Lehigh Valley Transit Company

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The Lehigh Valley Transit Company was a streetcar operator in the US states of Pennsylvania and New Jersey . In addition to urban tram lines in Allentown , Bethlehem , Easton and Phillipsburg , the company operated interurban trams between these cities and an interurban route from Allentown to Philadelphia . The standard gauge network had a total length of about 315 kilometers. It was driven with 600 volts direct current in the network of Allentown and Bethlehem and 550 volts in the network of Easton and Philippsburg.

history

Allentown Division

Allentown Passenger Railway

The oldest forerunner of operations in the Allentown area is the Allentown Passenger Railway Company , which opened a horse-drawn railway in Allentown on May 21, 1868 . All three lines started at the intersection of Hamilton Street / 9. Street and initially led together through Hamilton Street, 5th Street, Walnut Street, 4th Street and Hamilton Street to 2nd Street, where the three lines branched. The first line ran through 2nd Street south to East Penn Junction, where the East Pennsylvania Railroad station was located. The second line continued through Hamilton Street and across the Lehigh River to the Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad station immediately east of the bridge. Finally, the third line ran through 2nd Street north and across Linden Street, Ridge Avenue, Gordon Street and Front Street to Allentown Furnace north of Tilghman Street.

The network was extensively expanded in 1889. A ring was created over Hamilton Street, 10th Street, Gordon Street, 9th Street, Allen Street and 7th Street back to Hamilton Street. The route through Hamilton Street has now been relocated continuously over this street and the detour via Walnut Street was omitted. The line to Allentown Furnace was also relocated. The route now ran through Ridge Avenue to Tilghman Street and through this to Front Street. The original route through Gordon and Front Streets has been closed. Another new route ran from 10 Hamilton Street. Street across Hamilton Street, North Madison Street, Gordon Street to 7th Street. A new depot was built on North Madison Street between Chew Street and Gordon Street. In 1890 the Lehigh Valley Railroad moved its station to Hamilton Street / 4. Street and also on Race Street / Hamilton Street a new train station was built. This meant that the two short branch lines of the horse-drawn tram from Hamilton Street / 2. Street through South 2nd Street and East Hamilton Street have been closed.

Allentown and Bethlehem Rapid Transit Company

In 1891 the Allentown and Bethlehem Rapid Transit Company had taken over operations. It ceased all operations on April 17, 1891 and converted the network to electrical operation in the following months. On July 1, 1891, the electric tram went into service on the route from the North Madison Street depot via North Madison Street, Chew Street, Hamilton Street, 2nd Street, Linden Street, Ridge Avenue, Tilghman Street and Front Street to Allentown Furnace . The route through Gordon Street, 10th and 7th Streets and the route from Hamilton Street / 12 were closed. Street through Hamilton Street and North Madison Street to the intersection of Chew Street. Instead, there was a new route through 12th Street and Chew Street.

On July 27, 1891, a new line to Rittersville went into operation. In the east of Hamilton Street, where horse trams operated until 1889, tracks were laid again and the route through Hamilton Street and Hanover Avenue was extended. On August 2, this route was extended further, through Hanover Avenue and Broad Street to the intersection of New Street in Bethlehem. On September 10th the exhibition center in Bethlehem was reached. The route ran through Broad Street and Linden Street to the intersection of Elizabeth Avenue. The network was also expanded in Allentown. The line to Allentown Furnace was extended on September 2, 1891 on Fullerton Avenue and 3rd Street to West Catasauqua. In addition, a horse-drawn tram was opened on the same day in Catasauqua along Front Street, which was only electrified on September 6, 1892 with the completion of the bridge in the course of Race Street and the route through Bridge Street and the Fullerton line to Catasauqua will be tied through could.

Meanwhile, on May 31, 1892 in Bethlehem, the railway company opened a branch line through New Street, 4th Street, Wyandotte Street and Broadway to South Bethlehem, where the terminus was near the intersection of Fiot Street. A short branch line from this line along 2nd Street in South Bethlehem connected the Union Station of South Bethlehem to the tram network. In the center of Bethlehem, a stretch was also built from New Street through Main Street and Church Street to Broad Street, which was later extended to the exhibition center by Main Street and Elizabeth Street. The route through 7th Street in Allentown reopened on April 30, 1892 and extended north to Washington Street. On August 1, 1893, the route was extended through Hamilton Street from 12th Street to 17th Street and through this to the intersection of 17th Street and Chew Street. In the same year, a new depot went into operation in Rittersville, west of the Hanover Avenue / Broad Street intersection, and the railway company opened a race track and park in the immediate vicinity. The racetrack was later converted into a baseball field, which was built over after the First World War.

