Mt.Tom Railroad - A Ride To Lower Station

The trolley line from Mt. Park to Lower Station originated at the pavillion at Mt. Park, notice the beautiful view of the Whiting Street Reservoir in the background. The rock cut was widened in the early sixties for the road to the Mt. Tom Ski Area.

Trolley cars arriving at Lower Station from Mountain Park, as one can see in the peak years of operation in the early 1900s, there were several cars that travelled between Mt. Park and Lower Station to bring passengers to and fro.

By the end of the trolley line in the 1930s, the so-called "One Man Band" operation was installed where one operator would take the Highlands-Mt. Park trolley from downtown to Mt. Park, then he would leave that trolley unattended and board the trolley to Lower Station, he would then leave that trolley unattended to operate either the Elizur Holyoke or the Rowland Thomas to the Summit House atop Mt. Tom.

On his way up the incline railway, he would pass his "opposite" who was on his way to drop off passengers at Mt. Park and to pick up passengers downtown, once atop the summit he would wait for his "opposite to make the return trip (which was around 30 minutes) and to start the cycle all over again.

Here's a picture of Lower Station from the early 1900s, pictured is one of the trolley operators

and (maybe) his gal, (if anyone has any info on the two people pictured, please let me know)

The picture looks as though it was taken early in the morning before the start of another day of the Mt. Tom Railroad transporting people to the Mt. Tom Summit House. If one looks closely one can see either the Elizur Holyoke or the Rowland Thomas cable cars in the car barn. (photo from the Robert Schwobe Collection)