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    Suburban Philadelphia Trolleys
    Suburban Philadelphia Trolleys
    Suburban Philadelphia Trolleys
    Ebook184 pages38 minutes

    Suburban Philadelphia Trolleys

    By Kenneth C. Springirth

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    About this ebook

    The Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company prospered through the hard times of the 1930s and was the last privately-owned trolley system in the United States. Aerodynamically designed Bullet cars of the Philadelphia and Western Railway dramatically reduced travel time on the Sixty-ninth Street to
    Norristown line. The Presidents Conference Committee trolley cars of the Philadelphia Transportation Company linked the boroughs of Darby, Colwyn, and Yeadon with Philadelphia. Photographs of Media s 1977 town fair feature vintage trolleys in the only suburban community in the United States with a trolley line ending in its main street. Suburban Philadelphia Trolleys covers the history of the trolleys that served Philadelphia s western suburbs.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArcadia Publishing
    Release dateAug 8, 2007
    ISBN9781439634820
    Suburban Philadelphia Trolleys
    Author

    Kenneth C. Springirth

    Kenneth C. Springirth, author of Greater Erie Trolleys, Johnstown Trolleys and Incline, and Pittsburgh Streamlined Trolleys, has a vested interest in rail history, as his father was a trolley car motorman in Philadelphia and his grandfather was a motorman in Washington, D.C. A native of Philadelphia and a 1957 graduate of Lansdowne Aldan High School, Springirth commuted by trolley to attend classes at Drexel Institute of Technology. He has walked the lines, photographed, and ridden trolley cars in the United States and around the world.

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      Book preview

      Suburban Philadelphia Trolleys - Kenneth C. Springirth

      1888.

      INTRODUCTION

      On August 15, 1895, the Philadelphia and West Chester Traction Company opened a trolley line from Sixty-third Street to Newtown Square using steam dummies purchased from the Frankford and Southwark Passenger Railway Company. On May 6, 1896, electric trolley car service began. Trolley car service to the borough of West Chester began on December 17, 1898. The Ardmore and Llanerch Street Railway constructed a trolley line to Ardmore, which opened on May 29, 1902. The Philadelphia and Garrettford Street Railway completed a new trolley line from the Sixty-ninth Street Terminal to the borough of Clifton Heights on March 15, 1906. This line was extended south with service to the Clifton Aldan station of the Pennsylvania Railroad on April 30, 1907; Providence Road on June 30, 1907; the borough of Collingdale on July 15, 1907; and the borough of Sharon Hill on August 1, 1917. Trolleys began using the new Sixty-ninth Street Terminal on April 30, 1907, followed by the Philadelphia and Western Railway on May 22, 1907. Service to the borough of Media opened on April 1, 1913. Ten new one-man-operated lightweight trolleys, cars numbered 77–86, were obtained from J. G. Brill Car Company during 1932. To handle more bus routes and improve trolley car operations, the Sixty-ninth Street Terminal was rebuilt, and a reopening ceremony was held on October 26, 1936.

      The various subsidiaries that built the West Chester, Media, Sharon Hill, and Ardmore trolley lines were merged into the Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company, and the system became known as the Red Arrow. In 1941, J. G. Brill Car Company provided 10 new lightweight Brilliner cars numbered 1–10. Three Hog Island trolleys (built 1918–1919) that had been used to carry workers to the Hog Island Shipyard were purchased from the Philadelphia Transportation Company during October 1942 to handle the increased ridership during World War II. They were renumbered 20–22 and later became car Nos. 25–27. Delivery of 14 new trolley cars numbered 11–24 from St. Louis Car Company occurred during 1949. The West Chester trolley line was converted to bus operation on June 4, 1954, to avoid the expense of relocating tracks due to the widening of West Chester Pike to four lanes. Rush-hour trolley service continued on the West Gate Hills line until it was abandoned on August 23, 1958.