Allentown and Lehigh Valley Traction Company

In early 1893, a rival company was founded with the Allentown and Lehigh Valley Traction Company . As early as October 14, 1893, the company began operating its first line, which began at the Lehigh Street depot, immediately south of the bridge over Lehigh Creek, and ran through Lehigh Street, Union Street, 6th Street, Washington Street, 4 5th Street, 5th Street, Grape Street, Front Street and Catasauqua Road led to West Catasauqua. On January 22, 1894, the railway also opened a line to South Bethlehem, which led from the depot in Lehigh Street through 6th Street, St. John Street, Woodward Street, Susquehanna Street and over a separate railroad diagonally northeast to Cumberland Street and continue through this to its eastern end, continue on its own railroad track to Lehigh Avenue. Through this the route continued to the intersection of Park Avenue, again on its own railroad track to Broadway, through this, Seneca Street, Freytag Street, Cherokee Street, Dakotah Street, Broadway to Broadhead Avenue. The route branched out here, a short branch stretch led north along Broadhead Avenue to the terminus at 3rd Street. The other branch ran through Broadhead Avenue, Packer Avenue, New Street, and 4th Street to Hill Street. Turntables were built at each end of the society to turn the facility railcars.

On February 28, 1894, the company finally bought the majority of Allentown & Bethlehem and on July 15, 1895 completely. Immediately after the takeover, a link from Seneca Avenue through Fiot Street to Broadway was built in South Bethlehem, and all lines east of Broadway that had been built by the Allentown & Lehigh Valley Traction were closed. In Allentown connecting curves were created at the intersection of Hamilton Street / 6. Street.

The network has now been expanded to include numerous urban and rural routes:

  • June 23, 1894: Catasauqua – Coplay
  • 23 October 1894: Catasauqua – Siegfried (Northampton)
  • December 9, 1897: South Bethlehem, New Street / 2. Street – 2. Street – Daly Avenue – 4th Street – Own Railroad – Main Street – Hellertown, Main Street / Saucon Street
  • July 27, 1898: Hellertown – Rentzheimer's Cave (closed again after a short time)
  • September 17, 1898: Woodward Avenue / 2nd Street (Allentown) -2. Street – Chapel Avenue – Albert Street – Emaus Avenue – Dalton Street – Main Street – Emmaus
  • April 5, 1899: Washington Street / 7. 6th Street – Washington Street. Street (in Allentown)
  • August 29, 1899: Emmaus – Chestnut Street – Buckeye Road – Main Street – Macungie
  • November 1, 1899: Connecting track through Park Street between 5th and 3rd Street in Fullerton, but closure of the line through Northern 5th Street, Grape Street and Catasauqua Road
  • August 9, 1900: Coplay – Egypt
  • September 10, 1900: Chew Street / 12. Street – 12. Street – Gordon Street – North Madison Street (closure of Chew Street / 12th Street to Chew Street / North Madison Street)
  • November 4, 1900: Allentown, 17th Street / Chew Street - Chew Street - Albright Avenue (now largely built over) - Huckleberry Road - Whitehall Avenue - own railroad - Slatington
  • October 30, 1901: South Bethlehem, 4th Street / Bessemer Street – Bessemer Street – 3. Street – own railway body – Main Street – Freemansburg (terminus at the level crossing at the northern end of the village)
  • 1902: Slatington – Slatedale

Lehigh Valley Traction Company

On November 17, 1899, the Lehigh Valley Traction Company was founded, which formally leased the two railway companies and ran the operation. Other companies were leased, so on 27 January 1900, Bethlehem and Nazareth Street Railway Company , a distance of Bethlehem (New Street / Broad Street) through the New Street, Washington Street and Linden Street after the Oct. 3, 1899 Nazareth opened and the Easton Consolidated Electric Company , which administered the city networks in Easton and Philippsburg. At the same time, a link was built from the previous terminal Linden Street / Elizabeth Street to Linden Street / Washington Street. On December 1, 1900, it also leased the Slate Belt Electric Railway Company , which had opened a tram from Bangor via Pen Argyl, Wind Gap and Belfast to Nazareth on November 14 of the same year .

