Coal Belt Electric Railway

The Coal Belt Electric Railway

by Stephen M. Scalzo

Headline image: CBE 10, one of the line's big interurban cars, is followed by what appears to be car 21 or 22 and some of the line's other cars, probably circa 1910. All photos are from the Stephen Scalzo Collection except where noted.

The Coal Belt Electric Railway was incorporated on May 28, 1901, with $100,000 of capital (which was later raised to $300,000) to build a 20-mile interurban system in the Marion, IL area. The system was built by local coal interests, headed by F.S. Peabody of the Illinois Midland Coal Company. As originally constructed, the trackage extended from Spillertown through Marion and Fordville (later renamed Energy) to Carterville, and from Fordville to Herrin, terminating at the Illinois Central Railroad crossing.

Surveying of the first section of the proposed line from Marion north to Spillertown began in the spring of 1901. By May, the eight miles of right-of-way had been acquired, and construction of the line began shortly thereafter by contractor P.M. Johnston. On September 1, the initial eight-mile portion of the line that served several nearby coal mines was placed into service. The trackage extended from the carbarn to the end of Market Street in Marion, then in a northeast direction on the east side of the C&EI to Spillertown, and out West Main Street in Marion to Lilly Curve and north and northwest to the Peabody and Big Muddy Coal Mines. The powerhouse was located at Peabody Number 3 Coal Mine, and consisted of two steam driven belted Edison bi-polar 550-volt DC generators.

But as coal development moved westward in Williamson County, the company saw that it had to expand as there were numerous deep-shaft mines in nearby towns, and hundreds of coal miners needed transportation to get to and from work. In October 1901, the company received an ordinance from the City of Herrin to build trackage, and by November, surveys were completed on the line into Herrin. In January 1902, the City Council of Carterville granted permission for the company to build its tracks into the town. Track material consisting of 50- and 70-pound rail arrived during February 1902 and construction began on the line from Marion to Carterville and Herrin. In Herrin, trackage was laid down Park Avenue, and the terminal was located in front of the bank building at Walnut Street and Park Avenue. On June 20, service commenced with 13 trains scheduled to operate each way from 6:40am to 10:40pm from Herrin and Carterville to Marion. The first carload of freight operated into Herrin on July 24.

One of the secondhand single-truck cars that opened service on the CBE was car 13, shown here on open track probably north of Marion around 1902.

The 17-mile interurban system between Herrin, Carterville, and Marion was completed on July 1, 1902, using seven closed cars and one open streetcar. Fordville (later Energy) developed at the junction of the Herrin and Carterville branches, and interurbans from those two locations met there. The railway built several section houses, its repair shops, and power plant [see Ed. Note 1] at Fordville in 1903. The power plant had a steam boiler (later replaced by a Fairbanks-Morse 300-horsepower diesel engine) that operated a 200-kilowatt direct current generator that supplied electricity for the overhead trolley wires.

The Coal Belt Railway Company was incorporated on March 27, 1903, and leased the entire Coal Belt Electric Railway. In December 1904, the St. Louis Iron Mountain & Southern Railway Company acquired the entire capital stock of both of those companies and took over the operation in January of 1905. During 1905, because of the narrowness of streets in Marion, the company was requested to relocate its tracks. In April of 1907, the company rerouted service over the Marion and Harrisburg Railway (later acquired by the Missouri Pacific Railroad) from the IC crossing at the Brick Plant into Marion to the IC depot. The company's trackage on West Main Street through the Marion City Square and out North Market Street to Spillertown was then dismantled. In September 1907, the company let a contract for the construction of a $5,000 brick depot (with tile roof) at Walnut and Park Streets in Herrin, just south of the turnout built at Walnut Street.

Unfortunately the photo quality is very poor, but this is the West Marion carbarn with one of the early single-truckers and other assorted cars sitting in front of it.

On May 4, 1908, the first work car crossed the IC tracks in Herrin and ran to the Iron Mountain depot, after 18 months of trying to get the IC to permit the building of the crossing. On November 7, the company had to suspend interurban service because there was no water (due to a prolonged drought) for the boilers at the power house. No interurbans operated even though passengers requested the company to operate steam passenger service between the south limits of Herrin and Marion in the meantime. Weekday interurban service was restored on November 28 between Herrin and Marion and on November 30 to Carterville, and Sunday service was finally restored on January 8, 1909.

The property of the company was formally conveyed to the Iron Mountain by deed dated September 1, 1909, executed and acknowledged on February 2, 1910, and the organization of the Coal Belt Railway ceased to exist. The interurban property was then returned to the Coal Belt Electric Railway on February 2, which became a wholly-owned Iron Mountain Railroad subsidiary that provided passenger service using eight interurban and combination motor cars. In peak hours, only seven interurbans were operated, but then the population of the area was only 15,000, of which half were located in Marion.

