At this stop I'll be showin' ya the Electric Trolly Era which started in 1887.
THE BEGINNING
In the late 1800’s electric motor technology was perfected.The street railway industry immediately started gaining popularity with their new way of powering cars, as a way to solve the many problems associated with operating horse cars.
A New Trend
The first successful electric street railway was in Richmond, Virginia. Soon afterward they became so famous that almost all the horse car lines in North America were converted to electric power. The Electric power transportation became so popular with the riding public the profits basically expanded tenfold of night.
By the time of World War I, the street railway industry was the fifth largest industry in the United States, employing well over 100,000 people nationwide.
This is how busy the streets could get with people waiting to get on to electric Trollys
New Opportunities
New trolley lines were built, and
extended beyond the city limits. This created a huge housing boom in
the suburbs. The trolley allowed people to live
outside the city and commute to their jobs in the city for the first time.
In some cities, such as Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania, trolley companies experimented with different ways to
handle the huge demand for trolley service. One such way,
was large, double deck trolleys like this one. Note the sign on
the front dash of the trolley "This Car to Schenley and Highland
Park" (Postcard from the collection of Rick Russell).
