More on Extension of the Pelham Manor Trolley Line in 1910

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Trolleys once were a principal means of transportation throughout our region.  By 1899, one could travel between the Battery in lower Manhattan and any of New Rochelle, Pelham, Mount Vernon or Yonkers for a single fare of eight cents. 

Early last century, one of those trolley lines in the Village of Pelham Manor inspired the creative genius of a man named Fontaine Talbot Fox (1884-1964).  He created one of the most popular comics in the United States – “Toonerville Folks.”  The cartoon centered around the quirky inhabitants of a town called “Toonerville” and its rickety and unpredictable trolley.  The operator of the trolley was “The Skipper.”  Fontaine Fox, as he stated a number of times in published interviews and letters, based the comic on his experience during a trolley ride on a visit to Pelham on August 8, 1909. 

“Toonerville Folks” ran in hundreds of newspapers from about 1913 to 1955 and brought national attention to Pelham.  When Fontaine Fox made his now-famous visit to Pelham on August 8, 1909, the trolley line that inspired him ran along today's Pelhamdale Avenue to a stop near the railroad bridge of the New Haven Branch Line above Pelhamdale not far from today's Grant Avenue and Manor Circle.  

Barely a year later, the Westchester Electric Railway extended the Pelham Manor trolley line along Pelhamdale Avenue to Shore Road near the New York Athletic Club. I have written about that extension of the Pelham Manor Trolley line once before.  See Tue., Jan. 06, 2015:  Extension of the Toonerville Trolley Line in Pelham Manor in 1910.

Today's posting to the Historic Pelham Blog provides additional detail regarding the process of extending to Shore Road the little trolley line that inspired Fontaine Fox. At the end of today's article, I have listed links to the many previous articles I have posted about trolleys and the Toonerville Trolley.

In the late 19th century, the little Pelham Manor trolley line shuttled back and forth between the Town of Pelham's two principal commuter railroad stations:  Pelham Station on the New Haven Main Line and the Pelham Manor Depot on the New Haven Branch Line.  The trolley "met all the trains" -- a fact that Fontaine Fox played up in his "Toonerville Folks" comic strip when referencing his famous Toonerville Trolley.  

Until Labor Day in 1910, the Pelham Manor trolley began each run from a spot on Wolfs Lane near Pelham Station in the Village of Pelham (today's Pelham Heights) about where the buildings housing, among other things, Kravitz Real Estate, are located at present.  The trolley ran along Wolf's Lane to Colonial Avenue where it turned eastward (left) and proceeded the short distance along Colonial Avenue to Pelhamdale Avenue.  There it turned southeastward (right) and proceeded along Pelhamdale Avenue with intermediate stops along the way such as stops at the intersection of Witherbee Avenue and at Red Church Corner (today's Four Corners).  

When the trolley reached a point on Pelhamdale Avenue in the Village of Pelham Manor about where the New Haven Branch Line railroad overpass crossed the roadway, the trolley operator had to exit the vehicle, reverse the overhead connection of the trolley car to the electric wires and then begin a return trip along the same route back to the Pelham Station, always paying mind to the arrival times of all trains on both the Main and Branch Lines so as to meet all such trains.

By 1910, it was apparent to the Westchester Electric Railway, operator of the Pelham Manor trolley at the time, that so many people used the New Haven Branch Line to get to and from the New York Athletic Club facility and Long Island Sound at the end of Pelhamdale Avenue where it met Shore Road that it warranted extending the trolley line from its terminus near the Pelham Manor Depot all the way to the end of Pelhamdale Avenue at Shore Road.

In about early July of that year, the Westchester Electric Railway began staging work along Pelhamdale Avenue to prepare for laying trolley tracks along the roadway.  Because laying the tracks would require closure of the road, the Village of Pelham Manor asked Westchester Electric Railway to delay the work for a time because the only other way then possible to move through that portion of Pelham Manor was via Split Rock Road which then ran from Shore Road all the way to Boston Post Road.  That roadway was "practically closed" for repairs in July, 1910, thus prompting Pelham Manor to request a delay in closing Pelhamdale Avenue to lay the trolley tracks for the extension.

Although laying the trolley tracks for the Pelhamdale Avenue extension was delayed for a short time, during the week of July 19, 1910, the poles necessary to carry the overhead wires for the trolley extension were erected along Pelhamdale Avenue. 

By August, work to lay the trolley tracks beneath the New Haven Branch Line railroad overpass and along Pelhamdale Avenue to Shore Road was underway in earnest.  There was, however, a bit of a problem.

The giant rocky outcropping at the end of Shore Road known as the "Haunted Cedar Knoll" made the roadway at the intersection with Pelhamdale Avenue a little too tight for the small Pelham Manor trolley car to be maneuvered to a stop to allow passengers to disembark.  Track laying crews had to blast out about 100 feet of rock on Shore Road to make way for the trolley extension.

On Thursday, September 1, 1910, Superintendent William B. Wheeler of Westchester Electric Railway announced that all necessary poles and overhead wires had been erected and that the laying of the tracks for the extension was "practically completed."  He further announced that blasting of the 100 feet of rock on Shore Road was about to begin and the last 200 feet of rails would then be laid.  He further revealed that trolley cars would begin running on the extension on Labor Day, Monday, September 5, 1910.

