Tri City Railway Company

IRM recently acquired a trove of historical materials from the collection of the late Steve Scalzo, a museum supporter and noted traction historian who focused a great deal of attention and research work on the smaller interurban and street railway systems of Illinois. One of these companies was the Tri City Railway Company of Rock Island, a system which at one time  had well over 100 streetcars yet is practically unknown today. Relatively few photos of the line have been published and never, to my knowledge, has a company rolling stock roster been published.

Until now!

Sure enough, in Mr Scalzo's files there is are copies of an original TCR company roster dated April 1918. Photos (albeit not great quality photos) of the six pages of this roster are at the bottom of this post, following a condensed summary roster. This is not an all-time roster, in that any cars retired before 1918 or acquired after that date are not included. That's a sizable group: some 90 cars were destroyed in a 1913 car barn fire and don't appear on this roster. Even so it does have an incredible amount of information on the cars TCR owned as of 1918 and a bit of information has been added from other sources to fill in a few of the gaps. Photos are from www.newdavesrailpix.com except where noted.

Single truck (closed)

1-50 (50 cars) - St Louis Car 1891, L=26'7", McGuire truck, 2xGE 57 motors, K-11 control, ? seats, hand brake (a)

Rock Island County Historical Society

Retro Quad Cities

Rock Island County Historical Society

eBay listing

Retro Quad Cities

Augustana College

51-62 - LaClede 1892 - all cars gone before 1918

83 - Tri-City Railway (year?), L=26'11", 2xGE 52 motors, K-10 control, ? seats, hand brake

unknown single-trucker, may be #246, photo from Retro Quad cities

247 - St Louis Car (year?), L=26'7", 2xGE 52 motors, K-10 control, ? seats, hand brake (b)

Electric Railway Review

Photo from SchuetzenPark.info

Stephen Scalzo Photo Collection, Illinois Railway Museum

253-258, 266, 268, 269 (9 cars) - Tri-City Railway 1907, L=33'0", Peckham 11 truck, 2xGE 80 motors, 28 seats, hand brake (c)

270-279 (10 cars) - Cincinnati 1909 ord#1080, L=32'10", Peckham 11 truck, 2xGE 80 motors, 28 seats (c.2)

Stephen Scalzo Collection, Illinois Railway Museum

Double truck (closed)
6, 8, 10 - Stephenson (1902), L=41'0", McGuire trucks, 4xGE 67 motors, K-6 control, 44 seats, Christianson AA1 pump (d)

Retro Quad Cities

Oops. Retro Quad Cities

Augustana College

Augustana College

12, 14 - Cincinnati 1905 ord#145, L=43'5", McGuire trucks, 4 x GE 67 motors, K-6 control, 44 seats, Christianson AA1 pump (e)

53 - builder/year?, L=38'10", Std O-50 trucks, 4xGE 80 motors, K-28B control, 40 seats, Christianson AB1 pump (e.1)

79, 81 - builder/year?, L=36'0", McGuire trucks, 2xGE 67 motors, K-10 control, 36 seats, Christianson AA1 pump (f)

Electric Railway Review

200-207, 209-210, 212-213, 216-217, 219, 222, 227, 230-232, 237 (21 cars) - Tri-City Railway 1900-1903, L=40'7", Brill 27G trucks, 4xGE 52 motors, K-12 control, 40 seats, Christianson AA1 pump (g)

Jim Reep Photo / Retro Quad Cities

Krambles-Peterson Archive

Car 219 in Bridge Line green; Retro Quad Cities photo

211, 214-215, 218, 220-221, 223-226, 234, 236 (12 cars) - Tri-City Railway 1901-1903, L=40'7", Brill 27G trucks, 4xGE 52 motors, K-12 control, 44 seats, Christianson AA1 pump (h)

Period postcard showing car 241

What appears to be a 238-243 series car is shown on the causeway to Grand Isle (today known as Credit Island) - Retro Quad Cities

238-241 (4 cars) - St Louis Car 1904 ord#463A, L=41'2", St Louis O-O trucks, 4xGE 70 motors, K-28B control, 36 seats, GE CP27 pump (i)

Period postcard showing a 238-243 series car at bottom center

Car 243 was involved in a wreck with a CD&M interurban car on October 13, 1926 (the CD&M car had recently been purchased by that line from Tri-City Railway)

242-243 - St Louis Car 1904 ord#463A, L=41'2", Standard O-50 trucks, 4xGE 80 motors, K-28B control, ? seats, GE CP27 pump (j)

244 - Tri-City Railway 1917, L=42'2", Brill 27G trucks, 4xGE 52 motors, K-12 control, 44 seats, GE CP27 pump (j.1)

