Springfield Consolidated Railway
by Stephen M. Scalzo
Ed. note: An extensive history of the Springfield streetcar system, written mostly from documents in the Stephen Scalzo Collection, was printed in three parts in Rail & Wire magazine issues 266, 268, and 270. The article printed here is a more concise account written by Stephen himself and is presented along with Scalzo Collection images that were omitted from the magazine article due to space constraints.
Headline image: Double-truck car 202 is pictured in downtown Springfield, most likely in the early 1930s. All photos are from the Stephen Scalzo Collection of the Illinois Railway Museum except where noted.
The Capital City Horse Railway Company was chartered on February 1, 1861, to provide the first public transportation in the city of Springfield, Illinois. However, actual construction did not begin until after the company was organized on August 12, 1865, with $18,000 of capital (later increased to $28,000). Construction began in November of 1865 on the trackage that would run on Monroe Street west from Sixth Street to Walnut Street, south on Walnut to Governor Street, and west on Governor to Illinois Street. Regular horsecar service began on January 19, 1866, from Fourth Street to the city limits, with a 10-cent fare. A heavy snow on January 20 closed down operations until January 27. In March, construction began on the trackage on Monroe Street from Sixth Street east to the Toledo Wabash & Western Railway depot. Horsecar service began operating on that extension on March 21. Total construction costs were about $27,000.
By an act of the general assembly on February 25, 1867, the former transactions of the Capital Railway Company were legalized and the capital stock was fixed at $50,000. Construction began in May on building the Fifth Street trackage from Madison to Oak Ridge Cemetery, and horsecar operations began on July 1. In 1867, an extension west on Monroe Street one-third of a mile to the city limits was constructed, and the same distance was removed at the east end of the line from Tenth to Seventh Streets in 1870. An eight-acre park at Walnut Street and Capitol Avenue was developed at the western end of the line, and it was rented out for summer picnics and winter skating parties. However, by 1871 the company developed financial difficulties.
An open horsecar is pictured in downtown Springfield, date and location unknown.
The Springfield Street Railroad Company was chartered by a special act of the state legislature on February 16, 1861, with $50,000 of capital, but the Civil War made it difficult to secure capital for construction. It was decided to make no effort at active construction until peace was restored. On March 3, 1866, the company was organized and trackage construction began in May of 1866. On July 1, the company began operating a horsecar line to the Oak Ridge Cemetery on North Fifth Street, running from Monroe Street to Enterprise Street with a 10-cent fare. It cost $42,000 to build and equip the line. A steam dummy extension of the Fifth Street horsecar line ran northeast from near Fifth and Enterprise Streets north and east to the rolling mills located in Ridgely. In the spring of 1867, trackage was extended on South Fifth Street to South Grand Avenue at a cost of $13,000, and on July 4, 1867, horsecar service began operating. The company developed a 12-acre park at the northern limit of the Fifth Street line adjoining Oak Ridge Cemetery on the east. A turntable was installed at the Oak Ridge Park on which the horsecars were turned around for the trip back downtown. On October 28, 1871, the Capital Railway's Monroe Street line was purchased and consolidated with the Springfield Street Railroad to form the Springfield City Railway.
For years Springfield was probably as famous for its dirt streets as it was for the seat of state government. In 1876, the year that the city's first sewer was laid on South Fifth Street, streetcar plows in the spring would pile mud beside the tracks in 18-inch mounds. In 1879, "Beware of Danger" and "No Bottom Here" signs were posted along streets that had deep holes, and planks had to be laid between the tracks for the horses.
On November 26, 1889, the Springfield City Railway was sold to Van Ginkle and Bayes of Des Moines, Iowa. After the city council passed an ordinance granting electric operations, the Springfield City Railway contracted the Thomson-Houston Company in March 1890 to electrify two miles of trackage and to provide six electric streetcars. The first electric streetcar in Springfield operated on Fifth Street on June 4, 1890, from a carbarn erected at Fourth and Monroe Streets. On August 1, the Rolling Mill steam dummy line was abandoned because of poor trackage and the lack of passengers, with a new line being built in November to run through more populous areas on Fifth Street to the Rolling Mill and to the Fairgrounds. The old carbarn at Fourth and Monroe Streets was closed and a new barn constructed at Ninth and Monroe Streets in 1892.
