Gettysburg Electric Railway

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Not to be confused with Gettysburg Railway or Gettysburg and Harrisburg Railway.
Gettysburg Electric Railway
1904 Cope map - Gettysburg Electric Railway.png
The trolley line east of Plum Run extended to Round Top, Pennsylvania, through the Slaughter Pen, across Warren Av, through the Valley of Death, and across the north foot of Little Round Top to end behind the Round Top Station's warehouse.[1]
Locale Adams County, Pennsylvania
Powerhouse: Gettysburg
Terminus: Round Top
-----Operators-----
1891: Gettysburg Electric Ry Co[2]
1895: receivership[3][specify]
1897: Gettysburg Transit Co[4][5]


1909: Central Trust and Savings Co. &       Railway Building and Operating Co.[6]


1910: Gettysburg Railway Co[7]
Dates of operation 1894 (circaJuly)
   – 1916 November 16
External images
image icon c. 1908 summer ("Howard") & winter cars
image icon cars near the cemetery entrance & The Loop[specify]

The Gettysburg Electric Railway was a borough trolley that provided summer access[8][9] to Gettysburg Battlefield visitor attractions such as military engagement areas, monuments, postbellum camps, and recreation areas (e.g., Wheat-field Park[10] and the Pfeffer baseball diamond[11]). Despite the 1896 Supreme Court ruling under the Takings Clause against the railway, battlefield operations continued until 1916. The trolley generating plant was leased[12] by the Electric Light, Heat, and Power Company of Gettysburg[13] to supply streetlights and homes until electricity was imported from Hanover.

The 94-passenger,[14] 14-bench "Brill double-truck summer cars" used the main line of 5.7 mi (9.2 km)[15] on 10-minute intervals and were powered by a 150 ft × 100 ft (46 m × 30 m) electric plant[16] with 150 hp (110 kW) Corliss steam engine(s)[17] driving 500 volt Westinghouse railway generator(s).[6] Employees included superintendent Hal J. Gintling,[18][19] managers Thomas P. Turner[8] & Harry Cunningham;[20] crewmen Charles W Culp Jr, Mr. Grinder, William Shields, George Hughes, Norman Murray, Reuben Rupp,[9] Walter Plank,[21] Harry Robinson;[22] conductors John Thomas,[23] William G. Weaver,[14] & Edward Weikert; and motormen Warfield Collins,[24] Mr. Emmons,[25] Gervus W. Myers,[23] Arthur "Ott" Shields,[26][21] & S. A. Troxell.[27][28]

History

File:The street railway review (1891) (14573162087).jpg
Network map upon opening, as published in Oct.1893.

The Gettysburg Electric Railway Company was chartered August 4, 1891,[2] and incorporated July 28, 1892.[29] In January 1893[13] the borough of Gettysburg granted trolley right-of-way for all principal streets,[30] and the $150,000 bond was for street operations planned for July 1, 1893.[31][not in citation given] 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.[10][15]

Railbed construction began in April 1893,[32] and the electric power company was chartered on June 15.[13] Tracks were planned along The Angle's stone wall,[33] but instead the trolley used 8,400 ft (2,600 m)[33] of the Emmitsburg Road[1] on which trolleys crossed the Round Top Branch (the trolley was denied right-of-way on the steam train line in both 1893[13] and 1913.)[34] Beginning April 1, 1894, the trolley was extended from Wible's Woods[35] through Tipton Station to Round Top Station[36] (the line had 7 stops).[37][where?] A new trolley powerhouse of Hummelstown brownstone replaced[9] the original which had burned down by January 22, 1895;[10] and by October 1895 total trackage was 8.5 mi (13.7 km).[38] 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".[39]

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Accidents & incidents: In 1900, the trolley overhead power line broke at Wible's Woods,[40] and a car derailed in 1901[41] (trolley machinery was improved in 1902 before Camp Lawton).[19] Events in 1903 included an attempted derailment by sabotage,[42] a moterman struck his head against "an electric pole that was close to the track",[28] and the "Slocum" trolley car jumped the tracks on April 27.[22] A 1904 trolley struck Joseph Keagy,[43] and during both 1904[44] and the 1908 Camp Hays, lightning storms disabled trolley operations (a Major was struck getting on a car).[45] In 1909 the "Reynolds" car collided with an automobile,[25] and on August 12, 1910, a car struck a mounted Camp Gobin lieutenant. Three days later the "Slocum" and 1909 closed "Sedgwick"[46] cars collided (1 fatality) near Devil's Den[21] where there was a siding.[47] A heated winter car with a closed vestibule was acquired in December 1910.[48] During the July 1913 Gettysburg reunion, 2 trolley cars collided near Devil's Den,[49] and in September a trolley in the borough was rear-ended when a "drunken passenger" pulled the brake cable.[50]

The last trolley car ran in November 1916 when the railway had become obsolete both with disrepair[51] and with increased tourists' use of automobiles[9] on Army-improved battlefield avenues.[32] After 1917 Army appropriations, the tracks were removed by summer crews under foreman Hugh McIlhenny;[14] and plans for trolley extensions from Gettysburg were never completed to several cities:[52]

Baltimore Pike-to-Round Top route
This list is incomplete; you can help by editing it.
Intersections & Curves[60] Coordinates
Baltimore Pike @ Evergreen Cem. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
curve east of Taneytown Road Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
south curve on Taneytown Rd Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
original GNMP gate 800 ft (240 m) along PA 134[33]
"back gate", National Cemetery[61] Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
curve NE of Zeigler's Grove
curve N of the Brian House
Emmitsburg Rd "Y of the trolly"[62] Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
parallel trolley tracks
Round Top Branch Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Spangler switch (tract 17)[15] a curve was near the Spangler lane[60]
Peach Orchard curve @ Emmitsburg & Wheatfield roads
curve S from Wheatfield Road Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Wm Wible's "Wheat-field Park"[10] 25 acres (0.10 km2)
curve near 118th PA monument
De Trobriand Avenue Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Rose Run Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Brooke Avenue Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Plum Run Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Tipton Station walkway[63] Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Warren Avenue Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Sykes Avenue Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Wheatfield Rd crossing @ Round Top Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
terminus behind Round Top Station Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

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.[64] A pedestrian bridge was later constructed[when?] 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;[63] and sections of the railbed remain discernable in modern overhead images.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. (1991 Gettysburg Times)
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "GT1966" defined multiple times with different content
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. 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.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. NOTE: Awful Trolley Collision (below) identifies the August 15, 1910, fatality was a man, "Nicholas Berkheimer", who lived on the Taneytown Rd.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. (p. 3. col. 1)
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 28.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. (column 2)
  29. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  30. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  31. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 33.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  34. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  35. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  36. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  37. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  38. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  39. ↑ United States v. Gettysburg Electric Ry. Co., 160 U.S. 668 (1896).
  40. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  41. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  42. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  43. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  44. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  45. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  46. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  47. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  48. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  49. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  50. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  51. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  52. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  53. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  54. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  55. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  56. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. NOTE The "1908" year indicates the events were Sixty years ago, as does the original 1908 Star and Sentinel article.
  57. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  58. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  59. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  60. ↑ 60.0 60.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  61. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  62. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  63. ↑ 63.0 63.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. by "structure number":
    RR02: Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
    MN807: Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
    NPS02: Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  64. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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