For financial reasons - in May 1903 the company filed for bankruptcy - one gave up the lease agreements with the Easton Consolidated Electric Company and the Slate Belt Electric Railway on May 2, 1904 and the companies operated their routes again independently. On May 6, 1905, the company was taken over by a bankruptcy administrator and was reorganized on June 20 that year as the Lehigh Valley Transit Company .

Lehigh Valley Transit Company

In 1906 the route through 2nd Street in South Bethlehem had to be closed because a steel mill was to be built here. To replace it, a route was opened on 3rd Street between New Street and Daly Avenue. As part of this route, a new bridge over the railroad was opened on Daly Avenue in 1908, replacing a level crossing. On March 9, 1907, the company opened a new depot for 50 railcars at 14 Gordon Street. Street in Allentown and a link from the intersection of Chew Street and 17. Street through 17th Street and Gordon Street to North Madison Street. The old depot on North Madison Street has been abandoned.

In 1908, after the state passed a law on April 25, 1907 that allowed tram companies to run goods, goods traffic began on the tram network. The network in Allentown was supplemented by a few connection routes. On September 21, 1909, a section went into operation from 6th Street / Gordon Street through Gordon Street, Jordan Street and Tilghman Street to Ridge Avenue. From / 4 Washington Street. This route was in turn connected to the new route by Washington Street and Jordan Street. A new ring line on 7th Street, Hamilton Street, Ridge Avenue, Tilghman Street and Washington Street ran this route. On October 9, 1909, a stretch of 10 Hamilton Street. Opened through 10th Street, Allen Street, 9th Street, and Washington Street to 7th Street. Part of this route had already existed at the time of the horse-drawn tram. A ring line also ran along this route. Another ring line was opened in Bethlehem and South Bethlehem. In the summer of 1913, a line went into operation from Broad Street / Linden Street through Broad Street and over the new Minsi Trail Bridge to Daly Avenue, where it was connected to the existing line via a track triangle.

An important new opening took place on November 13, 1913, when the Albertus L. Meyers Bridge was opened in Allentown over Lehigh Creek on the southern 8th Street. A double-track tram line was built at the same time from Hamilton Street through 8th Street over the new bridge to St. John Street, where it met the existing route on 6th Street. The overland line to Philadelphia no longer ended at the intersection of Hamilton Street / 6. Street but on 8 Hamilton Street. Street. On May 18, 1914, another new depot went into operation on Lehigh Parkway. A connection route to this depot was created by St. John Street, Lehigh Street and Lehigh Parkway. In the opposite direction, the moving cars drove from 1923 through Cumberland Street and Lumber Street. From 1934, the railways had to use this route in both directions, as the route through Lehigh Street was closed. The site of this depot is still used by the local transport companies today.

On October 19, 1914, a short link went into service along Union Street between 6th and 8th Streets. The railways from Philadelphia turned over this track and it was also used as an operating line for trips to the new depot. The last expansion of the city network of Allentown and Bethlehem concerned a connecting route in Bethlehem from the Minsi Trail Bridge through Newtown Avenue (now Stefko Boulevard) to Butztown. Although tracks had been laid during the construction of the Hill-to-Hill Bridge in the course of Wyandotte Street in Bethlehem, the railway company took a bus line over the new bridge instead of a tram line. In 1928, the route through Ridge Avenue was relocated in Allentown when a new bridge was built over the Lehigh River on Tilghman Street. The train now drove from south Ridge Avenue through Allen Street and Front Street, instead of through Ridge Avenue and Tilghman Street, at the same time the connection through Tilghman Street between Jordan Street and Front Street had to be closed.