Car 284 after conversion to a salt spreader; photo from Iowa Trolleys

280-285 (6 cars) - Chicago Surface Lines 1917, L=39'8", Curtis trucks, 4xGE 52 motors, K-12 control, 40 seats, Christianson AA1 pump (k)

Stephen Scalzo Collection, Illinois Railway Museum

303-306 (4 cars) - St Louis Car 1917, L=37'10", Brill 39E1 trucks, 2xGE 80 motors, K-10 control, 40 seats, Christianson AA1 pump (m)

Electric Railway Journal

Photo from donsdepot.donrossgroup.net

Electric Railway Journal

307-326 (20 cars) - Chicago Surface Lines 1918, L=40'8", Peckham CUT trucks, 2xGE 57 motors, K-35 control, 44 seats, Christianson AA1 pump (n)

408-415 (8 cars) - Cincinnati 1910 ord#1310,  L=44'8" (p)

TCR 414-415 series as built

414-415 - Cincinnati 1910 ord#1290, L=44'9", Standard O-50 trucks, 4xGE 67 motors, K-28B control, 42 seats, GE CP27 pump (q)

Otto Vondrak Collection

416-425 (10 cars) - St Louis Car 1912 ord#918, L=45'0", Standard O-50 trucks, 4xWH 323 motors, K-35G control, 40 seats, GE CP27 pump (r)

TCR 428 in East Moline on October 2, 1931 - color scheme unknown - R.V. Mehlenbeck photo from the Illinois Railway Museum's Stephen Scalzo Collection

George Krambles photo, Krambles-Peterson Archive

426-450 (25 cars) - St Louis Car 1913 ord#998, L=45'0", Bay State 12 trucks, 4xWH 323 motors, K-35G control, 40 seats, GE CP27 pump (r.1)

David Sebben Collection

451-485 (35 cars) - American Car 1913, L=43'1", Brill 51E1 trucks, 4 x WH 323 motors, K-35G control, 40 seats, GE CP27 pump (s)

Kat Hat photo / Retro Quad Cities

486-495 (10 cars) - St Louis Car 1913 ord#998, Bay State 12 trucks, 4xGE 200 motors, K-35G control, 40 seats, GE CP27 pump (t)

David Sebben Collection

505-507 (3 cars) - St Louis Car 1916 ord#1107, L=30'1", Standard O-50 trucks, 4xGE 80 motors, K-28U control, 44 seats, GE CP27 pump (u)

601-606 (6 cars) - American Car 1923 ord#1329, L=38'6", Brill 77E1 trucks, 44 seats (v)

1450, 1486 - Chicago Surface Lines 1917, L=39'8", Curtis trucks, 4xGE 52 motors, K-12 control, 40 seats, Christianson AA1 pump (w)

Single truck (open)
63-68 - Pullman 1895 ord#859, L=26'11", McGuire truck, 2xGE 57 motors, K-10 control, 45 seats, hand brake (x)

69-74 - Pullman 1898 ord#898, L=26'11", McGuire truck, 2xGE 57 motors, K-10 control, 45 seats, hand brake (x)

75-84 - Pullman 1899 ord#923, L=26'11", McGuire truck, 2xGE 57 motors, K-10 control, 45 seats, hand brake (x)

85-94 - St Louis Car 1900 ord#108, L=30'11", McGuire truck, 2xGE 52 motors, K-10 control, 60 seats, hand brake (y)

Davenport Public Library

Retro Quad Cities

Double truck (open)
3, 5 - Jackson & Sharp 1902 ord#2215-2216, L=35'0", McGuire trucks, 2 x GE 80 motors, K-10 control, National A3 pump (z)

Retro Quad Cities

Retro Quad Cities

Period postcard view

7, 9, 11, 13 - St Louis Car 1903, L=37'5", McGuire trucks, 2 x GE 67 motors, K-10 control, Christianson AA1 pump (aa)

Rock Island Public Library

300-313 (14 cars) - St Louis Car 1903, L=37'0", Brill 39E1 trucks, 2 x GE 80 motors, K-10 control (aa.1)

Work cars

2-8 (7 cars) - ST snow sweepers - McGuire 1913, L=28'2", McGuire truck, 2xGE 52 motors, K-10 control, hand brake (bb)

299 - DT sprinkler - Brill 1910 ord#17268, L=32'6", Brill 27G2 trucks, 4 x WH 101B2 motors, K-28B control, National pump (cc)

R1 - ST flat motor - Tri-City Railway (year?), L=25'0", McGuire trucks, 2 x GE 54 motors, K-10 control, hand brake

# unknown - DT dump motor - builder unknown, 1924, L=40'6" (dd)

"Moline" - DT cab-on-flat - Tri-City Railway (year?), L=28'0", McGuire trucks, no motors

"City of Davenport" - ST sprinkler - Tri-City Railway (year?) - L=18'0", McGuire 211 truck, 2xGE 67 motors, K-11 control, National pump (ee)

"Rock Island" - cab-on-flat - Tri-City Railway (year?), L=25'0", McGuire trucks, 2 x GE 54 motors, K-10 control (ff)

"Jumbo" - DT locomotive - Tri-City Railway (year?) - Standard O-50 trucks, 4 x GE 80 motors, K-28 control (gg)

Period postcard of car 4 in Davenport c1910. This is likely a CD&M interurban car.

