The Lake Line Trolley

Editor's Note: The following material is adapted from Chapter 7 of Harold E. Cox's Wyoming Valley Trolleys: Street Railways of Wilkes-Barre, Nanticoke and Pittston, Pennsylvania (Forty-Fort, PA 1988).  Copyright © Harold E. Cox 1988.  Used By Permission.  The Preface and Afterword, plus material in brackets throughout the text, has been added to enhance the article. – F. Charles Petrillo, February 2002.

Chapter 5 -- The Dallas Sleeper

[As an aside to the Lake’s trolley history, special mention must be noted of the Dallas Sleeper.

The Wilkes-Barre trolley system operated only two late-night services.  Hourly service to Plymouth via Carey Avenue ran for many years.  On the Harvey’s Lake line, the large number of company employees who lived along line apparently led to the operation of a service known as the Dallas Sleeper for many years, providing transport home after the end of evening runs and giving morning crews transport to work in the morning, as well as service for other passengers.  By October 1921, the car left Public Square at 11:30 p.m., making trips to Luzerne at 11:30 and 12:30.  At 1:30 a.m., the car left Public Square and ran to Dallas.  It then returned to the East Dallas barn where the crew waited for about two hours, presumably getting a nap before leaving Dallas at 4:05 a.m., running through Luzerne and returning to Public Square.  After four more trips to varying points on the Harvey’s Lake line to provide inbound early morning rush hour service, the car returned to the barn at 8:30 a.m.  This schedule does not appear to have been significantly changed for at least twenty years.  Even after conversion to bus the service continued to be operated and lasted at least through World War II.]

Copyright 2006-2008 F. Charles Petrillo