The overland network around Allentown and Bethlehem was gradually shut down from 1929 to 1932 and switched to bus operation:

  • June 1, 1929: Emmaus – Macungie
  • June 1929: Slatington – Slatedale
  • July 1, 1931: Catasauqua – Egypt
  • August 1, 1931: Greenawalds – Slatington
  • November 1, 1931: Mountainville (Albert Street / Emmaus Avenue) - Emmaus
  • March 1, 1932: Bethlehem – Nazareth
  • 1932: Elizabeth Avenue, Main Street, Church Street in Bethlehem

Only to Greenawalds (route towards Slatedale), Northampton and between Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton were now trains. The rest of the Allentown Division's network was shut down after World War II:

  • 1949: Regular service ends on 17th Street – Gordon Street – 12. Street - Hamilton Street (Allentown)
  • August 15, 1949: Bethlehem, Minsi Trail Bridge – Easton
  • October 30, 1949: 10th Street Ring Line and Jordan Street (Allentown)
  • June 1, 1952: Allentown – Greenawalds
  • October 26, 1952: Allentown – South Bethlehem and Bethlehem – Hellertown
  • May 10, 1953: Allentown-Ridge Avenue-Fullerton-Northampton
  • June 7, 1953: 7 Hamilton Street. Street – Fullerton
  • June 8, 1953: Allentown – Bethlehem, Broad Street / Linden Street

The routes have been converted to bus service.

Easton Division

Easton, South Easton and West End Passenger Railway

In Easton, the Easton and South Easton Passenger Railway Company was first founded on May 27, 1866 , which opened a horse-drawn railway with a gauge of 1588 millimeters in 1867. The route ran from Center Square (Northampton Street / 3rd Street) through 3rd Street, Canal Street and Lehigh Street (now Valley Avenue) to the Lehigh Valley Railroad repair shop . The depot was on Canal Street between Center Street and Lehigh Street.

The West Ward Passenger Railway Company was founded on May 5, 1871 and that same year built another horse-drawn tram from Center Square via Northampton Street, Walnut Street and Washington Street to West Easton, where the terminus was at 17th Street. The depot for this train was at the intersection of Washington Street and 16. Street. This company was reorganized on October 28, 1884 into Westend Passenger Railway Company . On May 31, 1886, the two horse-drawn railway operators merged to form the Easton, South Easton and West End Passenger Railway Company (ESE & W). After the merger, the depot on Canal Street was closed and the trains for the line to South Easton were also parked on Washington Street.

Lafayette Traction Company

On January 14, 1888, Easton became the third city in the United States to receive an electric tram. The Lafayette Traction Company , founded on January 5, 1887, built a line, also in 1588 millimeters gauge, from the northern bridgehead of the bridge on the northern 3rd Street over Bushkill Creek through College Avenue, Cattell Street and Burke Street to College Hill (Burke Street / Porter Street). The depot was on Cattell Street. On July 25, 1888, it was extended over 3rd Street to Center Square in Easton, but initially no tracks were laid on the bridge over Bushkill Creek, so that a change had to be made here. ESE & W bought the railway in October 1888 and founded the Pennsylvania Motor Company on November 13, 1888 , which leased the electric railway on January 5, 1889 for a period of 999 years. Electric trams drove from March 1, 1889 via Northampton Street and 4th Street to the Central Railroad of New Jersey station and from June 20 of that year via the northern terminus on College Hill beyond Burke Street, Paxinosa Avenue and Parker Avenue Paxinosa Heights (Parker Avenue / Shawnee Avenue). At the same time, tracks were now being laid across the Bushkill Creek Bridge. The entire route was operated as a continuous line. A second track was installed on Northampton Street between Center Square and 4th Street, where horse-drawn railway tracks were already located. The electric tram ran on the north track, while the horse-drawn tram ran on the south track.

Easton Transit Company

On June 30, 1892, ESE & W and Center Square & Delaware Bridge merged to form the Easton Transit Company , which took over the leases for the electric tram. It also bought the Phillipsburg Horse Car Railroad , which opened in 1871, from the neighboring town of Eastons in the state of New Jersey, but the lease remained for the time being. A new line from Paxinosa Heights to Weygadt Mountain was opened in 1892 or 1893 by the Weygadt Mountain Railway Company , founded on August 3, 1891 and leased and operated by the Easton Transit Company. On December 10, 1892, the existing horse-drawn tram lines to South Easton and 17th Street were electrified. In 1893 the company opened several new routes:

