If folks think the subways get cold in the winter, can you imagine what it was like sitting in a horse-drawn trolley to get uptown? That's exactly what folks had to deal with while using the main mode of transportation for the public from 1855 until around 1904, before the first subway was available. The Harlem Trolley's had metal wheels that followed metal tracks but had no engine. Horses supplied the power and the above photo shows what it must have been like traveling through a blizzard in 1892. It must have taken a couple of hours just to get to 125th Street from Wall Street! In 1870 the elevated trains would become the choice mode of transportation but both forms of travel was said to still have been a freezing way to get about in the winter. Click on photo to enlarge.
Monday, December 21, 2009
☞ REMEMBER: Harlem Horse Trolley Circa 1892
If folks think the subways get cold in the winter, can you imagine what it was like sitting in a horse-drawn trolley to get uptown? That's exactly what folks had to deal with while using the main mode of transportation for the public from 1855 until around 1904, before the first subway was available. The Harlem Trolley's had metal wheels that followed metal tracks but had no engine. Horses supplied the power and the above photo shows what it must have been like traveling through a blizzard in 1892. It must have taken a couple of hours just to get to 125th Street from Wall Street! In 1870 the elevated trains would become the choice mode of transportation but both forms of travel was said to still have been a freezing way to get about in the winter. Click on photo to enlarge.
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Notice the trolly has a stove pipe coming out the top. Slow yes, but with a little furnace inside it could have been very cozy...
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