Two of the secondhand single-truck cars obtained in 1901-1902 are shown here, during the early days of the CBE.

In the early years there were additional short branches, with streetcar type equipment operating typically on hourly schedules. Freight service was offered from the beginning, but was discontinued in 1914, when most freight service was given to the parent Iron Mountain steam railroad company; that traffic was primarily coal and materials to a gunpowder plant, which amounted to 8,800 cars per year. Other freight was usually transported in the big red caboose-like interurban number 1 (which could be used for either passenger or freight), and most freight was serviced during night hours so as not to interfere with passenger service and to abide by city ordinances. There were proposals to extend the interurban from the fairgrounds in Marion to Harrisburg, but that never materialized.

The interurban carried thousands of coal miners, school children, and housewives for visits or shopping trips to the other towns along the system. A tremendous passenger business developed; passengers were forced to stand and by 1918 there were not enough interurbans to carry the passengers. Standing room only aboard interurbans was the rule for those attending the Williamson County Fair early in September of each year. The interurbans carried not only passengers but freight as well; bags of beans, sugar, and coffee, barrels of sorghum molasses, and stalks of bananas were transported from St. Louis to the Iron Mountain depot in Herrin, and then transferred to the interurbans. At Taylor Crossing between Energy and Herrin, a popular amusement and recreation place was developed called Electric Park.

This picture of interurban car 22 in Carterville is a mystery. Records suggest that the CBE purchased ex-Chicago & Milwaukee Electric 21, but this view suggests that perhaps the CBE purchased identical C&ME car 22 also - or instead.

Car 13, shown here in a St. Louis Car Company builder's photo, was purchased in 1907. Krambles-Peterson Archive.

Herrin originally laid out a wide street to encompass the interurban tracks. During 1916, that trackage was paved, with the company having to contribute $21,000 for the project. The paving project covered the entire length of trackage on Park Avenue; the street crossings were brick and the rest of the street was paved with rolled limestone and navacolite gravel. During 1916, the Iron Mountain Railroad went into receivership, and in June 1917, the entire system was purchased by the Missouri Pacific Railroad.

Interurban service was completely halted for two weeks in January 1918 by two large snowstorms (during which 30-inch drifts were recorded on South Park Avenue in Herrin), and a subsequent breakdown in the power plant. On the day service was resumed on January 16, 1918, the stove boiler on interurban 14 exploded due to frozen pipes, killing one person and injuring eleven, just before the interurban was scheduled to leave Marion at 5:45am. On August 8, 1918, a steam switch engine collided with an interurban at 1:45pm on a curve near the brick yard near Marion, badly damaging the interurban.

The CBE had more than its share of mishaps. CBE 1, the open-platform suburban car shown here, was built in 1902 and destroyed in a wreck in December 1906.

Passenger traffic in 1918 totaled nearly 1.2 million passengers moving at an average fare of only five cents. On October 1, 1919, after many attempts, passenger fares were increased from five to six cents per zone, and the number of zones between Marion and Herrin were increased from three to four; the fare between Marion and Herrin then went from 15 to 24 cents, and between Herrin and Carterville increased from 10 to 12 cents (10-ride tickets were also sold for 55 cents). As a result of a strike by employees in September 1919, wages increased from 50 to 75 cents for the company's conductors and motormen in January 1920, and an additional 12.5 cents was given in May 1920.

The interurban system was operated by the federal government between January 1, 1918, and February 29, 1920. However, the company after that time consistently failed to earn its operating expenses and to secure necessary capital for extensions, additions, and replacements, so the MP advanced the difference. However, with the building of concrete highways in the area, the rising popularity of the automobile, and the exhaustion of coal mines, passenger revenues skidded to $36,000 during 1922, which was less than half what it cost to operate the interurban service. The company's revenue came from passengers and baggage, and from rental of tracks and facilities. There were eight mines located along the railway, and in 1924 their total output of coal hauled over the interurban tracks was 5,396 cars. Earnings of the company went from $40,191 in 1903 to a 1921 peak of $179,270 (-$14,835 net), then $47,024 (net of -$23,120) by 1926. In 1925 there were 2,791 cars of coal handled, and in the first eight months of 1926 there were 2,058 cars; most of that freight revenue went to the MP.

CBE 16, depicted in a 1903 American Car Company builder photo, was the first of the line's larger suburban/interurban cars.