  • The ring closes from Northampton Street / Walnut Street via Northampton Street and 17th Street to the previous terminus at Washington Street / 17. Street
  • Route from Paxinosa Heights to Eddyside
  • Route from Washington Street to West Easton

However, the lines to Eddyside and West Easton were soon closed again. The Easton and Bethlehem Transit Company , founded on July 6, 1892, opened on July 13, 1894 an extension of the line to the Central Railroad station via Dock Street (now Lehigh Drive) to Island Park and a branch line through Adamson Street to West Easton. At the end of 1894, the Phillipsburg horse-drawn tram was electrified and gauged to 1,588 mm track gauge and a second line was built. A loop was also built in South Easton from Canal Street to Mauch Chunk Street, Glendon Avenue, Berwick Street, Coal Street, St. Joseph Street and St. John Street.

Easton, Palmer and Bethlehem Street Railway

On November 6, 1898, the Easton, Palmer and Bethlehem Street Railway Company , founded on June 11, 1897, opened a standard-gauge tram between its namesake locations, which was the first tram connection between the two networks in Easton / Phillipsburg and Allentown / Bethlehem, but initially due to No track connection to the tram in Easton due to the different gauge. The route began in Bethlehem at the intersection of Broad Street and Main Street and ran through Main Street, Elizabeth Avenue, Easton Avenue, William Penn Highway to Palmer and on via a separate railway body, which is now partly Church Road, to Easton, where they go through Ferry Street and 6th Street to the terminus at 6 Northampton Street. Road led. The railroad depot was in Butztown on the William Penn Highway. The company's railways used the existing LVT tracks in Bethlehem between Broad Street / Main Street and Elizabeth Avenue / Linden Street via Broad Street and Linden Street, so that there was a loop ride here. At the same time, the LVT also used the route through Elizabeth Avenue and Main Street. The railway company opened Oakland Park, an amusement park near Farmersville, between Palmer and Easton, in the summer of 1898.

Easton Consolidated Electric Company

In 1899, the Easton Consolidated Electric Company , founded on March 10th of that year, bought or leased all of the electric trams in the Easton area and gave the Easton Transit Company its management. The new company opened on March 17, 1900, a branch from the line to Bethlehem from Butztown to Freemansburg, which belonged to the Freemansburg Street Railway Company founded as an ECE subsidiary . The Freemansburg terminus was on Main Street north of the level crossing, at the north end of town. In September 1900 a line to Nazareth was opened, which had been built by the Northampton Central Street Railway Company founded on March 3, 1899 , but was operated by ECE. It also branched off from the route to Bethlehem at Country Club Junction (now Church Road / Country Club Road) and led north to Nazareth and there through Broad Street. On March 20, 1901, a track connection to the Slate Belt Electric Street Railway was built in Nazareth at the intersection of Broad Street and High Street. Although there was no regular continuous traffic, the timetables were coordinated so that there was a connection to the wagons of the other company.

On December 1, 1900, the Lehigh Valley Traction leased the entire Easton network and, by 1904, built the broad-gauge lines except for the Phillipsburg tram to standard gauge. For economic reasons, however, the lease was canceled on May 2, 1904, as the LVT had since gone bankrupt. In 1904, ECE built a ring line on Center Square in Easton to which all standard-gauge lines were connected. The route to Island Park was extended over a bridge into the park in 1905, where a turning loop was created. On September 5, 1905, the company replaced the level crossing in Palmer Township over the route of the Easton and Northern Railroad with an underpass. In 1906 the line of the Central Railroad in Freemansburg was tunnelled and a track connection to the LVT line opened there in 1901 was built. On May 19, 1906, ECE converted the Freemansburg Street Railway Company to Easton and South Bethlehem Transit Company , which in the same year followed a route from the junction of Washington Street and Walnut Street in Easton through Walnut Street, Butler Street and Freemansburg Avenue Middletown opened, where it connected to the route Butztown Freemansburg. For this new line a right of use was agreed for the LVT route from Freemansburg to South Bethlehem and built in South Bethlehem from Daly Avenue through 4th Street, Polk Street, 5th Street, Webster Street and 4th Street to New Street its own route. The detour via 5th Street was necessary because a parish on 4th Street / Taylor Street appealed against a tram route in front of the church. It was not until 1914 that the conflict could be resolved and the route was led directly through 4th Street.

