THE INDIANA TO CLYMER STREETCAR

The Indiana County Street Railways Company was formed in 1907. One company that merged with them was Clymer and Creekside Railway Company and special permission had to be obtained for the streetcar line to cross the railroad tracks at First Sample Run. (Special tracks had to be laid for the streetcar, which probably ran alongside the railroad tracks.) Two daily round trips took place between Indiana and *Grace Church near Sample Run. The line didn't actually run into Clymer until the line was completed, and then there were eight daily round trips. (Fare cost thirty cents.) A large Streetcar Station was built in Clymer at Sixth Street and Penn Street (by Dixon Run). A streetcar was necessary for rapid transportation because there were no paved roads between Indiana and Clymer at the time. It probably took several hours to travel on the dirt roads if conditions were good. If there was rain or snow, the mud and ice made it nearly impossible to travel. (Remember that people traveled by horse and wagon then.) The streetcar line between Clymer and Indiana was about twelve miles and it took about forty minutes one way.

* Note: Grace Church no longer exists, but if one takes the Airport Road toward Indiana and turns left onto Grace Church Road, it leads to the area where Grace Church used to be located.

Paved roads and the advent of automobiles caused streetcar usage to decline, and the last streetcar ran near the end of 1927, and the tracks were removed in 1928. To this day the Old Streetcar Station still exists in Clymer.

Here is an old photo of the Indiana-Clymer Streetcar.

THE TRAIN WRECK AT SAMPLE RUN

On August 15, 1915 there was a bad wreck at Second Sample Run involving a streetcar crossing the railroad tracks and two engines and eleven railroad cars. A Mr. Robert Wynkoop was injured and died the next day. Here is an old photo of the train wreck.

THE STREETCAR ROBBERY INCIDENT

On June 17, 1924 five bandits holding revolvers robbed the streetcar somewhere between Clymer and Indiana. Several shots were fired but no one was hit. The bandits got away with the payroll of the Russell Coal Company, an amount of $23, 750, a huge sum of money in those days. They also stole another $28,000 from a registered mail pouch. The bandits caused the streetcar to stop near a wooded area where they had a trail marked. They got away in a Studebaker car that was waiting for them, and they were never caught.

THE CHERRY TREE AND DIXONVILLE RAILROAD

Prior to the streetcar, the "Cherry Tree and Dixonville Railroad" into Clymer was built in 1905.  The railroad was jointly owned by the New York Central and the Pennsylvania Railroad Companies. The railroad was extended into Sample Run and Dixonville in 1906. Though the railroad was chiefly used for hauling coal and some freight, passenger service was started in 1907. The New York Central passenger service ended in 1933, and the Pennsylvania Railroad discontinued passenger service in 1947.

The passenger train depot in Clymer. Photo courtesy of John Busovlcki.

Here is an old photo of the last passenger train leaving Clymer in 1947. Photo courtesy of John Busovicki.

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