Although passenger service was temporarily cut back in 1922, there was a large service reduction instituted in 1924. On November 16, passenger service was cut back to every two hours between Marion and Herrin, with interurbans leaving Herrin on the even hour and Marion on the odd hour. Also, the power plant was closed down and placed on standby, and all electricity for the overhead was purchased from the Central Illinois Public Service Company through a new 500kw automatic rotary converter substation. However, those measures did not stop the continued heavy losses.

This broadside view of CBE 14 is dated to 1922. The car has an interurban look but is shorter than car 10, shown at the beginning of this article. Krambles-Peterson Archive.

The company finally asked the Illinois Commerce Commission in April 1926 for permission to abandon all passenger service. During hearings, the company, which was valued at $420,000, contended that it was losing $5,000 per month and that passenger service was no longer needed. Approval was authorized on October 27 to discontinue all passenger service, and the last interurban operated on November 17, 1926. The overhead trolley wires were promptly removed and scrapped on the 13.46 miles of trackage, with some of the interurbans going to the MP's Houston North Shore subsidiary in Texas. The Egyptian Transportation and Southern Illinois Bus Companies took over to provide regional passenger service. Steam freight service continued to operate for a few additional years, at which time the remaining trackage was purchased for $513.589 by the MP.

This article was edited and laid out by Frank Hicks. Thanks are due to Ray and Julie Piesciuk and to Richard Schauer for making available this history, written by the late Stephen M. Scalzo, as well as the photos from the Scalzo Collection.

Ed. Note 1: The CBE power plant at Fordville (later Energy) was the site of a particularly grisly occurrence. On the night of June 21, 1922, an exchange of gunfire occurred at a nearby mine between striking miners and armed guards hired by the mining company. Three miners were killed, after which the outnumbered and surrounded guards surrendered and were marched toward Herrin alongside the CBE. When the procession reached the CBE power house, the guards were led into the woods behind the power house and gunned down. Some 20 men were killed in the woods behind the interurban power house in addition to the three miners killed earlier at the mine. More information is here.

Coal Belt Electric Railway Roster

CBE #11-14? - four single-truck closed cars, probably built 1890s by Brownell, purchased secondhand c1901-1902 - Brill 21E truck, Lorain motors, 24 seats

Unknown # - one single-truck open car, purchased secondhand c1901-1902

CBE #1-2 - double-truck open-platform coaches, delivered January 1902, builder uncertain - Peckham trucks, WH motors - #1 wrecked 12/2/1906

CBE #15 - double-truck open-platform combine, delivered January 1902, builder uncertain - Peckham trucks, WH motors

CBE #16 - double-truck deck-roof combine, built by American 1903 (order #465) - McGuire 26 trucks, WH motors

CBE #17 - double-truck deck roof coach, purchased secondhand c1905 - Brill 27C trucks, WH motors - wrecked 1/12/1906

CBE #8 - double-truck railroad roof interurban, built by Pullman 1898 (order #908), purchased secondhand in 1906, ex-Chicago & Milwaukee Electric #21 - Peckham 14B trucks, GE 57 motors, K-14 control, 28 seats

CBE #9 - double-truck car, purchased secondhand in 1906, numbered #56 by unknown previous owner (histories of #8 and #9 may be reversed)

CBE #10 - double-truck railroad roof interurban coach, possibly built by St. Louis 1907 (order unknown), resold 1927 to Houston North Shore as their #529 - St Louis 47A trucks, K-14 control, 52 seats

CBE #11 & 13 - double-truck railroad roof Robertson suburban cars, built by St. Louis 1907 (order #702A), one car (uncertain which one) resold 1927 to Houston North Shore as their #530 - St Louis 47A trucks, K-14 control, 45 seats (photo of car 13 here)

CBE #12 & 14 - double-truck railroad roof interurban cars, built by St. Louis 1907 (order #772A), car #14 resold 1927 to Houston North Shore for use as parts - St Louis 47A trucks, K-14 control

CBE #1 - double-truck raised-center-cab combine/locomotive, built by St. Louis 1909 (order #820), resold 1927 to Houston North Shore as their #528 - St Louis 47 trucks, 60 seats (photo here)

Coal Belt Electric Railway Timetable - August 3, 1919

Timetable from the Stephen M. Scalzo Collection

Coal Belt Electric Railway Map

Click here for a route map of the Coal Belt Electric Railway

Note that there is some uncertainty concerning branches that may not have been electrified and may have been operated as freight-only lines by the StLIM&S and MP.

Mines are shown only where their location is known; this list is not exhaustive and active mines changed over the course of the CBE's period of operation. Mine locations may not be exact.

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