A contractual change occurred on January 3, 1908, when the Easton Transit Company took over the network again from ECE. At the same time, the company merged with the ECE subsidiaries Easton, Palmer and Bethlehem Street Railway and Northampton Central Street Railway. On February 10, 1909, the ETC also merged with the Easton and South Bethlehem Transit Company.

Lehigh Valley Transit Company

On March 17, 1913, a continuous operation for express cars from Allentown to Easton was agreed with LVT. On July 1, 1913, the Lehigh Valley Transit bought the Easton Transit Company and thus the entire Easton network including the Phillipsburg tram for good. The Easton Transit Company remained operational on this network. In the same year, the lines in Philippsburg were converted to standard gauge. Meanwhile in 1915 a line was closed in the Easton network. The operating contract for the Weygadt Mountain Railway expired and the line was then dismantled. The north end of the College Hill line was now back on Parker Avenue. In the same year, however, the ETC built a track connection to the LVT network at the intersection of 4th Street and New Street in South Bethlehem.

In 1920 the line from the north bridgehead of the Glendon-Easton Bridge to Island Park was closed. On July 20 of the same year, tram traffic between Country Club Junction and Nazareth also ended. On March 1, 1922, the LVT formally leased the ETC and the ETC network became the Easton Division of LVT, which also took over the management.

From November 1931 to August 1932, the LVT ran through express cars from Easton to Philadelphia via South Bethlehem. From 1927, however, the LVT gradually shut down the Easton network and switched it to bus operation:

  • 1927: 4th Street / Northampton Street – Glendon-Easton Bridge and turn off to West Easton
  • 1928: Walnut Street / Ferry Street – Ferry Street – 18. Street
  • November 1, 1931: Phillipsburg tram
  • June 1, 1932: Bethlehem, Main Street / Broad Street – Main Street – Elizabeth Avenue – Easton Avenue – Browns Siding (Easton Avenue / Stefko Blvd)
  • June 1, 1932: Butztown-Freemansburg, Freemansburg Road / Wilson Borough-Freemansburg
  • July 13, 1939: Freemansburg – South Bethlehem, 4th Street / New Street
  • November 5, 1939: the entire Easton network except for the stretch from Easton, Center Square to Northampton Street, Walnut Street, Washington Street, 17th Street, Lehigh Street, 21st Street, Ferry Street to Bethlehem
  • August 15, 1949: Bethlehem-Easton, Center Square

Philadelphia Division

Planning and construction of the first route

On November 27, 1896, the Quakertown Traction Company was initially founded, which wanted to build an interurban tram in Pennsylvania track (1588 mm) from Allentown via Quakertown to Philadelphia. On June 11, 1898 the first section from Richlandtown to Quakertown was opened, which was extended to Perkasie on August 13, 1898. Since the Quakertown and Eastern Railroad refused to allow the tram to cross their route at Richlandtown, a small depot had to be built in Richlandtown next to the depot in Quakertown, where a shuttle car drove to the level crossing. The owner of the Lehigh Valley Traction Company, Albert L. Johnson, was now planning to build an interurban line from Allentown via Philadelphia to New York City. He therefore founded the Inland Traction Company on November 1, 1898 and the Allentown and Coopersburg Street Railway Company on September 9, 1899, and received concessions for the routes from Perkasie to Philadelphia-Erdenheim and from Allentown to Quakertown. On April 23, 1900, the line was extended beyond Perkasie over Sellersville, Telford, Souderton and Hatfield to Lansdale, but initially operated independently of the Quakertown Traction Company. The Inland Traction Company depot was built in Souderton. On October 21, 1900, this line was extended to North Wales. On January 18, 1901, Johnson ordered 75 Interurban railcars from the St. Louis Car Company , which were delivered that same year. The cars were initially parked in the depots and should not be put into operation until the interurban route to New York has opened. For the section from Philadelphia to New York, Johnson founded the Philadelphia, Trenton and New York Railroad Company on April 4, 1901 .

