United Traction Company stock certificate 1912 (Pittsburgh PA)

Great streetcar piece with a vignette showing an electric trolley car and the rail station.  Issued and cancelled. Cancellation stamps as shown; small perforation mark in the top of the vignette. Dated 1912.

On July 27, 1896 the United Traction Company was chartered and absorbed the Second Avenue Traction Company, which had been running electric cars since 1890.

The Southern Traction Company acquired the lease of the West End Traction Company on October 1, 1900. Pittsburgh Railways was formed on January 1, 1902, when the Southern Traction Company acquired operating rights over the Consolidated Traction Company and United Traction Company. The new company operated 1,100 trolleys on 400 miles of track, with 178.7 million passengers and revenues of $6.7 million on the year.  The Pittsburgh Railway had over 20 car barns located around the city as well as power stations. 1918 was the company's peak year, operating 99 trolley routes over 606 miles of track.

Unfortunately the lease and operate business model proved hard to support and the company declared bankruptcy twice, first in 1918 lasting for 6 years and then again in 1938, this time lasting until January 1, 1951. Costs to the company rose in the early twentieth century. PRC faced constant pressure from the city to improve equipment and services.  Large scale abandonments of lines began in the late 1950s, usually associated with highway or bridge work.