Atlantic City & Shore Railroad 1909 Voucher Check Paid to Atlantic City Railroad
$ 6.86
Description
Atlantic City & Shore Railroad 1909 Voucher Check Paid to Atlantic City Railroad. This is an original July 1909 railroad voucher and check from the Atlantic City and Shore Railroad Company, paid on August 11, 1909, to the Atlantic City Railroad Company for the sum of $86.05. The document is a complete financial packet, consisting of the main voucher form, an attached itemized invoice, and the corresponding check drawn on H. F. Bachman & Co., Bankers of Philadelphia. The specific purpose of the payment was for services of Crossing Watchmen and related supplies for the month of June 1909 at the 8th Street and Haven Avenue crossing in Ocean City, Cape May County, New Jersey. The detailed invoice enumerates the costs for one day and one night watchman, hand lamps, globes, kerosene oil, and a broom, providing a granular view of the operational expenses required for public safety at a railroad grade crossing during the Edwardian era. The voucher is a prime example of early 20th-century interurban railway accounting, showcasing the complex corporate relationships in southern New Jersey's transportation network. The payment was processed through the Atlantic City & Ocean City Railway Company, addressed at the Land Title Building in Philadelphia, and involved approvals from multiple officials, including J. M. Campbell, Secretary, whose office was in the Reading Terminal. The document's reverse features a detailed ledger allocation, charging the costs to Railway Accounts 60 (Passenger Conductors, Motormen & Trainmen) and 62 (Miscellaneous Car Service Expenses). As a voucher-check system with original perforations, rubber-stamped PAID dating, and elegant cursive notations, this piece of railroadiana offers significant research value. It serves as a tangible record of the financial and operational interdependencies between the electric interurban lines and the larger steam railroads, like the Reading Company's Atlantic City Railroad, that served the Jersey Shore resort economy.