On March 5, 1879, the Citizens' Street Railway and Improvement Company was organized, and on April 1 the city council granted the company a franchise. On July 19, the company was granted a charter, and two horsecar lines were constructed by October 1880. The first line ran west on North Grand Avenue from Eleventh Street to Ninth Street, south on Ninth to Washington Street, west on Washington to Sixth Street, south on Sixth to Capitol Avenue, west on Capitol to Second Street, and south on Second to Allen Street. The second line ran north on Eleventh Street from South Grand Avenue to Washington Street, west on Washington to Second Street, north on Second to Carpenter Street, west on Carpenter to Rutledge Street, and north on Rutledge to the Oak Ridge Cemetery. On November 14, the Eleventh Street line was extended and horsecars operated from South Grand Avenue to the Lincoln Memorial. Planking with strap rails was employed. The system cost about $75,000 for eight miles of trackage, 18 horsecars, and 76 mules and horses.
The Sangamon Railway was incorporated on March 9, 1869, with $50,000 of capital, and promised to build tracks on all streets not granted to previous companies. The Springfield Belt Railway was organized in 1886. However, those companies never built anything.
The People's Gas Motor & Horse Company was organized on November 29, 1889, and shortly thereafter purchased the Citizens Street Railway. The company began construction of two horsecar lines; the first line ran west on Allen Street from Second Street to Walnut Street, and the second line ran north on Eleventh Street from North Grand Avenue to the Fairgrounds. Trackage rights were obtained over the Citizens Street Railway to enable the operation of horsecars between those two outlying segments. On January 17, 1889, the city council passed an ordinance granting the company the right to use electric power. During 1890 Washington Park was developed. The company was struggling against the new electric streetcars of the Springfield City Railway. On September 3, 1890, the Citizens Street Railway and the People's Electric Gas Motor & Horse Railway were reorganized as the People's Electric Street Railway Company, with $200,000 of capital. Electric streetcars began operating on November 4. Horsecars were initially used as trackage segments were completed on Second and Allen Streets until electric streetcars took over the operations to South Grand on November 28. Streetcar service began on the Fairgrounds line on November 29. The company later became the Union Rapid Transit Company in 1890 with $10,000 of capital, the Citizens Electric Railway in 1894 with $60,000 of capital, and the Capital Electric Railway in October of 1894 with $60,000 of capital.
Open car 119 is pictured with its crew.
Both companies proceeded to convert their horsecar lines to electric operations as quickly as possible during 1890 and 1891, which resulted in the replacement of the lighter horsecar rail with heavier rail. Soon, each company was attempting to extend their service in competition with each other, and physical violence resulted. There occurred a series of comic opera scenes that saw a near war between competing companies, private citizens laying track in the dead of night, and spectacular charges before the city council that electric trolley wires would turn city streets into "infernal valleys of death." Both political and traction leaders agreed that the only solution was a full merger of all companies. On April 22, 1893, the Springfield Consolidated Railway was organized with $750,000 of capital to purchase the Springfield City Railway and the Peoples Electric Railway. A further reorganization created the Springfield Railway & Light Company, which was incorporated on March 10, 1903, with $1,000,000 of capital. The new company then acquired the capital stock of the Springfield Consolidated Railway, the Springfield Gas and Light Company, the Springfield Electric Light and Power Company, the People's Hot Water Heating and Electric Company, and the Capital Electric Company. The new company was controlled by Hodenpyl, Hardy and Company of New York and E.W. Clark and Company of Philadelphia. By that time the 24-mile system was operating 50 streetcars.
By 1900, Springfield had a population of 34,159. On May 30, 1900, the East Carpenter Street line was placed into service; on July 4, 1904, the South Eleventh Street line was placed into service to Mildred Park; and during the summer of 1906 the East Capitol Avenue line was extended to Reich's Park and an extension from Washington Park to the Country Club was opened. With new extensions built in the early 1900s, the system eventually reached the maximum of about 40 miles, providing streetcar service within easy walking distance for every resident. A number of new double-truck streetcars were purchased. Electric streetcar operations reached their heyday prior to the advent of automobiles.
