Kankakee Street Railways

Kankakee Street Railways

by Stephen M. Scalzo

Headline image: It's 1931 and the end of streetcar service in Kankakee is near, but Court Street is still bustling with a lineup of Kankakee Electric Railway single-truckers. Ex-Albany, GA, car 11 is on the left, while ex-Plymouth, MA, Birney 6, only acquired three years earlier, is on the right in a distinctive red-and-cream livery. All photos are from the Stephen Scalzo Collection of the Illinois Railway Museum except where noted.

Part I: Kankakee Electric Railway

The Kankakee Electric Railway (KER) was organized on January 8, 1891, with $100,000 of capital. Kankakee had a population of 6,000 by 1891. After the city awarded a franchise on January 19, contractor Loss was hired in April to construct the system, with the electrical gear coming from Westinghouse. Actual construction began on May 11 on the eight miles of trackage, and four streetcars and four trailers were ordered from the Pullman Car Company. An eight-mile line south to Chebanse was also planned, but never built. By May 21, trackage had been laid to the Big Four Railroad depot, on the River Bridge, and on Cobb Boulevard, and on June 28 all trackage in Kankakee was constructed, overhead wire installed, and the powerhouse/car barn completed at the Big Four Railroad tracks and Greenwood Avenue.

The streetcars arrived on July 18; they were painted orange and yellow with gold striping. Regular service began on July 20, 1891, when two streetcars began operating between the depots and Riverside Park. By the end of the week, schedules had one streetcar operating between East Court and the State Hospital, one streetcar operating between the Illinois Central Railroad depot and the cemetery, and one streetcar operating between the Hotel Riverview and the IC depot via Merchant Street (and returning via Court Street).

KER 4 and its stern-looking motorman and conductor are shown, date and location unknown. Note the ungainly end wall added by KER - but no side doors for the platform crew.

Open car 14 is at the entrance to Electric Park in 1911.

In the next few years, four more streetcars were purchased, and headways were reduced to 15 minutes on all lines. In 1892, the company carried 150,000 passengers and earned $7,680. Although never a large paying investment, the company was run at all times and provided excellent service. In 1894, the company constructed Electric Park as a tourist attraction. In October 1895 the company was given a franchise for an extension to the fairgrounds. In March 1896 the company was granted an extension toward Bradley.

In August of 1905, the company, which consisted of 8.5 miles of trackage operated by six streetcars and three trailers, was sold to R.A. McCracken. In September, a subsidiary, the Kankakee & Western Electric Railroad, was incorporated to construct a 1.38-mile crosstown route which the KER operated with two streetcars; that company operated from December 21, 1905, until formally consolidated with the KER on November 27, 1912. During the years before World War I, 11 new streetcars were purchased. In 1916, the trackage on South Washington was abandoned when the new Hawkins Street subway under the IC tracks was built; streetcars were rerouted on Hawkins and South East Streets to reach the State Hospital.

It's around 1910 and we're looking east on Court Street at East, with a 20-series deck-roof single-trucker on the left and two open cars side by side behind it. It's hard to see, but there's a Bourbonnais-bound North Kankakee car sitting in the background on Schuyler just to the left of the KER closed car.

The most modern cars built new for KER were cars 30 and 31, "super-lightweight" cars built just before the popularization of the Birney. Car 31 is in St. Louis on a flatcar ready to head north.

By 1917, only 10 streetcars were operating, and ridership was declining. Fares were increased to six cents during 1918, but that move did little to help. Automobile ownership and concrete highways began drawing away passengers. Receivership came in 1922, at which time employees were told to accept a pay cut or lose their jobs. Fares were increased to seven cents in 1926, and eight used four-wheel Birney streetcars were purchased in order to cut costs. Earnings dropped from a peak of $68,991 to $13,000 in 1929, while ridership dropped from 1,410,700 in 1917 to 605,698 in 1928. In later years, all streetcars met on Court Street between East Avenue and Schuyler every 20 minutes.

Realizing that the situation was hopeless, the company began closing down. On January 6, 1931, authority was given to abandon the Fourth Street and New York Central depot lines. On October 20, authority was given to abandon the remaining trackage, and the last streetcar operated on December 1, 1931. The Kankakee Motor Coach Company then took over public transportation.

