One of the challenges faced by The Lehigh Valley Transit Company was keeping the tracks cleared of snow during long winters. Special cars were constructed with huge plows for that purpose, plus some regular passenger cars had small plows mounted on the front for continuous cleanup. Shown above is a special plow car stored at the Fairview Yard.
The trolley system required much more infrastructure than later buses. Shown here is track intersection being constructed in center city Bethlehem. Corresponding electric lines would have to be constructed overhead to power the cars. For your viewing pleasure, here is an introduction to an available video by Gerhard Salomon on the service in Easton.
More information on The Rockhill Trolley Museum
reprinted from May 2010
Simply amazing. This is an era I wish I had not missed out on. Wish these trolleys were still in operation today.
ReplyDeleteJust a FYI, if you travel S 4th up and over South Mountain, there is a recent clearing on the left side of the hill heading down the hill towards Lanark Rd red light. If you look in the clearing you'll see metal posts with a round ball cap. They are the old trolley line posts that lined the track. (info obtained from a 93 year old woman who used to ride that line to get to Allen H.S.).
Do you happen to know the date of the track construction in Bethlehem picture?
john @ 10:04, sorry i don't know the date for the bethlehem picture. however, the elderly excavator who has the large property on s. 4th hill explained to me that his one building had been a trolley transformer station. AC was converted to DC for the track. he purchased the property as a young man from LVTC, after they ended the Liberty Bell route.
ReplyDelete