      The Southern Pennsylvania Bus Company, which operated bus routes between Darby, Chester, and Media, had been on strike since March 22, 1960. Red Arrow formed a subsidiary Red Arrow Lines Inc., which purchased the Southern Pennsylvania Bus Company and resumed bus service on June 30, 1960. Red Arrow purchased four Delaware County bus routes from the Philadelphia Transportation Company: 71 Essington–Media, 76 Darby–Chester, 77 Media–Chester, and 82 Morton–Springfield. The Ardmore trolley line made its last run on December 29, 1966. Trackage was retained on West Chester Pike from the Sixty-ninth Street Terminal to the Llanerch carbarn for the surviving Media and Sharon Hill trolley lines.

      On May 22, 1907, the Philadelphia and Western Railway completed a grade-separated line from the Sixty-ninth Street Terminal to the community of Strafford. A branch line was built from the community of Villanova to the borough of Norristown, and service from the Sixty-ninth Street Terminal to Norristown began on August 26, 1912. Lehigh Valley Transit Company began through service from the Sixty-ninth Street Terminal to Allentown on December 12, 1912. Ten new high-speed aerodynamically designed Bullet cars built by J. G. Brill Car Company numbered 200–209 were placed in service during 1931. On September 26, 1949, Lehigh Valley Transit cars were cut back to Norristown, and riders transferred to Philadelphia and Western Railway cars to the Sixty-ninth Street Terminal. The Philadelphia and Western Railway became part of the Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company on December 31, 1953. Declining ridership resulted in the abandonment of the Strafford line from Villanova Junction to Strafford on March 23, 1956.

      On April 3, 1893, the Chester and Media Electric Railway Company opened a trolley line from the city of Chester to the borough of Media. The Chester, Darby, and Philadelphia Electric Railway connected Chester with Darby on December 7, 1893. Electrified trolley service from Philadelphia to Darby began on May 29, 1894, by the Philadelphia Traction Company, which later became Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company route 11. The Delaware County and Philadelphia Electric Railway Company completed a trolley line along Baltimore Pike from the Angora section of Philadelphia to Media in 1894. This became part of the Southern Pennsylvania Traction Company on July 1, 1910. In August 1895, the Prospect Park Street Railway Company opened a trolley line from the borough of Prospect Park via Lincoln Avenue, Lazaretto Road, and Wanamaker Avenue to Tinicum Township, which later became route 72 of the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company. This line was abandoned on August 14, 1938, and a Folsom Shuttle trolley operated through Ridley Township from Lincoln Avenue and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad via Lincoln Avenue to Melrose Terrance and Linden Avenue until its last day of operation on July 29, 1939. Trolley service from Darby to Chester via Chester Pike became Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company route 76. During January 1904, this line was extended via private right-of-way from Chester Pike and Parker Avenue to Ninth and Main Streets in Darby. On September 11, 1932, route 76 was converted to bus operation between the Folsom section of Ridley Township and Darby, and rail service continued between Folsom and Chester until replacement by bus on May 26, 1935. In 1903, the Media, Glen Riddle, and Rockdale Electric Street Railway Company opened a trolley line from Media to the community of Glen Riddle. It became part of the Southern Pennsylvania Traction Company in 1910. On July 4, 1904, the Philadelphia, Morton, and Swarthmore Street Railway Company completed a line from Darby via Swarthmore to Media; it was later leased to the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company and became route 71. On June 6, 1932, route 71 was discontinued between Folsom and Darby and only operated between Media and Folsom until August 14, 1938, when it was replaced by the Essington–Media bus line.

      The Media, Middletown, Aston, and Chester Electric Railway completed a trolley line from Chester via Edgmont Avenue and Middletown Township to Olive Street terminating at Fifth Street in Media on April 1, 1905. It was later leased to the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company and became route 77 with conversion to bus operation on April 5, 1936. On July 4, 1902, the Media, Middletown, Aston, and Chester Electric Railway opened a line from the borough of Darby to the borough of Lansdowne using Ninth Street eastbound (Tenth Street westbound), Summit Street, Eleventh Street, Union Avenue, and Wycombe Avenue to Fairview Avenue, which later became Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company route 78 with

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