Sep 24, 2024

The Last Trolley


The last trolley, shown above, ran in Allentown on June 8, 1953. We see the trolley passing a new Transit Authority bus at 8th and Hamilton Streets. In the early 1950's, General Motors wined and dined transit authorities all across the nation, promoting their buses as the modern mass transit. Today, buses are becoming electric, just like efficient trolleys of yesteryear. We even dress up a small bus to look like a trolley. Gotta love the vision of bureaucrats.

reprinted from January of 2011

2 comments:

  1. Transportation is coming full circle. I do remember riding the trolley from Fountain Hill to allentown and believe they had some with a gas engine. Also the incinerator burned garbage and used the heat to heat buildings rather than using a landfill.

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    Replies
    1. ...and now CNG buses, including those of LANTA, the trolley company's successor, are powered partly by natural gas extracted from landfills. I love the idea of trolleys and light rail where appropriate. The problem is that they only go where the community 'planners' want them to go. Buses, cabs, Ubers, and one's own car better serve people where they are.

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