Gettysburg Electric Railway Explained

Railroad Name:Gettysburg Electric Railway
Locale:Adams County, Pennsylvania
Powerhouse: Gettysburg
Terminus: Round Top
Child:yes
Label1:Operators
Data1:
  • 1891: Gettysburg Electric Ry Co
  • 1895: receivership[1]
  • 1897: Gettysburg Transit Co[2] [3]
  • 1909: Central Trust and Savings Co. &       
  • 1910: Gettysburg Railway Co[4]
Start Year:1894 (circaJuly)
   
End Year: 1916 November 16

The Gettysburg Electric Railway was a borough trolley that provided summer access[5] to Gettysburg Battlefield visitor attractions such as military engagement areas, monuments, postbellum camps, and recreation areas (e.g., Wheat-field Park and the Pfeffer baseball diamond). Despite the 1896 Supreme Court ruling under the Takings Clause against the railway, battlefield operations continued until 1916. The trolley generating plant was leased[6] by the Electric Light, Heat, and Power Company of Gettysburg to supply streetlights and homes until electricity was imported from Hanover.

The 94-passenger, 14-bench "Brill double-truck summer cars" used the main line of 5.7miles on 10-minute intervals and were powered by a 150x electric plant[7] with 150hp Corliss steam engine(s)[8] driving 500 volt Westinghouse railway generator(s).[9] Employees included superintendent Hal J. Gintling,[10] managers Thomas P. Turner[5] & Harry Cunningham; crewmen Charles W Culp Jr, Mr. Grinder, William Shields, George Hughes, Norman Murray, Reuben Rupp,[11] Walter Plank, Harry Robinson; conductors John Thomas,[12] William G. Weaver, & Edward Weikert; and motormen Warfield Collins,[13] Mr. Emmons, Gervus W. Myers,[12] Arthur "Ott" Shields,[14] [15] & S. A. Troxell.[16] __TOC__

History

The Gettysburg Electric Railway Company was chartered August 4, 1891,[17] and incorporated July 28, 1892.[18] In January 1893[19] the borough of Gettysburg granted trolley right-of-way for all principal streets,[20] and the $150,000 bond was for street operations planned for July 1, 1893.[21] The railway eventually secured rights-of-way for a route west and north of the borough to the area of the Battle of Gettysburg, First Day; but which were never built.[22]

Railbed construction began in April 1893, and the electric power company was chartered on June 15.[19] Tracks were planned along The Angle's stone wall,[23] but instead the trolley used 8400feet[23] of the Emmitsburg Road[24] on which trolleys crossed the Round Top Branch (the trolley was denied right-of-way on the steam train line in both 1893[19] and 1913.)[25] Beginning April 1, 1894, the trolley was extended from Wible's Woods[26] through Tipton Station to Round Top Station[27] (the line had 7 stops).[28] A new trolley powerhouse of Hummelstown brownstone replaced[29] the original which had burned down by January 22, 1895;[30] and by October 1895 total trackage was 8.5miles.[31] The 1896 Supreme Court ruled in US v. Gett. Elec. Ry. Co. that the use of eminent domain for historic preservation "seems" to be "a public use".[32]

Accidents and incidents

In 1900, the trolley overhead power line broke at Wible's Woods,[33] and a car derailed in 1901[34] (trolley machinery was improved in 1902 before Camp Lawton).[35] Events in 1903 included an attempted derailment by sabotage,[36] a moterman struck his head against "an electric pole that was close to the track",[16] and the "Slocum" trolley car jumped the tracks on April 27.[37] A 1904 trolley struck Joseph Keagy,[38] and during both 1904[39] and the 1908 Camp Hays, lightning storms disabled trolley operations (a Major was struck getting on a car).[40] In 1909 the "Reynolds" car collided with an automobile,[41] and on August 12, 1910, a car struck a mounted Camp Gobin lieutenant. Three days later the "Slocum" and 1909 closed "Sedgwick"[42] cars collided (1 fatality) near Devil's Den[14] where there was a siding.[43] A heated winter car with a closed vestibule was acquired in December 1910.[44] During the July 1913 Gettysburg reunion, 2 trolley cars collided near Devil's Den,[45] and in September a trolley in the borough was rear-ended when a "drunken passenger" pulled the brake cable.[46]

The last trolley car ran in November 1916 when the railway had become obsolete both with disrepair[47] and with increased tourists' use of automobiles[11] on Army-improved battlefield avenues. After 1917 Army appropriations, the tracks were removed by summer crews under foreman Hugh McIlhenny;[48] and plans for trolley extensions from Gettysburg were never completed to several cities:[49]