Detail from a Photograph in the Collections of the Westchester County

Historical Society Showing "Four Corners," the Intersection of

Pelhamdale Avenue and Boston Post Road Before 1937. The "H Line"

Trolley is Returning from Shore Road Toward the Intersection. At this

Intersection, Trolley Tracks Along Pelhamdale Avenue Split With Some

Tracks Turning Onto Boston Post Road Toward New Rochelle and Others

Continuing Along Pelhamdale Avenue. The Trolley in the Photograph is

The Little Pelham Manor Trolley (i.e., The Toonerville Trolley).

NOTE: Click on Image to Enlarge.

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"TROLLEYS TO SHORE MONDAY
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According to an announcement made Thursday morning by Superintendent Wheeler of the Westchester Electric Railway, the extension of the Pelham Manor trolley line from the old terminus at the foot of the hill on Pelhamdale avenue to the Shore Road, will be in operation on Labor Day.  Superintendent Wheeler expects to start the cars running on the extension on that day.  

It is not known how many cars will be operated, but Superintendent Wheeler said that it all depended upon the amount of traffic.

The construction is now practically completed.  There is about 100 feet of rock on the Shore Road that will have to be blasted out, and as soon as this work is done, 200 feet more of rails will be laid, and then the extension will be ready for operation.  The poles are all up and the wires have been strung.

It is believed that this extension will be a money maker, as many people will use the trolleys from Westchester County and various parts of New York in order to reach the Sound and the grounds of the New York Athletic Club."

Source:  TROLLEYS TO SHORE MONDAY, New Rochelle Pioneer, Sep. 3, 1910, Vol. 52, No. 23, p. 4, col. 3.

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Below is a bibliography including links to a few of my many previous postings dealing with the topics of the "Toonerville Trolley," horse-drawn railroad cars, electric trolleys and other trolley-related information pertinent to Pelham, New York.

Bell, Blake A., Pelham and the Toonerville Trolley, 82(4) The Westchester Historian, pp. 96-111 (Fall 2006).

Bell, Blake A., Pelham and the Toonerville Trolley, The Pelham Weekly, Vol. XIII, No. 11, Mar. 12, 2004, p. 10, col. 1.

Fri., Feb. 23, 2018:  Toonerville Trolley Accidents in Pelham Manor.

Thu., Feb. 22, 2018:  More on the 1916 Trolley Strike That Brought Violence to Pelham.

Fri., Jan. 06, 2017:  Has One of the Most Enduring Pelham History Mysteries Been Solved? The Mystery of Charles A. Voight!

Thu., Sep. 15, 2016:  Pelham Manor Residents Complained of Awful Service on the Toonerville Trolley Line as Early as 1899.

Fri., May 27, 2016:  Was Max "Maxie" Martin the Man Who Was the Skipper on the Pelham Manor Trolley the Day Fontaine Fox Rode the Line and Was Inspired?

Thu., Sep. 10, 2015:  Pelham Manor Citizens Voted to Reject Bus Service and Keep Their Toonerville Trolley in 1936.

Fri., Jul. 24, 2015:  The Day the Brakes Failed on the Pelham Manor Trolley, Inspiration for the Toonerville Trolley.

Tue., Jan. 06, 2015:  Extension of the Toonerville Trolley Line in Pelham Manor in 1910.

Wed., Mar. 19, 2014:  Another Confirmation the Famous "Toonerville Trolley" was Inspired by the Pelham Manor Trolley in 1909.

Wed., Mar. 05, 2014:  Trolleys Came to Pelham in the 1890s.

Tue., Jan. 05, 2010:  More on the Extension of the Pelham Manor Trolley Line in 1910 -- The Toonerville Trolley Line.

Wed., Dec. 30, 2009:  Opening of the Extension of the Pelham Manor Trolley Line in 1910 -- The Toonerville Trolley Line.

Wed., Dec. 23, 2009:  Attack on the Toonerville Trolley Line by Strikers in 1916

Thu., Aug. 27, 2009:  October 19, 1898 Report that the Tracks of the Toonerville Trolley Line Had Been Laid in Pelham.  

Mon., Aug. 17, 2009:  Efforts by Pelham Landowners in 1900 to Halt Construction of a Trolley Line on Shore Road.

Tue., Sep. 19, 2006:  Toonerville Trolley Cartoons Available For Free Viewing Online.

Tue., Sep. 19, 2006:  Toonerville Trolley Cartoons Available For Free Viewing Online.  

Wed., Aug. 9, 2006:  The Saddest Day in the History of Pelham Manor's "Toonerville Trolley"

Thu., Jul. 06, 2006:  Who Was the Skipper on the Pelham Manor Trolley the Day Fontaine Fox Rode the Line and Was Inspired?

Thu., Mar. 09, 2006:  Photographs of the H Line and A Line Trolleys on and Near Pelhamdale Avenue.

Tue., Oct. 11, 2005:  The Toonerville Trolley Pays Its Bills -- Late!

Tue., Sep. 20, 2005:  Pelham's "Toonerville Trolley" Goes To War.

