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There was a fear that traction companies would get into the freight business and begin hauling steam railroad freight cars through the city streets, so many localities required the local streetcar company to build to a different gauge than that used by the steam roads brfore a franchise would be issued. As this was generally legislated by a local governing body, of course was not always the case and some traction companies did, in fact, build to standard steam railroad guage. Very few, however, got involved in the freight business. <br />Interurban lines were generally less local in nature and many of them, in fact, were built to steam railroad standards in order to operate standard freight cars as well as regional passenger service. <br />In my home state of Pennsylvania, most city systems were built to a guage of 5'2-1/2", often reperred to as "Pennsylvania Broad Gauge". While this may have been required by local authorities, it was really a moot issue as trolley lines in Pennsylvania were generally built with such tight curves, steep grades and light bridges, that it would have been impossible to run standard freight cars on them. As an example, Johnstown Traction built to the standard 4' 8-1/2" railroad gauge, but it would be unimaginable to run a boxcar on any part of the system. The city fathers in Johnstown apparently had a more practical slant on the issue than their peers throughout most of the Keystone state. <br />Jim Kubanick <br />Roseau MN
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