Baltimore Pike-to-Round Top route
This list is incomplete; you can help by editing it.!
Intersections & Curves[58] Coordinates
Baltimore Pike @ Evergreen Cem.
curve east of Taneytown Road
south curve on Taneytown Rd
original GNMP gate 800feet along PA 134
"back gate", National Cemetery[59]
curve NE of Zeigler's Grove
curve N of the Brian House
Emmitsburg Rd "Y of the trolly"[60]
parallel trolley tracks
Round Top Branch
Spangler switch (tract 17) a curve was near the Spangler lane
Peach Orchard curve @ Emmitsburg & Wheatfield roads
curve S from Wheatfield Road
Wm Wible's "Wheat-field Park" 25acres
curve near 118th PA monument
De Trobriand Avenue
Rose Run
Brooke Avenue
Plum Run
Tipton Station walkway
Warren Avenue
Sykes Avenue
Wheatfield Rd crossing @ Round Top
terminus behind Round Top Station
The trolley barn ("track car house") at the SE corner of Washington St and the steamtrain tracks was taken over by the Surefoot Heel and Rubber Co. in 1920.[61] A pedestrian bridge was later constructed across Rose Run on the trolley rail trail between Brooke and De Trobriand avenues. Remnants of the trolley system were registered as historic district contributing structures of the Gettysburg Battlefield Historic District on January 23, 2004;[62] and sections of the railbed remain discernable in modern overhead images.

