The Electric Railway

The Electric Railway
Fondly called: The Traction 

J. B. Lowes and J. B. Feight, Petitioners, petitioned Darke County for a franchise to construct and maintain a right of way for the electric railway which was known as the “D & N” electric railway. At that time there were a number of conditions imposed on the new railway company when the petition was granted. One was that the train would not be permitted to travel faster than 40 miles per hour or the company would risk losing the franchise.



My father switched from riding the Dayton and Union (D&U) passenger train to his place of work for Dayton Power and Light Company's substation near Taylorsville, (near the Salem Mall -- the actual building was still there when the mall was in operation) to riding the faster and cheaper “traction cars.” My father often told me that the traction used to “fly” down the tracks at speeds near 100 miles per hour.

The speedy electric traction was the cheapest way to travel in the area for many years, but the thing that really doomed the electric trains was the automobile and the competition for freight from the struggling D&U railroad.

Gerald Van Pelt, son of Dr. and Mrs. Van Pelt, said the traction line rails were removed in 1926. The company enlarged the turn on East and North Streets and used a switch engine and flat car to remove the rails. The railroad ties were not removed at the same time.

Gerald recalls that his father, had to place some stitches to close a wound of an injured worker named “Sensenbaugh” (The Sensenbaughs lived just west of town on a farm). Helen [Flory] Gentner suggested to me that it was probably Archie Sensenbaugh who was wounded and stitched up.