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Pillar of the Community
United States
731 Posts |
In 1891 the Gettysburg Electric Railway Company was established. Its purpose was to provide motorized streetcar tours of the Gettysburg Battlefield.
Construction for the railway was completed in 1893. In 1894 the line opened for business. The system consisted of seven trolley cars, and was powered by its own electric plant specifically built to energize the system.¹
From its inception, the system generated much controversy. Proponents of the system pointed out the many benefits it brought to both the town of Gettysburg itself as well as its famous battlefield. One benefit of the system was that it brought electrical street lamps to the town of Gettysburg; until that time no consistent electrical service was available for public service²†. It was also the first motorized transportation system for the battlefield, and could provide tours to larger masses of people.
Its opposition, including Civil War Veterans Groups and the United States Government itself, disagreed with the appropriateness of the line, and felt it was both a desecration of, and a danger to, the sanctity of battlefield.
Destruction of Gettysburg Battlefield land during construction.
Center left - Monuments for the 110th Pennsylvania and the 8th New Jersey.
Pictured below is the circuit of the trolley system. The circuit began at the Carlisle Street Railroad Station, proceeded down Baltimore Street, traversed around to the southern end of the battlefield, and returned using a portion of the Gettysburg-Harrisburg-Reading Railroad². The segment pictured in green, along with the blue, shows the circuitous route. The red was a portion of the line originally planned, but never implemented¹.
Over the life of the railway the system was sold several times. In 1897 the system was renamed the Gettysburg Transit Company. In 1909 its name was changed again to the Gettysburg Railway³. Initially when the system began, paper tickets were used for passage. Later in the system's history, tokens were used.¹
The railway operated until 1916, when the system was finally forced to shut down.¹
Pictured below is a Gettysburg Electric Railway token from my cabinet. It was photographed using axial lighting with glass angled at 45 degrees. The lower left quadrant of the obverse, and the lower right quadrant of the reverse show some discoloration. Despite this, the token has survived quite well. Axial lighting was used in an effort to reveal if the token was cleaned sometime in its past; no evidence is apparent. Given its condition, I estimate this token's grade at AU.
It should be noted that given the name of the system identified on the obverse, it can be surmised that the token dates sometime between 1893 through 1897, given the history of the line and its evolution of names.
Thanks,
- Cheetah
_____________________
† Electricity in private homes did not become available for another two decades.
¹ 'Gettysburg Electric Trolley, Parts 1-8', Gettysburg Daily, Rich Kohr,©2009
² 'A Brief History of Gettysburg', Gerald Bennet / Kevin A. Trostle, http://kevintrostle.com/EVOLVING_TOURIST_TOWN.html
³ Pennsylvania Interurbans and Streetcar Railroads, http://www.american-rails.com/penns...rurbans.html
'Desecration of the Battlefield',Harper's Weekly Magazine, July 1, 1893
Edited by CheetahCats
03/03/2011 12:51 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3179 Posts |
Nice story and awesome token! I wonder if any of the paper tickets still exist?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1143 Posts |
Wonderful token with a great pictorial reverse. Thanks for posting the info along with the token as the story adds a lot.
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Replies: 2 / Views: 3,586 |
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Posted 03/03/2011 6:59 pm
