1908 Hanover Trolley Line Comes Back to Life in 2008
Sometimes history repeats itself in some really nifty ways. In February 1908 local newspapers were announcing that the York Railways Company’s new Hanover Interurban line was open through Spring Grove.
The popular line carried passengers and freight and operated a package express line. Special runs were also common on the trolley lines– outings to parks and sight-seeing along the way.
Times though were changing, and the Hanover line was in operation a mere thirty-one years before the trolleys on the tracks were replaced by buses on the road. According to Benson W. Rohrbeck’s book, York County Trolleys, the last ride to Hanover was February 1939.
Trolley fans did get one last hurrah–Rohrbeck shows an advertisement for the “Last Special” on Sunday, September 18, 1838. For $1.00 passengers could take an eight-hour excursion in an open car on the line to Hanover and Spring Grove and the line to Dallastown, Red Lion, Windsor, and Bittersville.
Now, in 2008, the papers are reporting that work in progressing on the Hanover Trolley Trail. This project of the York County Rail Trail Authority utilizes the rail bed laid down a century ago. Whether you walk the trail, ride a bike or a horse, you will be able to enjoy the rural scenery like those early passengers.
Click here for the YCRTA website to learn more about the current project.
You can visit a restored trolley at the York County Heritage Trust’s Agricultural and Industrial Museum. The York County Trolleys book is also available at the YCHT museum shops. Click here for the YCHT website.