Fri., Jun. 17, 2005:  "Skipper Louie" of Pelham Manor's Toonerville Trolley


Tue., Apr. 19, 2005:   Pelham Manor Residents Fight Construction of the Toonerville Trolley Line

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Destructive Blizzard Hammered Pelham 104 Years Ago Today

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With yet another Nor'easter bearing down on the little Town of Pelham and expected to howl over us beginning this evening, it seems appropriate to recall another Nor'easter that slammed Pelham and the New York City region one hundred and four years ago today and tomorrow (March 1-2, 1914).  The massive storm was, at that time, the largest and most destructive storm to crash into Pelham since the massive Blizzard of 1888 that hit on March 12-13, 1888.  To make matters worse, the storm followed on the heels of another blizzard that had blanketed the area with snow on February 14, 1914.  The snow from that Valentine's Day storm had not yet entirely melted.

At about 7:00 a.m. on Sunday, March 1, 1914, rain began splattering across the Pelham region.  Though the temperature was about 35 degrees all day long, by mid-morning the rain turned to a heavy snow that began to collect as slush on the streets, sidewalks, ground, and grass.  It clung tenaciously to trees throughout the region.

Around noon that day, the wind began to howl.  At times later in the day wind gusts reached 85 miles per hour -- well above hurricane-force winds.  As one might expect, trees and large tree branches throughout the region began toppling -- many onto electrical lines, trolley lines, telephone lines, and utility poles.  Others fell across roadways including a particularly large tree that fell across Boston Post Road at Fowler Avenue in Pelham Manor, taking down electrical lines with it.

Trolley lines ground to a halt.  The storm became so bad that trolley cars in the Village of North Pelham and in the Village of North Pelham became stranded on the tracks.  The problem often was not that the trolley cars were stuck in heavy snow but, instead, the tracks became so slippery with the slushy snow that trolley motormen inadvertently burned out the motors of the trolley cars trying to get the cars to move along the slippery tracks.  Trolley cars sat stranded in the midst of Pelham streets for much of the day and evening as the storm raged.

Only ten or twelve inches of snow fell in the Pelham region during the Nor'easter of March 1, 1914.  The howling wind of the gale, however, did tremendous damage.  The next day, United Press reported that at least eight people had died in the New York region during the storm.  The same report stated:

"With railroad tracks piled deep with snow, telegraph and telephone lines down, and traffic of every sort completely tied up, the entire east was today paralyzed in the grip of the worst storm in years.  A blinding snow driven before a high gale continued to swirl and drive through the storm section this afternoon.  Railroads canceled trains entirely.  No attempt was made to carry passengers and reports were lacking on trains from the west due in here yesterday.  Losses as the result of the storm will probably run into the millions.  Meagre reports received from the railroads indicates staggering damage has been done by the high winds and the heavy snow.  A foot of snow has fallen here up to noon today.  Weather bureau officials said the storm might abate this afternoon or tonight, but the tie-up is now so complete that it will require days for the cities and town of the east to dig themselves out."

The region, of course, dug out of the snow, cleaned up the damage and, where necessary, rebuilt.  The Nor'easter of 1914, it seems, was merely another reminder like the Great Blizzard of 1888 why we say that March comes "in like a lion."

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"MOST DESTRUCTIVE BLIZZARD IN TWENTY YEARS SWEEPS SECTION
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Trolley Service Completely Out of Commission Up to an Early Hour this Afternoon -- Telegraph and Telephone Service Crippled for Time -- Lighting Company Kept Busy Repairing Breaks as Falling Trees Tear Down Wires -- 85 Mile Gale Brings Ruin in Its Path -- Money Loss is Going to be Heavy -- Streets Filled with Snow and Slush
-----

Spreading ruin in its path, a blizzard that was more destructive than that of any in the last 20 years swept over Mount Vernon yesterday and last night.  Today the following are grim reminders of the visitation:

Ten-inch sheet of snow, ice and slush over everything, making many crosswalks impassable and converting sidewalks and gutters into slushy lakes which look innocent enough but in which pedestrians sink ankle-deep in water.

Much property damage, consisting of broken windows, signs, doors, trees, telephone poles.

Crippled traffic on railroads and trolleys.  Trains behind tine, while for nearly 24 hours not a wheel has turned on the trolley lines except where men tried to operate snow plows and sweepers, but the snow is so heavy that they made little progress.

Lighting system threatened by falling trees and poles.  Southern section of city without light.

Hundreds of telephones out of commission caused by snapping wires.

Deliveries of foodstuffs delayed or entirely prevented.

More snow fell today, considerably hampering the work of digging Mount Vernon out.  To make matters worse, the temperature began to drop this afternoon.  A cold wave would convert the slushy snow into thick ice.

Public schools in Mount Vernon are shut down today, it being realized that to send children out of their homes in such weather would be jeopardizing their lives.  While the storm was at its height last night few persons ventured out on the streets and consequently many churches were dark.

A northwest gale that at times attained a velocity of 85 miles blew unceasingly last night, accompanied by a precipitation that alternately turned from snow to rain and some times mixtures of both.  All in all, it was one of the worst nights on record here.  While the storm did not result in nearly as much snow as the famous blizzard of 1888, nevertheless while it was far more destructive and fierce than anything within the memory of the present generation.

With snow covering the ground from the blizzard of February 14, which had succumbed somewhat to three days of thaw, rain began to fall yesterday morning about 7 o'clock.  Those seeing the rain welcomed it, thinking it would be the means of washing away what remained of the previous snowfall.  However, the rain soon turned to snow and soon the streets were full of slush.

