I picked up this wearable counting device, I think it may have been used by the Scranton Transit Co. I have no way to document that as of just yet, can anyone tell me roughly what years this would have been produced? There are no company markings on the piece.

Whatever it is, it came from the Scranton area. I have to think Scranton Transit as it's in pretty good shape for having 62k clicks on it - any sort of mining operation would have beaten it up quite a bit more. The metal body of the counter looks to have been repainted so it was in service for a while. STC would have had the ridership and it would fit the operation of the open cars.

Thanks in advance.

heavy leather almost looks like is mountable on a horse. I don't think I would be wearing it, looks like its made for some heavy duty, anyone wearing a counter would just have a belt hook, like the belt changers.

The strap is too short for a horse. Even if it were long enough I can't see how it would be easily operated or for what purpose.

The way it's designed, it should allow the counter to be about mid-thigh, which would drop it below the reach of most jackets. This would allow for easy access in cold weather.

Edward Torpey, who was one of the last trolley car conductors on 2 person streetcars in Philadelphia, Pa. in the early 1960s, used a rig like this. It may have been donated to the trolley museum in Scranton. He probably used it when he was a Loader, standing outdoors at a carstop and collecting and counting transfers and possibly fares from passengers boarding at the center or rear doors. In some cities, the Loader or Starter also had a key to stick in an outside keyhole to open or close those doors. It could have been on a chain connected to the leather, as some Philadelphia trackless trolleys had that keyhole.

If there was a key, it's gone now. The one pocket is split, and it looks like there could have been a second one. I'm also seeing the remains of a tag on the back side, only a fraction of one, so that doesn't help either. It was green with white lettering.

Would I be correct in thinking that this would not have been needed for one person operation? Unless for whatever reason they had a car out that was older without a fare counter, or maybe this was kept around in case the fare counter broke, as a back up?

If I can figure out the age of the counter, and check that against the retirement/conversion of two man cars in Scranton, I may learn more. I suppose it could also have been used on the Laurel Line, the Northern Electric, or the Scranton/Dunmore/Moosic Lake route.

Time and photos will tell.

I can remember that back in the early 1960s Pittsburgh Railways used two fare collectors in the Oakland section of Pittsburgh that had small fare boxes on a harness around their neck. It also had a transfer cutter and coin changer. As I recall they were used to collect fares from people going to baseball games at Forbes Field. They stood on the safety islands on Forbes Ave and when the car would stop outbound they positioned themselves at the center doors and banged on the side of the car to have the motorman open the doors.
Looking at the photo the two top pockets could hold a bracket that would hold a fare box and the bottom right may have held a coin changer. But this is just a guess on my part.

Makes sense to me. Can we assume at this point with good certainty that this piece IS trolley related then?

If you send a photo to the curator at ECTMA in Scranton, they could help identify it.