Sterling Dixon & Eastern
by Stephen M. Scalzo
Headline image: SD&E interurban car 22 is depicted in this photo, probably taken when it was new around 1904. The line's interurban cars bore a striking resemblance to the 300- and 400-series cars being built at the same time for the Milwaukee streetcar system, which shared a president with the SD&E. The sign on the car's dash reads "[illegible] car for Dixon" so this location may be in Sterling. All photos from the Stephen M. Scalzo Collection of the Illinois Railway Museum.
Sterling and Dixon are located in the northwestern part of Illinois, along the Rock River. Dixon lies 13 miles east of Sterling, and each town had a population of 10,000 in 1900. Both cities are located in the heart of the "corn belt" and have a rich surrounding farming district. Both cities had many large manufacturing establishments. Good water power was furnished in both cities from dams on the river.
The Rock River Street Railway was established in 1884, and in August 1886 received a franchise for a 3.75-mile route; however, nothing was ever built and the franchise was cancelled in 1892. The Sterling, Rock River & Mineral Spring Railway was incorporated on May 1, 1888, but never built anything.
The Sterling Gas & Electric Company was incorporated early in 1889, but the franchise it received was transferred to the Street Railway of Sterling & Rock Falls, which was incorporated on September 27, 1889 with $35,000 in capital (later increased to $125,000). The company constructed trackage as far east as the city limits and constructed a frame car barn. The company contracted the Sprague Electric Railway and Motor Company to supply the electrical equipment, and four streetcars ordered from the Pullman Palace Car Company. In June 1890, the company was ordered to remove the trackage from the streets after it lost its franchise. During the later part of 1894, the company was sold at a sheriff's sale to satisfy a $2,000 judgment.
The Sterling Dixon & Eastern Railway was incorporated with $300,000 of capital on August 17, 1902. The company was backed by John I. Beggs, president of the Milwaukee transport company, and Henry C. Higgins, an experienced electric railway promoter. Both men were impressed with the rapid growth of the Sterling-Dixon area, and they felt that a railway could be built and operated profitably. The company intended to operate an interurban between Sterling and Dixon, and local streetcar service in both cities. Although Mr. Higgins was the company's first president, Mr. Beggs soon replaced him and served until 1911.
Surveying of the proposed route proceeded quickly, with a route through Prairieville and Gap Grove being chosen. Construction work on the 19-mile interurban began in 1902 by the Columbia Construction Company. After obtaining franchises from Sterling and Dixon, construction crews began laying interurban rails from Sterling in August 1903, and on November 4, the last spike was driven near Prairieville. A secondhand C&NW steam locomotive was used to construct the line. The winter of 1903-04 held up completion of the remaining ballast and adjustment work until spring. On May 10, an inspection interurban was operated over the line for dignitaries, and on May 26, 1904, regular interurban service began from the Chicago & North Western station in Dixon to the west end of 4th Street in Sterling (which was later cut back to the depot). Four interurbans and four trailers were used, with hourly service on 18 daily round trips that required a complete trip in 90 minutes. The interurban fare was 25 cents. Plans called for extension of interurban service from Dixon to Rock Island and several other cities.
Just west of Dixon, the interurban crossed a 70-foot through girder bridge; an additional two small creeks were crossed on 16-foot spans. The right-of-way paralleled a public highway for the entire distance. The interurban trackage consisted of 70-pound rail laid on cedar ties with stone ballast. For the city trackage, 60-pound T-rail was used in residential areas and 70-pound T-rail downtown. The franchises also required the company to pave its tracks in Sterling and Dixon when the city paved its streets. Girder rail was required on the Rock River Bridge at Sterling. Thirty-five-foot cedar poles were used to carry the trolley spans in the city and the brackets on the interurban; in Dixon, steel poles were used. The overhead in Sterling was from the Ohio Brass Company. In Dixon and on the interurban, the Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light Company's standard trolley fittings were used.
The Sterling brick powerhouse/car barn was located on 15th Avenue at the end of a spur from 4th Street. The powerhouse contained two 300 HP boilers, with water for boiler feed and condensing obtained from the Rock River. A Reynolds-Corliss engine then drove a 500 KW General Electric generator which supplied electricity over the distribution system. A Stanley Electric Manufacturing rotary converter, originally at the Sterling powerhouse, supplied electricity at the Dixon substation. The brick car barn contained one pit and two storage tracks, with the shop and offices located in the rear of the building.