People emerging from church at neon, found that they could not step anywhere without sinking over their rubbers into the watery slush.  The temperature was over 35 degrees all day.  In the early afternoon the wind arose, flinging rain and snow all about.  The snow fell fast, great big flakes that soon covered up the slush.  There were few flakes although the wind raged.  The snow, very damp and heavy, lay where it fell.

Those who had left their homes in the morning to go visiting found themselves in a bad fix on returning home.  Persons were thrown to the ground and became soaking wet.

Mayor Fiske was at his office yesterday afternoon and with Deputy Public Works Commissioner Benedetto did what they could to relieve the conditions that were fast growing worse.  A half hundred snow shovelers were sent out to clear the crosswalks, but at 7:30 p.m., buffeted about by wind and wet to the skin, they gave up their task.  City snowplows and gutter plows were sent out, but the snow was so heavy that little could be done yesterday.

Today sixty men were sent out to clear the crosswalks and drains.  No further steps will be taken to remove the snow, Mayor Fiske said, until it is seen what new developments take place.  It is impossible, he said, to haul the slush.  Consequently no carting of snow was carried on.  No garbage collections were made today.

Everybody clean off sidewalks, not only the walks, but their gutters, too, was an order issued by Mayor Fiske.  The mayor notified the police department to enforce strictly the city ordinance which provides that snow and ice must be removed in a certain time.  The ordinance in question will be 
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(Continued on Page Five.)

MOST DESTRUCTIVE BLIZZARD IN CITY
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(Continued From Page One).
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found in an advertisement on the first page of the Argus.  Prosecutions will follow neglect to obey the law, Mayor Fiske said.

A wagon manned by three city employes started out this morning to make the rounds of the city, picking up parts of broken trees.  Eight snow plows were also put to work.  Six gangs of seven shovelers each were sent to the various wards, one gang going to each ward except in the Fourth ward, where two gangs were detailed.

'There's no use trying to haul this stuff away,' said Public Works Commissioner Harlow.  'It is too heavy.  It is packing down well and the wagons and autos are not having so much difficulty as they did two weeks ago.'  The commissioner added that there has been one continual round of complaints from persons wanting crosswalks cleared.

Lieutenant Clark at police headquarters is suffering from writer's cramp today after the many reports of storm damage that occurred.  The flag pole on the city hall snapped under the pressure of the gale.  Three men were sent onto the roof today to pick up the remnants.  The following reports of damage were made at the police station.

Telephone wires down at Stevens avenue and West Lincoln avenue.  East Sidney avenue near the fire house.  Electric light wires down at Fifth avenue and First street, Sand street and Gramatan avenue.  Lights were reported to have burned the Fourth avenue and Fifth avenue bridges slightly before being put out.  An electric light wire burned a tree on Third avenue near Third street where the cable broke.

A large branch was reported to be hanging from a tree on Ninth avenue near Fourth street.  It was removed by the department of public works.  A Western Union cable snapped on South Railroad avenue.  Scores of large limbs were blown from trees, and in some instances whole trees went down.  Trees were damaged at Brookside avenue near Fourth street, Mount Vernon avenue and Short street, before 137 Summit avenue, Third avenue, and Fourth and Fifth streets, Fourth street between Third and Fourth avenues.

Windows were blown in at the Anderson Realty office, Third avenue and First street;  Marcus Bros., grocers, 495 West Lincoln avenue.

A broken trolley pole was found hanging from some wires at Mount Vernon avenue and West street.

A section of the large sign board on top of the building on the northeast corner of Fourth avenue and First street, facing East First street, was blown down.  The signboard was plastered with wet snow and this fact together with the wind caused the board to collapse and topple over.  The section facing Fourth avenue did not blow over.

For the first time in years the no school signal, '9-9-9' was sounded this morning at 8 o'clock at headquarters by order for the board of education.  It was a rather unusual coincidence that the no school signals in this city, New Rochelle and Tuckahoe were all sounded at the same time.

Fire Commissioner Howland, early yesterday afternoon instructed Fire Chief Nicholas Ehrbar to issue orders to all of the paid firemen to immediately go on duty at their respective fire houses and to sleep there.  They will remain there until countermanding orders are given.  Chief Ehrbar said that the arrangements at the several fire houses for drawing the pieces of apparatus in cases of fire are the same as those which went into effect on the day of the first blizzard.  There are chains and ropes on the wheels of the automobile apparatus.

In case the auto apparatus of Truck 1 cannot be used the light truck now at headquarters will respond.  It is hoped that residents of the city will continue to exercise diligence in regard to leaving waste paper in the cellar and at the foot of the stairs so as to avoid any possibility of fires breaking out by matches being thrown about.

Not in years has the trolley service in this city been so badly crippled.  Not a trolley car has been operated in this city since last night, up to press time this afternoon.  The trouble is due to the ice on the tracks which formed after the cold set in early last evening and froze the slush in the grooves, and also to the fact that the water in the tracks coming from the melting snow and the slush, got into the motors and caused them to burn out.  More cars were crippled by burned motors than in any other way.

Late in the afternoon the real trouble began and Supt. William B. Wheeler and his assistants were kept busy trying to operate at least a few cars.

First, one of the Chester Hill cars became stalled on East Lincoln avenue near Fletcher avenue about 5 o'clock.  Prior to that the cars had simply crawled along their lines.  Then another car became stalled on the same street and still another one was unable to be operated beyond North Columbus avenue.

