Conestoga Transportation Company

Conestoga Traction Company (from 1900-1931), later Conestoga Transportation Company (1931-1976), was a Pennsylvanian regional interurban trolley that operated seven routes 1900 to 1947 in a hub-and-spoke pattern from Lancaster, Pennsylvania to numerous neighboring farm villages and towns. From 1947 until 1976, Conestoga Transportation Company was a bus only agency.

Conestoga Traction's connections to adjacent interurban trolley companies such as Philadelphia and West Chester (later Red Arrow; now today's operating SEPTA Route 101), West Chester Street Railway, West Chester and Coatesville Traction, Schuylkill Valley Traction, Reading Transit Company, Hershey Transit, and Harrisburg Railways Company, one could ride trolleys from Philadelphia to Harrisburg, although the trip would have been long and slow and impractical. This could be accomplished by two circuitous routes. The southern route was via West Chester-Coatesville-Lancaster-Hershey and the northern route was via Norristown-Pottstown-Reading-Ephrata-Lebanon-Hershey. From Hershey to Harrisburg was by connections.

Service to many of the same areas is now offered by Red Rose Transit Authority.

Car lines

• Lancaster-Millersville (1891-1933)
• Lancaster-Columbia (1894-1938)
• Columbia-Marietta (1894-1932)
• Lancaster-Lititz (1895-1938)
• Lancaster-Ephrata (1900-1947)
• Lancaster-Manheim (1901-1932)
• Lancaster-Strasburg (1901-1932)
• Lancaster-Adamstown (1903-1932)
• Lancaster-Rocky Springs (1903-1947)
• Lancaster-Terre Hill (1905-1932)
• Lancaster-Quarry Hill (1905-1932)
• Lancaster-Elizabethtown (1908-1932)
• Lancaster-Coatesville (1909-1932)

All-time roster

Streetcar and interurban (under Conestoga Traction Company)

This section is incomplete, you can help!

Fleet number(s)	Thumbnail	Year	Manufacturer	Model	Ends	Motors	Trucks	Notes
1-4		1899	Brill	Closed Car				Order number 9827. Ex-Pennsylvania Traction Company. Rebuilt in 1912 with B-27G trucks. Retired in 1930s.
5		1898?	Brill		DE			Order number 8712. Named "Lancaster". Ex-Pennsylvania Traction Company.
6 (2nd)		1903?	Brill	Semi-Conv.	DE			Order number 12686.
7-9
10-11		1901	Brill	Pass./Bagg.	DE		BR 27G1 (DT)	Order number 10921.
12-13		1901	Brill	Pass./Bagg.	DE		BR 27G1 (DT)	Order number 11465. 13 also named "Lancaster".
14-15		1901	Brill		DE		BR 27G1 (DT)	Order number 10919.
16-19		1902	Brill	Pass./Bagg.	DE		BR 27G1 (DT)	Order number 11939.
20-22		1902	Brill		DE		BR 27G1 (DT)	Order number 11941.
23
24
25
26-27
29-30
31-33
34
35-37
38-39
40-45
46
47-49		1911	Cincinnati		DE		STN C-50 (DT)	Order number 1460.
50-52		1912	Cincinnati		DE		STN C-50 (DT)	Order number 1600.
53		1913	Cincinnati		DE		STN C-60 (DT)	Order number 1850.
54		1916	Brill	Pre-Pay	DE		BR 27MBC1 (DT)	Order number 19945. Retired in 1946.
55-62		1917	Brill		DE		BR 27MBC1 (DT)	Order number 20211.
63-64		1920	Brill		DE		BR 27MBC1 (DT)	Order number 21080. Retired in 1947.
65-69		1924	Cincinnati	Curveside	DE		CI AB (DT)	Order number 2785.
101-118
119
120-123		1903	Brill		DE		BR 21E (ST)	Order number 12788. Ex-Lancaster & York Furnace Street Railway Company 4, 3.
124-127		1906	Brill		DE		BR 21E (ST)	Order number 15405.
128-131
132-137
138-139		1913	Cincinnati		DE		Baldwin M (DT)	Order number 1845.
140-142		1916	Brill		DE		BR 39E (DT)	Order number 19944.
151-156
157-158
159-160
161-165
166
167-175
174 (2nd)
176-179
180-181
182-187
188-191
201-204		1920	Brill	Birney	DE		BR 79E1 (ST)	Order number 21089. Used on Lancaster city operations.
205-210		1921	Brill	Birney	DE		BR 79E1 (ST)	Order number 21439. Used on Lancaster city operations.
211-220		1922	Brill	Birney	DE		BR 79E1 (ST)	Order number 21444. Used on Lancaster city operations.
221-230		1923	Brill	Birney	DE		BR 79E1 (ST)	Order number 21743. Used on Lancaster city operations. Car 229 converted to single-end car in 1937.
231-232		1924	Brill	Birney	DE		BR 79E1 (ST)	Order number 21909. Used on Lancaster city operations.
233-235		1925	Brill	Birney	DE		BR 79E1 (ST)	Order number 22166. Used on Lancaster city operations.
236-241		1926	Brill	Birney	DE		BR 79E1 (ST)	Order number 22478. Used on Lancaster city operations.

Legend:

• Ends: (DE) Double-end, (SE) Single-end
• Motors: (GE) General Electric, (WH) Westinghouse
• Trucks:

• Manufacturers: (BR) Brill, (CI) Cincinnati, (STN) Standard
• Number of trucks: (DT) Double-truck, (ST) Single-truck

Preserved cars

Fleet number(s)	Thumbnail	Year	Manufacturer	Model	Ends	Motors	Trucks	Notes
236		1926	Brill	Birney Safety Car	DE		BR 79E1 (ST)	Order number 22478. 1926-1931 Conestoga Traction Company 1931-1947 Conestoga Transportation Company 1947-1953 Lancaster Chapter, NRHS 1953-1990 Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission 1990-present Manheim Historical Society.

Bus (under Conestoga Transportation Company)

Fleet Number Range	Thumbnail	Serial Number	Year	Manufacturer	Model Number	Engine	Transmission	Notes
22			1936	Beaver	101
58-83				ACF	C-36	Hall-Scott Gasoline
61-69			1939	ACF	26-S	Hall-Scott Gasoline
70-77			1940	ACF	26-S	Hall-Scott Gasoline
78-89			1941	ACF	26-S	Hall-Scott Gasoline
84-99				ACF	C-36	Hall-Scott Gasoline
100-101				ACF	C-36	Hall-Scott Gasoline
106				ACF	C-36	Hall-Scott Gasoline
107-109				ACF	C-36	Hall-Scott Gasoline
190-197			1942	ACF	26-S	Hall-Scott Gasoline
221-223			2/1964	GMC	SDM-5302		Manual
225			3/1966	GMC	SDM-5302		Manual
301-310			10/1951	GMC	TDH-3612	Detroit Diesel 4-71	Allison VH
326-327			10/1960	GMC	TGH-3102
342				GMC
351				GMC
360			1950	GMC	TDH-4509	Detroit Diesel 6-71	Allison VH	Ex-Green Bus Lines 331, purchased in 1960s.

Further reading

• Garden Spot Trolleys (1977), Luther P. Cummings and Benson W. Rohrbeck, Traction Publications