Construction work began on the streetcar system in Sterling in November 1902. Trackage was constructed on 15th Avenue to the car barn, and on 4th Street before winter halted all work. In March, work resumed, with trackage being constructed on East 3rd Street. The first streetcar operated on May 4, 1904, and because of the large crowds attracted, one streetcar and one interurban were operated. Regular service began the following day, with two streetcars operating on a 15-minute schedule. Later a spur track was constructed on 19th Street to Mineral Springs Park, where the fairgrounds and a racetrack were located.
SD&E interurban car 21 is shown in what appears to be a builder's photo taken at the St. Louis Car Company plant.
After the SD&E received a 20-year franchise on February 13, 1903, construction began in Dixon in June, and by the end of September nearly all the trackage had been constructed. An interurban was the first equipment operated into the city on an inspection trip on May 9, 1904. On May 12, two interurbans began operating, and after a few days, streetcars took over. On May 15, the crowd of curious people required the operation of three streetcars, requiring two-man operation. However, on August 12, one-man operation became standard, with passengers dropping the five-cent fare in a farebox on the front platform. Streetcars operated every 15 minutes between 6:00 AM and 11:00 PM. The Dixon car barn was located on Madison Street next to the interurban depot, and it was originally a secondary structure containing two tracks. On April 10, 1912, the franchise was extended for 48 years.
The upper scene in this Dixon postcard shows one of the ex-Milwaukee single-truck cars turning from 1st Street onto Galena.
Freight service on the interurban began operating in June of 1904, which consisted mainly of local merchandise and milk. Platforms were constructed along the line for farmers to load and unload milk bound for the Borden plant at the northwest edge of Dixon. Mail pouches were also handled between the interurban terminals. A spur was constructed to a gravel pit near Central Park, about a mile east of Prairieville; trains operated on the line mainly to obtain ballast for the system.
In 1907, the company's office was moved to Dixon. In 1908, the Depot Avenue trackage in Dixon was extended 450 feet south to the C&NW depot. During 1909, four new streetcars were purchased to replace the older equipment. In 1911, the railway and its affiliated power companies were sold to Samuel Insull of Chicago. The interurban became an operating division of the Illinois Northern Utilities Company (INU), formed out of the merger of the Lee County Lighting Company, the Sterling Gas and Electric Company, and a number of other northwest Illinois electric companies.
Single-truck car 26 was one of four purchased in 1908 from St. Louis Car Company.
The affiliated power companies were successful, but the railway was not; the railway limped along even during its better days, making interest and small profits but not enough to cover normal depreciation. The railway barely made the principal, and made only $7,923 in its best year. In 1912, a new streetcar was purchased. By 1913, the running time of the interurban was reduced to 45 minutes between the two terminals [sic]. In 1915, the parent company built a line on Crawford Avenue from East Fellows Street to the Epileptic Colony located two miles north of Dixon, with hourly service commencing on July 10 (service was later reduced to three daily trips).
Interurban car 22 is turning from 1st Street onto Galena in Dixon in this photo taken between 1904 and 1914. Car 22 was sold to Freeport in 1914.
Revenues began to fall in 1917. In 1918, the company petitioned the Public Utility Commission for a six-cent fare in Dixon and Sterling, a 10-cent fare between Dixon and the State Epileptic Colony, and a 30-cent fare between Dixon and Sterling. By 1920, the interurban travel time became one hour. After completion of concrete work on Lincoln Highway in 1920 and the increased use of the private automobile, revenue plunged rapidly. Local streetcar fares were increased to eight cents on August 13, 1920.
Interurban car 104 was unique on the SD&E. It was also nearly identical to Fox & Illinois Union cars 100 and 102, built at the same time, and may have been intended for that line, which would explain why its number fell outside any SD&E number series when it was delivered.
In an attempt to improve service, the interurban tracks were rehabilitated and the Sterling city trackage was reconstructed during 1922. Two single-truck Birney streetcars were purchased in 1922 in an attempt to improve service and pacify the city council in Sterling. In 1924, the company built a new office building and depot on the old Dixon car barn site, and constructed a new car barn nearby. That car barn was used only one year before it became the major repair facility for the railway in 1925.
