August 1991 NEWSLETTER OF THE MOHAWI< & HUDSON CHAPTER, N.R.H.S. THE CALL BOARD 9

Log of Last Rides As United TractionCo. Abandoned Four Trolley Lines:Saturday, Aug. 10, 1946By Fred B. Abele

The evening of August 10 was showeryand threatening as I set out to do my lastriding over four lines to be abandoned. Iboarded car 838 at the end of the Pine Hillsline and 8:43 PM we started down MadisonAvenue. At New Scotland Avenue, JohnMurphy and Michael O'Heaney boardedthe car to join us and we continued the ride

United Traction Company mo-torman Milton Greenfield takes amoment to pose with Car #851, asingle-truck car, in 1946. (Fred B.Abele Collection)

downtown, around the downtown loop tothe Grand Theater at Clinton Square. Afterwatching activities for awhile we boardedcar 875 at 9:38 PM for a ride over the #6Second Avenue line. This was crowdedand as we threaded our way through narrowSouth Pearl Street, most of the passengersdiscussed the fact that it was their lasttrolley ride and a few old timers werereminiscing about the early trolleys. Arriv-ing at the end of the line, we pulled thepoles for the motorman and walked the fewblocks to the end of the #5 Delaware Av-

enue line. Two cars were there, 853 and842, the latter disabled with bad contactorsand waiting for a relief car. We waited in842 until the next regular 866, arrived andboarded it at 10:22 for the ride over Dela-ware Avenue as far as Lark Street andWashington Ave. where we hoped for aride on the #2 West Albany.

Due to the number of cars out of service,the #2 was operating with only one car andone bus and it was our luck to get the bus,#269, an old 23 passenger Mack of 1936vintage and falling apart. Instead of ridingto the end of the line as originally planned,we rode only to Quail Street where we gotoff and hung around the barn for awhile.We were then joined by Bill Allen and JimMcAuliffe.

The Quail Street yard hummed with

activity. The double truck cars not in ser-vice were all being put in the yard andshoved with reckless abandon to the backof the yard against the fence. There wasmuch arcing and sputtering and the pop-ping of straining motors could be plainlyheard.

At 11:33 PM bus 615 rolled out of thebarn marked Pine Hills, followed by 629marked Delaware Avenue, both for the owlruns. At 11:40 with a loud toot of its horn,615 was off, piloted by Franklin Peeney.Shortly later the 620 departed with WalterBell as operator. At 11:55 PM we boardedcar 301 on the Belt Line for the run down-town. It was the first time 301 had ever beenused on an owl run in its entire history. Anuneventful run brought us to State & Pearlwhere we waited for the #4. At 12:25 weboarded 826, last Pine Hills trolley, piloted

United Traction Company mo-torman Pat Condon poses withcar #301, the one-of-a-kinddouble-truck car, during the lastfan trip on July 27, 1946. (Fred B.Abele Collection)

United Traction Company mo-torman William McEntee posingwith single-truck car #852 onAugust 27, 1946. (Fred B. AbeleCollection)

NEWSLETTER OF THE MOHAWK & HUDSON CHAPTER, N.R.H.S.10 THE CALL BOARD August 1991

by a bus, #269. We waited around until875, last Second Avenue car pulled in,shortly followed by 862, last Delaware

by Frank W. Eggleston, veteran trolleyoperator, and rode around the downtownloop for the last time. Going up Washing-ton Ave., we passed 862 on the DelawareAvenue line, also a last car, and the last tomake the downtown loop. At MadisonAvenue and Willett Street a dramatic mo-ment occurred as we passed bus 615 andboth operators blinked headlights in a finalsalute. Soon all passengers had departedand we arrived at the end ofthe line. Wechanged ends and Irolled the sign to "CarHouse Only." Then at 12:55 Ihad the honorof wheeling 826 off the switch at the end ofthe line for the last time and piloted her fortwo blocks until a customer appeared. Wearrived at the barn at 1:05 and watched 826wheeled in the bam. The last #2 trolley runon the West Albany line was actually run

Avenue, at approximately 1:30 AM, thebusstitution was completed except for theBelt Line.

LastsLast cars to operate on #2 - 852, bus 269 and bus 270.Last cars to operate on #4 - 824, 838, 830, 826, 834 (824 came off at 8 PM).Last cars to operate on #5 - 866, 840, 853, 842, 862 (842 was replaced by 862).Last cars to operate on #6 - 871, 870, 875, 861 (871 came of at 8:30 PM)Last car change was 862 substituted for 842 at about 8:30 PM on the #5 line.Last cars: #2 - 852, #4 - 826, #5 - 862, #6 - 875.Last car around downtown loop - 862.

Finis.

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-';< "Trolley Route Map 1934·1946 courtesy of Mrs. Prederici:B. Abele :~i~~~I\ /Y --.7b~y

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