It's December 17, 1924, and one of Springfield's numerous deck-roof single-truck cars is on Walnut at Monroe, picking its way through the aftermath of an ice storm.
Car 202, one of the double-truck deck-roof cars acquired in 1912, is westbound e on Washington in this 1915 view looking north on Eighth.
Streetcar parties were gala events at the turn of the century, with open streetcars coupled together for a breezy ride to one of the city's many parks in the summer. During state fair week, streetcars were the principal means of transportation and were responsible for transporting nearly all of the vast number of fair visitors. During the state fair, streetcars would operate in a loop from the downtown area north on the Ninth Street line to the fairgrounds and return on the Seventh Street line.
On June 29, 1906, the first streetcar operated over the Smelter line. Later that summer an extension was built from South Grand to the Country Club. In June 1907, the company awarded a contract to Mullville Brothers of Alton to extend the North Eighth Street streetcar line 1.5 miles to the Zoo Park at a cost of $25,000. Trackage on several other lines was re-laid with 73-pound rail. In the fall of 1907, 15 acres of land were purchased on the south side of the city at Ash and Sixth Streets with plans announced to use the land for a modern steel and concrete carbarn, repair shop, and offices to replace the old horsecar barn located on the southeast corner of Fourth and Monroe Streets. In September of 1907, the company was granted permission to extend the Tenth Street line through Harvard Park and east on South Grand Avenue. During January of 1909, the company enlarged the power station that supplied electricity for the overhead by installing a 1500 kV unit. In March, the company started construction of the Eight Avenue half-mile extension to Harvard Park.
This view, dating to sometime in the 1920s, shows the overhead crane located behind the carbarn at Ash and Sixth. Out-of-service single-truck cars are visible in the background.
Car 108 was one of two unsuccessful convertible cars delivered in 1903. It was put into work service after a few years, but by the time this photo was taken in the 1920s, it had been retired and was sitting on a shop truck before being scrapped.
By 1910, Springfield had a population of 51,678. In May of 1913, the company awarded a $5,800 contract to the Clinton Bridge Works to construct a new carbarn on the land previously purchased at Sixth and Ash Streets. Union organizing of motormen, conductors, and repairmen led to a strike on September 3, 1917. Besides union recognition, the strikers were demanding an increase from 21 to 23 cents per hour as a minimum pay and an increase from 30 to 35 cents per hour as a maximum. A full scale riot developed and state troops had to be called out to restore order after numerous shootings and bombings. In May of 1918, the company filed a petition with the Public Utilities Commission to increase fares from five cents to six cents, with authority granted in October for a one-year period. In March of 1919, new pay-as-you-enter streetcars with Johnson fareboxes for coins and metal tokens were placed into service. In May, the company granted trainmen a pay increase from 36 to 39 cents an hour. Fares were increased to seven cents on January 15, 1920. Seventeen four-wheel Birney streetcars were placed into service starting in December of 1920, with the hope of improving service. On December 5, the North Seventh and South Second Street lines were merged, and the Carpenter line became a separate line; six Birney streetcars were assigned to serve those lines.
On January 1, 1922, the Springfield Gas and Electric Company (which shortly afterward changed its name to Illinois Power Company) purchased the Springfield Railway & Light Company. The system was operating 41.3 miles of trackage using 35 streetcars. A short time later, the first motor bus was placed into service.
Birney 255, pictured on October 11, 1936, by which time it had been relegated to annual service to the State Fair, was one of the Birney cars acquired in 1920.
Seven of these single-end, arch-roof cars were delivered in 1917, built to what was called the Hodenpyl-Hardy standard design. Built as rear-entrance pay-as-you-enter cars, the entire series was rebuilt in the 1920s for one-man operation. Car 232 is pictured in service in 1935.
