Lincoln Municipal Street Railway

Lincoln Municipal Street Railway

by Stephen M. Scalzo

Headline image: Lincoln car 1 is on Kickapoo Street, possibly at Pulaski. All photos are from the Stephen Scalzo Collection of the Illinois Railway Museum except where noted.

The Lincoln Horse Railway & Carrying Company was incorporated on February 19, 1867, with $50,000 of capital but never built anything. The Lincoln Electric Street Railway was incorporated on February 21, 1891, with $40,000 of capital, with the company receiving a city council franchise on March 19 to construct trackage on Kankakee and Tremont Streets. Construction began a short time later, and by December 1, 4.5 miles of track, overhead, a carbarn, and a powerhouse were near completion.

The contract for electrical apparatus totaling $17,000 was awarded to the Edison Electrical Company of Chicago, with the remainder of the system costing $40,000. The powerhouse was equipped with a 250 HP Bates-Corliss engine that drove a 60,000-watt direct current generator supplying 550 volts of electricity to the overhead. There were initially four yellow-orange painted four-wheel streetcars supplied by the Laclede Car Company, each with two 15 HP motors (which were later replaced by 25 HP motors). Later, two trailers and three open streetcars were added to the system, plus an additional three open streetcars rented from Springfield.

The first streetcars operated between 7 and 8 PM on December 25, 1891, and the next day the system was formally opened with three streetcars - the first carrying a band, the second carrying stockholders, the city council, and the press, and the third carrying citizens. On December 27, regular service began, with one streetcar operating each on the ICC Depot and Woodlawn lines, and two streetcars operating on the State School/Colony line, operating every 20 minutes between 6:30 AM and 10:30 PM with a five-cent fare.

Car 4 is on Broadway, apparently inbound toward Kickapoo Street from the State School line. The tower dimly visible on the left is the steeple of the old Methodist Church at Broadway and Logan.

Because of the effects of the 1893 depression and a coal strike in 1894, streetcar service was suspended in January of 1897 because the company was unable to pay its bills. In 1897, the company was reorganized as the Lincoln Street Car Company with $40,000 capital so that service could resume.

During 1907, it was decided that streetcar service to the Chautauqua Grounds near Lincoln was needed. About $6,000 was subscribed and the Lincoln Electric Railway Company was organized on May 1 to build a 3,300-foot track extension, using 35-pound rail laid on cinder ballast, from the end of the State School line to the grounds. The new company never owned any of the streetcars, but the Lincoln Street Car Company operated their streetcars over the line during Chautauqua season at a 10-cent fare. Because of the traffic, seven additional streetcars were rented from Springfield for these occasions, and brought up to Lincoln under their own power over the Illinois Traction System. Upon arrival, the streetcars were either pulled over the ground at the Broadway and Chicago Street crossing from the ITS trackage to the streetcar trackage, or run into the Wyatts ITS wye and then pulled by horses a couple hundred feet along South Kickapoo Street to the streetcar trackage.

Springfield Consolidated Railway 91, a single-trucker built by American in 1904, is shown at the end of the Chautauqua line in Lincoln while on lease. On the steps is conductor Ralph Matthews; on the ground is motorman Truman Kelson.

During Chautauqua, all sidings along the trackage were used, as heavy patronage demanded intensive service. Since the trackage was laid on a very narrow right-of-way beyond the State School, the crews on the open streetcars had to be careful to see that passengers riding on the running boards were not brushed off by the close clearance of the line poles.

The company went into receivership in April 1907, and on April 26, 1907, and on May 4, 1907, the property of the company was purchased at a receiver's sale by the Lincoln Railway & Light Company, which had been organized on April 26. On November 9, 1909, the company was in default. In 1912, the State School and Woodlawn lines were operating on 30-minute schedules, and the IC Depot line was operating on a 15-minute schedule between 7:00 AM and 11:00 PM. A waiting room was located on South Kickapoo Street between Pulaski and Clinton Streets. Four streetcars were used in regular service; on the IC Depot line, short double-truck streetcars were used, while short single-truck streetcars were used on the Woodlawn and State School lines.

The car shown here, northbound on Kickapoo at Pulaski, is unidentified but it may be car 6 or 7, both of which were built by Laclede in the early 1900s.

Normally, the State School line only operated to the main gate of the school, and if a passenger wanted to go beyond to the cemetery, the motorman would proceed on out to the cemetery gate a short distance beyond. Upon leaving the streetcar, the passenger would tell the motorman about what time he wanted to return downtown, and on making that run, the motorman would again go out to the cemetery to pick up the passenger. Since the line had no homes along it, there was no need for regular service to the cemetery area and beyond to the Chautauqua Grounds.

A very novel arrangement was used where the Broadway Street trackage crossed the Chicago & Alton Railroad tracks. The C&A would not permit their rails to be cut for the installation of a crossing frog, so the streetcar rails were raised just enough so that the flanges of the streetcar wheels would ride across the railroad rails, then roll back onto the streetcar trackage again. That method was used over the entire life of the streetcar system.

As automobiles became popular, streetcar revenues started to decline. In 1914, earnings were only $15,505 with 246,715 passengers, and the company was forced into bankruptcy early in 1915. The property was sold for $9,900 on January 14 to the Lincoln Railway & Heating Company, which was incorporated on February 1 to take over operations. A number of economy measures were instituted to put the system on a paying basis, but by December it became apparent that continued operations were a losing proposition. Application was made to the Public Utilities Commission for permission to abandon the system, and after several months of hearings, the commission authorized the abandonment providing that the Lincoln city council would agree. During its 25 years' existence, the streetcar system had a varied career, with many changes of ownership. All the companies had been confronted with the problem of paving the right-of-way and the various owners contended that it was an uneconomical operation.

