Chicago Harvard & Geneva Lake

The Chicago Harvard & Geneva Lake Railway

by Frank Hicks

The Chicago Harvard & Geneva Lake Railway (CH&GL) story begins in 1896, when H.S. Williams, the owner of the local electric lighting plant in Harvard, Illinois, obtained a franchise to build an electric railway between Harvard and Fontana, Wisconsin, on Lake Geneva. The line spanned two states, and was one of only a few companies built in Illinois under the Allen Bill before it was repealed. The line started at the Chicago & North Western depot in Harvard and proceeded north along the east side of the county road to Walworth, where the carbarn and powerhouse were built. It then proceeded east and north to Fontana, and thence to the shore of Lake Geneva. The line was built in just two months, between April and June 1899.

Service began on July 4, 1899, with a pair of motor cars and six trailers, all bought secondhand from Toronto, though these were soon replaced by double-truck cars. The CH&GL built a park and dock at their lakeside terminus, and during the summer did a brisk weekend business carrying leisure travelers to and from Lake Geneva. During the winter, workers harvesting ice were carried.

In 1915, the CH&GL was purchased by William McKinley, owner of the Illinois Traction System, and Walter Cummings, owner of the McGuire-Cummings Manufacturing Company. Ridership peaked that year at 126,000 fares, but declined slowly until the paralleling county road was paved in 1924. That year, ridership plummeted to 50,000, declining to just 26,000 in 1925. Passenger service was discontinued in November 1929.

Freight service continued, however, feeding traffic to the C&NW from facilities along the line which included stockyards, dairy farms, and lumber yards. Fontana was home to an elevator and an ice house that shipped as many as 1,000 cars per year at its peak. In 1909 a freight belt line was built around downtown Harvard to take the freight trains off the city streets, and in 1915 a new freight house was built in the city. Livestock traffic fell off during the 1910s but a gravel pit opened at Fontana, providing traffic between that point and the Milwaukee Road in Walworth.

However the paving of the county road spelled doom for the freight business too. During the late 1920s the remaining dairy and ice customers switched to trucks, while the Fontana gravel pit closed down in 1929. On April 30, 1930, Wisconsin Power & Light shut off the company's power and service ended. However the petition to formally abandon service was contested by the American Sand & Gravel Company, which had leased the Fontana gravel pit and wanted to reopen it - and ship over the CH&GL. It was decided not to resume electric operation, but rather a gasoline locomotive was bought from the Milwaukee Locomotive Works and service resumed between Fontana and Walworth. Rail service over this end of the CH&GL continued until sometime after World War II.

Headline image: One of the ex-Suburban Railroad cars is pictured at the northern terminus of the CH&GL, on the shore of Lake Geneva in Fontana, Wisconsin. The other three images are all from a December 1899 Street Railway Review article and show the Walworth carbarn and powerhouse, Jackson & Sharp-built car 1, and freight motor 101, respectively.

Roster of Equipment

Two cars, numbers unknown - single-truck closed motor cars - built 1886 by J.M. Jones & Sons as horsecars, electrified in 1892-1893, 24' long, 22 seats, purchased secondhand from Toronto Railway in 1899, one car scrapped by 1907, the other by 1910

Six cars, numbers unknown - single-truck 10-bench open trailers - built as horsecars, 50 seats, purchased secondhand from Toronto Railway in 1899, three cars scrapped by 1902, other three by 1907

One car, no. 20 - double-truck closed car - rebuilt from an old steam dummy coach, purchased secondhand from Hamilton & Dundas Railway no. 16 in 1899, made into a trailer in 1908 and scrapped in 1910

Two cars, no. 1 and 3 - double-truck railroad roof closed motor cars - built 1899 by Jackson & Sharp (order 1338-1339), 40' long, 36 seats, Brill 27G trucks, 2 x GE 57 motors (later replaced by GE 1000s), K-14 control, car 1 was made into a trailer in 1912 and retired in 1923, while car 3 ran until 1930

Two cars, no. 5 and 7 - double-truck closed motor cars - built 1897 by Pullman, 42'6" long, up to 48 seats, McGuire 26 trucks, 2 x GE 1000 motors, purchased secondhand from Suburban Railroad (likely #504 and 505) in 1912, rebuilt into combines in 1915-1916, both cars ran until 1930

Additional cars were leased during the summer from the Suburban Railroad until about 1911, usually a motor and a trailer, but sometimes three or as many as four cars.

Freight and Non-Revenue Equipment

One car, no. 101 - double-truck freight motor - built in 1899 using a body purchased and mated to trucks and equipment at the company shop, McGuire 28 trucks, GE 57 motors, K-14 control, renumbered no. 4 c1904 but shortly thereafter wrecked or retired

One car, no. 102 - double-truck freight motor - rebuilt in 1901 in the company shop from a steam railroad boxcar, McGuire 28 trucks, GE 57 motors, K-14 control, renumbered no. 6 c1904

One car, no. 8 - double-truck double-cab-on-flat - built c1905 in the company shops using equipment from no. 101, 32' long with gondola sides, McGuire 28 trucks, 4 x GE 57 motors, K-14 control, was occasionally used in passenger service by putting benches on the deck

One car, no. 2 - rotary snow plow - built in the company shops, 2 x GE 57 motors, K-14 control

One car, number unknown - unpowered tower car/line car - built from a flat car

Two cars, no. 201-202 - boxcars - car 201 was the milk car and was detrucked in November 1915 and used as a freight house in Big Foote, while car 202 was purchased in 1913

One car, no. 301 - 36' long flat car - purchased in 1910 from Hicks Locomotive & Car Works

13 cars, no. 302-314 - gondolas - 80,000 lb. capacity, purchased secondhand in 1917 for gravel service, cars 311-314 disposed of in 1923, cars 302-310 scrapped in 1928

25 cars, no. 401-425 - gondolas - 60,000 lb. capacity, purchased secondhand in 1923 for gravel service, 10 cars scrapped in 1928

Additional photos and information can be found on the Don Ross website.

Click here for a route map of the Chicago Harvard & Geneva Lake

This article was written using reference materials in the Stephen Scalzo Collection as well as James Buckley information from the Roy Benedict Collection. Thanks to Ray and Julie Piesciuk and to Richard Schauer for making these materials available.

This photo of car 505 at the Wayside Inn was submitted by Mark Sims

Click here to return to the Scalzo History Collection index