The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1903-08-14
The Trolley In New England.


The Trolley In New England.
The westerner who has just begun to
welcome the introduction Of trolley lines
as convenient means of transportation
can learn much by visit to New Eng
land, for it is there that the "electrics,"
as they are familiarly called in the East,
have reached their highest development.
The writer contributed a good many
nickels recently to the trolley corpora
tons in that section, and at the same
time gathered some information that
NAV be of interest to our readers.
There are very few towns east of the
Hudson river that are not now connect
ed by network of trolley lines that
cover all the populous portions of New
i England. Branches also lead to the sea
! shore resorts all along the coast, and if
there were no steam roads at all the
transportation facilities would be far
better than they were twenty-five years
ago. The patronage which the electrics
enjoy is indeed marvellous. When peo-
pie can ride cheaply the habit comes
naturally to spend their money freely.
day in the mills and factories of the East
also encouraged travel greatly. The
Hnickel is SO small a sum Of money and
that people part with it readily is a fact
the trolley lines we're first to recognize
and their tariff sheets are SO regulated
that only cents is collected at any one
! time. You cannot buy an electric line
ticket from Providence to Boston or be-
tween any other points in New England.
All you have to do is to board the car
and the conductor will see to it that you
pay nickel as often as is necessary to
carry you to the end Of your journey. Ii
you are to go any distance it is we'll to
provide yourself with a handful of nick
els in advance and you might hold them
in your hand for the collector comes
around pretty often.
The impression is gaining ground that
sooner or later many of the steam roads
of New England will be forced into an
electric equipment. The New Haven
railway has already equipped its line be-
tween Providence and Fall River over
which they operate electric express
trains every hour. The trains consist of
three coaches and a baggage car, makes
! but few stops and covers the distance
IS miles, in remarkably short time. The
route is popular one and displaces the
steam traffic entirely between these
points. In this way that line has been
able to hold it's business against the
other trolley lines and the experiment
has proven very satisfactory to the man
agement. IT, is believed by many that
, this is the commencement of new order
Of operating many Of the steam roads of
New England by electricity, and in few
years only the through express lines be-
i tween New York and Boston will be left
with the steam equipment as we now see
it
i The promotion Of the excursion bust
ness throughout New England is being
worked for all there is in it during the
summer season. Frequent excursions
running so to 100 miles to the seaside re-
: sorts and return for small price are
every day occurrences. The Sunday
cheap excursions out of New York have
been features of the various railway and
steamship lines for years and it is Won
derful how much ride the people are
given for their money. AS an instance
of what can be accomplished in this line
the writer need only to cite his expert
ence. A trip of 80 miles by rail, the en-
tire length of Long Island to Greenport,
| then SO miles of steamer ride to New
port, thence by trolley 20 miles to Fall
River and again Is miles by express troll
ley to Providence and ending with 8
mile ride by steam road to Natick, all at
a cost of S147 Thus trip of 1877 miles
over three different modes of convey
ance cost trihe over a cent mile.
The highways throughout New Eng
land are pretty generally surrendered to
the electric lines, which take either the
center on one side of the macadamized
driveways and in this respect the public
have shown great liberality. Now that
the automobile has become so common a
mode of travel the slower going vehicles
are pretty we'll crowded off the principal
highways. Horses, however, soon be
came accustomed to both the electrics
and the red DEVILS and show but little
fright at the approach Of either.
: While we are speaking of trolley roads
[ think it is only fair to state that as far
as our observation goes not one of the
many lines over which we rode while in
the east was as modernly equipped or
operated with time schedule equal to
the Rockford, Beloit and GAINESVILLE line,
which we hope to soon see pass through
this city. 1t is the rev lines that will
now get the benefit of the latest i'm
provements in electric transmission and
by waiting we get the best. The Clough
line is better than any interurban line in
all New England