LEWISTOWN, PA – JOHNSTOWN & ALTOONA RAILROAD REEL

This color home movie from 1959 shows footage of the Johnstown Traction Company and views of Altoona, Johnstown and Lewistown, Pennsylvania. It was shot by Louis Buehler and preserved by Mitch Dakelman. Shots include:

:00 Lewistown Pa dusk and night shots of passing Pennsylvania Railroad trains

1:07 Conemaugh & Black Lick locomotive, Johnstown,Pa. Passing Bethlehem Steel plant

1:23 Johnstown Trolley car 357

1:48 crossing bridge

2:23 Maple Avenue, Johnstown

2:52 crossing Stoney Creek

3:30 rear of car

3:28 Changing power poles

3:47 Traveling residential street with home

4:04 on board trolley car

4:56 Bethlehem Steel plant

5:04 Main Street

5:12 Crossing Stoney Creek

5:24 passing steel mills

5:32 Maple Avenue Bridge

5:47 Conemaugh & Black Lick SW7

6:10 Horse Shoe Curve – Altoona Pa

6:37 K4s Steam engine, display at Curve park

6:47 passing east bound train

7:27 eastbound train descending curve, passing under signal bridge

7:40 K4 static display with passing trains behind

8:08 eastbound passenger train

9:15 END

Rolling stock in the film is from the Pennsylvania Railroad, Johnstown Traction Company, Bethlehem Steel — Johnstown Works, and the Conemaugh & Black Lick Railroad, owned by Bethlehem Steel.

Johnstown Traction Company (JTC) was a public transit system in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, United States. For most of its existence it was primarily a street-railway system, but in later years also operated rubber-tired vehicles. JTC operated trolley (tram) service in Johnstown from February 23, 1910 to June 11, 1960. Johnstown was one of the last small cities to abandon trolley service in the United States. It was also the smallest city to acquire a fleet of PCC cars and acquired trackless trolleys at a late date compared to larger transit properties. Many of the 1920s-era cars went directly to museums; however, none of the 17 PCC streetcars were saved. Efforts to sell the 16 then-surviving PCC cars intact were unsuccessful, and in 1962 they were scrapped, but many of their components were salvaged and sold to the Brussels, Belgium tram system, reused in the last series of single PCC trams (7156–7171), which ran from 1970 until February 2010.

JTC’s system also included electric trolley buses, the first route of which was opened on November 20, 1951. Trolley bus service continued until 1967, the last day of electric service being November 11, 1967.[3] The transit system then used only motor buses, but retained the name Johnstown Traction Company (in which “traction” is a reference to electric vehicle propulsion). In 1976, the private JTC would become the CamTran public transit system.

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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com