So, who doesn’t like a “freebie?” However, free rides could be an expense and a source of conflict for streetcar companies. In the earliest days, when car riding hadn’t become an established habit, a few companies started by offering free rides for the first week or two. All went well until the free period ended…

Dr. Charles Grafton Page, 1812 – 1868 was born and raised in Salem MA, giving him ready access to the Salem Athenaeum, one of the best libraries of the day. He graduated from Harvard in 1832 and completed medical school in 1836, becoming a physician. He had been interested in electricity from childhood, doing electrical…

For many years, a popular image in the United States has been that of the trust, a group of vicious, grasping capitalists who exploit the people. During the streetcar era, this was the way in which many folks perceived the trolley companies, often encouraged by segments of the press. This idea of a single, easy…

Although interurban railways brought greatly improved transportation options and other benefit to rural communities, there also could be conflicts because interests might conflict. These conflicts might take various forms. When lines were first built, conflict could occur because a community wanted to gain maximum financial benefit from a franchise agreement to run tracks over its…

The US nearly lost two presidents in a single year! In 1902, less than a year after the assassination of President McKinley, the new president, Teddy Roosevelt, was on a two week public relations tour of New England. He arrived by train in Pittsfield MA and was taken by carriage to where he was to…

Rapid Transit Before Electricity: We have previously noted how steam power was not acceptable for transit systems operating on city streets. On rapid transit systems however, because they did not operate directly on the streets, steam power was acceptable. Although it was much less than ideal, before the coming of electricity, it was the only…

As we have noted, Northern Ohio Railway Museum owns and is laying track on the former right of way of the Cleveland, Southwestern & Columbus interurban. We also have noted that the he CS&C only got as far as Bucyrus OH and that the connection on to Columbus, OH, was via another interurban, the Columbus,…

Moses Farmer (1820 – 1893): We have spoken, in the past, of some of the early inventors/promotors who contributed, directly or indirectly, to the development of electric powered transportation. One such individual, who we mentioned previously but didn’t discuss, was Moses Farmer, prominent in his day but now largely forgotten. A graduate of Dartmouth University,…

Electric Railway Operations and Sale of Electricity: Electric railways often were the first major users of electric power in an area and, thus, were forced to build their own power stations. Furthermore, because this was the time when electricity was beginning to come into common use, it was a natural thing to build those power…

The Electric Railway Journal: In 1884, McGraw Hill began weekly publication of the Street Railway Journal, a trade periodical for the mostly horse-drawn street railways that had proliferated in the US and Canada by that time. From the start, it included information and discussion of a vast range of concerns, including care of horses, track…