Notes and References

  1. News: September 22, 1895 . Gettysburg Railway Receivers . . Google News Archive . April 17, 2011 . owing to sundry misfortunes and the embarrassment brought about by litigation, the company has become insolvent and has a floating indebtedness of upward of $10,000, which it is wholly unable at present to pay..
  2. Web site: Gettysburg Compiler - Jun 14, 1898 . January 6, 2014.
  3. News: June 15, 1897 . Electric Road Sold . Google News Archive . Gettysburg Compiler . March 5, 2011.
  4. News: Companies are re-organized. Adams County News. February 26, 1910. 2. 14. 1.
  5. News: May 9, 1906 . Local Miscellany: Short Paragraphs of Happenings in and About Town . Google News Archive . The Star and Sentinel . July 15, 2011 . General Manager Turner, of the Electric Railway Company, started the running of the trolley cars Saturday.. (1991 Gettysburg Times)
  6. News: Future use of electricity is told club. Gettysburg Times. February 12, 1963. 61. 36. 1.
  7. News: March 26, 1901 . Gettysburg, Her Past and Future . Google News Archive . Gettysburg Compiler . March 2, 2011.
  8. News: Stewart . Dr Henry . May 27, 1946 . The Electric Railway . Google News Archive . Gettysburg Times; Reminiscences of 70 Years in Gettysburg . March 3, 2011.
  9. News: September 18, 1909 . $60,000 Buys Trolley Road . Google News Archive . Adams County News . March 2, 2011.
  10. News: Town Native in Hospital at Age of 100. Gettysburg Times. January 15, 1972. 3.
  11. News: Weaver . William G . January 24, 1966 . Reminiscences Of Gettysburg . Google News Archive . Gettysburg Times . February 28, 2011.
  12. News: July 17, 2001 . Out of the Past: 100 Years Ago . Google News Archive . Gettysburg Times; Out of the Past . March 2, 2011.
  13. News: August 18, 1910 . Six Hurt When Cars Collide . Google News Archive . New Oxford Item . July 15, 2011 . Miss Ida Jones and Mrs. Annie Martin, colored excursionists, sprained ankles and ugly bruises. The accident occurred on the sharp curve between Devil's Den and the Plum Run bridge. … Berkheiser, who was standing on the front platform of the summer car was thrown some distance against a rock and rendered unconscious..
  14. News: August 17, 1910 . Camp Happenings" & "Awful Trolley Collision . Google News Archive & pdf version. Gettysburg Compiler . March 6, 2011.
  15. Web site: Genealogy Report: Descendants of Jacob Tresler.
  16. News: May 22, 1903 . Attempt to Wreck Trolley . Google News Archives . New Oxford Item . March 3, 2011. S. A. Troxell, a on the electric railway … head struck an electric pole that was close to the track. … extending the Hanover & McSherrystown Electric Railway to Conewago Chapel. (column 2)
  17. News: August 4, 1891 . Electric Railway" & "An Ordinance . Google News Archive . Gettysburg Compiler . March 6, 2011.
  18. Book: Adelman . Garry E . Smith . Timothy H . 1997 . Devil's Den: A History and Guide . . Thomas Publications . 1-57747-017-6 . 84.
  19. News: June 20, 1893 . The Electric Line on the Battlefield" & "The Electric Light Charter . Google News Archive . The Star and Sentinel . March 2, 2011. The trolley people propose to build a station just where Hancock was wounded..
  20. January 1893 . Pennsylvania . The Street Railway Review . March 2, 2011. Gettysburg … Council has granted the right of way over all of the principal streets … to the Electric Railway Company which will build a line over the battlefield..
  21. News: Died. New Oxford Item. April 14, 1893.
  22. News: August 18, 1909 . Trustee's Sale of the Gettysburg Transit Company . Google News Archive . Gettysburg Times . July 15, 2011.
  23. News: June 13, 1893 . The Trolley Road . Google News Archives . The Star and Sentinel . March 3, 2011. The Reading's Round Top Branch, taken with the power of eminent domain.
  24. News: April 3, 1894 . Electric Railway . Google News Archive . The Star and Sentinel . July 15, 2011 . Workmen are now digging holes for poles along the track of the Round Top branch of the Reading railroad from Round Top to the Emmitsburg road, with a view to the use of its rail as part of the trolley railway. The use of that track as a steam railroad--the purpose for which it was built and for which it secured its right of way--is practically abandoned, and it is turned over to a different use. … rear of the warehouse at Round Top station..
  25. News: February 8, 1913 . Medals for the Gettysburg Men . Google News Archives . Adams County News . January 22, 2011. News: Railroad Blocks Trolley Plans. Gettysburg Times. February 1, 1913.
  26. News: Old Photograph stirs up Memories of Civil War. Gettysburg Times. September 28, 1985. 6.
  27. News: The trolley case. The Star and Sentinel. September 18, 1894.
  28. Book: Weeks, Jim . 2003 . Gettysburg: Memory, Market, and an American Shrine . Google Books . 76 . Princeton University Press . March 14, 2011. 0691102716 .
  29. News: January 13, 1966 . Reminiscences Of Gettysburg . Google News Archives . Gettysburg Times . May 9, 2011.
  30. News: January 22, 1895 . Hoffer Sells Out . Google News Archive . The Star and Sentinel . February 24, 2011 . Lease from year to year from the Gettysburg and Harrisburg Railroad Company of “Little Round Top Park” at a rent of $25 a year..
  31. News: Gettysburg Railway receivers. The Philadelphia Record. September 22, 1895. 16.
  32. United States v. Gettysburg Electric Ry. Co. . 160 . U.S. . 668 . 1896 . http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?navby=CASE&court=US&vol=160&page=668 .
  33. News: A Real Snake Story at Camp. The Pittsburgh Press. July 22, 1897. 4.
  34. News: Out of the Past: 100 years ago. Gettysburg Times. July 17, 2001. A10.
  35. News: July 2, 1902 . We Have Another Park . Google News Archive . The Star and Sentinel . 3. col. 5 . February 6, 2011 . The Electric Railway Company, under the superintendency of H. J. Gintling, is busily engaged preparing for encampment week, and the work of putting in new machinery is progressing rapidly.. (p. 3. col. 1)
