[lit-ideas] Re: Car culture

  • From: Eric <eyost1132@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Mon, 03 Apr 2006 01:07:21 -0400

John: Unless internal combustion engines are replaced by alternative power plants, the U.S. as we know it is in for some radical changes.

My family lived in the same small town in a mountainous area of PA for several generations. So I have my grandfather's accounts of how they handled the pre-car world. It wasn't too bad. In some ways it was more convenient.

In 1920, trolleys that ran throughout the county. People could travel twenty-five miles to work and back on the trolley.

There was a train station at the bottom of the town. The train would take you to Philadelphia in two hours. Today, by car, it takes about three hours to get to Philadelphia. You could take a day trip to Philadelphia if you could afford it.

Less convenient were the horse accidents. The town was designed on a long, sloping hill. Horses carrying wagons of merchandise would sometimes get out of control. The wagons would crash and the horses might be killed. The local butcher would show up and take the horses away to be processed. A tavern built at an unfortunate location was called "The Crash In Bar."

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