Groton & Stonington trolley days

I was pleased to read in The Day last month that the town of Groton has opened a new bicycle way, the G&S Trolley Trail, following the path of the old trolley line.

This refers to the old Groton & Stonington Street Railway Company, chartered by the legislature August 17, 1903, authorized to lay tracks from the Groton ferry landing on Thames Street through Poquonnock Bridge, Noank, Mystic and Stonington to the Rhode Island border at Westerly.

In March, 1904, laborers began cutting brush in Poquonnock for the right-of-way. By May, 250 were employed. Many were Italian, speaking only their native tongue and amazing Poquonnock with the speed at which they worked.

To serve as many residents as possible, the route twisted through Groton from the School Street terminal near the ferry, running south on Thames Street and out Poquonnock Road. Then the tracks turned down Depot Road and ran eastward over Bluff Point and Haley farm, spanning Mumford and Beebe Coves with wooden trestles. The line ran parallel to railroad tracks already in place.

Power came from Water Street in Mystic where electricity was produced on the river bank by coal-burning generators in a brick powerhouse with a 125-foot smokestack. This building still exists, now converted to condominiums. Nearby stood the carbarn with a capacity of 18 trolleys.

The route from Groton to Mystic opened December 19th, 1904, while cheering spectators lined the way. The next year the line was completed to Rhode Island. The trip from Westerly to Groton took one hour and 25 minutes, and for a nickel you could ride from Poquonnock to Groton with a special transfer for the ferry.

Known locally as the "G&S," the line was profitable from the start, carrying 744,807 passengers during the first six months and paying a 6 percent dividend on preferred stock.

Trolleys clanged over the line every half hour unless snowdrifts interfered. (The company had its own snowplow.) And they were a boon to the economy and the quality of life. They carried mail, took people to work and kids to high school, transported women shoppers and provided inexpensive recreational trips over the weekends. In 1905, the G&S actually fitted out a picnic grove in Poquonnock.

In summertime, the line ran open cars, and motormen wore khaki uniforms. Ladies complained that open cars disarranged their hairdos, and others thought the brisk breezes might cause pneumonia, but most passengers enjoyed the long non-stop route across Bluff Point and Haley farm when motormen would speed up and trolleys lurched across the fields, avoiding the occasional Jersey cow on the tracks.

During the winter, closed cars were more comfortable. Originally, they were green; a taxi-cab yellow color was adopted in 1925.

On July 29, 1928, after 24 years, the Groton-Stonington line discontinued trolley service in favor of buses, and the old G&S trolleys rolled into history.

carolkimball0647@yahoo.com