Untitled (2)PAGE,&SQNEK SOUTHERNDUTCHESSCOUNTY, &Y,-OCRVER4, 1978
Fifty years off our trolley
Clang, clang, clang went
the trolley. The one above is
shown starting out at the foot
of West Main Street, Wap-
pingers Falls, on its run to
Poughkeepsie. The photo
was taken about 1910 and is
from the collection of
Charles E. Benjamin of 12
Kingwood Drive,
Poughkeepsie, who notes
that this month is the 50th
anniversary of the end of
that line.
A trolley historian who has
written about and presented
trolley lectures to many
local groups, Mr. Benjamin
is compiling a collection of
memorabilia about the
Wappingers Falls -
Poughkeepsie line and is
interested in seeing and
copying any old photos
showing trolleys at various
locations on the line, to be
used in a published history.
His account of that trolley
line appears below:
Fifty years ago on October
9, the last trolley car clanged
its way between Wappingers
Falls and Poughkeepsie,
ending a service which had
provided a key link in
drawing these two com-
munities closer together.
When it opened, on
December 16, 1894, gala
celebrations and receptions
were held, and the
Poughkeepsie Courier, in an
unprecedented nine -tier
front-page headline, an-
nounced "The Electric Tie!
Poughkeepsie and Wap-
pingers Falls United!"
The single-track line, with
frequent passing sidings,
was mostly on private right-
of-way closely following the
east edge of the old Albany
Post Road. Today that right-
of-way in front of the
Wappingers Rural Cemetery
is still very obvious (to the
"trained" eye), and south of
that point the rails in the
center of West Main Street
are still all buried, but poke
through the black -top in a
few spots.
It was the need for an
improved alignment for
Route 9 that finally ended the
dependable little trolley
service. North of "Four
Corners" (Route 9 and
Spring Road), the old Albany
Post Road had turned
sharply to the west, and then
north again on Sheafe Road,
rejoining the present high-
way at the foot of Casper
Creek hill. The trolley took a
more direct route, which was
coveted by and subsequently
purchased by the State High-
way Department; this
became the Route 9 of today.
Cars typically ran every
40-60 minutes from the foot of
West Main Street (tracks
were never extended across
the bridge) to Main and
Market Streets in
Poughkeepsie, in front of the
"!Couft House. In `later years
,the Wappingers end of the
'track was extended into
Givans Street, so ' that the
ever-increasing automobile
and truck traffic (before the
present Route 9 bypass of the
village was built!) did not
have to squeeze around
trolleys waiting at the, end of
the line between runs.
Originally small, four -
wheeled trolleys were used,
similar to the city cars of the
era, but later heavier eight -
wheeled cars replaced them,
for better speed and a
smoother ride. In fact, the
last cars bought by- the
Poughkeepsie & Wappingers
Falls Railway Co. were for
this service. Purchased in
August 1924, they ran only
four years here; after this
line folded, they were sold
second-hand to Eau Claire,
Wisconsin, where they ran
for another five years. That
operation closed down, also,
in 1933, and these two fine
cars were sold again, this
time to the Third Avenue
Railway Co. of New York
City, where they ran in the
Bronx until 1948.