The Peoria Railway Company
by Stephen M. Scalzo
Headline image: Northbound Birney 466 passes southbound trolley bus 602 on Adams at Main Street in downtown Peoria. This scene today is unrecognizable, with the giant Caterpillar administration building taking up the entire block to the right. All photos are from the Stephen Scalzo Collection of the Illinois Railway Museum except where noted.
Peoria is located in mid-Illinois along the Illinois River, and is the county seat for Peoria County. By 1860, the city had a population of 14,000 that was located in an area of about 40 blocks between the river and the river valley bluffs. It soon became apparent that some means of public transportation was needed from the riverfront business community to the surrounding area to carry the citizens.
The first company that took steps to provide rail transit service in Peoria was the Central City Horse Railway (CCHR), which was organized on February 21, 1867, with $100,000 of capital. In 1869, that company was granted a franchise by the state legislature, and on January 15, 1870, the first four horsecars, each with a capacity of 18 passengers, operated over a line from Hamilton Street on Adams Street to South Street, a distance of 1.6 miles. The fare was five cents, and cars operated every five minutes between 5:30am and 12:00 midnight; it took 45 minutes for each car to make a round trip. Later that year, the line was extended to Central Park near Abington Street. In its first year, the company earned $20,382.
This picture was taken some time after the horsecar era, by which time this car was a relic, but it probably shows an original CCHR car.
In 1871, the City granted a franchise to the Peoria Horse Railway Company (PHR), which had been incorporated on February 18, 1865, with $100,000 of capital. The company, delayed by financial problems, did not begin operating its first route until June 1, 1872. Horsecars operated over trackage from Harrison Street to Washington Street, on Washington to Main Street, and on Main to Elizabeth Street (later renamed Sheridan Road). An extra team of horses was needed to pull the cars up the Main Street hill, and a hand-operated turntable was installed at Elizabeth Street. The company eventually operated 11 horsecars and 22 horses over 2.4 miles of trackage.
The PHR was foreclosed on November 29, 1876, and was reorganized as the Peoria City Horse Railway on December 2. At the end of 1876, the company was purchased by the CCHR; horsecars then operated down Main Street to Adams, to Chestnut Street (later renamed State Street), and then to Union Station. Within 10 more years, the company was operating 12 miles of trackage with 59 horsecars, 100 horses, and 35 mules.
FCHR horsecar 10, a two-horse, double-end car, in operation in Peoria, date and location unknown.
FCHR open horsecar 20, shown at Springdale Road according to the writing on the print.
The Fort Clark Horse Railway (FCHR) was organized on May 17, 1873, by rival real estate backers, with John H. Hull, Jacob Darst, John D. French, W.E.S. Bunn, and Jacob Littleton as commissioners. The company began operating a new six-mile line on July 3 with 14 horsecars. After only one year, the system was operating 32 horsecars and 80 mules. Eventually the company operated several routes from the intersection of Franklin and Second Streets: one route followed Franklin and Bridge Streets to Water Street; a second route followed Second, Spencer, Smith, McReynolds, South Madison, Howett, Shelby, and Lincoln Streets west to the city limits; and a third route followed Franklin, Monroe, Mary, and Perry Streets east to the city limits. In 1874, another line was built from the intersection of Jefferson and Second Streets to Harrison Street, along Harrison to Adams Street, and then along Adams and Main to Monroe Street. In 1890, ridership was 73,750, with earnings of $38,063.
Three other horsecar lines were formed in 1885 and 1886. The Central Horse & Cable Railway (CHCR) was organized on March 11, 1885, and after receiving a franchise, constructed a line on Main Street west of Elizabeth Street to a watch factory. Service began on May 30, 1886, on the initial trackage. The remaining trackage of the system was not constructed until 1888, when the name was changed from the Main Street line to the West Bluff line. The Peoria Horse & Cable Railway (PHCR) was organized in 1886, and constructed the Hurlburt Street line; construction began in April and horsecar service began in May. The East Bluff Peoria Horse Railway (EBPHR) was organized on August 18, 1886, and after receiving a franchise in September, completed a single-mile line up the Knoxville Avenue Hill by January of 1887, which was then leased to the CCHR. The EBPHR and the PHCR were subsidiary companies of the CCHR.