It was 7 o'clock when trolley service on the line east of Fulton avenue and Third street went out of commission for about an hour.  This was due to the fact that one of the high tension wires of the Westchester Lighting Co., covered with a blanket of snow, was blown down by the gale and it fell across the trolley wires on Echo avenue, New Rochelle.  Not a car was operated until this wire was removed.  The Pelham manor trolley service was affected also.  Then a short time after that, another of the lighting company wires fell across the wires on the corner of Fowler avenue and Boston Post road in Pelham Manor, and Boston Post road in Pelham Manor, and once more the trolley service between New Rochelle and East Third street was put out of commission.  The trouble was overcome and the situation improved, but not to a great extent as from that time on only a few cars were run between New Rochelle and 177th street.

The Third avenue elevated cars and the Williamsbridge and Mount Vernon cars crawled along until 2 o'clock this morning when one of the big red cars operated by the Union Railway Co., on the Williamsbridge-Mount Vernon line became stalled at 233rd street and White Plains road and then came a blockade.  Not a car was operated on the main line into this city.  After that hour no more New Rochelle cars were operated to 177th street, the cars simply making the loop around First street from Fourth avenue to Fifth avenue and then back to New Rochelle.

The one Harlem station car became crippled when the motor burned out late last night at Scott's bridge.  Both of the North Pelham cars were stalled as were the Fifth avenue cars.  The Fifth avenue line was blocked by a car which could not be moved from Seventh street, near the switch.

The Sixth street and Fulton avenue car became stalled at 1 o'clock this morning at the foot of the hill on Union avenue and Sixth street, the motors burning out as a result of the water and slush on the tracks.

The blockade on the White Plains line began at 3:30 o'clock when one of the large double truck cars on its way to this city got as far as a point between Williams and Cedar streets on Gramatan avenue, when it could not be operated any farther in the snow and there it remained.  The passengers walked to this city in the storm and wind.

No cars were operated between Harlem station and Yonkers this morning and the West Mount Vernon cars could not be run in Webster avenue.

The Westchester Lighting company considers that its escape from any great amount of damage is quite remarkable in view of the fact that in New Jersey and vicinity thousands of poles were blown down.  No a pole owned by the Westchester Lighting company, was blown down in this city and vicinity according to information given out at the offices of the company.  All of the trouble with the lighting system was due to the fact that wires were torn down by falling trees.

While the gale was at its height a tree was blown down on Third avenue, between Second and Third streets.  It carried lighting company wires with it.  It was then about 6 o'clock and the system on Third, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth avenues south of Third street was out of commission all night.  Superintendent Green had a gang of men at work all night.

A tree was blown down on the corner of Brookside avenue and Fourth street, but the wire which was carried down, only provided current for the pumping station near there and for one or two houses.  Another tree was blown down on Gramatan and more wires of the lighting company were torn down, but again the company was fortunate in that only a few houses on Gramatan avenue were cut off from light.  A part of the lighting system of Bronxville was affected, but as a gang of men was rushed to the scene of the trouble, the wires were put back into place again by 8 o'clock.  A wire came down on First street and South Fifth avenue at a point near the New Haven cut.

The most serious trouble occurred on Fowler avenue and Boston Post road in Pelham Manor about 7 o'clock when a large tree covered with snow collapsed.  The emergency cut in was quickly made, otherwise Mount Vernon would have been in darkness.

The Corcoran Manor section was cut off from electric light in the evening when the when three trees were blown down on California road and wires were short circuited.

Superintendent Green had gangs of men at work all over the city and in neighboring towns untangling wires from trees.  The men were taken to the various places in conveyances and there was one accident.  A wagon was upset in a snow drift on White Plains road opposite Westchester Park.  The driver and his helper were thrown out but escaped injury, but the shafts of the wagon were smashed.  The men could not reach the place they were sent to, so they were ordered to find sleeping quarters for the rest of the night, it being then 1:30 o'clock.

Two hundred telephones in this city and about 600 in the county were put out of commission.  Owen G. MacKnight, traffic manager of the telephone company, said today that the company escaped serious damage.  There was, of course, intances where some wires in trees in parts of the city were carried down by falling branches and these had to be repaired.  The principal trouble occurred where the wires extending from the cable in the subways to the house of the subscriber became covered with ice.  This morning at 11 o'clock there were not more than 50 telephones in the city out of commission.  Mr. MacKnight said the trunk lines held well.  Business was unusually heavy and the entire force of telephone operators, with extra girls were at work at 7:30 o'clock."

Source:  MOST DESTRUCTIVE BLIZZARD IN TWENTY YEARS SWEEPS SECTION -- Trolley Service Completely Out of Commission Up to an Early Hour this Afternoon -- Telegraph and Telephone Service Crippled for Time -- Lighting Company Kept Busy Repairing Breaks as Falling Trees Tear Down Wires -- 85 Mile Gale Brings Ruin in Its Path -- Money Loss is Going to be Heavy -- Streets Filled with Snow and Slush, The Daily Argus [Mount Vernon, NY], Mar. 2, 1914, No. 7387, p. 1, cols. 1-7 & p. 5, cols. 1-4.