The coming of the age of the automobile and the construction of highways in the area hurt the streetcar system. Passenger revenue declined from $713,008 in 1922 to $684,432 in 1924, while operating expenses grew from $533,143 to $563,990. Operating revenue became insufficient to ensure either a satisfactory schedule on the streetcar lines or their logical extension into newer sections of the city. During most of the 1920s, streets all over the city were being widened to take care of the growing traffic demands of the motor age.
The city council approved a 20-year extension of the company's franchise in the spring of 1924, but voters rejected the proposal in April by a small majority. On November 4, 1924, an extension of the company's franchise finally was obtained when the citizens of Springfield voted in favor of the proposal. During 1924, as a result of the new franchise, the company started bus service in the southeastern and northwestern sections of the city where there was no streetcar service, and converted double-truck streetcars to one-man operation. During October 1925, the company asked the Illinois Commerce Commission for permission to increase fares from the current 10 cents, because it was estimated that one million fewer passengers were being carried than the year before. By 1926, the company was making less than 3.5% on its investment, and the year before earnings fell $96,719 short of the 7% return as allowed by the Illinois Commerce Commission. Earnings for the end of 1926 were $720,727 compared to $708,984 the previous year, with 107,909 fewer revenue passengers than in 1925. The company increased the cost of two tickets to 15 cents and eight tickets to 50 cents in 1927. In the fall of 1927, the company asked permission to abandon the Seventh Street line and to double-track the Ninth Street line from Grand to Washington. The double trackage was constructed during the late summer, and placed into service on November 5. On January 11, 1928, streetcar service was authorized abandoned on the North Seventh Street line that operate don Jefferson, Seventh, and North Grand to Ninth Street, and the last streetcar operated on January 15. On September 1, 1928, the ICC granted fare increases from two tokens for 15 cents and eight tickets for 50 cents to three tickets for 25 cents.
Double-truck car 205 is in the yard on July 2, 1935, in this Paul Stringham photo. The 200s were heavily rebuilt in the 1920s, with their deck roofs removed, converted to one-man operation, and turned end for end. They spent their careers on the Lawrence-North Ninth Street line.
Most of Springfield's Birneys were rebuilt and modernized, acquiring features like inside step wells, skirting, and dash illumination. The rather unbalanced-looking result is shown off by car 265, one of the cars built new for Springfield in 1920. It's signed for Lawrence-North Ninth, normally the domain of double-truck 200-series cars, suggesting it was assigned to State Fair duty.
The Depression severely hurt streetcar operations. On June 17, 1930, the company was authorized to abandon service on the isolated 2.35-mile Zinc Works Smelter line, and service was discontinued on June 30. While that line was owned by the Illinois Terminal Railroad, the company operated the one double-truck streetcar for the United Zinc and Chemical Company; patronage had declined from 34,090 in 1925 to 8,300 in 1929.
On January 24, 1933, the Commonwealth and Southern Company purchased the Springfield operations of the Illinois Power Company, and under the name of Illinois Electric Power incorporated the Springfield Transportation Company. On April 23, 1933, the company was split, with the Springfield Transportation Company taking over the streetcar and bus operations, and the Central Illinois Light Company taking over the electric power service in Springfield. The new company did little more than realize that streetcar operations were not profitable. Gradually the streetcar lines were converted to buses. On April 24, authority was received to abandon the Rutledge Street and Country Club lines, and the last streetcar operated on the Country Club line on July 8 while the last streetcar operated on Rutledge on July 28. On July 1, the company filed a petition to abandon the Spring Street, South Grand, South Eleventh, and Capitol Street lines. The last streetcar operated on Spring on July 28, and the last streetcar operated on the South Grand and Capitol lines on October 7.
The at-grade crossing on South Grand was replaced with this underpass in 1931. Just two years later, this streetcar line was abandoned.
Hodenpyl-Hardy car 229 is at the north end of the Fifth Street line at Oak Ridge Cemetery on May 19, 1935. The signs taped in the windows read "No parking worries here - ride on dollar weekly passes."
