Gettysburg Electric Railway

Not to be confused with Gettysburg Railway or Gettysburg and Harrisburg Railway.
Gettysburg Electric Railway
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]
Overview
LocaleAdams 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 operation1894 (circaJuly)
   – 1916 November 16
External images
image icon c. 1908 summer ("Howard") & winter cars
image icon cars near the cemetery entrance & The Loop[specify]
Map all coordinates using OpenStreetMap

Download coordinates as:

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; crewmen Charles W Culp Jr, Mr. Grinder, William Shields, George Hughes, Norman Murray, Reuben Rupp,[9] Walter Plank,[20] Harry Robinson;[21] conductors John Thomas,[22] William G. Weaver,[14] & Edward Weikert; and motormen Warfield Collins,[23] Mr. Emmons,[24] Gervus W. Myers,[22] Arthur "Ott" Shields,[20][25] & S. A. Troxell.[26]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference SS189404 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference GC1891 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "Gettysburg Railway Receivers" (Google News Archive). The Philadelphia Record. September 22, 1895. Retrieved 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.
  4. ^ "Gettysburg Compiler - Jun 14, 1898". Retrieved January 6, 2014.
  5. ^ "Electric Road Sold" (Google News Archive). Gettysburg Compiler. June 15, 1897. Retrieved March 5, 2011.
  6. ^ a b "$60,000 Buys Trolley Road" (Google News Archive). Adams County News. September 18, 1909. Retrieved March 2, 2011.
  7. ^ "Companies are re-organized". Adams County News. Vol. 2, no. 14. February 26, 1910. p. 1.
  8. ^ a b "Local Miscellany: Short Paragraphs of Happenings in and About Town" (Google News Archive). The Star and Sentinel. May 9, 1906. Retrieved July 15, 2011. General Manager Turner, of the Electric Railway Company, started the running of the trolley cars Saturday. (1991 Gettysburg Times)
  9. ^ a b Weaver, William G (January 24, 1966). "Reminiscences Of Gettysburg" (Google News Archive). Gettysburg Times. Retrieved February 28, 2011.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference lease was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference SS1894 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ "Future use of electricity is told club". Gettysburg Times. Vol. 61, no. 36. February 12, 1963. p. 1.
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference SS1893 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference GT196603 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  15. ^ Cite error: The named reference GT190908 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  16. ^ "Gettysburg, Her Past and Future" (Google News Archive). Gettysburg Compiler. March 26, 1901. Retrieved March 2, 2011.
  17. ^ Stewart, Dr Henry (May 27, 1946). "The Electric Railway" (Google News Archive). Gettysburg Times; Reminiscences of 70 Years in Gettysburg. Retrieved March 3, 2011.
  18. ^ "Town Native in Hospital at Age of 100". Gettysburg Times. January 15, 1972. p. 3.
  19. ^ Cite error: The named reference SS1902 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  20. ^ a b "Camp Happenings" & "Awful Trolley Collision". Gettysburg Compiler. August 17, 1910. Google News Archive & pdf version. Retrieved March 6, 2011.
  21. ^ Cite error: The named reference GC1903 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  22. ^ a b "Out of the Past: 100 Years Ago" (Google News Archive). Gettysburg Times; Out of the Past. July 17, 2001. Retrieved March 2, 2011.
  23. ^ "Six Hurt When Cars Collide" (Google News Archive). New Oxford Item. August 18, 1910. Retrieved 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.
  24. ^ Cite error: The named reference GT190907 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  25. ^ "Genealogy Report: Descendants of Jacob Tresler".
  26. ^ "Attempt to Wreck Trolley" (Google News Archives). New Oxford Item. May 22, 1903. Retrieved March 3, 2011. S. A. Troxell, a moterman [sic] 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)