CR 101, shown in 1889 when new, was the first electric car to run in Peoria. Its trolley pole is a very early Sprague design and it has enclosed vestibule, a very unusual feature for electric cars of the day. It is pictured on North Adams at Wayne Street.
CR 107 tows a quintet of single-truck open cars, surely repurposed horsecars, for a St. Joseph school picnic on June 25, 1890.
On April 20, 1888, the Central Railway (CR) was organized with $50,000 of capital by H.R. Woodward, Eliot Callender, and Samuel A. Kinsey. The new company then purchased the CCHR, CHCR, PHCR, and EBPHR on January 5, 1889. Soon afterwards, the company was given permission to use electricity to operate streetcars. A Thomson-Houston system was chosen for installation, and construction began immediately. On September 26, 1889, the first electric cars operated on Adams Street along with the horsecars, which were still operating. That new type of motive power soon proved very successful, and before long, every company was using electric cars. Those early electric streetcars had 15-horsepower motors and a short wooden trolley pole with a wheel at one end to collect power from a wire that was located over the street. Within one year there were 31 electric streetcars and 60 trailers operating over 13 miles of trackage.
When the city council opposed the FCHR using electric streetcars, the company announced plans to operate gas motorcars. However, the FCHR was quickly reorganized into the Fort Clark Street Railway (FCSR) on March 11, 1892, with the articles of incorporation allowing the use of electric streetcars. The Thomson-Houston Company then agreed to install an electric system, and the initial electric streetcar line began operating on the Monroe and Lincoln lines on May 12, 1893. By 1894, the company operated 14 miles of track with 20 streetcars. The depression of 1894 wiped out the company's backers, and the company went into receivership on January 24, 1895. The company was reorganized by the bondholders as the Peoria & Fort Clark Street Railway (P&FC) on August 23, 1895, with $150,000 of capital. On Adams and Main Streets, the P&FC trackage ran parallel to the CR trackage because the two companies could not reach a usage agreement. As a result, the P&FC was unable to effectively compete, and the company was finally sold to the CR on August 27, 1895.
Most electric streetcars of the early 1890s were single-truckers, but CR ordered a dozen of these gangly-looking double-truckers between 1891 and 1893. Nicknamed "Moguls," they were fitted with "portable vestibules" as shown during the winter.
A southbound single-trucker and a northbound "Mogul," both apparently towing open trailers, pass on Adams Street in downtown Peoria sometime around the turn of the century.
The CR also operated three subsidiary companies. The first one, the Lakeside Electric Railway, was organized on April 2, 1890, constructing trackage north on Adams Street into the Village of Averyville; horsecar service began in September 1891, and was converted to electric streetcar service on February 2, 1892. The second one, the Richwoods Street Railway, was incorporated on April 2, 1895, with $50,000 of capital; after constructing trackage from the north end of the Knoxville line over Corrington and California Streets to the racetrack and beginning streetcar service in September, it was merged into the parent company on December 23. The third company, the Peoria & Northwestern Railway, was organized in September of 1895 to initially build a steam or gas-electric line. That company was purchased by the City of Prospects Heights Street Railway, which was incorporated on April 27, 1895, with $150,000 of capital; however the company was quickly reorganized as the Glen Oak & Prospect Heights Railway, which was organized on May 9, 1896. Construction began shortly thereafter on the 3.4-mile electric line to Prospect Heights, and streetcar service began on March 9, 1897, using 23 streetcars. The line operated from the Peoria business district over trackage on Glendale, Jackson, and Berkley Streets to Pennsylvania Street, where trackage to Prospect Heights (later renamed Peoria Heights) was over the same streets that used it until 1946. The company was again reorganized into the Peoria & Prospect Heights Street Railway, which was incorporated on December 17, 1897. The CR purchased the company on April 13, 1903.
In December of 1891, the Peoria Rapid Transit Company (PRT) was organized with John S. Stevens, Isaac Taylor, and Luke S. Stevens as commissioners, and the company built trackage and operated cars on Fifth, Sixth, and Monroe Streets. However, the company was acquired by the CR in 1895. By 1895, there were three separate railway companies operating in Peoria; each entered the business district over different tracks, and no interchanging transfers were given. Thus, travel from one section of the city to another was impossible without having to change streetcars and pay another fare. However, by 1896, the CR owned all of the streetcar lines operating within the city with the exception of the Peoria Heights line. The Heights line was finally purchased on April 13, 1903, and for the first time, all the formerly separate line were operated by one company.
