[PRCo] Re: State Elec/Horse/Cable history

[Edward H. Lybarger]

Before 1872 (or was it 1874?...whenever the new state constituion too
effect), all the street railway charters required an act of the legislature,
and they will be found in the law library in the appropriate books.  This is
where I went to determine that there was no "official" Pennsylvania track
gauge...that it was specified (if at all) in the charter for each company.

-----Original Message-----
From: pittsburgh-railways-bounce at lists.dementia.org
[mailto:pittsburgh-railways-bounce at lists.dementia.org]On Behalf Of Fred
Schneider
Sent: Saturday, December 21, 2002 7:00 PM
To: twg at pulsenet.com; j_swindler at hotmail.com;
pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
Subject: [PRCo] State Elec/Horse/Cable history



I have entered all of the DIA property data back to 1871 into a matrix
to make a bar graph showing what cities had service in what year.

There were 26 transit companies in Pennsylvania in 1871, and I have no
absolutely confirmed opening dates for any of them.  They are listed
below together with their suggested opening dates and source of those
dates. (although those dates may be charter dates).   Would each of you
go over the list and let me know what you can add ... I'm out of state
library sources and I don't care to read 10 newspapers from 1859 to
1871.  If any of you on Derrrick's list have any non-railfan literature
that might fill in gaps, tell me.  Thanks.

Erie City Passenger Railway (1868 - Benson Rohrbeck)
Harrisburg City Passenger Railway (Richard Steinmetz book claims it
opened in 1873 but DIA has income and passenger reports back to 1871.)
Allentown Passenger Railway (1868 - R. L. Kulp)
Easton and South Easton Passenger Railway (1867 - R. L. Kulp)
Philadelphia:
     Frankford and Southwark Passenger Railway Co.
     Citizens Passenger Railway  (1859)
     Lombard and South Sts. Pass. Ry. Co.
     Second and Third Sts. Pass. Ry. Co.
     Hestonville, Mantua & Fairmount Pass. Ry. Co.
     Germantown Pass. Ry. Co.
     Seventeenth & Nineteenth Sts. Pass. Ry. Co.
     Union Pass. Ry. Co.
     West Philadelphia Pass. Ry. Co.
     Philadelphia City Pass. Ry. Co.  (1859)
     Philadelphia and Darby (1857 - may have been a railroad in some
years/
Pittsburgh:
     Pittsburg, Oakland and East Liberty (1859)
     Citizens Pass. Ry.  (1859)
     Pittsburg, Allegheny & Manchester (1859)
     Pittsburg & Birmingham (1859)
     Federal Street and Pleasant Valley Pass. Ry.  (1872 charter
(Rohrbeck) but operating in 1871
Peoples Street Railway Co. of Luzerne Co., Scranton  (1867 - Tom
Flanagan)
Coalville Passenger Railway (1869)  - Became the Ashley-Sugar Notch line
of Wilkes-Barre Railways
Wilkes-Barre and Kingston Pass. Ry. Co.  (1866 - Harold Cox)
Williamsport Passenger Railway (1863 - H arold Cox)

Also:  Pittsburgh, Knoxville and St. Clair doesn't show up in DIA
reports.