"Conditions Worse In New York -- Railroads Cancel Trains And Death List Is Reported Growing
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(By United Press)
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New York, March 2. -- With railroad tracks piled deep with snow, telegraph and telephone lines down, and traffic of every sort completely tied up, the entire east was today paralyzed in the grip of the worst storm in years.  A blinding snow driven before a high gale continued to swirl and drive through the storm section this afternoon.  Railroads canceled trains entirely.  No attempt was made to carry passengers and reports were lacking on trains from the west due in here yesterday.  Losses as the result of the storm will probably run into the millions.  Meagre reports received from the railroads indicates staggering damage has been done by the high winds and the heavy snow.  A foot of snow has fallen here up to noon today.  Weather bureau officials said the storm might abate this afternoon or tonight, but the tie-up is now so complete that it will require days for the cities and town of the east to dig themselves out.

Eight deaths have been reported so far in New York and vicinity.  Five have perished in New York.  One man was killed by a fallen live wire in Trenton.  Two cleaning railroad tracks were killed by a train on Long Island.  Reports from outlying districts are lacking.  The coal and milk situation is acute.  Not in years have coal dealers received such demands for fuel while being absolutely unable to fill orders.  No milk was received in the city today.  Most of New York went to business today on the subway.  Surface cars stood on their tracks, snowed in by great drifts, and Brooklyn was completely snowbound.  From all parts of the coast came reports of vessels in distress.  None left their piers today and incoming steamers were held up outside the harbor.  So great was the danger of disastrous fires in New York that 500 firemen were detailed to patrol the streets.  'Way Down East' village scenes were enacted in upper Broadway.  The wind during the night drove the sleet into keyholes and when the temperature dropped, locks were frozen solid."

Source:  Conditions Worse In New York -- Railroads Cancel Trains And Death List Is Reported Growing, The Daily Argus [Mount Vernon, NY], Mar. 2, 1914, No. 7387, p. 1, cols. 2-3. 

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Toonerville Trolley Accidents in Pelham Manor

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To this day Pelhamites chuckle fondly when they reminisce about the tiny little Pelham Manor Trolley that met all the trains and that inspired cartoonist Fontaine Fox to create the "Toonerville Trolley" that also met all the trains as part of the long-running comic "Toonerville Folks."  Though the Pelham Manor trolley made its final run in 1937, more than eighty years later most residents of Pelham know of the trolley and the role it played in inspiring Fontaine Fox.

It seems quaint to think of a little rattle-trap of a trolley car bouncing along light rails down Pelhamdale Avenue on its way to the Pelham Manor Depot and, then, to Shore Road before it returned all the way back to the Pelham Train Station meeting all trains at both stations.  Truth be told, however, the trolley was a massive rail car plowing down the center of Wolfs Lane, Colonial Avenue, and Pelhamdale Avenue on dozens of trips a day with horse and buggy, pedestrian, and automobile traffic vying for parts of the same roadway and jockeying with the trolley for position.  Accidents were bound to happen -- and they did.

I have written about some such accidents before.  See, e.g., Fri., Jul. 24, 2015:  The Day the Brakes Failed on the Pelham Manor Trolley, Inspiration for the Toonerville Trolley.  As one might expect, there were other accidents involving the Pelham Manor Trolley including at least one additional accident involving failure of the trolley's brakes.  Today's Historic Pelham article provides information about such additional accidents.

One of the earliest serious accidents involving the Pelham Manor Trolley -- as opposed to trolleys that ran in North Pelham, on Fourth Street (today's Lincoln Avenue) between Mount Vernon and New Rochelle, and on Boston Post Road into New Rochelle -- was one that occurred on the evening of June 30, 1899.  The Pelham Manor Trolley was in its infancy.

The President of the Pelham School Board, John Beecroft, and his wife were returning from a school event at the Hutchinson School late in the evening in their horse-drawn carriage.  As they proceeded their horse shied and backed into the path of a Pelham Manor Trolley car approaching from the opposite direction.  The trolley struck the carriage and destroyed it, throwing the Beecrofts into the roadway.  Mr. Beecroft was knocked unconscious and received a severe cut to the head.  Mrs. Beecroft suffered a dislocated shoulder.

A few years later, on February 14, 1918, the little Pelham Manor Trolley was involved in another serious accident.  A large tank truck belonging to the "Texas Company," a predecessor to Texaco, collided with the trolley, shoving it off its tracks.  The truck was being driven by Charles McCarthy of New Rochelle.  It carried two passengers:  Morris Johnson of New Rochelle, agent for the Texas Company, and Bert Nelson, bookkeeper for the company.  The two passengers were injured, suffering lacerations and broken arms.  Miraculously, none of the passengers on the trolley car was hurt. 

On December 5, 1920, an odd "accident" involving Pelham's Toonerville Trolley occurred.  As the trolley proceeded on Wolfs Lane there was a loud crash.  Passengers were showered with broken glass.  The motorman stopped the trolley, jumped out and demanded to know who had thrown the rock that smashed a glass window of the trolley car.  Witnesses pointed to a man who had climbed aboard the trolley after the window was broken.  It turned out he was trying to catch up with a woman on the car and had been running alongside the car tapping on its windows, unbeknownst to the motorman.  The man finally grabbed a rock, said he would pay for the window and smashed the glass for attention, stopping the car.  Oddly, a news account suggests that once the unidentified man was identified by the motorman, all was forgiven and the trolley proceeded.