Open car 51, built in 1898, crosses the spindly wooden trestle that spanned the Rock Island & Peoria Railroad in Prospect Heights from 1897 until a replacement steel structure was built in 1902. As a point of trivia, if you left St. Louis on the Illinois Traction System, the furthest north you could get via contiguous electric railway wasn't on the ITS at all - it was the north end of Peoria's Heights car line.
Single-trucker 242 and another single-trucker also built in the first decade of the century pass each other at Main and Adams in front of the Peoria courthouse.
The Peoria Railway Company (PR) was incorporated on May 5, 1906, by McKinley interests, and that company purchased the CR. Considerable expansion and improvements then took place. Fifty new PAYE streetcars were ordered to replace older equipment and placed into service in 1905. By 1907, the company's earnings were $550,625. A new 4,000-kilowatt power station was built at Water and Walnut Streets, and in 1911, double tracks were laid on Main Street from Elizabeth to Western Avenue. Extension of lines and more double-tracking also took place. A shortage of coal, which was used to provide power for the generators, during the winter of 1919 caused streetcar service to be cut back 50 percent. On May 14, 1920, the Streetcar Men's union went out on strike for higher wages and service was not resumed until May 17, 13 days later. Wartime wage increases resulted in a seven-cent fare on June 21, 1920. Despite those problems, the company earned $1,316,245 in 1920. In 1922, the first gasoline motor buses were added to the system. On August 1, 1922, new "Three Class" streetcar fares were ordered into effect by the Illinois Commerce Commission. Fares were five cents for everyone having a 50-cent monthly commutation or identification card, seven tokens for 50 cents, 10 cents for those who did not have monthly commutation cards, and four cents for children.
The Illinois Power & Light Company (IP&L) purchased the PR in May of 1923. The city council approved the operation of all lines with one-man streetcars in April. During November of 1923, the company began placing new lightweight four-wheel Birney streetcars into service, with eventually 80 of those streetcars being operated. Those streetcars were operated by one man, an economy move intended to keep down costs because of the rapid growth of automobile usage. By 1924, Birney cars had been substituted for most of the older streetcars, with the remaining large streetcars converted to one-man operation. Under the guidance of IP&L, the transit system grew and prospered in Peoria. Buses were purchased during 1924 to provide service in areas which were not served by streetcars. On November 30, 1926, the Glendale and Johnson Street trackage was abandoned, and replaced with a double-track connection on Pennsylvania from Knoxville to Glendale. On February 12, 1927, the Illinois Commerce Commission ordered that the steel streetcar viaduct over the Rock Island Railroad tracks in Peoria Heights be removed within six months in order to facilitate repaving Prospect Road; streetcar service continued there but at street level.
Most of the Peoria streetcar fleet was comprised of single-truckers, but there were 15 of these big double-truck cars built in 1907 by American. Car 806 is shown near the end of its service life in East Peoria, probably in Caterpillar tripper service. Photo by R.V. Mehlenbeck.
Newer double-truck streetcars in Peoria included the 300-series of steel cars built between 1914 and 1917. The class car is shown in original condition, with an ungainly fender draped over the front end, on Bradley Avenue at the Institute (today Bradley University).
On Sunday, August 1, 1927, streetcar service on the Second and Sixth Avenue lines was abandoned because of deteriorated trackage, and replaced with buses. The Second Street line ran on Second from Jefferson to Seventh and on Seventh to Western Avenue, with parts of the trackage being the famed Rapid Transit and Fort Clark lines in the old mule car days.
On March 1, 1928, fares were increased to 10 cents in order to meet increased operating costs. On October 29, 1930, the Illinois Commerce Commission approved abandonment of streetcar service on the Galena Road line from the end of the Adams Street car line at Lorentz Street out to the I.V.Y. Club because of the lack of passengers. On November 12, 1930, the Monroe streetcar line was abandoned because the tracks were in disrepair. The Monroe line ran on Jefferson Street to Hamilton Street, on Hamilton to Monroe Street, on Monroe to Abington Street, on Abington to the Cemetery Road, and along the northwest side of that road to the Springdale Cemetery.
