Orange tram
The city of Orange in the US state of New Jersey had its own streetcar operation from 1887 to 1929 . In addition, the city was connected to the Newark tram network with up to three lines from 1862 to 1951 . Track connections and shared sections existed between the two networks. In addition, the route of the West Orange – South Orange tram was on a section in the urban area of Orange. There was a track connection to this railway only indirectly via the route of the Newark tram.
history
prehistory
The city of Orange, which had already developed into a center of the hat industry in the first half of the 19th century , had a railway connection since 1835. This railway line later became the main line of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad and is now operated by New Jersey Transit . Orange Train Station is right downtown on Lincoln Avenue. In the early 1860s, the suburbs of South Orange , East Orange and West Orange were spun off as separate communities from the urban area. In 1862 the first horse-drawn tramway Newark reached East Orange. Their route was on Main Street and ended at the corner of Harrison Street, near the Orange city limits. It was extended shortly thereafter through Main Street to Lincoln Avenue in downtown Orange.
In 1876, the Montclair and Greenwood Lake Railroad , a predecessor of the Erie Railroad, built a branch line from Forest Hill to Llewellyn Park in West Orange. The city of Orange also received a station on this route, which was initially called Watchung and was located in the north of the city on Washington Street. In 1881 it was extended to its terminus in West Orange on Main Street. The station was next to St. Mark's Church, right on the city limits between Orange and West Orange. The two railway lines were not connected to each other, the West Orange terminus of the Erie Railroad was about 500 meters from the DLW Orange station.
Horse-drawn tram and electrical test operations
On May 18, 1886, entrepreneurs founded the Orange Crosstown and Orange Valley Street Railway Company . Francis M. Eppley became president of the railway, and George Spottiswoode became managing director. They had set themselves the goal of building a horse-drawn railway line through Orange, which would connect the previously poorly connected south of the city to the center and also connect the city's two railway lines.
In 1887 Thomas Alva Edison settled in West Orange and set up his electrical test laboratory. He intended to develop electric current as a means of propulsion and designed an electric tram system. In Germany, electric trams were built in Lichterfelde near Berlin in 1881 and in Frankfurt / Main in 1884. The Orange tram, which was under construction, was to serve as a test object. He equipped the section of the railway in Scotland Road with a two-pole contact line and equipped the horse-drawn tram 5 with an electric motor. The power was supplied via a contact cart that rolled on the overhead line and was connected to the railway via cables.
On April 16, 1887, the electrical test operation began on Scotland Road with the converted shuttle between McChesney Street and Central Avenue. From there, horse-drawn trams drove through Central Avenue, Lincoln Avenue, past the Orange DLW station, through Henry Street, Cone Street (now South Day Street), Day Street (now North Day Street), Washington Street, past the Erie station Watching to the intersection of Washington Street and Dodd Street. The railway terminus and depot were on Dodd Street. The Pennsylvania gauge (1588 mm), in which the Newark tram was built, was chosen as the gauge for the railway . The route was single-track with a total of eleven turnouts.
Since the railway did not have a license for electrical operation and the population was also skeptical of the new system, electrical operation had to be stopped on September 23, 1887 and the systems dismantled. Car 5 was converted into a normal horse-drawn carriage. The entire route from McChesney Street to Dodd Street was now operated as a horse-drawn tram. The railway company now intended to extend the route via East Orange to Bloomfield and renamed itself to Orange Crosstown and Bloomfield Railway on February 29, 1888 . The extension should go through Dodd Street, Prospect Street, Glenwood Avenue and Broad Street. The new terminal in Bloomfield was on Broad Street / Bay Avenue. Short extensions to the orange network were also built. In June / July 1888 the lines went into operation. The railway also built a park on Glenwood Avenue, which was supposed to provide additional traffic on the weekends.
The total route of the Crosstown Line was now 9.44 kilometers long, still single-track and had a total of 20 switches. The newly established approximately 600 meters long Tory Corner Line ran from the depot in Dodd Street westwards to Washington Street / Main Street and was operated as a shuttle line. The section on West Washington Street had also been rebuilt. The Crosstown Line was extended in Scotland Road by about 150 meters to Tremont Avenue.
