Johnstown Passenger Railway Co. - 1901 dated Pennsylvania Stock Certificate

Railroad Stock printed by American Bank Note Co., Phila., Litho. Certificate #A5! Rare!

The Johnstown Passenger Railway Company, established in 1882, initially provided public transportation in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, using a horse-drawn trolley system. For a mere five cents, passengers could board cars that operated at 20-minute intervals from the company’s original offices and barns in Woodvale. However, this infrastructure was utterly destroyed during the catastrophic Great Flood of 1889. Following the disaster, Tom L. Johnson acquired the company and pioneered the electrification of the system as part of the city’s reconstruction efforts. By 1890, new facilities were established in Moxham, and the network transitioned into a modern electric streetcar service.

In 1910, the company underwent a reorganization and became the Johnstown Traction Company (JTC) following a major accident. Under this new name, it expanded into a significant regional transit network, reaching its peak in 1943 when it carried over 17 million annual passengers. Johnstown gained historical distinction as one of the last small American cities to abandon its trolley service, even operating streamlined PCC cars until the late 1950s. All rail operations eventually ceased on June 11, 1960, replaced by trackless electric trolleys and buses. Today, the legacy of the original railway lives on through the Cambria County Transit Authority (CamTran), which acquired the company’s remaining assets in 1977.