The most modern streetcar ever to operate on the Lincoln city system was car 10, shown here in a 1911 Danville builder's photo. In a fashion typical for the time, the car is set up for two-man operation with passengers boarding and alighting at the rear.

In September 1916, the Lincoln Water and Light Company took a 60-day option to operate the streetcar system, after which time operations were surrendered to the street railway company. The owners of the streetcar company then allowed their contracts for heating public buildings to lapse, and during the winter of 1916, both heating and streetcar service were discontinued. Many attempts were made to sell the streetcar system, but no buyer could be found. After several months of idleness, and a concerted campaign by local officials and merchants, the public was convinced that municipal ownership was the only way streetcar service could be reinstituted.

The citizens of Lincoln on June 19, 1917, voted a bond issue of $30,000 to purchase and rehabilitate the streetcar system, the state's second municipally operated system after Pekin. A sum of $11,500 was paid for the power plant, equipment, and streetcars, most of which was junk, and $1,650 was paid to the owners of the Chautauqua Park extension. The city felt that public transportation was still a necessity for its population of 10,000, and shortly thereafter streetcar service resumed under the name of the Lincoln Municipal Street Railway.

The mayor assumed control of the management and operation of the streetcar system, with the auditing, accounting, etc. being done by the city clerk. Three used streetcars in good condition were used to resume service, and the power plant and tracks were repaired while the old loop line was dismantled. After about a month, it was found that the old power plant machinery was uneconomical to operate so the power house, located at the rear of the Clinton Street car barn, was closed. For about two months power was purchased from the Illinois Traction System, after which a contract was signed with the Lincoln Water and Light Company to supply the power that was purchased from the Central Illinois Electric and Gas Company for a 10-year period at a lower rate than the city could generate or purchase it for. In 1922, earnings of the LMSR were only $27,326 with 641,160 passengers. A sleet storm on December 17, 1924, closed the system temporarily. The Lincoln Electric Company leased the streetcars from January 15 to February 9, 1925, charging a 10-cent fare.

This photo, taken at the State School, shows one of the unmistakably ex-Washington, DC cars purchased in 1917. The Lord Baltimore truck and unusual end window arrangement were featured by hundreds of Washington cars of this type.

On August 31, 1925, streetcar service was discontinued when the city was unable to keep the system anywhere near a break-even point. On December 1, 1925, the system was leased for $1.00 a year to the Central Electric and Gas Company, which resumed service. A number of promotional efforts were made to induce people to use the streetcars, the most noted being inauguration of a monthly pass. At first business picked up, but then gradually it started to dwindle again until it became clear that there was no possible way of breaking even on operating the streetcars. It was realized that the city was too small to support the streetcar system.

Streetcar service continued to operate at a loss only as a means for public convenience. Finally, on May 1, 1928, the property was turned back over to the city. On May 15, the Lincoln Municipal Street Railway discontinued operations permanently, and a short time later, the track and equipment were sold to a scrap dealer for $3,500. A city-operated bus company then took over the routes.

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.

Roster of Equipment

1-3 (three cars) - ST closed cars - built 1891 by Laclede - one car, either 2 or 3, nearly destroyed by fire in 1892

4 (one car) - ST closed car - built 1892 by Laclede - replaced burned car

5 (one car) - ST closed car - homebuilt, c1893 - heavy rebuild of car burned in 1892, originally rebuilt as a trailer but later motorized

6 (one car) - built 1902 by Laclede

7 (one car) - built 1903 by Laclede

10 (one car) - DT AR closed car - built 1911 by Danville (order #569) - Brill 39E1 trucks

numbers unknown (two cars) - ST eight-bench open trailers - purchased secondhand in 1892, possibly ex-West End Street Railway (Boston, Mass.)

numbers unknown (three cars) - ST eight-bench open cars - built 1880s by Metropolitan Cambridge & South Boston RR as horse cars - bodies purchased secondhand in 1907 from West End Street Railway, ex-WESR 2124-2126, trucks and electrical equipment sourced separately

numbers unknown (three cars) - ST DR closed cars - purchased secondhand in 1917 from Electric Railway & Equipment Co. of Philadelphia, ex-Capital Traction (Washington, DC) - at least two of these cars were sold after abandonment and incorporated into an outbuilding at the Hurlbut Elevator south of Elkhart, IL, which burned in 1944

number unknown (one car) - DT DR 12-bench open car - built 1903 by St. Louis (order #362) - purchased secondhand in 1921, ex-Columbus Railway & Light (Ohio) 435-437 series - Brill 22 trucks, K-10 control

Abbreviations: AR=Arch Roof; DR=Deck Roof; DT=Double Truck; ST=Single Truck

This classic shot of a northbound Chicago & Alton train passing the Hurlbut Elevator, just south of Elkhart, IL, and several miles south of Lincoln, has a surprise in the background. The elevator office incorporated the bodies of three streetcars, at least two of which were among the ex-Washington, DC, cars that ran in Lincoln. The elevator burned down on November, 1944, and if the streetcar bodies survived they probably didn't last for much longer. Robert V. Mehlenbeck photo from the Krambles-Peterson Archive.

Route Map

Click here for a Lincoln Municipal Street Railway route map

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