Bluefield & Princeton Trollies

Wed Nov 24 21:54:47 EST 2004

Ed,

It is interesting that you have a Princeton Power Company token also.  I
doubt that there are many other people who have one.

As a resident of Mercer County, WV, I learned of the Revolutionary War
connection between the names Princeton and Mercer.  I also learned of the
more well known city and county in NJ.  Eventually I  discovered that
Princeton, MO is the seat of its Mercer County also.  Interesting.

Gordon Hamilton

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
To: "N&amp;W Mailing List" <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
Sent: Wednesday, November 24, 2004 1:36 PM
Subject: Re: Bluefield & Princeton Trollies

> Thanks for the photo of the token.  I have one, and have been wondering
> where it came from.  I live in NJ close to Princeton so naturally the
first
> thought is that it relates to the local area, but folks here have told me
> that they know of no trolley system that existed here named Princeton.
You
> have answered the question!
>
> I find the mention of the Mercer County court house interesting.  That is
> the name of our county in NJ, named for General Mercer, an American
general
> in the revolution who died from wounds received in the battle of
Princeton.
>
> Ed Sproles
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
> To: "N&amp;W Mailing List" <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
> Sent: Monday, November 22, 2004 11:40 PM
> Subject: Re: Bluefield & Princeton Trollies
>
>
> > Bob,
> >
> > Since the trolley system that you asked about connected the N&W station
in
> > Bluefield with the Virginian station in Princeton, it should be
> appropriate
> > to discuss it here.  Most of this information came from Bluefield and
> > Princeton newspapers.
> >
> > The Princeton Power Co. was formed in 1908 by Samuel J. Evans to provide
> > electric power, coal, ice, and street railway service in Princeton, then
> > with a population of 1,500.  The trolley service began operation between
> the
> > Mercer County courthouse and the Virginian Railway passenger station , a
> > little over a mile away, in 1909, the year the Virginian Railway was
> > completed.  There was a passing siding midway along the trolley line,
and
> > two cars provided a seven-minute headway.  Attachement No. 1 shows a
rare
> > Princeton Power Co. token.
> >
> > About the same time, the Appalachian Power Company's Bluefield Street
> > Railway operated the Bluefield trolley service, which consisted
> principally
> > of one long "J-shaped" line of some 10.5 miles starting at the
Fairgrounds
> > near the present- day municipal stadium, continuing east mainly on
College
> > Avenue, then north mainly on Bland Street, then west a long ways on
> > Bluefield Avenue to West Graham, VA (Graham is now Bluefield, VA),
passing
> > the N&W's station there on the way.
> >
> > On July 1, 1916, the Princeton Power Company began operation of an
> > interurban trolley line of some 13 miles that linked the Mercer County
> > courthouse (and connected there with the affiliated Princeton trolley
> line)
> > and the N&W station in Bluefield (where it connected with the Bluefield
> > Street Railway).  This was essentially a side-of-the-road trolley line
> > except for two stretches of about a mile each where the trolley line
took
> > its own course away from the road.  Only nineteen families lived along
the
> > line when it first opened!
> >
> > In 1920 the Princeton Power Company purchased the Bluefield Street
> > Railway from the Appalachian Power Company, and sold its Princeton power
> > plant to the Appalachian to help pay for the Bluefield trolley system.
In
> > 1928 the name of the whole trolley operation was changed to the Tri City
> > Traction Company.
> >
> > The Bluefield city trolleys were replaced with buses in 1937 and the
> > Princeton city trolleys were likewise replaced on September 17, 1940,
but
> > the interurban continued on until replaced with buses on April 7, 1947.
> > Three interurban cars were needed to maintain a 30 minute
> > headway until then, but today some portions of that route have no public
> > transit service at all.
> >
> > I grew up along the interurban line at a time when our family did not
own
> an
> > automobile (imagine that today), so anytime that I went to either
> Princeton
> > (including to school) or to Bluefield, I rode the Tri City Traction
> > Company's Cincinnati Curved Side Lightweight interurban cars.
> >
> > Attachment No. 2 shows TCTC No. 120 on the last revenue trip into
> Princeton.
> > The man posing by the door is 84 -year-old Samuel J. Evans, TCTC
> president.
> > After everyone had left, motorman Aubrey Dangerfield gave me a ride home
> as
> > he took the car to the barns at Glenwood Park for the last time.  So, I
> can
> > say with certainty that I was the last member of the public to ride a
TCTC
>
> > trolley!
> >
> >
> > Gordon Hamilton
> >
> > ----- Original Message ----- 
> > From: <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
> > To: <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
> > Sent: Sunday, November 21, 2004 11:12 PM
> > Subject: Bluefield & Princeton Trollies
> >
> >
> > > Were there two separate trolly companies for Bluefield and Princeton
> since
> > > the line connected both cities?
> > >
> > > Bob Riffe
> > >
> > >
> > > ________________________________________
> > > NW-Mailing-List at nwhs.org
> > > http://list.nwhs.org/mailman/options/nw-mailing-list
> >
>
>
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