What weighs approximately 40 pounds, is covered in rust and is probably one of the more intriguing acquisitions received by Bradford Landmark Society?
The staff at Landmark will say it’s a recently acquired section of an historic steel trolley rail that was found under Congress Street by a utility crew approximately two weeks ago.
Described as a flangeway rail, the section of metal is historically significant as there have been very few trolley rails recovered in the more than 100 years since they were first installed in Bradford, said Landmark staff member Mike Fuoco.
“I’d say it’s one of our better acquisitions,” Fuoco said of the piece of rail. “It’s historically significant as there isn’t that much (in terms of artifacts at Landmark) on the trolley system.”
Simply put, a flangeway rail, which has a groove on one side, was typically installed on city streets that were paved or covered with brick. Fuoco said a flange, or lip, is found on the inside of trolley or train wheels and allows the wheels to hold onto the rail.
“You can’t brick up to the inside of the rail or the flange would jump up off a (conventional) rail,” he explained. “Once you got out to the country, you go back to a (conventional rail), you don’t have to worry about flangeways.”
In commenting on the latest acquisition, Landmark genealogist Molly Lindahl said the organization received a call about the find a couple of weeks ago from Chip Comilla, director of the city’s department of public works and recreation. Comilla reported the discovery was made by the utility company while digging up sections of Congress Street.
“At first they didn’t know what it was,” Lindahl said of the work crews. “The contractor called (Comilla) in because they weren’t sure if they were digging into something and needed to stop, so they did stop.”
Lindahl said someone soon recognized what the item was and determined it would likely be an item that Landmark would want for its archives.
Information obtained from the book, “Trolleys of the Oil Rich Enchanted Mountains” by John Dean Wilkins, had a chapter titled Bradford Electric Street Railway. The book said construction of the trolley rails in Bradford began in May of 1896 on Congress Street. Work on two rail lines in town was first conducted on a route that started on Congress Street and connected to a number of streets in the community on through to the “School Street Loop.” The second route was constructed on Main and East Main streets. Contractor for the project was Pierce Construction Company of Massachusetts. The book noted the new rails along East Main Street were installed “to replace the badly worn horse car rails.”
Fuoco said Landmark will likely clean some of the rust and scale off the 122-year-old rail before cutting it into smaller sections for display. Several sections will also be distributed to the Salamanca (N.Y.) Rail Museum, the Penn-Brad Oil Museum in Bradford and individuals.
Sally Costik, curator of Landmark, said the non-profit organization, headquartered in Herbig Bakery, is always interested in hearing from people who have found local items that could have historic significance.
“We appreciate people who find bits of Bradford history and bring it in,” Costik concluded. “Call us, because we could probably identify it if they don’t know what it is.”