It's 1916 in downtown Peoria and Adams Street is graced by a cross-section of open and closed single-truck cars, 800-series double-truckers, and one- and two-car Illinois Traction System interurban trains.
Peoria tried standard Birneys but they couldn't handle the crowds; larger cars with double-stream front doors and single-stream rear doors, among the largest Birneys ever built, became the standard. A "ground man" would control boarding at the rear door at heavy traffic spots. Two of the bigger single-truckers pass on California at Forest Hill. Photo by R.V. Mehlenbeck.
Peoria became one of the relatively few Illinois cities to introduce trolley bus service. Starting from the old North Monroe Street barn, the trackless buses operated on Monroe to Hamilton Street, down Hamilton to Adams Street, on Adams to Franklin Street, up Franklin to Jefferson Street, on Jefferson to Hamilton, and then over the same route to the end of Monroe Street. At the same time, streetcars on the Lincoln line were linked with those of the Knoxville line.
The IP&L offices were moved on November 22, 1930, to the newly completed Illinois Terminal station at Adams and Walnut Streets, where they were to remain until the company quit the transit business. As the Depression continued and automobile usage became more abundant, IP&L decided to curtail service on streetcar lines that had little passenger traffic. In April of 1933, the North Adams streetcar line was cut back from Lorentz Street to Camblin Street when the state repaved that section, with the Monroe Street trolley bus line being extended over North Adams Street when the construction was completed in December. By 1935, the company had 100 streetcars, six trolley buses, and 32 motor coaches in operation.
An IP&L line truck installs trolley bus overhead at Monroe and Hamilton, likely in 1933.
A particularly photogenic part of the Peoria streetcar system was the East Peoria line over the Illinois Terminal bridge. Here, Birney 456 descends on its return trip from the east side of the river.
On October 31, 1936, the Garden Street shuttle streetcar service was replaced by buses. In December of 1937, two new trolley buses were purchased for use on the extended Monroe Street line. On August 31, 1936, streetcar service from the junction of Prospect and Seiberling Streets to the Peoria Country Club on the Heights line was abandoned. On May 5, 1937, the company changed its name to the Illinois-Iowa Power Company (IIP).
On December 16, 1938, the trackage on South Jefferson Street from Main to Lincoln was abandoned in order to facilitate the repaving of the street. The Knoxville-Lincoln streetcars were rerouted over the Adams Street tracks, and at Lincoln a new track extension was built from the South Adams tracks up Lincoln to the existing tracks; also a cutoff was built at Linden Street on Lincoln to the existing tracks on Howett.
Birney 444 is eastbound on Walnut just east of Adams, passing Illinois Terminal combine 275 sitting in the cramped yard behind the IT passenger station. The oval IP&L emblem has been replaced by an IIP roundel on the side of the streetcar.
An unusually late snowstorm has one of the company's four-wheel McGuire-Cumming sweepers out on Knoxville Avenue at Arcadia on April 10, 1931 to clear the tracks. Photo by R.V. Mehlenbeck.
During the winter of 1939, ice caked streetcar tracks, caused by heavy snow, blizzards, and low temperatures, completely halting streetcar service throughout Peoria for the first time since the advent of electric operations. That disruption lasted four days while IIP regular and emergency crews battled night and day to restore streetcar service. The major portion of the trouble was attributed to automobiles driving on the tracks in the fast-falling snow and packing the snow to icy hardness. As quickly as the ice was cleared, continued auto traffic recreated the problem, and the work of clearing had to be repeated. In the meantime, every available motor bus was pressed into service and most of them ran without regard to schedules.
Track mileage had dropped from 42.37 to 34.5 miles between 1935 and 1940, and 10,506,328 riders were carried in 1938. On July 1, 1939, there were a number of streetcar re-routings. The Hurlburt streetcar line was consolidated with the North Adams line and the Heights streetcar line with the South Adams Street line. Buses too over all "owl" service on the Heights line. The Main-Bradley streetcars, which formerly served Union Station, were cut back to the downtown area. The North Adams line was routed to Union Station.
