The Minneapolis journal., 1906-06-29
DAY OF TROLLEY
| SEEMS TO BE NEAR
NEW YORK STATE TO MICHIGAN
ON REGULAR ELECTRIC FLYER. i
Atlantic to Pacific by Z" streetcar''
Within Next Decade scrappile AL
ready Waiting for the Steam Loco
motive-Boston to New York by
Trolley Electricity from St. Paul to
Seattle Soon.
A. H. Ford in Smiths Magazine

America has spent, up to date, some
S., 500, 100000 dollars in the construc
tion Of over 1000 miles Of electric
railways. In other words, the trolley,
line that extends almost without a
break from Bangor, Me-, to St. Louis,
Mo-, might be continued on to San
Francisco a dozen times back and forth
without using up all the trolley mile
age at our disposal.
Trolley Building in the West.
NinetY.fve per cent Of the trolley
of of Cleveland, 81 I oiio. SPOKANE, wash,
and towns of snorthernT Idaho are al
ready connected by an electric tram.
way; with Seyery probability that the
line will sbe faried into Montana. The
cities Of Minnesota and Iowa are send
ing electric feelers east ndkwest, and
Illinois is reaching out to connect the
great trolley systems already In opera
4ion on both sides Of the Mississippi
river When we recall that the first
interurban trolley line was built scarce
~ more than a decade ago, it is not
chimerical to predict that before an
other decade passes over our heads 1t
will be possible to go by trolley from
Maine to California; in fact, long be-
fore the decade draws to a close we
scrappile for the meditation Of the van
ishing horse, for already the New York
Central has begun to experiment. with
electric traction, the Great Northern
railway, from st. Paul to Seattle, pro-
poses !, to substitute electricity for
steam, and the railways between Buff
falo and St. Louis are selling combina-
tion railway and trolley car tickets
across thousand miles Of territory.
Long Trips at Low Rates.
The mileage Of electric railways In
New England falls little short Of 5000
miles, or about the same as that Of
the state Of Ohio. From Boston, the
leisurely sightseer may travel by troll
ley to New York in twenty hours at q
cost Of $2.85, or little more than half
York to Philadelphia there is an hour
ly electric car, with one change, at
Trenton; the thru time is eight hours
and the fare, $1.10, as compared with
$3.50 by steam cars. Soon the trolley
to Baltimore and Washington may be
completed, and others are stretching
across Pennsylvania to Pittsburg and
the west. So far the western trolleys
set the pace,~ for in the east there is
no baggage allowed, and sleepers are
practically unknown on the interurban
| trolley systems. West Of Pittsburg and
Buffalo, however, the trolley not only
competes with the railway, but actu-
ally makes better time and connection
| for thousand miles at a stretch. The
six or seven thousand miles Of inter
urban trolley in Ohio and Indiana now
sell interchangeable mileage books at
the very low rate Of / VI cents mile,
or less than one-half the rate charged
by the western steam railways. Sleep
ers, baggage and dining cars are pro
vided on the thru trolley expresses, and
every inducement offered the travelling
/ man to turn from the steam to the
electric railways. It Is in the west
that the great future Of the interur-
ban trolley seems to lie.
From the northwestern corner OF
! New York state to Kalamazoo, Mich.
. more than 500 miles, there is a regular
write aboard the trolley, OF, if you
care to Jump off to view the scenery
or sell bill Of goods ct small way
side town, there Is no ttlong wait: !" be
| fore the nnext train" comes bowling
along. Recently one Of these special
4 flyers over the Ohio and Indiana Lines
completed aatrip Of .7S1 miles An TWEEN
/ ty-seven hours and fifteen minutes, in
i cludinr stops. This was at the rate
of tw9nty-eight miles an hour; and
over some Of the steam railroads tha,
have recently been trolleyized, the
speed was even more rapid. Not only
are the narrow-gage railways discard
ing the locomotive for the overhead
i trolley, but in Ohio trolley lines are
built parallel to the canals, and the
trolley car takes the place of the mule
hauling great tows Of barges at q speed
that the original builders Of the cana.
never dreamed would be possible.