These photos are copyrighted by the Julie Ann Johnson Historical Collection.
Do not reproduce without permission!
We're in Aurora looking east on Downer Place at Island Avenue (today Stolp Avenue), where cars from Elgin made a stop before turning north on Island and proceeding to the terminal at Main and Broadway.
A southbound 300-series car is on River Street in Aurora, about to turn east (photographer's right) onto Downer Place. The Old Second National Bank building on the left is still there, but virtually every building behind the interurban car is gone.
This is the rear (west side) of the Elgin car barn north of National Street. The CA&E line along the river is just out of view to the left, while a CA&E Pullman is visible on a storage siding. Two 300-series Fox River cars are visible, as is cab-on-flat motor 49.
A southbound 300 takes the slight curve at Mooseheart Road between Aurora and Batavia.
Car 300 is southbound at the Mooseheart station north of Aurora.
When you think "Illinois interurban" you think of the Skokie Valley line or the CA&E main, but in fact there were a lot of side-of-the-road interurban lines in the state. Here, a Fox River Electric car proceeds alongside State Route 22 - today Route 31 - as a southbound auto passes another one alongside the interurban.
Could this be the result of the fabled collision between a Fox River Electric 300 and an elephant on the north side of Aurora in 1927? It's hard to say, but whatever happened to this car was pretty serious.
Thanks to Ray and Julie Piesciuk for making these materials from the Johnson Collection available.
1 comment:
For the penultimate photo, I'm going to guess that this is north of Batavia, and the farthest spot on the highway you can see is about where Campana Road comes in from the west. Just before that is where the car line curved off to the right to pass under the North Western and run along the river through Fabyan's. It could also be south of Batavia, but somehow the surrounding area doesn't look quite right. Other opinions are welcome.
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