Garden Street in southwest Peoria is the site of this slice of mid-century Americana, with neighborhood boys playing while a streetcar passes in the background.
Birney 478 is crossing the IT Illinois River bridge on March 28, 1946, heading back to Peoria. Photo by Gordon E. Lloyd.
On June 2, 1940, buses replaced streetcars on the Sheridan Road line, and the tracks were later removed when the street was repaved. On the same day, regular streetcar service to Union Station ended, and the Main-Bradley streetcars were extended to the Illinois Terminal station. World War II, however, halted any further abandonments; tire and gasoline rationing compelled the people of Peoria to rely on IIP for their transportation. The only real auto traffic developed in the early morning and late afternoon hours. The Peoria system was the only city transit system operated by the parent Illinois Power & Light Company at the beginning of World War II.
On April 19, 1943, to rectify congestion on streetcars and buses, three major changes were made for the 30,676 industrial workers and 3,187 office workers in the Peoria area so that the transit equipment could more efficiently handle the crowds. First, "skip stop" bus systems were put into effect. Second, all shifts at Caterpillar Tractor Company were moved back 15 minutes. Third, the shifts of all other industrial plants and all offices in the business district were moved up 15 minutes. Those changes helped to ease the wear and tear on the transit equipment because every piece of equipment - 72 streetcars, seven trolley buses, and 59 gas and diesel buses - was in service during peak hours. On November 1, 1943, the company again changed its name; it was shortened to the Illinois Power Company (IPC).
The Caterpillar plant in East Peoria was a major source of traffic for the streetcar system. Here, car 355 leads off a procession of three 300s and five Birneys awaiting shift change at the plant.
Car 448 passes the Peoria courthouse westbound on Main Street on March 26, 1946. The square emblem on the side of the car reads Illinois Power Company.
In 1944, streetcar and bus travel was up 20% over 1943, while a similar increase had taken place during 1943 over 1942. However the company was struggling along without new parts for repairs, and a shortage of mechanics and operators. Eight to 10 buses and streetcars were being overhauled daily for emergency use, with eight to 10 more laid up until equipment and repairs could be effected. Many buses were operated that were short of parts, and major streetcar repairs were deferred due to the pressing need to transport passengers. In 1945, ridership was 19,337,260.
In 1946, the Security and Exchange Commission ruled that privately owned electric companies could not operate transit systems. That ruling helped to doom streetcar operations in Peoria. Additionally, the city council scheduled the consideration of the granting of a new franchise on the evening of April 2, 1946, as the IPC transit franchise was scheduled to expire in the fall; however, an unforeseen event was to complicate the situation.
The Peoria streetcar system was unusual in Illinois: outside of Chicago, it was one of only two systems that ran trolley buses and one of only two that lasted past World War II, well into the color film era. Here, Birney 471 is shown in the waning days of the streetcar system.
It's July 2, 1946, and the storage yard off Jefferson Street is chock full of streetcars and, in the background, motor buses as IPC employees go on strike.
On April 2, approximately 40 passengers on one of the large Heights streetcars suffered varying degrees of injury and shock at 7:30am when the air brakes failed; 12 passengers were taken to the hospital. The streetcar careened out of control at high speed down the Knoxville Avenue hill, finally smashing to a stop against a heavy steel guywire post when it failed to negotiate the turn from Knoxville onto Globe.
That evening the city council unanimously awarded a 20-year all-bus franchise to the Peoria Transportation Company (PTC), which was said to be a dummy corporation for the National City Lines. The accident earlier in the day was said to have had much to do with the bus company getting the franchise. Immediately, an engineering study was started to determine where new bus routes and those streetcar routes to be replaced by buses would be located. Three problems developed: some streetcar lines on the south side ran on their own private right-of-way, most city streets were not built to handle the big, heavy buses, and most streetcar operators had to be trained to drive a bus because most of them had never driven an automobile.
