Champaign-Urbana Streetcars
by Stephen M. Scalzo
Headline image: Birney 116 is on the University of Illinois campus on April 18, 1936, the last spring season for Champaign-Urbana streetcars. It's eastbound on the "Short Line" just east of Wright, with the Men's Old Gym - today the Kenney Gym - in the background. All photos are from the Stephen Scalzo Collection of the Illinois Railway Museum except where noted.
The first mass transit system in Champaign County began as a freight branch line to serve Urbana, which lost out when the Illinois Central Railroad chose West Urbana as the site for its railroad line. After receiving a charter, construction of that branch began in 1859, but was briefly interrupted by the Civil War. Work resumed in 1861 and the grading was completed.
In 1863 the Urbana Railroad Company was organized by Frank Jaques and his father-in-law William Parks. Construction resumed and on August 15, mules pulling horsecars began operating over two miles of trackage. Receipts for the first day amounted to $6.35 from passenger and 10 cents from freight. The line was first used primarily for freight from a connecting track with the IC. Ten or 11 trips were made on weekdays and Saturdays, and seven or eight trips were made on Sundays.
On February 25, 1867, the company changed its name to the Urbana & Champaign Street Railway Company with $40,000 of capital. The company was operating three miles of trackage with four horsecars and 12 mules. In 1870, the line was converted to passenger service. Passengers were then carried for a five-cent fare from the courthouse in Urbana along what was then Railroad Avenue and across open country to what was later Third Street, where it angled off toward the IC station in Champaign. The line was constructed because citizens in Urbana felt isolated from the center of activities in the Doane House, which stood at the site of the IC depot in Champaign.
It's the early years of electrification in Champaign, and tower wagon 2 is at the Tremont Street carbarn with ancient single-trucker 10 in the right background.
In 1890, William B. McKinley purchased the company with the backing of some Canadian money. The Urbana & Champaign Street Railway was formed to take over the company, and McKinley became the president of the company. Immediately, the 30-minute horsecar service headway was reduced to 20 minutes (which was further reduced to 15 minutes and then 10 minutes over the next few years). McKinley found the Champaign city council very eager to give him anything he wanted; however, he ran into trouble with the Urbana city council. In June, the company was granted a franchise to build an extension, with the stipulation that the entire system be electrified within two years. By September, a two-mile line to the old Champaign County Fairgrounds located in south Champaign on John Street was built. In Urbana, the line was extended east on Main Street to the Wabash Railroad crossing. The original line soon became known as the "Short Line" between Champaign and Urbana. The first electric streetcar operated in Champaign on October 1, 1890.
In 1891, work began on a second route to Urbana. Electric streetcars began operating to the university on March 12, 1891, from Champaign, with horsecars operating from the university to Urbana. The citizens of Urbana got jealous because there was more frequent service on the streetcar line, and the problem became an aldermanic election issue. By July 1, McKinley got a franchise from Urbana.
Single-trucker 11, shown posed with a proud conductor and two ladies dressed in Victorian finery, was built by Brownell in 1890.
Open car 12 was built by Brownell a year after car 11, in 1891 and is pictured c1910.
In 1892, McKinley sold the company to a Philadelphia syndicate headed by Ben F. Harris, Jr. That year earnings of the company were $26,000 with 520,000 passengers being carried. In the fall of that year, the lines on Church Street and New-Green Streets in Champaign were constructed, and in July of 1893 the West End Park line was opened. An amusement park and theater were developed there. In 1894, the Urbana & Champaign Electric Street Railway Company was formed by consolidating the Urbana & Champaign Street Railway and the Champaign Rapid Transit Company (which had been incorporated in February 1892 with $50,000 of capital). The company consisted of nine miles of line operated by six streetcars and six trailers. The company converted the entire system to electric streetcars in 1895.
On May 12, 1897, the Urbana & Champaign Railway Gas & Electric Company was incorporated. That company then purchased the property of the Urbana & Champaign Electric Street Railway as well as the gas and electric utility companies in Champaign and Urbana. Two miles of trackage were added after 1894, giving the company 11 miles operated with nine streetcars and eight trailers. An attempt was made to extend trackage to serve the Roselawn and Mount Hope cemeteries on the south side of Champaign, but it was rebuffed by the University of Illinois Board of Trustees.
Car 31 was built by Brill in 1900 and is pictured in front of the Hickory Street carbarn. This car was originally fitted with open platforms that were later enclosed.
Open car 28 was built by Brownell in the 1890s. Note the lettering, including "U.S. Mail" on the dash to indicate that mail was carried between Champaign and Urbana, and "Urbana University Champaign" on the letterboard.
On May 1, 1899, the company was sold to the McKinley Syndicate. By 1900 Champaign had a population of 10,000 and Urbana had 6,000. In 1908, Col. Busey approached McKinley about building a line to the Woodlawn Cemetery, north of Urbana; the line, eventually built by Col. Busey, became very popular on Sundays and for use by funeral streetcars. In the summer, passengers rode streetcars to such areas as Crystal Lake Park for pleasure and to keep cool. Various groups also chartered streetcars for rides around the cities and to have parties. For a time, the company sponsored a vaudeville and stock company productions theater in West End Park. Each spring, "Trolley Day" was sponsored in which young ladies served as conductors and all proceeds collected were given to the hospital. Streetcars provided service to transport fans to local professional baseball games and university football games. When students from the university went on vacation, streetcars were heavily used from the campus to the railroad stations in the cities.
