The success of early 1900s mid-Pennsylvanian trolley lines fell just as quickly as it had started.
The electric trolley became one of the main ways of public transportation during the early twentieth century. Three counties along the Susquehanna River thrived from trolley businesses: Northumberland, Snyder, and Union.
Three main lines were constructed. The Lewisburg (L), Milton (M), AND the Watsontown (W) Trolley Lines were assembled in 1897. The Selinsgrove and Sunbury Trolley Line (S&S) was built in 1907.
The S&S Trolley Line began the process of construction in 1904. The Selinsgrove Times-Tribune announced on September 16th that the Sunbury and Selinsgrove Electric Railway Company would be connecting both towns by bridge. An application to approve a railway was made in the following weeks and sent to the State of Pennsylvania. On this application were members of the S&S Electric Railway Company, including George W. Drury, G.K Lehner, and Guy Webster, president of the York Bridge Company.
By 1907, the railway was almost complete. Mr. Webster and the York Bridge Company called for one last thing: Cross Ties. They needed at least 16,000 ties, 6inx6inx8ft. They acquired the ties in the fall. The pace of the work began to increase and the 6 mile S&S Trolley Line was officially completed before Christmas of that year.
Rolling Green Park (RGP)
After buying and constructing the S&S Trolley Line, Mr. Webster needed an attraction to keep riders interested in taking the trolleys. In 1908 he purchased 46 acres of grassland. Originally known as “The People’s Playground”, the 46 acres turned into the most popular mid-Pennsylvanian park of the twentieth century. The park was directly next to the trolley line. This made it easily accessible for all passengers.
Thanks to the work of Mr. Webster, the parked quickly gained thousands of visitors. The S&S Trolley Line had multiple trolley cars going to and from Sunbury and Selinsgrove. The theatre was used almost every single week. The pavilion was used for family reunions, church gatherings, and bands. Each year felt better than the last. “We had no trouble finding the good, old, pleasure resorts of last year,” Ms. Cudge notes in her letter to “Midge” in 1910. Ms. Cudge reminisces the day filled with magnificent food, “inter-class baseball contests”, and glorious music.
Granting an Exchange of Trolleys
In December 1913 Mr. Webster and the S&S Electric Railroad Company began to run out of money. Bonds were the main source of money for the company. Their indebtedness came to 1.15 million dollars. The debt came from a merger of all Trolley Lines a few weeks before December. This included the S&S Line, Sunbury and Northumberland Line, and the LMW Line. As a result the company was forced to sell. Frederick J. Byrod, Charles H. Grant, and Henry E. Davis were the “receivers” for the Trolley Lines. Mr. Grant became the General Manager of all lines. Mr. Byrod took control of RGP in hopes of renovating and expanding it.
Mr. Byrod’s Selinsgrove picnic had the whole town take the day off; not a single business was open. Sunday school workers assembled themselves and took assignments for the day. Reverend Leroy F. Baker, Reverend Walter K. Hauser, and Miss Martha Gemberling highlighted the Entertainment for the day. Forrest E. Doebler, Edward R. Gemberling, and Frank Gable operated the Ice Committee. P.A Herman, C. A. Keeley, Asher Wertz, and the P.O.S of A band led the music charge at Rolling Green Park.
Transportation was the most important task for the picnic. S. Arthur Fisher, Chas P. Ulrich, Isaac G. Seiler, and three others led 6 special trolley cars to and from RGP. Picknickers and their picnic baskets were picked up around 9:30am. The Transportation Unit ensured citizens that backup was present in the case of multiple pickups.
A Shocking Escape
The speed of the electric trolley made it difficult to slow down when needed. This caused many accidents which resulted in bodily injuries and/or death. In Selinsgrove, PA alerts were put out for parents who had children. Any child killed by a trolley would result in public blame of the parent(s) for allowing their kid to play aside the tracks.
On another instance a man by the name of J. M. Maurer ignored warning signs. On the morning of March 11th, 1915, Maurer was casually driving down Pine Street. He saw the railroad crossing. He did not pay attention to it. Mere seconds later his life flashed before his eyes as a trolley car just missed him.
Maurer did not think anything of it and did the EXACT SAME THING on THE EXACT SAME ROAD in the evening. Conductor Peter Miller’s eyes widened as he saw Maurer slowly… inattentively… cruising… across the tracks. Slamming on the breaks with such force saved the life of Maurer.
Death of a Trolley
In 1916 the S&S Trolley Lines were beginning to fail, AGAIN. Operations were not the same as they once were. Profits were low and bondholders were not happy to lose their money over a trolley line. At this point, Mr. Davis had died, leaving Mr. Grant and Mr. Byrod to handle operations and transactions.
Bondholders were not happy to lose their money over another failed S&S Trolley Line. Debt to bondholders exceeded 1.1 million dollars. Judge H. W. Cummings ordered the receivers Mr. Byrod and Mr. Grant to sell all mid-Pennsylvanian Trolley Lines. He denied any further payments to maintain or fix the lines.
Think about it. Would you be happy if a company was unable to pay your bonds back twice over the course of 10 years?
Imagine owning a declining trolley line. You have to deal with demanding bondholders and a numerous amount of debt. Now try five years of this. You are barely making ends meet and have orders to sell as soon as possible. How much more of this can you take?
Mr. Byrod and Mr. Grant finally sold the S&S, Lewisburg, and Milton Trolley Lines in 1921. William H. Greenough oversaw the Bondholders’ Protective Committee and was named the “receiver” of all lines.
Mr. Grant retired as General Manager. Irvin H. Coldren was his successor.
Mr. Byrod continued to run RGP and became the Manager of the theatre.
Now imagine yourself as a citizen of Selinsgrove in the late 1920s. Franklin P. Bacastow of Harrisburg influences your neighbors to ride by bus instead of a trolley. Bacastow’s line extends from Harrisburg to Selinsgrove. At the same time, places like Bloomsburg and Scranton added bus lines to their routes. You watch as the trolley business ceases away, and you’re not happy about it. What would you do?
For Selinsgrove citizens, the only way to solve this is to march down to Harrisburg and demand things to stay the way they were. On January 17th, 2029, Selinsgrovers courageously stormed their way to the capital. Bacastow also had a new proposal to extend his line to Sunbury. This would make the competition with the trolley extremally unfair. Selinsgrovers argued that the trolley was enough transportation for the area.
The argument did not hold up for long.
Now you watch as busses take over the tri-county area. Eventually the S&S Electric Railway Company completely goes out of business in 1934. The trolley station at Rolling Green Park is replaced by a penny arcade and a bus stop by 1937.
The trolley experiment is over.
Fun Facts
- Mr. Byrod and Mr. Grant accumulated $70,000 over eight years from 1913-1921.
- The name “Rolling Green Park” was nominated by Mrs. Charles Kissinger in 1911. She was awarded $25 for her contribution.
- A disasterious flood ruined the grounds of Rolling Green Park in 1936.
