It is certainly one of the least studied aspects of American Transportation history. And one that ime want you to keep in mind is that we can make the argument that trolley is the linkage betweens team railroad. Perhaps we would not have the interurban area. The we can make a case that interurban is the transition freightSteam Railroads and the coming of the motor truck. To begin, the innercity road system was awful. It thatalk about continued into the 20th century. We had that National Road that was financed by the federal government in the 1840s. It will not be there until the 1890s that there was this bicycle craze. Communities were being pressured to have better roads. Only going up into the suburbs. We have places like cleveland and philadelphia. , and alla movement prior to thesystem coming of the automobile which is really from 1900 to 1905. Roads were my ands during the wet season extremely dusty during the dry season. Only aboutmated that 2. 2 millionas miles of roads were act
Why we have this new perhaps replacement technology. So you may ask what is an interurban. Now, i know that you all took baby latin in high school, so interurban, between cities. Thats the kind of latin i actually remember from the early 1960s. So perhaps its time for me to just give you some visual images of an interurban. This is a brochure, as you can tell, 1907, that was sold to travelers in the greater new england area. And this is going to be the heartland of what we call rural trolleys, and rural trolleys are simply street Car Companies that have extended their lines out into the suburbs nearby villages or perhaps to an Amusement Park or to a cemetery, whatever. But this is the kind of early interurban car that was so ubiquitous. A summer car, looks like fun. You have those sweet summer breezes, and it is a way certainly to see the landscape. So this is the first type of interurban car. And note that it has an overhead, a pole that connects the traction motors with the power sou
In the latter part of the 1880s. And communities were being pressured to have better roads. Perhaps only going out into the suburbs. And we have places like cleveland and philadelphia that are installing brick roads. So there is a movement for a allweather road system, or at least in a limited sense, prior to the coming of the automobile, which really is about 1900, so 1905. Most american roads at the beginning of the 20th century, were mud holes during the wet season, and extremely dusty during the dry season. It was estimated that only about 5 of americas 2. 2 million miles of roads were actually allweather. In other words they were covered with broken stone, some type of gravel, even sand. Or in florida, with seashells. So to make a long story short, the road system was abysmal. And one good example comes from iowa. As of 1905, only 2 of the States Network of more than 100,000 miles of roads were improved. Or allweather, or semi allweather. And heres a comment that was made at this
In fact, if the automobile had been invented perhaps 20, 25 years before, and if we had the triumph of the good roads movement about the same time, perhaps we would not have had the interurban era. Also, we can make a case too that the interurban is the transition between Steam Railroad less than car load freight and express and the coming of the motor truck. And in the near future, in fact, on thursday, i want to talk about trolley or interurban freight. To begin, lets keep in mind that the american inner city road system was awful. We did talk about that turnpike movement at the very end of the 18th century that continued into the early 20th century. We had had that National Road that was financed by the federal government in the 1840s and 50s. Also, too, there were various local improvements, for example, the plank roads stand out as a good illustration. But it wouldnt be until the 1890s when there was this bicycle craze, the safety, bicycle is introduced in the latter part of the 1
Years before and if we had the triumph of the good roads movement about the same time, we would not have had the inter urban era. We can make a case, too that the inter urban is the transition between steamed railroad less and express of becoming the motor truck. And, in the near future, in fact, on thursday, i want to talk about trolley or inter urb urban freight. To begin, lets keep in mind that the american inter city road system was awful. We did talk about that turnpike movement at the end of the 18th century that continued in the earliest 20th century. We had that National Road that was financed by the federal government in the 1840s and 50s. Also, there were local improvements, for example, the plain roads stand out as a good illustration. It would not be until the 1890s when there was this bicycle crazed, the safety of bicycle were introduced in the latter part of 1880s and communities were being pressured to have better roads. Perhaps, only going out in the suburbs. We have pl