In mid-June, 1921, Pelham's Toonerville Trolley suffered yet another brake failure.  As the trolley car approached the end of its line where Pelhamdale Avenue intersects Shore Road, the motorman tried to apply the brakes to no avail.  Thankfully, a Pelham Manor police officer was on duty at the intersection and observed the car hurtling toward the intersection without slowing.  The officer, Officer Murphy, "saw the danger and held up autos approaching."  The trolley car left the tracks and missed one car "by six feet."  Two trolley car passengers, Mrs. and Mrs. Moran of 20 St. Joseph Street in New Rochelle, were "slightly shaken up," but apparently unhurt.

Barely a year later, on July 23, 1922, the Pelham Manor Trolley was involved in another crash.  Paul Deglinno of 10 South Sixth Avenue in Mount Vernon was driving a Ford Touring Car on Pelhamdale Avenue near Bolton Avenue.  A passenger, Camelia Strolle of 34 Fourth Avenue in Mount Vernon, was riding with him.

Deglinno was stuck behind the rattling trolley as it bounced along Pelhamdale Avenue.  He decided to pass the trolley being operated by motorman Edward Galzier.  Deglinno gunned the engine and tried to pass.  He misjudged the maneuver and struck the rear of the trolley car so violently that he launched his passenger through the glass windshield of the touring car, cutting her chin badly.  

The accident was witnessed by Pelham Manor police officer Philip Atkinson who assisted Deglinno to drive the injured woman to New Rochelle Hospital where she received stitches.  

There were other such accidents involving Pelham Manor's Toonerville Trolley during its forty-year span.  Those described today merely demonstrate a few of the many when trolleys once rattled along tracks in the streets of the tiny little Town of Pelham.

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"EXTRA
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TROLLEY ACCIDENT AT PELHAM.
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JOHN BEECROFT AND WIFE INJURED
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A Wound on Head and a Dislocated Shoulder
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North Pelham, N. Y., July 1st -- This village was the scene of another trolley accident last night which occurred on Fifth avenue near Fourth street only a few feet from where little Ray Godfrey was hit and severely injured three weeks ago.

John R. Beecroft, President of the Board of Education, was returning to his home in Pelham Manor, with his wife, from the closing exercises at the North Pelham school over which he presided.  It was shortly after ten o'clock and as the carriage reached Third street on the way up Fifth avenue the horse shied and backed into a Pelham Manor trolley car coming from the opposite direction.  Mr. and Mrs. Beecroft were thrown out and the carriage completely wrecked.  

Mr. Beecroft was unconscious but escaped with a cut on his head and several bruises.  Mrs. Beecroft had her shoulder dislocated.

They were taken to the home of John Case and Drs. Fleming and Washburn summoned who set Mrs. Beecroft's shoulder and dressed her husband's wounds.  The motorman was arrested but later released."

Source:  EXTRA -- TROLLEY ACCIDENT AT PELHAM -- JOHN BEECROFT AND WIFE INJURED -- A Wound on Head and a Dislocated Shoulder, Mount Vernon Daily Argus, Jul. 1, 1899, Vol. XXIX, No. 2,227, p. 1, col. 4.

"Pelham Manor
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Accident Case Adjourned.

The case of Charles McCarthy, of New Rochelle, the chauffeur who drove the big tank motor truck of the Texas company, Thursday morning, when it collided with and pushed a Pelham Manor trolley car off the track on Pelhamdale avenue near Bolton avenue, came up yesterday morning before Justice of the Peace Ralph Rogers in the local court and was promptly adjourned until next Wednesday evening at 8 o'clock.  The two men who rode with McCarthy at the time of the accident Morris Johnson of New Rochelle, agent for the Texas company and Bert Nelson, the bookkeeper for the concern, are at the New Rochelle hospital where they were taken following the accident.  Their condition is reported as much improved and as no internal injuries of consequence have developed their condition is not serious.  The injuries are lacerations of the heads and each have a broken arm.  They will be able to leave the hospital in a few days.  None of the passengers who were in the trolley car have as yet reported injuries."

Source:  Pelham Manor -- Accident Case Adjourned, The Daily Argus [Mount Vernon, NY], Feb. 15, 1918, p. 9, col. 5.

"North Pelham. . . . 

The Pelham Manor trolley car had just left the Pelham station and was headed for the Manor at 7:15 o'clock last evening, when in front of Jeker's garage, there was a crash and a shower of falling glass.  The car stopped in front of the Pelham police headquarters and the motorman jumped off and asked who threw the stone through the window.  All rushed to the spot where two autos filled with people stood and asked the question there.  The autoists leaned forward and said:  'Do you see that man and woman who got on the car after it stopped?  Well, that man ran alongside the car and was tapping on the window.  The motorman did not hear or see him, so he said he would stop him and threw a stone through the glass, remarking at the time that he would pay for the window.'  There wass a stretching of necks to see who the man was, a chorus of 'Oh's' and the motorman remarked 'It's all right, never mind,' and the car was off."

Source:  North Pelham, The Daily Argus [Mount Vernon, NY], Dec. 6, 1920, p. 7, col. 5.

"Pelham Manor. . . .

The brakes on the Pelham Manor trolley car failed to work just as it was approaching the end of the line at the shore road, and ran across the shore road to the approach to the New York Athletic club.  Officer Murphy, who was on duty there at the time, saw the danger and held up autos approaching.  The car missed one auto by six feet.  Mr. and Mrs. Moran of 20 St. Joseph street, New Rochelle, were on the car and slightly shaken up. . . ."

