Ponce – Trolleys / Tranvías | Railroads of Puerto Rico / Ferrocarriles de Puerto Rico

These photos are a selección from the Rodríguez Archives (José Luis and José Alfredo Rodríguez). TROLLEYS. Please see Archivo Histórico Y Fotográfico De Puerto Rico’s photostream . Photos used with permission / Fotos usadas con permiso.

PONCE – Muelle de Ponce & Passenger Trolley – Real Photo Post Card unused c. 1910-1920’s.
Two businesses are on the right. One is named El Cosmopolita (appears to be a restaurant). Trolley Car No. 16 waiting on the track.
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RS # 28 Type 4 – PONCE – Muelle Municipal. – Mailed from Ponce MAY 12, 1926
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Complementary Photo. Observe the name of the company: Ponce Railway & Light Company. Trolley was also named Ponce Electric at a different time. El tranvía llegó a llamarse Ponce Electric. Photo used with permission / Fotos usadas con permiso. http://www.tramz.com/pr/pc.html
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Phipps, Photo Group 2 – PONCE – Playa Road, Ponce, Porto Rico – Unused.
Trolley car in motion on the right. Thomas E. Phipps, Photographer, Ponce, P.R.
Comments and faves

PR RR Historian [deleted] (36 months ago):

From one of the maps I have showing railroads, the trolley line was
on the eastern side of the road most of the way to Playa Ponce from
the outskirts of the city of Ponce. It would be hard to deduce which
way the trolley is going, as we cannot see if the motorman is in the
end facing us and also we cannot see the trolley pole in the shot.
By the position of the poles, one on each end of the car, we could
determine its direction, as the pole that is up is on the rear of the car.
The motorman must drop one and raise the other in order to change
direction of movement. The poles were pulled down by a cord
which was tied to a circular hitch (generally) at each end of the trolley.
So a car going eastward would have the rear or westward pole up.
At this time in the history of photography, film speeds were extremely
slow and moving objects were often blurred, as is the case here.
Ponce’s trolleys were products of the Brill Co. of Philadelphia and
the company was long managed by a Boston firm, Stone & Webster.
The trolleys were numbered in the even numbers, starting with
#2. Odd numbers were assigned to at least one electrified freight
unit and additional freight cars. In one of the photos I have, there
is both a freight unit and a passenger trolley parked on the Ponce
Pier in the harbor, just beyond Playa Ponce. Some freight was taken
from ships at the pier and dropped mostly at businesses in the
old warehouse district at Playa Ponce. The Ponce trolleys shared
their access to the pier with the American railroad, and later when
the trolley was discontinued, the ARRCo. operated on some of
the trolley company’s Playa Ponce sidings as well as the rails to
the pier.
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PONCE – Ponce Ry. & Lt. Co. Trolley Barn – Real Photo Post Card unused c. 1910’s) Car No. 14 is in the garage on the left. Ponce Railway & Light Company.

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MOSCIONI RPPC (Attributed) ~ PONCE – McKinley School, Ponce, P. R. – Unused
Calle Salud / Salud Street

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PONCE RPPC – Untitled [Street Scene, School on Left] – Mailed from Ponce MAY 21, 1912
TAKE NOTE OF THE TROLLEY CABLE ABOVE WITH A STOP SIGN. TROLLEY TRACKS BELOW. WHICH SCHOOL COULD THIS BE? (PONCE – McKinley School)

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PONCE Real Photo Post Card – Untitled view of Crowds at Plaza Degetau Event – Mailed from Ponce FEB 23, 1912.
Plaza Degetau, Ponce, PR. Appears to be the unveiling of a statue or such. Possibly the statue of Juan Morel Campos which is located there. Many school children are in a line up near it.

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O&S Set 2 – PONCE – Lado Este de la Plaza ‘Las Delicias’ – Undivided Back Unused c. 1905 & Divided Back unused c. 1908.
Published by Otero & Sobrino, Ponce, PR (O&S)

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CNB-A. GILOT Set 1 No. 17 – PONCE – Plaza Principal Lado Sud. – Mailed Ponce MAR 3, 1906.
Published by Coleccion del Nuevo Bazar de A. Gilot (CNB)

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RS #A-30 – PONCE – Calle Mayor. – Unused c. 1920’s. Trolley Car No. 2

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Complementary Photo. Trolley in front of the French Hotel. Avenida Hostos and Marina St. Photos used with permission / Fotos usadas con permiso. http://www.tramz.com/pr/pc.html

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