The two companies founded by Johnson merged on February 15, 1901 to form the Philadelphia and Lehigh Valley Traction Company . The company only ran the business, the vehicles were transferred to LVT and incorporated into the company's fleet of vehicles. The entire line to New York should initially be built in contrast to the standard gauge network in Allentown and Bethlehem in Pennsylvania gauge, since the city lines in Philadelphia and also the Quakertown Traction had this gauge, but this idea was soon abandoned in favor of the standard gauge. Johnson died unexpectedly on July 2, 1901. His successor in the office of President of the Railroad, Robert E. Wright, cut the Interurban project to a stretch from Allentown to Philadelphia. As a result, 29 of the new railcars were sold again, including 18 to Oakland (California) .

On September 9, 1901, P & LVT leased Quakertown Traction Company and LVT acquired the company's entire fleet. The line from Allentown to Quakertown was now built quickly, but in standard gauge. It branched off in Mountainville from the Allentown – Macungie line and was opened on December 19, 1901 to Coopersburg and on March 3, 1902 to Quakertown. On May 28, 1902, the gauging of the existing line from Richlandtown via Quakertown to North Wales was completed on standard gauge and on June 5 of that year the line was completed to Erdenheim. There was a connection to the Philadelphia tram , but no connection due to the different track gauge. The line was now operated continuously from Allentown to Philadelphia except for the level crossings in North Wales and Flourtown, the section from Quakertown to Richlandtown remained in operation as a shuttle line. The level crossing in North Wales could only be opened on November 23, 1902, after the approval for the installation of a track crossing was available. A track crossing was built in Flourtown in early May 1903 without a permit.

Expansion to Interurban

From 1905, in order to be able to shorten the travel time, the route was partially modernized and the operating procedures optimized. In the fall of 1907, after the Quakertown and Eastern Railroad was shut down, continuous operations to Richlandtown could also be started and the small makeshift depot in Richlandtown was closed. From December 1, 1907, the railway company advertised its route to Philadelphia under the name Liberty Bell Route , since in the Revolutionary War of 1777 American patriots had brought a bell from Philadelphia on a very similar route from British soldiers to Bethlehem. On July 17, 1908 the Delaware Water Gap Limited drove for the first time , an express railcar that only ran irregularly on summer weekends and drove over LVT tracks from Erdenheim via Bethlehem to Nazareth. After two railcars had been rebuilt, they drove from there on the Slate Belt Electric Railway to Bangor and on to Portland via the Bangor and Portland Traction Company from around 1912 . Here you could take the bus or the Stroudsburg, Water Gap and Portland Railway , which had a different gauge, which made continuous operation impossible, to the Delaware Water Gap excursion resort.

In 1910, the railway company planned to shorten the travel time to Philadelphia considerably by realigning the route as Interurban and also to connect Norristown . The route from Allentown to Lansdale was largely relocated to its own railway tracks. For the urban area of ​​Norristown, the Norristown Transit Company was founded on July 22, 1910 , which belonged in equal parts to the LVT and the Philadelphia and Western Railway . It was not until 1942 that Philadelphia & Western sold its stake to LVT. Philadelphia & Western also built a line to Norristown, which they had operated on a section of the route since 1907 using a conductor rail . It was supposed to be used by the Allentown trams to travel to Philadelphia. On October 25, 1911, LVT bought the Montgomery Traction Company . She had opened a tram in the Pennsylvania lane from Norristown to Lansdale in 1902. On January 18, 1912, the LVT put this route to a minimum of about 2.5 kilometers from Norristown and switched it to standard gauge. The Interurban route from Allentown to Norristown finally went into operation on December 12, 1912. From the beginning, the railways drove over the Philadelphia & Western through to Upper Darby Township , where there was a transition to a route of the Philadelphia Rapid Transit . After the opening of 8th Street in Allentown in 1914, the travel time from Allentown to Upper Darby was reduced to one hour and 58 minutes, which, despite the change in Upper Darby, allowed a shorter travel time to Philadelphia than by rail. On December 31, 1915, the LVT finally bought the Quakertown Traction Company completely, so that the lease could be canceled.

