United Electric Railways Token - 1919-1951

Description

The
United Electric Railways Company (UER)
was the
Providence
-based operator of the system of
interurban
streetcars
,
trolleybuses
, and trolley freight in the state of
Rhode Island
in the early- to mid-twentieth century.
The UER was chartered in 1919, after the previous operator of the streetcar,
the Rhode Island Company
, went into temporary
receivership
. The company was placed under the control of the Rhode Island
Public Utilities Commission
upon inception, in an effort to limit the impact to service in the event of financial difficulties.
[1]
UER began operations of the consolidated network in 1921, and achieved an all-time high ridership annual of 154 million people in 1923. UER was purchased by the New England Power Company in 1926, and was operated under the UER brand by the
Rhode Island Service Company
[2]
until the system was again reorganized as the
United Transit Company
in 1951.
Token is approx. 7/8" in diameter.