In December 1889, Edison conducted another electrical test run. This time the Tory Corner line was electrified. As a railcar, he used car 6, which received an engine. On May 1, 1890, the test operation ended again and the systems were dismantled again. The Newark tram electrified its Orange line on January 13, 1892. As early as October 25, 1890, a second route from Newark to Orange via Central Avenue was the first electric tram in the urban area of Orange. The terminus of this line was on Central Avenue / Scotland Road and the cars used the tracks of the Orange tram for a short stretch on Central Avenue.
electrification
On January 13, 1893, the Orange Valley Street Railway was established. Frank W. Child became president of this company, and George Spottiswoode was the managing director, like the existing railway company. This company wanted to build a just under 500 meters long electric tram, the station Highland Avenue at DLW-route through the Freeman Street, Valley Street, Forest Street and Valley Road to the valley station of the cable cars on Orange Mountain should go to this mountain railway to connect to the railway network. However, a concession for this route was not approved. The owners bought the horse-drawn tram on March 18, 1893 and merged the two companies on April 13, 1893 to form the Suburban Traction Company . Child and Spottiswoode became President and CEO of the new company, respectively. The new owner stopped the operation of the Tory Corner Line, but the line in Washington Street between Dodd Street and Main Street remained.
The Suburban Traction Company has now electrified the horse-drawn tram with the single-pole catenary system that has already proven its worth elsewhere. For this purpose, the line was equipped with new, stronger tracks and the railway acquired eight new electric railcars from the Brill company . On March 30, 1894, the Crosstown Line between Scotland Road and the depot began electrical operations. The rest of the line to Bloomfield was not electrified until June 17, 1895.
In the meantime, however, the railway company has also built a new line to West Orange, which was opened in 1894. It began on Washington Street / Watchung Avenue and ran through Watchung Avenue, Chestnut Street, Oxford Place, Cherry Street, Harrison Avenue, Mississippi Avenue, and on over a separate railway body, which is now partly Wilfred Street, Moore Terrace, Pen Bryn Road and Nutwold Avenue up to Mountain Avenue. The terminus at the base of Eagle Rock was on the corner of Mountain Avenue and Murray Street. As a result, a short section of the former Tory Corner Line between Dodd Street and Watchung Avenue was electrified and used again as a line. The Eagle Rock Line began like the Crosstown Line on Scotland Road / Tremont Avenue and was 7.31 kilometers long. Both lines were driven every 20 minutes, so that a car drove every 10 minutes on the core route between Tremont Avenue and the depot.
In August 1896 the main line in Scotland Road was again extended by about 100 meters to Morris Street. Now the lines have been changed. The Crosstown line now ran every 10 minutes from Morris Street to Bloomfield. The Eagle Rock Line now began on Washington Street / Day Street and only ran a single shuttle every 30 minutes. The wagon sequence was later extended to 34.5 minutes in order to set up break times at the terminals. Open wagons were mainly used on this line in the summer. At the weekend it was mainly used for excursion traffic. On December 8, 1896, the railway company had to file for bankruptcy.
Further expansion of the network
The Orange and Passaic Valley Railway , founded on July 5, 1898, bought the Suburban Traction Company on the same day. Charles Stirling became president. The management passed to the new owner on August 24, the merger took place on September 6, 1898. The company now converted the entire network to standard gauge (1435 mm) track gauge, which was completed in June 1899. At the same time, the Newark Tram had extended its Orange Line through Main Street, Valley Street (now part of Main Street) and Harrison Avenue to Harrison Avenue / Mississippi Avenue, where the Eagle Rock Line was already located. A track triangle was built at the intersection so that a connection between the Orange and Newark trams was again created. In Bloomfield, too, a connecting curve was built on Broad Street / Bloomfield Avenue. The connection on Central Avenue, which was interrupted by the gauge change in around 1894, has now also been reinstalled. Another connection to the Newark network was made in West Orange. The track of the former Tory Corner Line was also re-gauged and electrified. However, there was no scheduled service on this section.
In 1898 a third line, the Valley Road Line, was built, which was to run in the northern neighboring city of Montclair and was independent of the rest of the network. The line was already planned by the Suburban Traction Company. The train ran from Bloomfield Avenue / Valley Road through Valley Road to Montclair Heights. The northern end point was on the county line. Like the rest of the network, the line was single-track with a turnout and had its own depot. On Bloomfield Avenue there was a connection and a track connection to the Newark tram. In 1900 plans were made to extend this route over Bloomfield Avenue, Elm Street, Orange Road and North Park Street to Dodd Street and thus connect it to the rest of the network. On Bloomfield Avenue, the Newark Tramway was to be used. However, the East Orange Township did not give permission for the route through North Park Street. Thus, only the section up to Orange Road / Park Street, which opened in 1901, was built. Also in 1901, the rail company opened a new eight-track depot on Washington Street south of Dodd Street. The old depot on Dodd Street was closed and demolished.
