen northwest first tore building out rails line of Second street to a point near River avenue, They, then removed the "y" connection with the Cameron Park loop and the Sunbury and Northumberland trolley line at Second street. Considerable noise was made by the men and residents of the vicinity were aroused from their slumbers. Barely a dozen curious 'persons, were drawn to the scene, however. no The city officials have endeavored from the start to restrict the Sunbury and Selinsgrove line to a terminus at Front street and officials of the company have insisted upon their franchise rights to Third St.
Under an agreement with the Northumberland County Railway Company, its tracks will remain on the north side of Cameron Park between Second and Third streets, operations being restricted to that side of park. Agreement had been made with the S. and S. receiver, the late George D. Witmer to have a terminal at River Park. The Northumberland line agreed to use only the upper side Cameron Park.
In the meantime the S. S. was sold. The new owners desired to continue the union with the other road. Mr. Rockwell said this morning all they asked was a single connection on the upper side to permit interchange of passengers and give access to the business district.
Public opinion is divided on the issue, many wanting the street clear of tracks, while the people using the line naturally favor the continuance of service. .
City Sunbury hall officials and said Selinsgrove today that line the will be permitted straight line through Market street, from Front .to the west Second, where the terminus must be made. It will also have to decide at once on its policy as the city will direct the contractor, the Central Builders Supply Company, to proceed at once with the excavation and laying concrete.
In the meantime the forces of the city this morning are removing the network rails and ties at the west end of Cameron park.
The following statement was issued at City Hall today, covering the operations of the past 24 hours:
"The switches were put in on a conditional franchise which was never fulfilled by the predecessors of the present owners. The matter was brought to a head yesterday afternoon when the foreman for the contractor called at city hall and that he had been ordered to stop taking up the bricks at the west end of Cameron park. When asked who gave the orders he said J. Simpson Kline, Esq., president of the Central Builders Supply Co. He was told at city hall to decide before morning, whether to remove the bricks and if the contractor would not, the city would do it, at the expense of the contractor; the deductions to be made later from the city's share of the paving cost.
"The contractor apparently decided not to remove them for he did not want did not put anyone on the job this morning. In order not to delay the contractor, the city authorities decided to remove the rails and brick, and is given notice to the contractor as soon as the bricks and rails are removed to proceed with their contract.
Otherwise complaint will be made to the attorney general of the state, who under the contract is. the arbiter of all disputes between the contractor and the city. If the contractor refuses to proceed, the attorney general will be requested to substitute another contractor to do the work.".
No comments:
Post a Comment
I'll read the comments and approve them to post as soon as I can! Thanks for stopping by!