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Diamond State Trolleys Electric Railways of Delaware by Harold E. Cox SC 1 maps
Diamond State Trolleys Electric Railways of Delaware by Harold E. Cox
Soft Cover
Includes double sided loose Map
87 Pages
Copyright 1991
CONTENTS
1. The Early Years5
2. The First Consolidation9
3. The Peoples Railway15
4. The Second Consolidation21
5. Cars25
6. Routes45
7. New Castle-Delaware City61
8. Odessa and Middletown69
9. The West Chester Lines73
10. The Lines that Never Ran76
Proposed Virginia Lines80
MAPS
Wilmington horse car routes8
Car barn plans86-88
Peoples downtown loops 89
System maps on folding insert
CAR ROSTERS
City Railway 1887-189927
W&PT 1900-193927-29
Peoples Railway41
The story behind publication of this book is an unusual one. The initial research was done by the late Paul Schieck as the preliminary step towards a companion volume to the book Trolleys of Lower Delaware Valley" which we coauthored. Unfortunately, Paul died suddenly before the research was completed and his notes and the pictures which he had assembled for the book were auctioned off without previous notification to settle the estate.
This would have been the end of the entire matter were it not for the good offices of Melvin Small of Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania. Mr. Small purchased the notes at the auction and, divining their purpose, offered them to me as a basis for a book on the electric railways of Delaware. For various reasons, the research and preparation of the book dragged on for seven years. However, it has finally reached completion and this volume is the result.
In addition to Mr. Small, the assistance of the Hagley Museum and Library, Greenville, Delaware must be acknowledged. The surviving early records of the Delaware Electric Power Co. and its predecessors are preserved there. Pictures have been assembled from a variety of locations, listed below. The supply of early pictures of the system is limited and in many cases have been copied repeatedly, often leaving the original source unknown.
In a departure from our previous practice, extensive attention has been paid to the lines which never reached the operating stage. The late 19th century, American politics could be brutal. Nowhere was the manipulation and conflict more spectacular than in Delaware. Much of the electric railway promotion in the state was tied directly to this manipulation, particularly to the political ambitions of J. Edward Addicks who, as Delaware's perennial senatorial candidate, was often a bridesmaid but never a bride.
The entire Delmarva peninsula was an area of unusual activity in electric railway promotion as various small resort towns along the Atlantic Ocean and the Chesapeake Bay sought connections with the outside world which would enhance local recreational business. The awesome story of conflicting schemes, none of which came to fruition, is an esssential part of the history of the area.
Appended to this section is the story of the efforts to bring electric railways to the Pastern Shore of Virginia. I am indebted to the Rev. Kirk Mariner, a well-known student of the Eastern Shore's past for this section.
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