On October 30, 1935, permission was given to abandon the Governor, South Eighth, West Washington, and East Carpenter lines, and the last streetcars operated on December 31, 1935. On July 28, 1937, permission was given to abandon the North Ninth and Lawrence Avenue lines, and the last streetcars operated on August 31. After receiving authority on December 21, streetcar number 227 operated on the final run in Springfield from the square on the Fifth Street line at 11:30 PM on December 31, 1937.
After the abandonment of service, 28 streetcars were sold to Abel Company of New York City, with five immediately being resold to South America [sic] and four to Marion, Indiana. On January 7, 1938, 19 streetcars remained at the carbarn. After all efforts to resell those streetcars failed, they were scrapped locally. The Illinois Terminal's interurbans continued to use certain streetcar tracks in Springfield to reach their downtown station for a while until they built a new station along their Belt Line around Springfield. Track removal began on May 22, 1939, and proceeded on an irregular basis, with most of the rail being removed during World War II for the war effort.
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
A more complete roster of equipment can be found in Rail & Wire issue 270
11-61, various numbers - early DE ST DR cars built between 1890 and 1900, including both closed and open cars
71-75 - DE ST AR open cars, American c1900
76-79 - DE ST DR closed cars, St. Louis 1901 (order #402)
80-81 - DE ST DR semi-convertibles, American 1902 (order #427)
90-95 - DE ST DR semi-convertibles, American 1904-1905 (orders #554, 584, and 617)
100-107 - DE ST DR semi-convertibles, American 1903 (order #486)
108-109 - DE ST DR convertibles, American 1903 (order #487)
110-119 - DE ST DR 11-bench open cars, American 1904 (order #535)
120-124 - DE ST DR 11-bench open cars, St. Louis 1905 (order #604A)
125-129 - DE ST DR 11-bench open cars, American 1906 (order #704)
130-134 - DE ST DR semi-convertibles, American 1906 (order #662)
135-139 - DE ST DR semi-convertibles, American 1907 (order #750)
140-144 - DE ST DR semi-convertibles, American 1909 (order #825)
145-149 - DE ST DR semi-convertibles, Kuhlman 1910 (order #464)
200 - DE DT AR closed car, American 1912 (order #974)
201-207 - SE DT DR semi-convertibles, American 1912 (order #949)
226-232 - SE DT AR closed cars, St. Louis 1917 (order #1124)
251-267 - DE ST AR Birney safety cars, St. Louis 1920 (order #1234)
268-279 - DE ST AR Birney safety cars, St. Louis 1921 (order #1258) - purchased 1928 from Detroit Department of Street Railways
Non-Revenue Equipment
1-2 - DE ST AR snow sweepers, McGuire-Cummings
3-4 - DE ST cab-on-flat locomotives, homebuilt
5-6 - DE ST sprinklers, McGuire-Cummings
7 - DE DT cab-on-flat utility car, homebuilt
21-30 - ST wooden gondolas, homebuilt
50-51 - work cars
52 - ST tower car, homebuilt
54 and 69 - ST DR salt/cement cars, rebuilt from streetcars
"Work Car" - DE DT AR steeplecab, homebuilt, rebuilt from car 200
Car 130 was a typical single-trucker. It's shown at the end of its service life, in storage in the yard at Ash and Sixth. Ed Frank photo.
It's June 6, 1937, and car 201 is at the north end of the Lawrence-North Ninth Street line at the State Fairgrounds. This line has less than three months left before abandonment.
On the same day, June 6, 1937, car 227 is in the yard at Ash and Sixth. The roll sign was presumably set to the Washington Street line, which had already been abandoned, by the photographer.
Birney 268 is in the yard in 1937 with the 1913-built open-sided shed in the background. This car is one of the cars purchased secondhand from Detroit; these cars were modernized in a different manner than the lower-numbered cars built for Springfield.
Sprinkler 5 shown with its crew, location and date unknown.
Work car 22 was one of several similar single-truck gondolas. It rides on a DuPont truck, which was either salvaged from an early streetcar that had been scrapped, or perhaps indicates that the gondola itself is a cut-down streetcar.
Route Map
A history of each SCR route can be found in Rail & Wire issue 268
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