Since the IPC franchise did not expire until September 14, a short-lived transit war developed. A strike by employees between June 27 and July 4, 1946, and the realization that the IPC was not willing to lose its investment and merely set aside quickly resulted in the purchase of the IPC's Peoria holdings on September 27 by the PTC. Finally, on October 2, 1946, the last streetcar operated in Peoria. The streetcar barns on the south side, on Main Street, and in the Heights had earlier been closed, leaving only the barn on Jefferson Street in operation at the time of abandonment. A fleet of 65 buses took over transit service which prior to that time had been operated by 125 pieces of equipment. The overhead wires were removed and scrapped, and the remaining streetcars were scrapped in the storage yard. The seven trolley buses were sold to Des Moines, Iowa, for further use.
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.
Equipment Roster
1-14 (14 cars) - ST DR DE six-window closed cars - built 1892 by St. Louis - originally FCSR 101-107 and 201-207, re# by CR c1895, rebuilt with closed vestibules c1899, four cars resold to Argenta, Arkansas
50-54 (five cars) - ST DR DE 10-bench open cars - built 1898 by Laclede - McGuire truck - originally Peoria & Prospect Heights
55-59 (five cars) - ST DR DE 10-bench open cars - built 1902 by Laclede - McGuire truck - originally Peoria & Prospect Heights
56-57 (II) (two cars) - DT RR DE suburban cars - built 1903 by St. Louis (order #401) - St L 23A trucks, 4 x GE 57 motors, K-14 control - acquired secondhand from Chicago Ottawa & Peoria in 1920, returned to CO&P in 1927
61 (one car) - ST DE 9-bench open trailer - builder/year unknown - possibly one of five trailers purchased 1897 by Peoria & Prospect Heights
101-115 (I) (15 cars) - ST DR DE six-window closed cars - built 1889 by St. Louis - 2 x Thomson-Houston motors - built with closed vestibules, originally used on Adams, re# to 300-series in 1890 for use on Knoxville, re# to 500-series in 1893 for use on Rapid Transit line
101-112 (II) (12 cars) - DT DR DE nine-window closed cars - built 1891-1893 by Laclede - nicknamed "Moguls," one car resold in 1909 to Taylorville
101-107 (III) (seven cars) - ST DR DE six-window closed cars - built 1897, builder unknown - McGuire truck, 2 x WH 12A motors - possibly ex-Peoria & Prospect Heights 1-7, car 103 rebuilt as line car, 104 rebuilt as work car, 105 rebuilt as wreck car
116-127 (12 cars) - ST DR DE six-window closed cars - built 1890 by St. Louis - rebuilt with closed vestibules c1899
132-133 (two cars) - DT DR DE ten-window closed cars - built 1905 by American (order #606) - Brill 27G trucks, 4 x GE 1000 motors, K-28 control - ex-Danville Street Railway & Light 132-133, acquired in 1928
134 (one car) - DT DR DE ten-window closed car - built 1902 by Stephenson - Brill 27G trucks, 2 x GE 80 motors, K-10 control - originally Danville Urbana & Champaign, later Danville Street Railway & Light 134, acquired in 1928
146 (one car) - DT DR DE ten-window closed car - built 1900 by Stephenson - Brill 27G trucks, 2 x GE 80 motors, K-10 control - built for Metropolitan Railway (Washington, DC), sold 1901 to Danville Paxton & Northern, later Danville Street Railway & Light 146, acquired in 1928
150, 151, 155 (three cars) - DT RR DE 12-window closed trailers - built 1908 by Danville - acquired secondhand from Chicago Ottawa & Peoria in 1917, returned in 1927
201-207 (seven cars) - ST DE six-window closed cars - built 1890 by St. Louis
208 (one car) - ST DE closed car - built 1893, builder unknown
209-210 (two cars) - ST DR DE closed cars - built 1901 by Laclede - car 209 rebuilt as work car
211-216 (six cars) - ST DR DE seven-window closed cars - built 1902 by Laclede - McGuire truck
217-222 (six cars) - ST DR DE seven-window closed cars - built 1903 by American (order #495) - McGuire truck
223-231 (nine cars) - ST DR DE seven-window closed cars - built 1904 by American (order #548) - McGuire truck