On November 1, 1903, the North Jersey Street Railway leased the Orange tram and took over operations. This company operated, among other things, the Newark tram and the West Orange – South Orange tram, which opened in 1897 to Orange. On July 24, 1907, the North Jersey Street Railway bought the line and on August 20 of the same year, the Public Service Railway took over operations. However, the management of the railway remained in the hands of the Orange and Passaic Valley Railway. After the takeover, a track connection to the Newark tram was installed on Bloomfield Avenue / Broad Street in Bloomfield, and from July 17, 1911, this set up a line from Newark to Bloomfield Center, the orange tracks in the between Bloomfield Avenue and Bay Avenue Broad Street shared. At first she only drove in rush hour traffic, but from November 13, 1911 all day.
In 1911, the train finally received the concession for the route in North Park Street and from December 18 of that year the trains of the Valley Road Line went to Morris Street in Orange. However, the single-track line could not accommodate the second line, so that after a short time the cars from Montclair only drove to the DLW train station in the center of Orange. On February 21, 1916, the terminal was finally moved to Main Street / Day Street.
This completed the construction of the route. Overall, the network was opened as follows:
| date | Route section |
|---|---|
| April 16, 1887 | Scotland Road / McChesney Street - Central Avenue - DLW train station - Day Street - Erie train station - Dodd Street, depot |
| June 30, 1888 | Dodd Street, Depot - Prospect Street - Watsessing Park - Bloomfield Station - Bloomfield Center, Broad Street / Bay Avenue |
| July 2, 1888 | Washington Street / Dodd Street - West Orange, Washington Street / Main Street |
| July 1888 | Scotland Road / Tremont Avenue - Scotland Road / McChesney Street |
| July 20, 1894 | Washington Street / Watchung Avenue - West Orange, Mississippi Avenue - Eagle Rock (Mountain Avenue / Murray Street) |
| August 1896 | Scotland Road / Morris Street - Scotland Road / Tremont Avenue |
| 1898 | Montclair, Bloomfield Avenue / Valley Road - Valley Road - Montclair Heights (county boundary) |
| 1901 | East Orange, Orange Road / North Park Street - Elm Street - Bloomfield Avenue / Elm Street (and shared use on Bloomfield Avenue to Valley Road) |
| December 18, 1911 | East Orange, Dodd Street / North Park Street - North Park Street - Orange Road / North Park Street |
From May 12, 1917, the Newark tram used the route in Scotland Road when a shuttle line was opened from Morris Street to the depot on Central Avenue. The Orange tram network operated the following lines on this day:
| Line designation | Route | Cycle sequence (min) |
|---|---|---|
| Crosstown | Morris Street - Central Avenue - DLW Station - Day Street - Erie Station - Depot - Watsessing Park - Bloomfield Station - Bloomfield Center, Bay Avenue | HVZ 6, otherwise 12 |
| Central Avenue Shuttle | Morris Street - Central Avenue - Depot Central Avenue (operations and vehicle use by the Newark Tram) | unknown |
| Valley Road | Day Street / Main Street - Depot - East Orange, North Park Street - Montclair, Elm Street - Valley Road - Montclair Heights | HVZ 6, otherwise 10 |
| Eagle Rock | Washington Street / Day Street - Depot - Mississippi Avenue - West Orange, Eagle Rock | 34.5 |
| Bloomfield | Newark - Bloomfield Avenue - Bloomfield Center, Bay Avenue (operations and vehicle use by the Newark tram) | unknown |
Decline and shutdown
When the USA entered the First World War , the number of transports fell rapidly from 1917 onwards. In addition, there was the increasing motorization of the population. The first cuts in the Crosstown Line began in August 1918, when the wagon sequence was stretched to 15 minutes all day long, which meant a reduction of more than half of the range during rush hour traffic. Conductorless operations were introduced on the Eagle Rock Line before the war. This step was taken on the Valley Road Line to save costs on January 31, 1921 and on the Crosstown Line on February 16, 1921. Also from January 31, 1921, the Valley Road Line only ran between Bloomfield Avenue and Valley Road and Montclair Heights and a new Elm Street line commuted between Bloomfield Avenue / Elm Street and Day Street / Main Street in Orange after the Newark tram was abandoned. The cars of the Elm Street line were stationed in the depot on Washington Street, those of the Valley Road line were still in Montclair. The Elm Street Line continued to run every 6 minutes during rush hour, otherwise every 10 minutes, and from December 29, 1921 every 12 minutes. The line of the Newark tram to Bloomfield Center ran from February 17, 1921 only in rush hour traffic. From 1923 to 1925, the Washington Street depot also housed the West Orange – South Orange tram cars, which traveled via the Newark Line on Main Street and the Operational Line on West Washington Street.