Part II: North Kankakee Electric Light & Railway

North Kankakee car 4 is gaily decked out with an American flag hanging from its trolley pole in an undated photo. The location is uncertain.

The Enterprise Street Railway Company was originally formed to build a streetcar line between Kankakee and Bradley. The North Kankakee Electric Light & Railway Company (NKEL&R) was then organized on June 25, 1892, with $100,000 of capital. The company was nicknamed the "Great Northern." General contractor L.H. Ehrich and Company began construction on July 7 on the 4.5-mile line from Court and Schuyler Streets in Kankakee north through Bradley to St. Viator's College in Bourbonnais. Spur lines were also constructed on Sycamore to the fairgrounds and on Center to the baseball park. Five streetcars and five trailers were ordered, and the car barn was constructed at Schuyler Avenue and Broadway in Bradley by August 20.

The first streetcar operated on October 1, 1892, for company officials, city officials, and newspapermen. Regular half-hour service began on October 5 with a five-cent fare. For a period, the company enjoyed great success, as there were no automobiles. Everyone rode the streetcars from Kankakee to Bradley or Bourbonnais; the spurs to the old Brown's Baseball Park and the fairgrounds brought many riders, especially on Sundays and during fair week. The popularity of Hardebeck's Grove as a picnic grounds on the west outskirts of Bradley also furnished a great deal of passenger traffic for the company. The company had a colorful history, accompanied by both spectacular prosperity and acute hard times.

A winter scene at the NKEL&R car barn shows cars 1 and 2, lettered "For Bradley & Bourbonnais" on the dash, with an open trailer to the left and car 4 on the right. Like KER, the NKEL&R outfitted its original order of open-platform cars with ungainly end walls that oddly minimized glass usage.

One of only two double-truck streetcars to run in Kankakee was NKEL&R 108, an attractive 1899 St. Louis product that boasted distinctive St. Louis 18 trucks. It's pictured here in July 1918. Unfortunately, no good images have been found of that oval company herald.

The company purchased three additional streetcars and six trailers during the early 1900s, and in 1906 had 4.2 miles of trackage and 10 streetcars. Trackage rights with the Chicago & Southern Traction Company in 1905 gave impetus and added some income for the company; the interurban paid five cents for every passenger hauled into Kankakee. Originally the company had its own power plant in Bradley, known as the North Light and Railway Company, and furnished electricity to its overhead wires and the village of Bradley. Later, the power plant was sold to the interests which became the Kankakee Electric Light Company. The interurban supplied power from its substation in Monee for the overhead wires for the company between Kankakee and Bradley; electricity for the overhead between Bradley and Bourbonnais was purchased from the Kankakee Electric Light Company at about 1.5 cents a kilowatt (later became 3.5 cents).

The North Kankakee line's newest cars were two McGuire-Cumming single-truckers built in 1917, 114 and 116. Car 114 is shown here at the north end of the line at St. Viator's College, today Olivet Nazarene University. Both cars of this type survive today, with one at IRM. The car number of IRM's car has never been definitively established, but its sister car has been preserved as 114, so the assumption is that IRM's car is 116.

The last electric car to run in Kankakee was NKEL&R 110, shown here on the last day of service, November 30, 1932.

By 1914, only three streetcars were needed to maintain service, with five streetcars in reserve. In 1919, the company had yearly gross revenue of about $38,000. In 1923, Highway 44 was paved, which led to the arrival of automobiles and a sharp decline in ridership. When the interurban stopped running in 1925, the company tried to make up for the lost revenue by raising fares to eight cents.

Earnings dropped from $41,759 with 750,276 passengers in 1913 to $12,557 in 1928 with 235,670 passengers. By 1931, the yearly gross revenue was barely $6,000. The company faced receivership, but always paid its bills and never forfeited any of its bonds, which were very few and for small amounts. The stockholders recognized the inevitable and after the company received authority to abandon the system on June 25, 1932, the last streetcar operated on November 30, 1932. The Kankakee Motor Coach Company took over public transportation.

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.

