Pekin Municipal Street Railway

Pekin Municipal Street Railway

by Stephen M. Scalzo

Headline image: On March 17, 1935, Frank Butts captured Pekin Birney car 108 headed for the west end of the line at Rosedale. The location is uncertain but may be along Derby Street. All photos are from the Stephen Scalzo Collection of the Illinois Railway Museum except where noted.

Pekin is located in Tazewell County along the Illinois River, 10 miles south and east of Peoria. The city is located in the heart of rich farming country, and serves as the county seat.

The Pekin Horse Railway & Carrying Company was incorporated on March 26, 1869; the Pekin City Railway was incorporated in 1886; the Pekin Street Railway Company was incorporated in March of 1892 with $10,000 of capital; the Palatka & Heights Street Railway was incorporated in April of 1892 with $60,000 of capital; and the Pekin Rapid Transit Company was incorporated in April of 1893 with $100,000 of capital. However, all of those companies failed to construct any trackage.

Car 1, the Gould battery car, is shown in front of the post office at Court and Capitol, likely when new.

The Pekin & Peterburgh Interurban Railway Company was organized on November 14, 1910, with $50,000 of capital, and plans were drawn up to build an eight-mile line. Construction of the trackage from the courthouse to the sugar works began in April of 1911. However, work progressed slowly, with trackage completed on the street in front of the courthouse by June 1. Additional trackage was completed on Capitol Street from Court to Prince Street and west of the Illinois Central Railroad tracks along Derby and Glenwood Streets by July 24.

The first passenger equipment, a battery-operated car built by the Gould Company of Chicago, arrived on July 24, 1911. By August 11, all trackage except for the IC crossing was completed, and that was installed on August 17. Regular service began on August 23. Two days later, the car's control jammed, and it raced along the track, eventually derailing at the Washington Street curve and crashing into a tree. The badly damaged car was repaired and placed back into service on September 3.

Battery car 1 is shown in downtown Pekin with its proud motorman in front of it. It's signed for Distilleries, the west end of the line, which in later years was called Rosedale.

J.E. Melick, the company's president, had been granted a franchise that stipulated that the sugar house trackage must be in service within seven months, and the entire line in service within 12 months. In 1912, earnings of the company were only $2,500. The battery car frequently derailed, and the batteries had to be changed every night as the car could only operate 180 miles on one charge. An extension was granted on the franchise for the western extension, but early in 1913, when nothing had been done toward opening the line on Court Street, the franchise was revoked. Financial problems developed, and on May 12, 1913, the company went into receivership. On December 27, the company was sold under foreclosure to a local committee of bondholders, who organized the Pekin Street Railway Company (PSR) on April 18, 1914, with $15,000 of capital. The new company continued to operate the battery car without a franchise, earning only $2,830 in 1914.

On December 30, 1913, the Pekin City Council authorized a study on possible municipal ownership of the line. In July of 1914, the city council passed Ordinance Number 38 entitled "The Purchase, Rehabilitation and Construction of a Municipal Street Railway." On August 21, 1914, the city's voters approved the $48,000 bond issue that was needed for the city to purchase, rehabilitate, extend, and electrify the line. It was not until January 25, 1915, that the last legal obstacles were overcome, mainly due to the World War and the difficulty in selling the bonds. On February 15, the $32,750 reconstruction contract was awarded to the Barnewolt Construction Company of Peoria, and on February 23 the property was purchased from the PSR for $8,500. The Pekin Municipal Street Railway (PMSR) became the first streetcar system in Illinois to be municipally owned and operated, and the third in the United States. The entire operation of the streetcar line was in charge of the Commissioner of Public Property.

PMSR 103, one of the ex-Chicago Union Traction single-truckers acquired in 1915, is in operation near the west end of the line on South Second Street.

The PMSR began operating the battery car over the 1.8 miles of track on May 4, 1915. On May 5, construction began on the trackage extension from the corner of Court and Capitol east on Court Street to the Chicago & Alton Railroad tracks. On June 26, the battery car began operating over the new trackage. The original trackage on South Capitol north of Court Street to Union Station was then abandoned. Erection of the trolley overhead began on July 8. Three Pullman green-painted secondhand streetcars from Chicago Union Traction arrived on August 18, and on August 22, electric streetcar service began. Electricity for the overhead was purchased from the Central Illinois Light Company. A contract was awarded on August 23 to construct a $1,796 carbarn at Rosedale, but on October 10, the nearly completed building burned down, destroying the battery car and badly damaging a streetcar that was stored inside. A new brick carbarn then was later constructed on the south end of the line along the east side of Second Street.

Car 105, shown here in front of the courthouse on Court Street when brand new, was one of the two cars acquired in early 1917. These were very modern cars for their day and were immediate forerunners of the Birney car.

This 1934 photo by Robert V. Mehlenbeck shows the spartan interior of the 1917 single-truckers. By this time they'd been rebuilt for one-man operation, with the rear doors on each side removed.

The secondhand streetcars eventually proved unsatisfactory, and during the later part of 1916, two new streetcars were ordered. Those yellow/orange-painted streetcars were placed into service early in 1917. Pekin had a population of about 12,000 in 1917. Using those five streetcars, the three mile-long line operated daily from early morning until late evening. The schedule usually involved two streetcars with passing tracks located by the courthouse on South Capitol Street near Court Street, and on Derby Street at South Capitol Street.

