Clang, Clang, Clang went the Trolley
Submitted by Al Shipley, City Historian and Rahway Library Research Consultant
In the years between the horse and buggy era and before the automobile became king, the trolley served as a modern mode of transportation for the general public. Rahway entered the trolley age in the mid-1890s after which trolley cars would become a familiar sight rolling through the streets for the next 33 years.
On March 17, 1892, at a meeting of the Common Council, a franchise was granted to the Rahway Electric Street Railway Company to construct a street railroad in the city. The route would begin on St. Georges Avenue by Lambert’s Hotel (Merchants and Drovers Tavern Museum), and follow Grand Avenue to Irving Street. The tracks then turned right onto Irving and went all the way to Milton Avenue where they turned left towards Main Street. They then turned right on Main, stayed to the right at the fork at the Second Presbyterian Church (Rahway Spanish SDA Church), went along New Brunswick Avenue and made a left onto East Hazelwood Avenue. The tracks continued on Hazelwood and stopped at the city line at Woodbridge Road.
News of a trolley line through Rahway was greeted with interest and excitement, but much work had to be done before the system was ready to begin transporting passengers. The work would take well over a year as roads had to be prepared, tracks laid, poles positioned and raised and wires strung. An electric power house and trolley repair barn had to be constructed. The first phase was digging trenches and laying rails. When the rails were in place, and prior to electrification, the route was actually used for several months with cars being drawn by horses.
The project, however, was moving too slowly for Mayor John Daly who was determined to have an operating trolley road powered by electricity before his term was up. With his influence and encouragement, City Council granted a right of way to the Union and Middlesex Traction Line on December, 1894. The company agreed to have all work completed within three months with their cars running by the spring. Heavy fines would be issued if the job was not finished by May 29, 1895.
True to their word, inauguration day came on Wednesday, April 10 at 4 o’clock in the afternoon when car #4 pulled out of the Irving Street trolley barn for a trial run. Superintendent Jackson Jacques and Electrician John Patterson were aboard to assess the trip. Other than a minor hitch at the sharp turn from New Brunswick Avenue onto East Hazelwood everything went smoothly and within days the sound of trolley bells were ringing up and down Rahway streets. The new system was met with immediate success and by the end of the month, the line was connected to the Woodbridge line which went all the way to Boynton Beach, a popular bathing resort in Sewaren.
Trolley traffic increased over the next few years and other lines sought to connect with Rahway. In March 1899 City Council was approached by the Elizabeth and Westfield Street Railway Company with overtures to connect the Westfield line to Rahway. The line would follow from Central Avenue in Clark, come down Broadway and Westfield Avenue and connect at St. Georges. For Westfield residents it would open business opportunities in Rahway and also provide a direct line to Boynton Beach. A franchise was granted the next month. Several times over the next few years, the Council was approached by Elizabeth to connect lines by running along Elizabeth Avenue and through Linden. Rahway merchants feared the line would hurt their businesses and were able to block the project each time it was introduced. There was also talk of a Rahway to Carteret line that never materialized.
The trolleys provided a relatively dependable and safe service, but were not without their problems. Accidents did occur with trolleys hitting autos, wagons, and people as vehicles and pedestrians carelessly crossed the tracks. On rare occasions, a trolley might collide with another when a conductor failed to turn off into a passing siding to allow the other to pass resulting in head-on collisions. Trolleys traveling too fast when approaching sharp turns were in danger of jumping the track. The sounds of the trolleys would spook some horses causing them to rear up and bolt wildly down the street causing all manner of excitement and damage. The most common injury, however, occurred when passengers attempted to get on or off the car while it was moving.
By the 1920s a competitor came on the scene that would eventually put the trolley companies out of business. In May, 1922, a bus line was established to run between Carteret and Rahway giving another option for public transportation and for the next few years, trolleys and buses would operate in the city. The death blow for the trolley, however, came in August, 1927, when the Public Service Railway Company, owners of the trolley system since 1914, bought the Rahway-Westfield bus line. In December of the same year, members of the City council voted to enter in a contract with Public Service to abandon the trolley system and regulate bus routes and schedules. The company agreed to have ten buses ready to run every half hour over practically the same route covered by the trolley.
Trolley cars made their final runs on Saturday, June 1, 1928. The trolley era in Rahway was over.
Photos from the collection of Tony Hall
