It operated successfully into the 1930s, but struggled financially during the Great Depression, and was saved from abandonment by a dramatic ridership increase during and following World War II.

It operated local bus service in the Allentown, Bethlehem, and Easton areas in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania until ultimately going out of business in 1972.

[3] In 1893, the Allentown and Lehigh Valley Traction Company was created by investor Albert Johnson through the combination of a group of local streetcar lines.

LVT's Allentown to Philadelphia division operating to 1951 is considered the last of the eastern U.S. single track, town street to side of road rural countryside hill and dale interurban trolleys in the United States along with the Hagerstown and Frederick and the West Penn Railways of Western Pennsylvania, although the Springfield-to-Media end of the present day 100-year-old Upper Darby Township-to-Media former Red Arrow trolley line, which is now SEPTA's Media–Sharon Hill Line, has some of these same characteristics.

South from its downtown Allentown terminal, the LVT's Philadelphia Division served Coopersburg, Zionhill, Brick Tavern, Quakertown, Perkasie, Sellersville, Telford, Souderton, Hatfield, Lansdale, and Norristown.

Some patrons would ride the Reading, for example, from downtown Philadelphia to Lansdale, then walk across the street to the LVT station to catch the interurban home.

[9][10] As was customary for interurban trolleys, the LVT Philadelphia Division ran fast in open country, but once in a village or town it slowly progressed down streets, made frequent stops, and navigated sharp streetcar-like turns at intersections.

[16][17] The extensive Pennsylvania construction of paved highways and the public's increased ownership of automobiles like the Ford Model T in the 1920s caused the financial decline of most interurbans in the U.S.

The LVT distinguished itself in the transit industry with its 1938-1940 rehabilitation program and the stars of the modernization were the thirteen ex-Cincinnati and Lake Erie high speed former "Red Devils."

Significant use of aluminum reduced weight, and the Red Devils provided passengers with comfortable leather bucket seats with headrests.

[24] Two drawbacks: they were single ended and had a smaller passenger capacity than provided by the older and longer wood Ohio interurbans, but C&LE planned to increase scheduled service to make up for this.

Transit company officials introduced No.1030 to the public on September 14, 1941, and on October 3, 1941, the luxury car entered the revenue service on the Liberty Bell Route.

As company earnings severely declined due to post-World War II diminishing ridership, seriously disabled cars were often set aside, not repaired, and cannibalized for parts for other equipment.

About an hour and one half later, he reached Marshall siding in Norristown where a car exchange would occur with the P&W crew from 69th Street, and the LVT motorman began his return trip to Allentown.

After looping at Rink, the motorman backed the car over the same four city blocks to return to the Norristown station where passengers would board for the next northbound trip.

[41] Souderton had a ninety degree sharp turn with incline at Main and Broad Streets, and this caused problems for southbound trains.

While crews from the nearby Souderton car barn worked with ice chippers and sand to provide traction for wheels on rails, the delays were logistically problematic for LVT.

The Souderton delays could force cars scheduled an hour apart to stack up waiting for enough sand to be deployed and this also blocked northbound trips.

The motorman of northbound lightweight 1003 was waiting at Brush siding near Germantown Pike and had dispatcher's orders to wait for both a southbound passenger car followed by a southbound freight motor, but he proceeded from the siding, violating the horizontal "stop" semaphore signal, and moved onto the main line after only the first passenger car had passed.

(AP) -- Ten persons were killed and 22 injured in the head-on crash of a crowded interurban passenger car and a freight trolley late yesterday on a curve three and one-half miles north of here.

The heavy, high-floored freight, running down grade, literally sliced through nearly a third of the passenger car which was en route from Philadelphia to Allentown, Pa., with a rush-hour load.

Climbing the grade in the wooded area approaching Old Bethlehem Pike near Three Mile Run road, the first car, 1030, disengaged from the trolley wire, lost its lights, and drifted to a stop.

The Reading Railroad's Bethelehem Branch from Philadelphia served many of the same towns as the LVT, with the passenger trains and trolleys occasionally pacing one another on parallel tracks.

To reach downtown from Fairview, LVT had the awkward situation of running interurban cars, sometimes backward, through residential areas along Lumber and St. John streets.

The Souderton maintenance facility was reached by a track branching from the main line on Summit Street and running two blocks east.

In 1951, it had an aging car fleet, had to pay all costs to maintain roadbed, track, drainage systems, stations, other buildings, trolley catenary, bridges, and snow removal.

Management had been petitioning the Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission to abandon rail operations, and finally September 1951, they were given permission for a "trial" suspension with a conversion to buses.

Operation was converted to buses on back roads, which dissatisfied both employees and riders, versus the direct route served by rail.

In 1911, LVT needed a new span across Little Lehigh Creek in order to carry its interurban and trolley cars from center Allentown to the south side.

The Liberty Bell Limiteds crossed the bridge to begin their run to Philadelphia and also to reach the Fairview car barn to the west of Eighth Street.