The fare was five cents or six tickets for 25 cents. Earnings exceeded disbursements by about 50%, with net earnings being about one-third of the gross. Each day the motorman-conductor turned in his cash receipts to the city clerk, who in turn gave the money to the city treasurer. Pekinites rode the streetcars to and from work, or uptown to shop. Several manufacturing plants were located immediately adjacent to Pekin. One of those plants, the Corn Products Company Sugar Works, was located at the west end of the line. Near the east end of the line there was Mineral Springs Park, and within a short distance there was a manufacturing plant and several coal mines. Those plant employees relied on the streetcar, which helped boost revenue for the PMSR. Between the years 1915 and 1921, the PMSR had a surplus of $17,255.

Car 109, one of the three Birney cars built for Pekin in 1920, is shown at the St. Louis Car Company loaded onto an aging flatcar ready for shipping to its purchaser.

Birney 108 is westbound on Court, having just turned off of Capitol, and is about to pass eastbound car 107 on its left and the county courthouse on its right. Photo by Frank Butts.

By 1920, because of heavy traffic, streetcar operations were earning over $100 a day. In 1920, three two-axle, one-man-operated Birney streetcars heated by coal-fired stoves were ordered and placed into service. During the mid-1920s, the company started encountering competition from the private automobile and paved highways. Streetcar operations became hazardous, with many collisions with automobiles, leading to public complaints and demands to halt operations. Earnings dropped from $32,820 with 787,320 riders in 1927 to $21,034 with 246,698 riders in 1932.

The date is December 16, 1934, and Pekin streetcars have less than a year before retirement. Car 107 has just turned south off of Derby onto Second Street, headed toward the end of the line at Rosedale. Photo by Robert V. Mehlenbeck.

It's February 11, 1936, and the retired streetcars of the PMSR are lined up at the south end of the line, evidently a source of some interest to Pekinites.

In the early 1930s, Pekin began to grow north and west, and there became a need for transit service in that new area. The city looked into extending streetcar service, but the steam railroads objected to crossings being installed in their tracks to reach the new areas. The continued operation of the streetcars eventually became a political issue, with numerous citizens requesting that buses replace the streetcars. The city council eventually decided to hold a referendum, and on April 16, 1935, the citizens voted in favor of buses. As a result, the last streetcar operated on November 10, 1935, after which five municipally owned buses took over all public transit service. The streetcar trackage, overhead, and equipment was dismantled and scrapped, and the carbarn was converted into a bus garage.

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

1 (one car) - Gould 1911 - ST DR DE battery-electric car

102-104 (three cars) - purchased secondhand 1915 from Chicago Surface Lines (ex-Chicago Union Traction) - ST DR DE closed cars

105-106 (two cars) - American 1917 (ord#1072) - ST AR DE closed cars - 30'1" long, Brill 21E truck

107-109 (three cars) - St. Louis 1917 (ord#1226) - ST AR DE Birney cars - 28'1" long, St Louis 7 truck

AR=arch roof; DE=double-end; DR=deck roof; ST=single-truck

Route Map

It's 1934 and car 106 is in front of the PMSR carbarn, which was located just a block north of the west terminus of the line at Rosedale (Distillery Road).

This image was taken by Randy Hicks on May 6, 1980, while NKP 765 was being repaired for a fan trip. The two north bays on the left have since been torn down, but the south two bays are still there, serving as a garage but proudly bearing the PMSR name. Randy Hicks Collection.

A Photo Album of Pekin Streetcars

Birney car 109 (right) and a sister car pass each other on Court Street just east of Capitol, likely sometime in the early 1920s. The post office is in the background.

PMSR car 109 is westbound on Court Street at North Fourth Street sometime in the early 1920s. The sign taped to its dash advertises Base Ball.

Birney 107 is shown in a location thought to be the east end of the line, on Court Street just short of the C&A tracks, in this William C. Janssen photo from the Krambles-Peterson Archive. If that is indeed the location, then the house in the background has since been replaced by an Arby's. The car has "STOP - do not pass car while passengers are getting on or off" painted on its dash. The dash ad is for Farmer's Auto Insurance Association of Pekin: "Absolutely reliable! Claims paid promptly."

Frank Butts snapped this undated photo showing car 106 southbound, turning from its jog at Washington onto South Capitol Street. Its dash sign reads "Meet Your Friends at Tazewell Tap Room."

Car 108 is shown in an unknown location, possibly at the east end of the system (the crossbucks in the background could by for the C&A crossing), probably in the early 1930s. The car's coal stove is visible through the first window on this side of the car.

It's December 16, 1934, and PMSR car 105 is inbound from Rosedale, heading up the side-of-the-road trackage on Second Street approaching its turn onto Derby. Photo by Robert V. Mehlenbeck.

Birney 107 is stopped at the west end of the line at Rosedale in this December 16, 1934, photo taken looking southwest. Photo by Robert V. Mehlenbeck.

PMSR car 107 approaches Rosedale, the west end of the line, on the side-of-the-road trackage along Second Street on March 17, 1935. The PMSR carbarn is barely visible over the roof of the near automobile at left. Richard V. Mehleneck photo, Krambles-Peterson Archive.

Birney 108 is at the south end of the line, at Rosedale, where Second Street meets Distillery Road, on March 17, 1935. The oversized ad on its side trumpets the senior class play, Mignonette. Photo by Richard V. Mehlenbeck.

Less than a week before the end of streetcar service, on November 5, 1935, Frank Butts captured this image of single-trucker 105 at the west end of the line at Rosedale. The dash sign proclaims "98 out of 100 women report benefit - Lydia E. Pinkham's Vegetable Compound."

This photo is undated, but it may date to early 1936 and show part of the PMSR fleet following abandonment. Birneys 109 and 108, plus one of the 1917 cars, are pictured. The Birneys all arrived with a full complement of eight ventilators, but by the early 1930s each car had lost at least a few. Car 109 fared worse than the other two and seems to have been completely scalped, save for its stove smoke jack of course.

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