232-249 (18 cars) - ST DR DE seven-window closed cars - built 1905 by American (order #607) - three cars including 232 sold to Ottawa
250-259 (10 cars) - ST DR DE seven-window closed cars - built 1906 by American (order #675) - car 250 burned in 1918
250 (II) (one car) - ST closed car - secondhand body purchased from Terre Haute and placed on truck from original car 250
260-269 (10 cars) - ST DR DE closed cars - built 1909 by Danville (order #522) - Brill 21E truck, 2 x GE 80 motors, K-10 control - cars 263, 264, and 269 sold to Chicago Ottawa & Peoria in 1923
270-273 (four cars) - ST DR DE seven-window closed cars - built 1911 by American - Curtis CS 58-96 truck, 2 x GE 216 motors, K-36 control - built for Wichita, Kansas, but not put into service, acquired by Peoria in 1912, car 270 rebuilt to wreck car c1920s, car 271 rebuilt to line car c1920s, car 272 rebuilt to work car c1920s
301-315 (I) - renumbered 1890 from cars 101-115 (I), which see
300-303 (II) (four cars) - DT AR DE closed cars - built 1914 by St. Louis (order #1017) - St L 99B trucks, 2 x GE 216 motors, K-36 control - rebuilt 1923 to one-man
304-306 (three cars) - DT AR DE closed cars - built 1917 by St. Louis (order #1136) - St L 106A trucks, 2 x GE 216 motors, K-36 control - rebuilt 1923 to one-man
350-364 (15 cars) - DT AR DE closed cars - built 1918 by St. Louis (order #1148) - St L 123 trucks, 4 x GE 258C motors, K-12 control - rebuilt 1923 to one-man
365-367 (three cars) - DT AR DE closed cars - built 1918 by St. Louis (order #1154) - St L 123 trucks, 4 x GE 258C motors, K-12A control - built as Danville Street Railway & Light 160-162, sold to Illinois Terminal 360-362 in 1932, acquired by Peoria in 1934
400-415 (16 cars) - ST DE nine-bench open cars - built 1892 by Laclede
416-423 (eight cars) - ST DE 10-bench open cars - built 1893 by Laclede
424-443 (20 cars) - ST DE 10-bench open cars - built 1896 by Laclede - of cars 400-443, originally they ran only in the summer and exchanged trucks and equipment with closed cars; later some cars acquired trucks and equipment permanently, while others were made into trailers; all gone by 1927
400-419 (II) (20 cars) - ST AR DE Birney safety cars - built 1921 by American (order #1264) - Brill 79E truck, 2 x GE 264 motors, K-10A control - renumbered 100-119 in 1923 and transferred to other IP&P properties
420-469 (II) (50 cars) - ST AR DE Birney safety cars - built 1923 by American (order #1317) - Brill 79E truck, 2 x GE 264 motors, K-10AR control - double doors at front, single door at rear
470-479 (10 cars) - ST AR DE Birney safety cars - built 1924 by American (order #1371) - Brill 79E truck, 2 x GE 264 motors, K-10AR control - double doors at front, single door at rear; cars 426-430 renumbered in 1940 to assume numbers of other cars in this series scrapped at that time
500-509 (I) (10 cars) - renumbered 1893 from cars in the 301-315 (I) series, which see
500-507 (II) (eight cars) - ST AR DE Birney safety cars - built 1924 by American (order #1390) - Brill 79E truck, 2 x GE 264 motors, K-10A control - acquired secondhand from Champaign-Urbana in 1930, original Champaign numbers uncertain, used in "owl" service
801-813 (13 cars) - DT DR SE closed cars - built 1907 by American (order #717) - Brill 27G1 trucks, 4 x GE 80 motors, K-35GR2 control - car 806 badly damaged by fire and rebuilt as DE in 1918; cars 805, 806, and 811 rebuilt 1920s to DE
814-815 (two cars) - DT DR DE closed cars - built 1907 by American (add-on to order #717) - Brill 27G1 trucks, 4 x GE 80 motors, K-35GR2 control
Work Equipment
1, 2, 6 (three cars) - ST salt cars - homebuilt 1896 - rebuilt from old horsecar bodies
7 (one car) - ST salt car - built 1894 - McGuire 11A truck
1-2, 4-8 (seven cars) - ST snow plow - homebuilt 1890
100-101 (two cars) - ST sprinkler - built 1896 by Studebaker - McGuire truck, 2 x WH motors
103 (one car) - ST line car - built 1897 - rebuilt from streetcar of same number, which see
104 (one car) - ST work car - built 1897 - rebuilt from streetcar of same number, which see
105 (one car) - ST wreck car - built 1897 - rebuilt from streetcar of same number, which see