Part III: Equipment Rosters

Kankakee Electric Railway

1-4 (four cars) - DE ST DR closed - Pullman, 1891 (order #710) - McGuire truck, WH motors (photo)

5 (one car) - DE ST DR closed - Pullman, 1893 (order #760) - McGuire truck, WH motors

5, 12, 14, 16 - ST open trailers - possibly purchased c1891-1894 - at least some cars motorized

6-9 (four cars) - DE ST AR Birney car - purchased secondhand in 1928, ex-Brockton & Plymouth Street Railway 351-354, renumbering order unknown (B&P 351-352 built by St. Louis, 1916 [order #1117] - St Louis 72A truck, 2 x GE 258A motors - built for Mahoning & Shenango Railway & Light, not delivered, sold 1916 to B&P) (B&P 353-354 built by Wason, 1919 [order #102D] - Brill 79E1 truck)

11 (one car) - DE ST AR ST closed - American, 1916 (order #1065) - Brill 21E truck, 28 seats - ex-Albany [GA] Transit 10, purchased secondhand 1922

12-14 (four cars) - DE ST AR closed - American, 1913 (order #978) - Brill 21E truck, 28 seats - ex-Albany [GA] Transit 2, 6, and 4, purchased secondhand 1922, car 8 also purchased (not renumbered - used for parts) - one car from 11-14 series, number unknown, preserved as a roadside diner in Gardner, IL

20-22 (three cars) - DE ST DR 10-bench open - Pullman, 1892 (order #715) - McGuire truck, WH motors

20-23 (four cars) - DE ST DR closed - St. Louis, 1905 - WH 92 motors, K-10 control, 32 seats

24-25 (two cars) - DE ST DR closed - St. Louis, 1910 (order #875) - St. Louis 71 truck, WH 92A motors, K-10 control, 32 seats

26 (one car) - DE ST DR closed - St. Louis, 1912? - later rebuilt to utility car

27 (one car) - DE ST DR closed - St. Louis, 1912?

30-31 (two cars) - DE ST AR super-lightweight - St. Louis, 1916 (order #1099) - St Louis 113 truck, 2 x WH 505X motors, K-10 control

451-series (four cars) - DE ST AR Birney cars - Wason, 1919 (order #103D) - Brill 79E1 truck - ex-Morris County Traction from 451-464 series (built as 201-214 series), purchased secondhand c1927, never renumbered or put into service

KER 4, shown near the beginning of the article when fairly new, is shown here at the end of its days.

In contrast, car 5, which was built a year later than cars 1-4, is pictured at the Pullman plant before it was fitted with homebuilt ends or with its McGuire truck.

KER 25 is pictured in a builder's photo taken in 1910. Its unusual St. Louis 71 truck, also known as a Wagner truck, permitted lateral movement of the journal boxes in an attempt to reduce flange wear on sharp curves.

This image is a complete mystery. KER is known to have had a car numbered 31, but it was a super-lightweight built in 1916, so the story behind this KER 31 is unknown.

North Kankakee Electric Light & Railway

1-3 (three cars) - DE ST DR closed - 2 x Thomson motors

4 (one car) - DE ST DR closed - 2 x GE 800 motors

5-7, 9 (four cars) - DE ST AR open trailers

11-12 (two cars) - DE ST open cars - 2 x WH 49 motors

108 (one car) - DE DT DR closed - St. Louis, 1899 (order #75) - St Louis 18 trucks, 4 x GE 1000 motors - likely built as number 5

110 (one car) - DE DT DR closed - 2 x WH 56 motors

114, 116 (two cars) - DE ST AR closed - McGuire-Cummings, 1917 - McGuire truck, 2 x GE 258 motors - both cars preserved (as bodies), one at Kankakee Railroad Museum, one at Illinois Railway Museum

This image is just another portion of the winter scene pictured earlier. NKEL&R 4, which unlike cars 1-3 was built with enclosed platforms, is in the foreground, with car 3 behind it.

This lineup at the NKEL&R barn prominently shows car 5 (later renumbered 108), with car 4 and other single-truckers following. The company wasn't very particular about its name; the full NKEL&R company name is emblazoned on the barn, but car 5 reads "North Kankakee Street Railway Co." while car 4 has "North Kankakee Railway Co." painted on its side.

In July 1918, car 4 sits in front of the NKEL&R barn. It wears a simpler livery than when it was new but "To Bradley & Bourbonnais" is still painted across its end.

Part IV: Route Map

Click here for a Kankakee street railway route map

Click here to return to the Scalzo History Collection index page