by Stephen M. Scalzo
Editor's note: Even many Illinoisans may not be familiar with Taylorville, Illinois. It is a city of about 11,000 people near the center of the state, roughly 25 miles southeast of Springfield and 25 miles southwest of Decatur. In 1910 it had a population of around 5,500 people. Taylorville also happens to be where F.M. Hicks died.
The idea of building an electric railway line in Taylorville, Illinois was first talked about by the Christian County Electric Railway, which was organized in October 1889 to issue $100,000 in stock. However, that company remained only as a dream on paper and nothing was ever done.
The Taylorville Railway Light Heat & Power Company (TRLH&P) was incorporated on February 15, 1908, and capital stock totaling $150,000 was sold. Property for the carhouse and power plant was purchased on the south side of Second Street at Webster Street and construction began immediately. The construction contract for the trackage and overhead was awarded in October 1908 to the Chicago Installation Company for $61,800. However, it was not until November 1908 that actual construction began on Second Street. It was decided to build south and west from the powerhouse, in dirt streets, before tearing up the pavement in the downtown area for the trackage. The company also considered constructing a 21-mile line on the old Nokomis-Taylorville wagon road through Johnson, Bear Creek, and Greenwood Townships in Christian County, with an initial capitalization of $1,000,000; however, no action was taken.
Construction of the first part of the system, the south end of the line from the power house to the square, started during the early part of 1909 and was completed during April. The powerhouse equipment, which was a 225hp engine that drove a 200 kilowatt generator, was delivered in March 1909. On June 29, 1909, a newly received motor car and two trailers from St. Louis were operated with electricity provided from the powerhouse. However, the car did not work properly, and the electric motor in the car was returned to St. Louis for repairs. During July, a horse was used to pull a trailer on several trips to the race track to handle the crowds. After the motor was returned in August and a four-panel switch board was received and installed in the powerhouse in October, regular service began on October 19, 1909 from the downtown square to the south end of the line. However, on October 25, the streetcar was again withdrawn from service for a short period until a schedule was issued. In November, a new streetcar was purchased from the American Car Company to replace the first secondhand car. However, later that month service was again suspended, this time to await a new engine for the powerhouse, because a single engine could not furnish enough electricity.
In March 1910, another new streetcar arrived. Construction of the system to the northeast and a south extension began in April. The south extension to the entrance gate of the new Christian County Coal Mine number 58 in Hewittville was opened on May 26. It was believed that a streetcar could be used to pull a railroad coal hopper car from the mine yards to the city heat plant, but it was discovered that the railroad cars could not go around the short curves on the trackage. Thus, two specially built coal cars were purchased and used to deliver coal from the coal mine to the company's power plant.
Master mechanic Mack Vaughn stands next to car 104 in front of the carbarn c1918
On August 1, 1912, the Central Illinois Public Service Company (CIPSCO) purchased the Taylorville Gas and Electric Company (the other utility in Taylorville). That company had been formed in 1905 with the consolidation of the Taylorville Electric Company and the Taylorville Gas and Electric Company. That company had been purchased by the national Heat Light and Power Company of New York in 1909, and was a profitable company, paying a 5% quarterly dividend on both common and preferred stock.
The TRLH&P was just a marginal operation and never paid a dividend on their stock. For the fiscal year ending June 30, 1912, the company only had a surplus of $438. CIPSCO purchased the TRLH&P in October 1912, and the two local power plants were closed during 1913. Also in 1913, a new car barn was constructed on CIPSCO property on Second Street. The original wooden streetcars were replaced by steel Birney streetcars on July 13, 1919. By that time, the system was earning only $21,864, with 520,000 riders. During April 1918, the fare was increased from 5 to 6 cents, and during 1921, fares were increased to 8 cents. The city continued to grow beyond the reaches of the current system, but expansion never occurred. By 1925, automobile usage was causing passenger usage on the system to decline. During the summer of 1925, CIPSCO announced that it was going to petition the Illinois Commerce Commission for permission to abandon the streetcar system. On September 8, 1925, the city council granted CIPSCO a bus franchise until July 1930, and CIPSCO relinquished its streetcar franchise when new paving assessments were announced.
One of the Birneys, captioned as "either 127 or 128," in service in Taylorville, possibly with the powerhouse in the background
The streetcar system was operating at a loss. On September 17, 1925, the company began tearing up the tracks on the northeast line from the downtown square and replaced that section with an expanded bus route. That action was taken because the city wanted to pave the streets on which that trackage was located before winter. The city also wanted to widen the streets around the downtown square, so plans were announced to replace the remaining streetcars when new buses were received. However on October 7, 1925, buses abruptly replaced the streetcars on the remaining trackage when the generator that supplied the electricity burned out. CIPSCO instituted bus service on a figure "8" route through the city. The two Birney cars were transferred to CIPSCO's streetcar system in Joliet.
This article was edited and laid out by Frank Hicks. Thanks go to Richard Schauer and Ray and Julie Piesciuk for making this article by the late Stephen M. Scalzo available for publishing.
Taylorville Streetcar Roster
#? - secondhand single-truck motor car purchased June 1909*
#? - secondhand open trailer purchased June 1909, gone by 1912*
#? - secondhand open trailer purchased June 1909, gone by 1912*
#? - secondhand double-truck motor car purchased October 1910, ex-Peoria Railway 101-112 series car built 1891-1893 by Laclede Car Company for Central Railway
104 - single-truck deck-roof car bought new from American Car Company order #852, November 1909, delivered March 1910**
127? - single-truck arch-roof Birney bought new from Cincinnati, July 1919***
128 - single-truck arch-roof Birney bought new from Cincinnati, July 1919***
*These three cars are recorded as having been purchased from St. Louis but it's possible that they were purchased from a dealer in St. Louis and were actually ex-Chicago cars. Dates of sale match with Chicago Railway 4074, a single-truck car built in 1886 by Stephenson for North Chicago Street Railroad as a trailer and motorized in 1895; and two trailers, Chicago Railways 2663 and 2719, both built by American in 1892 for the West Chicago Street Railroad and initially used in cable service. This is conjecture and cannot be proven, but photographic evidence seems to support an ex-Chicago Railways/CUT car being part of the Taylorville roster.
**Different newspaper accounts just days apart in March 1910 both describe the arrival of a new streetcar, but no evidence of a second car (other than American-built 104) has been found. This may be a newspaper error.
***These two cars were part of a 10-car order by CIPSCO, numbered 125-134, with other cars provided to Anna-Jonesboro, Charleston, Mattoon, and Paris. The two cars assigned to Taylorville, possibly 127-128 or 128/132, are thought to have been transferred c1925 to Joliet and renumbered 151-152.
Sanborn Fire Insurance map of the Taylorville carbarn located on the northwest corner of 2nd and Washington; capacity of four cars noted.
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