This is one of the best rail line history videos I've seen to date. I was born in West Chester, grew up in Media until 8 then in Downingtown, and then back to West Chester after college so I've been all over that area. I greatly miss that area and appreciate the pictures of years gone by.
Very interesting. My maternal grandparents moved to Broomall in the 1950s, and it's where my mother grew up and my family currently resides. I also recognize many of the present-day landmarks in Newtown Square, and being a railroad nut, often find myself wishing I could have been around to see the trolleys/trains in action.
I grew up in Newtown Square and remember many of the places photographed along the route. I’m not old enough to remember the trolley. I do remember the school bus (#2) turning around at Castle Rock on the Pike. What a great place to grow up!
Grew up in Malvern ….we always rode the Short line Bus to West Chester….1950-1963…(approx)went to Warner Theater(movies..50 cents then) then shopping and then to Woolworths...we always traveled by the Short Line …great memories ..moved to Florida 1964…(Still miss my Pennsylvania 😃😃😃😃roots after all this time)
The picture at 29:10 is my Grandparents and Aunt , Grandfather worked for Red Arrow as Safety Engineer , taking the final ride on this line. Excellent video !
Superb video of the "regress" from electric streetcars sharing the right of way to exclusive use of automobiles on the WCP. A phenomenon unfortunately replicated in hundreds of other communities across the U.S. Tom, you might want to seek out similar views of SEPTA (PTC) trolley routes 6, 55 and 59 . They also had an interesting mix of urban and rural runs.
Wow, that's really something! Fascinating to watch the widening of the road and (sub)urbanization of the area through these photos. Quite something to see the "Last Trolley" featured as well. I would have loved to take a ride.
Erich J.Froelich: I too sure wish I could have ridden that line. When the road or highway was widened they should have relocated the trolley line in a median strip in the center. The highway has streets running beneath it so the trolleys would be free of any street crossings until finally ending in downtown West Chester PA. That line should have been saved!
Wow! What a wonderful thing you created. Thank you for uploading. Do you have photos of West Chester from 60s and 70s if so, please share! I love to see West Chester as it was when I was a child.
I am fascinated by the antique electrical lines that ran along the pike - the huge black or glass insulators they used. Also the number of cross-arms on each pole and so many wires. I would guess today's technology has all of that condensed into just a few wires on the poles now, using much smaller insulators. From the copper wire era to today's fiber optics. We've come a long way. But with all of that said - I'd give anything to climb into a time machine and go back to those times and just stay there. 21st Century?---you can have it!!
Really great job. And a prodigious amount of work. I commuted from Phila. to WC for school. But it was right after the 4 lanes were finished. Even that is unrecognizable.
I drove from West Philly to West Chester, then Downingtown, for work, in 1962 , and for years after that on 4 lane West Chester Pike, a lot has changed.
I always wondered when the trolleys didn’t operate any longer. I forgot to ask my Dad because he had a summer home in Florida Park when he was a little boy in the 1930 and 1940s. 🚃
