The trolley or streetcar got its start by first being drawn by horses on tracks before being electrified, said Bob Johnston of the Chautauqua County Historical Society. He said the first horse-drawn street car was in 1866 by the Dunkirk & Fredonia Street Railroad. He added that Jamestown, with Jamestown Street Railway, caught up in 1884, and was the first city to have electric trolley cars in 1891.

“Dunkirk did it a few months later, but Jamestown beat them to it,” he said. “They would take them instead of walking on dirty streets. The roads were not paved. It was nice to hope on a trolley instead of rigging up their own horses.”

Johnston said trolley cars are streetcars powered by electric motors under the car that receive electricity from a bare overhead power wire that runs above the track and is supported by poles and arms. There is a long pole attached to the top of the trolley car that has a small brass wheel on its end that rides along the power wire. Electricity flows from the overhead wire through the trolley wheel down the trolley pole to an insulated wire on the trolley car that conducts the electricity to the electric traction motor below the car that drives the steel wheels.

In 1903, the Chautauqua Traction Company started, which extended from Jamestown to Barcelona, Johnston said, who was the founder of the Jamestown Street Railway Trolley Car No. 93 restoration project.

A Jamestown Street Railway trolley car, which was the only double decker trolley. Submitted photo

“It had a place downtown and it went from Jamestown to Celoron to Ashville to the Chautauqua Institution then to Mayville and then into Westfield. The Chautauqua Traction line went all the way to Barcelona.”

The Jamestown Westfield and Northwestern Railroad Company started in 1913 and it traveled the east side of Chautauqua Lake by Midway Park to Westfield, Johnston said.

“A lot of area soldiers would take the trolley to Westfield when they enlisted. My father (Donald P. Johnston) did it,” he said.

Even though there were several trolley companies, there wasn’t any real competition because they were owned by the Broadhead family, Johnston said. He said there was one line the Broadhead family didn’t own, which was the Warren & Jamestown Street Railway that would connect from Brooklyn Square in Jamestown and travel to Frewsburg and then south to Warren, Pa.

“The tracks never connected. It didn’t hook up with Jamestown trolley lines, but would line up next them,” he said. “There was a Warren/Jamestown office in Brooklyn Square.”

A photo of a Jamestown Street Railway trolley car in 1936 that shows why trolley car travel ended in 1938 because of the congestion on the highway with automobiles and piled up snow. Submitted photo

Jamestown Street Railway ended in the city in 1938, with the last trolley line being the Jamestown, Westfield and Northwestern Railroad Company in 1947. With the increase use of automobiles and buses, which could also carry several people to their destination, Johnston said the highway was becoming too congested for trolleys to continue.

“Everyone wanted to use the road and then there were these trolley cars, which couldn’t go everywhere and they were in the way,” he said. “This is why they went out of business. For a long time, it was the best way to go. Roads where muddy, and if you didn’t want to hook-up the horses, the trolley was a more convenient way to go. People would hoop on the trolley and go to work or school. It was a clean and quick way to get around.”

Johnston said the mostly restored Jamestown Street Railway Trolley Car No. 93 is still located at Ideal Coatings in Falconer. He said if people want to a tour or information, they can call him at 338-5051. Jim Mitchener, master craftsman on the project, and himself are still working to installing the door/step connection.

“The driver pushes a lever and a step would go down in front of the door,” he said. “We haven’t completed that yet. We are still working on that. We received a lot of help from Jamestown Iron Works and Jamestown Bronze Works.”

Johnston said they are looking for area architects who would like to help design a fireproof display for the trolley.

For more information on the trolley, visit jamestowntrolley.org. Donations can be made through the Chautauqua Region Community Foundation either online by visiting crcfonline.org or directly by specifically mentioning the trolley project on a check that can be mailed to the foundation at 418 Spring St., Jamestown, NY 14701.