8/3/2019 United Traction Co. Trolley Last Day of Operation August 31, 1946

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8THE CALL BOARD NEWSLElTER OF THE MOHAWK & HUDSON CHAPTER, N.R.H.S. August 1991

The Last Day of Operation ofUnited Traction Trolleys in Albany:Saturday, August 31, 1946By Fred B. Abele

(The last day of United Traction Com-pany streetcar operations in Albany was 45years ago, on Saturday, August 31,1946.The last car to make the trip, #834, was adouble truck car built by Cincinnati CarCo. in 1913. The late Fred B. Abele docu-mented that last trip, as well as the last runsof some of the other lines on August 10,1946. They are re-printed here as Fredwrote them)Last day operations of the #3 Belt line,last trolley line to operate in Albany, foundseveral double truck cars operating whichhad been storage since abandonment of the

#2, #4, #5 and #6 lines on August IOth,Until August 9th, the only cars in operationwere 851, 852, 853, 854, 855, 857, 861,862,865,866,867,869,870 and 875 and838. 301 was used only for a couple ofdays. On August 9 due to bad motors and acouple of cracked up cars it was necessaryto haul out 830 and 840.

Noon Saturday found the following carsin service: On the outer belt 852, 875, 867and 853, all single truck cars. On the innerbelt, 840, 834 824 anrl830. A few changeswere made before final operations.The last car to operate was scheduled toleave Quail Street barn e r r 11:10 PM, on theouter belt. At 11 P~icar 857 left the carhouse for the last run on the inner belt. Afew minutes later bus 502 was wheeled outinto the street. Car 824 drew up, transferredits pa.sseneoersto the bus, was wheeled intothe car yard and the snhstitntion had begun.Bus 500 too over the passengers from car840 on the inner belt and 875 departed onits last run on the outer belt.A large crowd had gathered to witness

the changeover including several railfansof the Albany group. At about 11:10 PMcar 834 pulled up in front of the barn and agroup climbed aboard. There were morethan 100 fares rung up. General Mgr., NilesPersons and Supt. of Transportation Riedywere aboard as well as a UTC supervisor.

United Traction Company car No. 840 southbound on Pearl Streetcrossing State Street on August 31, 1946, the last day of trolleyoperations in Albany. (Photo from Fred B. Abele Collection)

Operator, Perry Vincent closed the doorsand we were off with a standing load.Almost immediately after leaving the barna commotion from the rear of the cab provedto be the extraction of the rear roller sign forsouvenir purposes. As we turned into Madi-son Ave. we passed car 857 on its last runon the inner belt and the operators clangedbells in salute. A uneventful run brought usdowntown and we passed first bus 502 onPearl St. near Hudson Ave. without anyinterchange of signals. At State and PearlStreets we clattered over the crossover andas the sound died away, the last trolley inAlbany had passed through the familiarintersection.On Clinton Avenue at Swan Street, by

prearranged permission by Company offi-cials, I took over the controls and operatedto Northern Boulevard a distance of threelong blocks with several stops. Operator 1 1 \Vincent took over again for the remainder _of the trip. As we pulled up in front of thecarhouse the crowd started to sing AuldLangeSyne and would not leave the caruntil it was finished. Many asked forautographed transfers which took consid-erable time. At my request two mechanicsremoved the front roller sign and presentedto me for a souvenir. 834 was then run to thecrossover at Benson Street and returned tothe yard. Meanwhile, 857 was brought outand run over to the crossover north ofCentral Avenue so that it could be put onthe other yard track and make room for thelonger 834. By a few seconds 857 was thelast car out on the street. The gates werethen closed, the poles pulled at approxi-mately 12: 10 PM and electric operationshad ceased.Contrary to expectations, bus substitu-tions on the Belt Line were not new buses.Originally the company had stated that 40

buses would be sufficient to make the sub-stitution for the five lines. However, buses600-639 were already in service on the #2,#4, #5 and #6 lines and buses 500-509 werebrought up from the Broadway Garage tooperate on the Belt Line. These were pur-chased in December 1944 and are 40 pas- -:senger GMC jobs, non diesel.