Decline

In 1925, the route between Rosedale and Center Valley (September 2) and Telford (February 27) was re-traversed. On July 31, 1926, the last trams ran between North Wales and Erdenheim. The following day, buses took over the operational duties on this section. On June 15, 1929, the shuttle line to Richlandtown met the same fate. From April 26, 1931, Deluxe Limited railcars ran from Allentown to Upper Darby in 100 minutes with only seven intermediate stations. On August 1, 1932, however, the express service ended on the route. In 1939 the fleet was renewed with lighter railcars that could be taken over by the abandoned Cincinnati and Lake Erie Railroad . From September 24, 1949, the trips from Allentown ended in Norristown and on September 7, 1951, the entire route was shut down and switched to bus service, after this had been announced the day before. At 2:46 a.m. the last railcar from Norristown moved into the depot in Allentown and from 8 a.m. the track workers began to dismantle the line.

particularities

In the summer of 1889 a cable structure was installed on College Hill in Easton to increase safety. A wooden wagon loaded with six tons of iron, which hung on a cable and ran on its own rail next to the road, acted as a counterweight to the trams, which had to latch into the cable in both directions before driving on the slope. The movement route was implemented in such a way that the tram traveled twelve times as far as the weight car. On September 25, 1889, however, an accident occurred when the cable tore and the weight cart rolled down the slope and hit a wall. The construction was then dismantled.

Line network

The Lehigh Valley Transit operated the following routes:

Allentown city network
  • Hamilton Street (every 6 minutes)
  • Allentown Furnace across Ridge Avenue (every 15 minutes)
  • Muhlenberg (every 30 minutes)
  • Allentown Furnace across 6th Street (every 30 minutes)
  • southern 6th street (every 15 minutes)
  • 7th Street / Ridge Avenue ring line (every 15 minutes)
  • southern 8th street (every 30 minutes)
  • 10th Street / Jordan Street Ring Line (every 15 minutes)
City network Bethlehem
  • South Bethlehem Local (4th Street) (every 20 minutes)
  • Ring line (every 20 minutes)
Easton city network
  • College Hill (every 10 minutes)
  • South Easton (every 10 minutes)
  • West Easton (every 30 minutes)
  • Glendon / Island Park (every 30 minutes)
City network Phillipsburg

The terminus of the two lines was in Easton on Central Square.

  • North Main Street (every 10 minutes)
  • South Main Street (every 20 minutes to Alpha, every 10 minutes on South Main Street)
Overland network
  • Allentown – Greenawalds – Scherersville – Sieglersville – Unionville – Slatington – Slatedale (every 60 minutes)
  • Allentown – Bethlehem – Butztown – Farmersville – Easton (every 60 minutes)
  • Allentown – Farmington – South Bethlehem – Freemansburg – Wagnertown – Easton (every 60 minutes)
  • Allentown – Bethlehem (every 20 minutes)
  • Allentown – Farmington – South Bethlehem (every 20 minutes)
  • Allentown – Mountainville – Emmaus – Macungie (every 60 minutes)
  • Allentown – Catasauqua – Northampton – Siegfried (every 30 minutes, later every 45 minutes)
  • Allentown – Catasauqua – Northampton – Copley – Egypt (every 30 minutes, later every 60 minutes)
  • Allentown – Bethlehem – South Bethlehem – Hellertown (every 40 minutes)
  • Freemansburg – Butztown (every 30 minutes)
  • Bethlehem – Altonah – Brodhead – Newburg – Nazareth (every 60 minutes)
  • Easton – Thomasburg – Nazareth (every 60 minutes)
  • Allentown – Mountainville – Center Valley – Coopersburg – Quakertown – Perkasie – Telford – Souderton – Hatfield – Lansdale – North Wales – Norristown – Upper Darby (Limited, every 60 minutes)
  • Allentown – Mountainville – Center Valley (Local, every 60 minutes)
  • Hatfield – Lansdale – North Wales – Norristown (local, every 60 minutes)
  • Quakertown – Richlandtown (every 60 minutes)

Sources and further reading

Individual evidence
  1. ↑ Kulp 1966, page 81.
literature
  • Randolph L. Kulp (Ed., 1966): History of Lehigh Valley Transit Company. Allentown PA: National Railway Historical Society, Lehigh Valley Chapter.
  • Benson W. Rohrbeck (1997): Pennsylvania's Street Railways West Chester PA: Traction Publications. Pages 134-137.
  • Benson W. Rohrbeck (2007): Pennsylvania Street Railway Atlas West Chester PA: Ben Rohrbeck Traction Publications.