This view, looking north on Galena Avenue in Dixon from 1st Street, shows an interurban car bound for Sterling about to proceed across the Rock River Bridge in the left background.
Earnings of the company declined from a 1920 peak of $73,633 to $43,054 (negative $21,921) in 1924, with ridership dropping from a 1911 peak of 865,408 to 23,196 (34% from Dixon, 42% from Sterling, and 23% from the interurban) in 1924. By 1924, operating costs were twice those of 1912, with a third as many passengers. Service in Dixon was reduced to 20 minutes. The company applied to the Illinois Commerce Commission to abandon all service in July of 1925. After a hearing in Dixon, permission was granted on September 17 for the company to end service. All interurban and streetcar service stopped on October 5, with buses of the Northern Illinois Service Corporation taking over between Sterling and Dixon. All trackage and overhead was soon dismantled for scrap, and the equipment scrapped, with the INU retaining the interurban right-of-way for its transmission line to Sterling. The two Birney streetcars were transferred to Freeport for further use.
This article was edited and laid out by Frank Hicks. Thanks to Ray and Julie Piesciuk and to Richard Schauer for making available the materials from the Stephen Scalzo Collection that were used to publish this history.
Equipment Roster
Cars 11-15 - single-truck deck-roof city cars, built 1893 by Pullman (ord#768), Brill 21 truck, 2 x Edison 14 motors, K-control, hand brakes, 24 seats, purchased 1904 secondhand from Milwaukee, scrapped c1910
Car 16 - single-truck deck-roof city car, identical to cars 11-15, purchased 1906 secondhand from Milwaukee, scrapped c1910
Car 17 - single-truck deck-roof city car, identical to cars 11-16, purchased c1906 secondhand from Milwaukee, renumbered 29 c1909
Cars 21-24 - double-truck deck-roof interurban cars, built 1903 by St. Louis Car Company (ord#418), STL 23AE trucks, 4 x GE 70 motors, K-6 control, Christiansen air brakes, 44 seats - car 22 sold to Freeport in 1914; cars 21 and 23-24 renumbered in 1917 to 101-103; car 102 sold to Freeport in 1922 and renumbered 27
Cars 25-28 - single-truck deck-roof city cars, built 1908 by St. Louis Car Company (ord#799), St. Louis 46 truck, 2 x GE 78A motors, K-10 control, 30 seats
(Car 29 - see Car 17)
Car 30 - double-truck arch-roof combination freight motor and snow sweeper, built 1912 by McGuire-Cummings, McG-C 10A trucks, 4 x GE 70 motors, K-6 control
Cars 31-32 - single-truck open streetcar trailers, purchased 1904, likely secondhand, likely retired by c1910
Cars 33-36 - double-truck open suburban/interurban trailers, built by St. Louis Car Company, purchased 1904, likely secondhand, likely retired by c1910
Car 31 - single-truck arch-roof city car, built 1912 by McGuire-Cummings, McG-C A1 truck, 2 x GE 78A motors, K-10 control, 30 seats
Cars 32-33 - single-truck arch-roof Birney cars, built 1921 by Cincinnati Car Company (ord#2480), Cincinnati 139 truck, 2 x GE 264 motors, K-63BR control, 32 seats - sold to Freeport in 1925 and renumbered 28-29
Car 94 - double-truck freight/utility car, built 1896 by St. Louis Car Company, purchased secondhand in 1904, StL trucks, 4 x WH 38B motors, K-10 control, retired c1912
Car 104 - double-truck arch-roof interurban combine, built 1912 by McGuire-Cummings, McG-C 20A trucks, 4 x GE 70 motors, K-34 control, 44 seats
Route Map
Note that the exact alignment and termini of some local car lines is not absolutely certain
1910 Sanborn Fire Insurance map of the SD&E car barn and powerhouse/substation (separate buildings) along the river in Sterling between 14th and 15th Avenues.
I'm surprised an extension to DeKalb was never considered, as then they'd have access to Northern Illinois University. Commuting college students to and from DeKalb could have helped with ridership.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how the extension to Rock Island would've gone? I suspect it would've would've followed the river down to the Cities, and perhaps build an interchange with the Rock Island Southern in Milan to help out a fellow Interurban road?
-Matt Maloy