At its peak, there were 13 streetcar lines, eight in Champaign and five in Urbana. Except for the Short Line, which operated 24 hours a day, all other lines operated from 6:00am to midnight. On Fridays and Saturdays the system carried over 800 people between 3pm and midnight. Open air streetcars were used in warm weather, with the conductor standing on the running board to collect fares. By 1902 there were 12.4 miles of track and 27 streetcars. A new carbarn was built on Hickory Street during 1906. Streetcar service was extended to the Smith Packing Company in September of 1906. To serve the growing campus and part of Urbana, the Oregon Street line was constructed in 1906. The John Street and Oregon Street lines later mainly serviced the campus, offering 10-minute streetcar service. With the construction of the Oregon Street line, the first steel Pay-As-You-Enter streetcars were placed into service.
Car 46 was built by Danville in 1908 and was very similar to the 700-series cars ordered by the McKinley Syndicate that saw use in Champaign-Urbana, Bloomington-Normal, Danville, and Decatur.
Car 698 was one of several large 12-bench open cars purchased secondhand from United Railways in St. Louis. These cars, which kept their UR numbers, were built in 1902 by St. Louis Car Company. We're at Neil and Main in Champaign looking east, with an ITS interurban car visible in the distance.
In 1914, the company extended streetcar service to the IC Railroad roundhouse and the Clifford-Jacobs plant located about two miles north of Champaign; the line was built entirely on IC property, with some IC trackage being electrified. In 1916, the first lightweight one-man streetcars entered service; at that time there were 18 closed streetcars, 13 open streetcars, five trailers, and one locomotive. In 1919, fares were increased to seven cents. Employees felt that their earnings were insufficient, and they struck the company from July 8 through August 8 before getting a 42-cent hourly wage.
The Illinois Power & Light Company purchased the company in May of 1923 from the McKinley Syndicate. However, passenger traffic was decreasing because of the use of the private automobile and the building of concrete highways. In order to improve service, 20 new one-man lightweight four-wheel Birney streetcars were placed into service starting in 1923. In 1925, paving costs led to cutbacks in streetcar lines. On July 31, the company was authorized to abandon tracks on New and Green Streets due to street repaving. On August 2, there was a major rerouting of streetcars in Champaign. On November 10, the first bus service was started. In the mid-1920s, the fare jumped to 10 cents or three tokens for 25 cents.
Double-truck car 62 was one of three built by in 1912 by St. Louis, the first steel streetcars to run in Champaign-Urbana. They were transferred in 1925 to the Chicago Ottawa & Peoria system for local service in LaSalle-Peru.
It's Saint Valentine's Day, 1923, and we're looking west on University as Birney car 112 traverses the connection with the tracks north on Walnut. To the left, an ITS interurban car can be seen stopped in front of the interurban depot.
With the Depression, the streetcar system began operating at a loss. The company decided to convert the remaining lines to bus service. By 1934, earnings were $142,338 with 2,614,172 passengers. On October 1, 1936, the company was authorized to abandon the remaining streetcar service. As part of the deal to abandon streetcar service, the company had to pay $7,000 in cash to be relieved of its franchise. Later in October, the transit property was sold to Champaign-Urbana City Lines. The new company immediately increased the number of buses to 11 and continued phasing out the streetcars. On November 10, the last Short Line streetcar operated in Champaign-Urbana. Part of the streetcar system was dismantled and sold to four local junk dealers for $6,236 in August of 1937. Some trackage was retained for use by the Illinois Terminal's interurbans. A WPA project removed trackage from several streets after they were rebuilt. The Illinois Terminal continued to use the Short Line and the Neil Street trackage for its interurban trains operating operating east and west out of Champaign-Urbana until 1937, at which time the Wabash Railroad tracks through Urbana were leased and electrified.
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.
For more information on the streetcars of Champaign-Urbana, see H. George Friedman's extensive online article Twin Cities Traction.
Birney 110 is in Short Line service on Main at Neil on the last day for streetcars in Champaign-Urbana, November 10, 1936.
Roster of Equipment
An extensively researched and lavishly illustrated roster of streetcars used in Champaign-Urbana can be found here, on the website of H. George Friedman, Jr.
Car 16, built in 1892 by LaClede, is shown in operation on Neil Street in its later years after it was rebuilt with enclosed vestibules.
Car 43 is thought to have been built by American around 1905. This photo was taken before the car was modified for Pay-As-You-Enter traffic flow in the early 1910s.
Open car 51 was one of two identical 10-bench cars built by Stephenson in 1902. Unlike typical open cars, these had a center aisle. The sign on the dash advertises "Base Ball Today."
Car 701 is shown in front of the Neil Street carbarn sometime after it was rebuilt as a Pay-As-You-Enter car in the early 1910s.
Track Map
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