209 (one car) - ST work car - built 1901 by Laclede - rebuilt from streetcar of same number, which see
270 (one car) - ST wreck car - built 1911 by American - rebuilt from streetcar of same number, which see
271 (one car) - ST line car - built 1911 by American - rebuilt from streetcar of same number, which see
272 (one car) - ST work car - built 1911 by American - rebuilt from streetcar of same number, which see
1001-1002 (two cars) - ST AR DE snow sweepers - built 1910 by McGuire-Cummings - McGuire truck, 2 x GE 67 motors
1003 (one car) - ST AR DE snow sweeper - built by McGuire-Cummings - McGuire truck, 2 x WH 49 motors, K-10 control - acquired secondhand c1931 from Quincy Railway (unnumbered)
1004 (one car) - ST AR DE snow sweeper - built by McGuire-Cummings - acquired secondhand c1931 from Galesburg Railway Lighting & Power
1005 (one car) - ST AR DE snow sweeper - built by McGuire-Cummings - acquired secondhand c1936 from Kewanee Public Service 110
(no number) (one car) - ST work trailer - Peckham truck
Trolley Buses
601-605 (five buses) - model T40 - built 1931 by Brill - resold 1946 to Des Moines Railway 218-222
606-607 (two buses) - built 1937 by St. Louis (order #1594) - resold 1946 to Des Moines Railway 223-224
Among the earliest cars to run in Peoria were the 116-127 series built in 1890. Here, car 116 is shown in service on Adams Street sometime in the 1890s.
Car 107, one of the double-truck "Moguls" built in 1891-1893, is shown in as-built condition. The car appears to have Bemis #29 trucks, an early single-motor design with an offset bolster.
Car 111 is shown later in life, probably c1900-1905, with its "portable vestibules" installed. It's acquired different trucks, apparently of Barney & Smith design.
Open car 402 was built by Laclede in 1892 as part of CR's first order for open cars.
Car 223, one of nearly 50 cars of this design built in the early 1900s, is pictured at Bradley and Western around 1905. The motorman is Andrew Kenega.
Car 246 is shown in an American Car Company's builder's photo.
This interior photo shows how the 200-series single-truckers looked inside.
Double-truck car 351, one of 15 built by St. Louis in 1918, is snowbound on Main at Glendale. Snow sweeper 1005, purchased secondhand from Kewanee in 1936, is behind it. Photo by R.V. Mehlenbeck, Krambles-Peterson Archive.
Car 431 was an example of the classic Peoria Birney, with double-stream front doors and single-stream rear doors. In later years, the rear doors were deactivated - note the lack of steps at the rear. "For indigestion - Taber's Tablets, 30-60 cents at your druggist."
On August 17, 1946, just a couple of weeks before the streetcar era in Peoria would end forever, Tom Desnoyers snapped car 469 southbound on Adams crossing the CRI&P. The netting over the trolley wire is to prevent the car from losing power and getting stranded on the railroad crossing due to an untimely dewirement.
Only four systems in Illinois ever ran trolley buses: Chicago, Peoria, Rockford, and the Illinois Railway Museum. Here, new Brill trolley buses are in operation on Monroe Street. Only a year newer than CSL 84, preserved at IRM, their design has already been refined with smoothed corners and partially steel roofs.
Line car 271 was rebuilt from a single-trucker that was originally built for a McKinley property in Kansas.
Work car 272 is pictured, possibly in the North Jefferson yard, on March 28, 1946. For whatever reason, the car doesn't seem to have trolley hooks and it looks like the pole is tied down to the coupler. Photo by Gordon E. Lloyd.
Route Map
The North Adams Street carbarn is shown in a 1902 Sanborn fire insurance map
This is the Monroe Street carbarn in a 1902 Sanborn fire insurance map
The South Adams Street carbarn was built in 1903 and doesn't appear on available 1902 Sanborn maps, but is the only Peoria streetcar barn still standing.
Excellent article! I didn't realize that Peoria had such an extensive and long-lived horsecar system. Thanks for posting this.
ReplyDelete