In 1924 the southern part of the network south of Main Street and the Eagle Rock Line were shut down. This also eliminated the shuttle line to Central Avenue on the Newark tram. The Washington Street line between Main Street and Dodd Street remained as an operating line until 1925. From April 6, 1924, the Valley Road line ran again continuously to Day Street / Main Street in Orange and the Elm Street line was discontinued. A service line in school traffic drove from February 5, 1925 in the afternoon from the Normal School in Montclair to Elm Street / Bloomfield Avenue, from December 17, 1926 only to Valley Road / Bloomfield Avenue. The rest of the network was shut down by 1929. The Central Avenue line of the Newark tram ran to Orange until 1947, the Orange line was closed on March 1, 1951 in the urban area of Orange and East Orange.
In detail, the lines were closed as follows:
| date | Route section |
|---|---|
| April 20, 1924 | Washington Street / Watchung Avenue - Eagle Rock (A short section of Mississippi Avenue is left for the Newark tram, closed March 1, 1951.) |
| June 20, 1924 | Scotland Road / Morris Street - Central Avenue - DLW train station - Day Street / Main Street (The Central Avenue platform will be retained for the Newark tram, closed on December 14, 1947.) |
| November 30, 1925 | Washington Street / Main Street - Washington Street / Dodd Street (was operating route) |
| March 20, 1927 | North Park Street / Dodd Street - North Park Street - Elm Street - Bloomfield Avenue / Elm Street |
| August 7, 1927 | Bloomfield Station - Bloomfield, Broad Street / Bay Avenue |
| January 3, 1928 | Bloomfield Avenue / Valley Road - Montclair Heights |
| June 2, 1929 | Day Street / Main Street - Erie Train Station - Depot - Watsessing Park - Bloomfield Train Station |
vehicles
When the horse-drawn tram began operating, the railway had five cars from the John Stephenson Car Company , which were given the numbers 1 to 5. Car 5 was converted to an electric multiple unit during the first electrical test run. There was also a car of unknown origin (No. 6) and two cars from the JG Brill Company (No. 7 and 8). All eight cars were closed. The two Brill cars were sold again in 1888 and seven more Stephenson cars were bought instead, and these were given the numbers 7 to 13. In 1889/1890, car 6 was briefly converted to an electric multiple unit for the second electrical test run.
With the start of electrical operations in 1894, the horse-drawn tram cars were given up and eight closed electric railcars were bought by Brill, which were given the numbers 1 to 8. In addition, there were six open railcars with the numbers 100 to 105, also manufactured by Brill, as well as a spray car from the Studebaker company. In 1895, six more open railcars were purchased by the Jackson & Sharp Company . They were given the numbers 106, 107 and 109 to 112.
The open Brill cars were given numbers 51 to 56 on the Orange and Passaic Valley Railway (O&PV) in 1898, the closed cars kept their numbers. Car 51 had an accident on June 5, 1903 and was then scrapped. The remaining Brill cars were transferred to the Public Service Railway (PS) car park in 1907 and were given the numbers 246 and 691 to 694. The Jackson & Sharp cars were given numbers 57 to 62 at O&PV and numbers 247 and 247 for PS 695 to 699. In 1898 the O&PV acquired a series of 16 closed railcars from Brill and Stephenson, which were given the numbers 100 to 115. Most of the cars were soon returned and the remaining cars 100, 111 and 115 were added to the PS with numbers 4 to 6.
Also in 1898, five used railcars were leased from the Philadelphia tram , which were also originally built by Brill and Stephenson. These kept their Philadelphia numbers 575 to 579 and were transferred to the North Jersey Street Railway to Newark in 1903. Another series of 15 closed wagons (no. 200 to 214) and five open wagons (no. 63 to 67) were procured from the Laclede company in 1901 and 1902, respectively. They were given numbers 939 to 953 and 889 to 893 from the PS.In 1900, Brill also produced a spray car (No. 1001) and a rail cleaning car (No. 1002) and a snow plow (No. 1003) from Taunton. . The emergency car 80 and the flat car 81 were built in 1903 in the company's own workshop. Nothing is known about the whereabouts of these work cars.
literature
- Joseph F. Eid Jr. and Barker Gummere: Streetcars of New Jersey. Self-published, 2007. ISBN 978-0-9801026-3-5 (pages 344–350)
- Edward Hamm Jr .: The Public Service Trolley Lines in New Jersey. Polo IL: Transportation Trails, 1991. ISBN 0-933449-12-7 (pages 178-183)