Source:  Pelham Manor, The Daily Argus [Mount Vernon, NY], Jun. 18, 1921, p. 10, col. 4.  

"Woman Badly Cut When Auto Strikes Trolley
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Is Thrown Through Windshield By Impact.  Eight Stitches Taken In Chin At Hospital
-----

Thrown through the windshield of a Ford touring car, when it collided with the Pelham Manor trolley car.  Sunday afternoon, Miss Camelia Strolle, of No. 34 Fourth Avenue, Mount Vernon, received a deep gash in her chin, in which eight stitches had to be taken, by a surgenon at New Rochelle Hospital.

Miss Strolle was riding in the touring car which was operated by Paul Deglinno, of No. 10 South Sixth Avenue, Mount Vernon.  The couple in the automobile were going south on Pelhamdale Avenue, behind the trolley car, which was operated by Edward Galzier, Deglinno tried to pass the trolley car, but misjudged the clearance and crashed into it.

The force of the impact threw Miss Strolle forward, and her head struck the windshield, breaking it, and as her head passed through the broken pane of glass the jagged edge cut a deep gash in her chin.

Officer Philip Atkinson, of the Pelham Manor police department, witnessed the accident, and with Deglinno, drove the injured woman to New Rochelle Hospital.  There she received treatement and was removed to her home later.  There was no one else injured in the accident.  There was no damage done to the automobile than the broken windshield."

Source:  Woman Badly Cut When Auto Strikes Trolley -- Is Thrown Through Windshield By Impact.  Eight Stitches Taken In Chin At Hospital, The Pelham Sun, Jul. 28, 1922, Vol. 13, No. 22, p. 1, col. 5.

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Below is a bibliography including links to a few of my many previous postings dealing with the topics of the "Toonerville Trolley," horse-drawn railroad cars, electric trolleys and other trolley-related information pertinent to Pelham, New York.

Bell, Blake A., Pelham and the Toonerville Trolley, 82(4) The Westchester Historian, pp. 96-111 (Fall 2006).

Bell, Blake A., Pelham and the Toonerville Trolley, The Pelham Weekly, Vol. XIII, No. 11, Mar. 12, 2004, p. 10, col. 1.

Thu., Feb. 22, 2018:  More on the 1916 Trolley Strike That Brought Violence to Pelham.

Fri., Jan. 06, 2017:  Has One of the Most Enduring Pelham History Mysteries Been Solved? The Mystery of Charles A. Voight!

Thu., Sep. 15, 2016:  Pelham Manor Residents Complained of Awful Service on the Toonerville Trolley Line as Early as 1899.

Fri., May 27, 2016:  Was Max "Maxie" Martin the Man Who Was the Skipper on the Pelham Manor Trolley the Day Fontaine Fox Rode the Line and Was Inspired?

Thu., Sep. 10, 2015:  Pelham Manor Citizens Voted to Reject Bus Service and Keep Their Toonerville Trolley in 1936.

Fri., Jul. 24, 2015:  The Day the Brakes Failed on the Pelham Manor Trolley, Inspiration for the Toonerville Trolley.

Tue., Jan. 06, 2015:  Extension of the Toonerville Trolley Line in Pelham Manor in 1910.

Wed., Mar. 19, 2014:  Another Confirmation the Famous "Toonerville Trolley" was Inspired by the Pelham Manor Trolley in 1909.

Wed., Mar. 05, 2014:  Trolleys Came to Pelham in the 1890s.

Tue., Jan. 05, 2010:  More on the Extension of the Pelham Manor Trolley Line in 1910 -- The Toonerville Trolley Line.

Wed., Dec. 30, 2009:  Opening of the Extension of the Pelham Manor Trolley Line in 1910 -- The Toonerville Trolley Line.

Wed., Dec. 23, 2009:  Attack on the Toonerville Trolley Line by Strikers in 1916

Thu., Aug. 27, 2009:  October 19, 1898 Report that the Tracks of the Toonerville Trolley Line Had Been Laid in Pelham.  

Mon., Aug. 17, 2009:  Efforts by Pelham Landowners in 1900 to Halt Construction of a Trolley Line on Shore Road.

Tue., Sep. 19, 2006:  Toonerville Trolley Cartoons Available For Free Viewing Online.

Tue., Sep. 19, 2006:  Toonerville Trolley Cartoons Available For Free Viewing Online.  

Wed., Aug. 9, 2006:  The Saddest Day in the History of Pelham Manor's "Toonerville Trolley"

Thu., Jul. 06, 2006:  Who Was the Skipper on the Pelham Manor Trolley the Day Fontaine Fox Rode the Line and Was Inspired?

Thu., Mar. 09, 2006:  Photographs of the H Line and A Line Trolleys on and Near Pelhamdale Avenue.

Tue., Oct. 11, 2005:  The Toonerville Trolley Pays Its Bills -- Late!

Tue., Sep. 20, 2005:  Pelham's "Toonerville Trolley" Goes To War.

Fri., Jun. 17, 2005:  "Skipper Louie" of Pelham Manor's Toonerville Trolley


Tue., Apr. 19, 2005:   Pelham Manor Residents Fight Construction of the Toonerville Trolley Line

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