DeKalb Sycamore & Interurban Traction

DeKalb Sycamore & Interurban Traction

by Stephen M. Scalzo

Headline image: Handsome DS&IT suburban car 101 is pictured at the southwest end of the line, at the gate of the Northern Illinois Normal School (today Northern Illinois University), with motorman Charley Burr and conductor Harry Altivaro. All photos are from the Stephen Scalzo Collection of the Illinois Railway Museum except where noted.

The Sycamore & DeKalb Electric Railway Company was chartered on August 30, 1899, to build a railway. In January of 1900, the company obtained a franchise from the city of DeKalb. In January of 1901 the company changed its name to the DeKalb County Light Heat & Power Company (DCLH&P). Construction began in May on the eight-mile line. In September of 1901, the franchise was extended, allowing the company until 1902 to complete the line.

The DeKalb-Sycamore Electric Traction Company (DSETC) was chartered and incorporated on March 31, 1902, with $200,000 of capital. The company obtained the unused right-of-way of the Geneva Lake Shore & Northern Railroad, which had been incorporated in 1898. The company then took over the DCLH&P and construction proceeded. Interurban passenger service using streetcars with 550-volt DC power for the overhead began operating on December 14, 1902, with 1,300 riders being carried on opening day.

Car 108 is on Lincoln Highway just west of 4th Street in downtown DeKalb, with the C&NW crossing the intersection at an angle in the foreground. The streetcar line turns at the building in the right foreground to head north on 4th.

Trailer 67, still wearing its Chicago City Railway initials and fleet number, is at Electric Park on August 4, 1904, with P. Swanson noted as conductor.

The trackage of the line ran from the west door of the Administration Building of Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, and was located half on the east side and half on the west side of Sycamore Road. The company controlled the DeKalb-Sycamore Power Company, and with that affiliate passed into the hands of the Commonwealth Power system, which also owned the Rockford & Interurban. The line connected in DeKalb with the Chicago Aurora & DeKalb interurban line (ed. note: there was no track connection, but passengers could transfer with a short walk). The Chicago & North Western Railroad opposed a grade crossing until April 17, 1903, and subsequently there was freight interchange with the Chicago Great Western Railroad.

In 1904, the company opened Electric Park, located two miles from Sycamore, as a tourist attraction; the park contained a baseball diamond, a pavilion for dances, a theater, and a picnic ground. The company operated 24 daily round trips over the line, with a 25-minute running time between terminals, leaving DeKalb at the top of the hour and Sycamore at the bottom of the hour. As a result of that frequent service, the CGW halted its six daily locals and the C&NW cut service from six to three trains by 1906. The line did a thriving business in the days before hard roads and automobiles, and was used by many workers in the area between the two towns.

The DeKalb Sycamore & Interurban Traction Company was organized on June 30, 1906, with $100,000 of capital (later became $1 million), and after purchasing the DSETC, spent $40,000 to upgrade the system. Plans were developed to extend the trackage 22 miles from DeKalb to Belvidere; however nothing was ever built. In 1907, the company had 7.6 miles of trackage, 0.23 miles of second trackage, and five closed and two open streetcars. By 1910, the company owned six streetcars and two trailers.

Car 108 is at the northeastern terminus of the line, at State and Main in Sycamore, with the DeKalb County Courthouse behind it. Passengers looking to connect with the Woodstock & Sycamore, which never electrified, had a four-block walk north from this point to the W&S terminus.

The DS&IT owned one piece of non-revenue equipment, a snow sweeper, but they managed to make some revenue with it anyway by removing the brooms and hauling open trailers with it during the summer. It's shown at the two-track carbarn in DeKalb, which survived into the 1950s.

During 1912, the Union Railway group took over the operations of the company. Ridership declined from 386,265 in 1912 to only 264,431 by 1915, with earnings of $36,351 in 1915. By 1916, the company was operating four streetcars and four trailers. In August of 1918, the Public Utilities Commission allowed the company a fare increase; all round trip tickets were abolished and the sales price of coupon books was increased from $3.75 to $4.25, with the $0.15 fare between DeKalb and Sycamore remaining unchanged. Private ownership of automobiles and the paving of Lincoln Highway in 1922 started to draw away passengers, and revenues started to drop.

In 1923, the company went into bankruptcy when it could not pay a $3,600 power bill. The receiver continued to operate the line, but the paving of Highway 23 in the area marked another downturn for the company when increased bus competition started drawing away passengers. The abandonment of the CA&D interurban in January of 1923 left the line stranded without a passenger connection, and abandonment was inevitable. The receiver offered to sell the city portions to the towns for continued operation, but nothing ever came of the offer.

The DS&IT's cars were essentially large streetcars, albeit with heavy trucks designed for suburban use, but at least some of its motormen dressed in interurban - rather than street railway - style. Date and location are unknown.

The origins of car 108 are unknown. It's shown with its crew at the carbarn in DeKalb.

On March 14, 1924, the company made an application to the Illinois Commerce Commission to quit business. The last streetcar operated on April 17, 1924. Authority was received on May 1, 1924, to abandon the entire line, and the remaining equipment, trackage, and overhead was soon torn up and scrapped.

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

This roster is incomplete

67 & ? (2 cars?) - DE ST TR 8-bench open trailers - CCRy shops, c1880s - ex-Chicago City Railway, possibly converted from horsecars, quantity of cars uncertain

101-102 (2 cars) - DE DT DR closed streetcars - St. Louis, 1902 (order #304)

101 (1 car) - DE DT DR closed streetcar - American, 1912 (order #963)

108 (1 car?) - DE DT DR closed streetcar - builder and year unknown

Number unknown (1 car) - DE ST streetcar - acquired 1905, builder unknown - used in city service within DeKalb city limits

Number unknown (1 car) - DE ST AR snow sweeper - McGuire-Cummings - used in summer months to tow open trailers

AR = Arch Roof; DE = Double End; DR = Deck Roof; DT = Double Truck; ST = Single Truck; TR = Turtleback Roof

Route Map

Click here for a DeKalb Sycamore & Interurban Traction route map

This 1905 Sanborn fire insurance map shows the DS&IT's brick carbarn near the top right. North is roughly to the right. The large building filling much of the image lasted into the 2010s.

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