  36. News: Attempt to Wreck Trolley. New Oxford Item. May 22, 1903.
  37. News: April 29, 1903 . Round About Town . Google News Archive . Gettysburg Compiler . May 9, 2011 . The Case of the United States against the Pfeffer Heirs in the matter of land sought to be condemned will be called for trial..
  38. News: All over the county. Gettysburg Compiler. April 20, 1904.
  39. News: Local Happenings. New Oxford Item. August 5, 1904.
  40. News: July 30, 1908 . Three Killed at Camp Hays . Google News Archive . New Oxford Item . July 15, 2011 . Yesterday afternoon Major C. C. Wiley, surgeon general of the Second Brigade, was severely shocked when about to board a trolley car. The lightning struck near by and he was thrown to the ground unconscious..
  41. News: July 6, 1909 . Seriously Hurt in Auto Crash . Google News Archives . Gettyesubrg Times . July 15, 2011 . the large touring car ... struck the "Reynolds" trolley car at the crossing near the Den..
  42. News: Local News Happenings. Gettysburg Times. January 26, 1909. VII. 85. 1.
  43. News: Trolley Rumors are Numerous. Gettysburg Times. September 24, 1916. VIII. 289. 1.
  44. Web site: Adams County News - Dec 17, 1910 . January 6, 2014.
  45. News: July 3, 1913 . In The Big Camp . Google News Archive . New Oxford Item . July 15, 2011.
  46. Web site: Adams County News - Sep 13, 1913 . January 6, 2014.
  47. News: Other matters. Adams County News. April 11, 1914.
  48. News: Weaver . William G . March 28, 1966 . Reminiscences Of Gettysburg . Google News Archive . Gettysburg Times . May 9, 2011 . My motorman, myself, a colored man and a colored woman were the only people in the closed car while the open car was loaded. I was told at the time that the died at the R.R. station that evening and the body taken back to Baltimore that night.. NOTE: Awful Trolley Collision (below) identifies the August 15, 1910, fatality was a man, "Nicholas Berkheimer", who lived on the Taneytown Rd.
  49. News: Washington to Gettysburg. Gettysburg Compiler. December 29, 1896.
  50. News: May put line in receivers hands. Gettysburg Times. August 8, 1917.
  51. News: No trolley this year. Gettysburg Times. April 13, 1909. VII. 147.
  52. News: Gettysburg vs. Transit Co." & "Trolley Franchise Asked . Google News Archive . Gettysburg Compiler . May 9, 2011.
  53. News: July 28, 1968 . Special Meeting of Council . Google News Archive . Out of the Past: Fifty Years Ago . July 16, 2011. Local Miscellany: ... One of the trolley cars jumped the track near the Rogers house during the heavy storm of Thursday night which delayed traffic at a critical time. ... proposition from the Mt. Holly Trolley Co. in regards to entering Gettysburg... Following composed the committee: Calvin Gilbert,... The construction of the road to begin on or before Oct. 1, 1908.. NOTE The "1908" year indicates the events were Sixty years ago, as does the original 1908 Star and Sentinel article.
  54. News: 3. Administrator's Sale. Gettysburg Compiler. August 16, 1892.
  55. News: Great Trolley Plans. New Oxford Item. March 26, 1908.
  56. News: August 6, 1908 . Littlestown Trolley . Google News Archive . New Oxford Item . July 15, 2011.
  57. News: July 24, 1894 . Local Miscellany", "That Trolley Line" & "Base Ball Park . Google News Archive . The Star and Sentinel . May 9, 2011. NOTE: A baseball diamond was across the Emmitsburg Rd from the Codori farm on a former parade ground that had been used by postbellum Gettysburg Battlefield camps after the American Civil War.
  58. Julius Bien & Co. Lith. . 1904 . Map of the Battle Field of Gettysburg . Gettysburg National Park Commission (Nicholson, John P; Cope, Emmor; Hammond, Schuyler A). https://archive.today/20121205094454/http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/gmd:@OR(@field(AUTHOR+@3(Gettysburg+National+Military+Park+Commission++))+@field(OTHER+@3(Gettysburg+National+Military+Park+Commission++))) . dead . December 5, 2012 . New York . January 19, 2011.
  59. News: Reminiscences of Gettysburg. Gettysburg Times. February 28, 1972. William G.. Weaver. 4.
  60. News: July 27, 1904 . Took Work to make Camp Quay . Google News Archive . Gettysburg Compiler . March 2, 2011. …the railroads siding which the Reading Railroad fixed up in good shape, better than any time heretofore… Opposite the Y of the trolly is located the Third Brigade … extending until they practically join the town in the Tawney field on Washington Street..
  61. News: April 30, 1965 . Old "Trolley Barn" Will Be Removed Soon . Google News Archive . Gettysburg Times . July 15, 2011.
  62. News: List of Classified Structures . NPS.gov. by "structure number":
    RR02: Web site: Electric Trolley Bed . March 2, 2011 . [rail] trail along Plum Run at Devils Den, runs N through Rose Farm & stops near The Loop. … Pair of cut stone block abutments over Rose Run, 5' high, 25' long & approx 10' apart. . https://web.archive.org/web/20110721061606/http://www.hscl.cr.nps.gov/insidenps/report.asp?STATE=&PARK=GETT&RECORDNO=1079 . July 21, 2011 . dead .
    MN807: Web site: Tipton Boundary Marker . March 2, 2011 . approximately, 7"x7"x1'. Inscribed "T" on top of marker. … rough granite with a "T" inscribed on the top. … at a corner of Tipton land purchased in March 1892 as part of the Tipton Park and photographic studio. . https://web.archive.org/web/20110721061043/http://www.hscl.cr.nps.gov/insidenps/report.asp?STATE=&PARK=GETT&RECORDNO=1007 . July 21, 2011 . dead .
    NPS02: Web site: Old Slaughter Pen Path and Steps . March 4, 2011 . used by [trolley] passengers … Path and steps are now used as a Park trail. … Path runs N/S from Plum Run to Sickles Avenue. . https://web.archive.org/web/20110721061636/http://www.hscl.cr.nps.gov/insidenps/report.asp?STATE=&PARK=GETT&RECORDNO=1029 . July 21, 2011 . dead.

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