No information exists on these TCR sightseeing cars, apparently rebuilt from double-truck open cars. The second photo is from July 1909 and shows two of them. They may have been destroyed in the 1913 fire.* Photos from Retro Quad Cities

This unidentified open flat motor could be one of the ones listed in the roster or it could have been destroyed in the 1913 fire. Photo from Davenport Iowa History

Notes
(a) As of the 1918 roster, only cars 2, 11, 25 and 35 were still on the roster, likely in utility use; cars 25 and 35 had GE 52 motors
(b) Car 247's condition as of 1918 listed as "junk"

(c) These cars were the only remaining cars in 1918 of a 20-car series, cars 250-269, built by TCR in 1906; in 1916, two cars were sold to the Albia Light & Ry as their #11-12; 1 car sold 11/1916 to Iowa Southern Utilities as their #7; 1 car rebuilt 1917 to DT car 244, which see

(c.2) Cars 270-279 were all off the roster by 1918; 2 were sold 11/1916 to the Mason City & Clear Lake as their #35-36, possibly 2 more cars sold 11/1916 to Iowa Southern Utilities as their #7-8?
(d) Car 8 had K-28B control and only 42 seats; acquired from the Moline, East Moline & Watertown, a suburban line absorbed in 1906, same numbers. The MEM&W began service in 1902 with four Stephenson cars (including a car numbered 6), two 12-bench open cars built by Jackson & Sharp, and a Wason plow. It is not obvious whether any of the other MEM&W equipment (other than cars 6-14, even only) was still on the TCR roster as of 1918.
(e) Acquired from the Moline, East Moline & Watertown in 1906, same numbers

(e.1) Acquired 11-1917 from the Grand Rapids Grand Haven & Muskegon, same number
(f) Cars 79 and 81 were acquired 11-1917 secondhand, original owner unknown
(g) Rebuilt as PAYE cars - dates differ: cars 200-203 built 1900 or 1902, 204-222 built 1901 or 1903, 223-229 built 1902 or 1904, 230-237 built 1903 or 1905; cars 201, 210, 212, 217 had Standard O-50 trucks; cars 201 and 217 had 4xGE 67 motors; cars 202, 210, 212 had 4xGE 80 motors; car 210 had K-10 control; car 212 had K-28U control; cars 202-206, 227, and 237 had GE CP27 pumps; car 215 was rebuilt into Clinton Davenport & Muscatine work car 88 c1931; one other car rebuilt c1924 as CD&M locomotive 66; three cars sold 1922 to Cedar Rapids & Marion City as CR&MC 110-112
(h) Cars 211-221 built 1901, 223-226 built 1902, 234-236 built 1903; car 211 had Brill 39E1 trucks; car 211 had 2xGE 67 motors; car 221 had 2xGE 80 motors; car 234 had 4xGE 54 motors; car 211 had K-10 control; car 214 had a WH pump; car 234 had a GE CP27 pump; judging from gaps in the roster it seems likely that cars 208, 228-229, 233, and 235 were lost at some point, most likely in the 1913 barn fire*
(i) According to Alan Lind's book on SLCC, cars 238-243 were bought in 1907 from Davenport & Suburban, were originally fitted with St Louis 47 trucks (possibly what TCR termed "St L O-O" trucks), and car 240 was sold in 1923 to the Rock Island Southern as RIS #2 or #240 (?); cars 238-243 were largely identical to the Chicago "Matchboxes," at the time a commonly-offered SLCC design
(j) Car 243 had St Louis O-O trucks and 4xGE 70 motors as of 1918, however a 1926 wreck photo clearly shows that at that time it had Standard O-50 trucks

(j.1) Car 244 was rebuilt from a 250-series single-truck car
(k) PAYE cars; ex-"Bowling Alley" unrebuilt 1429-1505 series cars built c1899 by Chicago Union Traction; 284 and 285 (and possibly others) later converted to salt spreaders
(m) PAYE cars; car 306 had Standard O-50 trucks; rebuilt from SLCC-built open cars of the same number, according to ERJ vol. 51 no. 4 p. 212 these cars were rebuilt in 1917 by TCR
(n) PAYE cars; ex-Chicago Union Traction open cars 5979-5982, 5984, 5986-5990, 5992-5993, 5995-5996, 5998-5999, 6001, and 6003-6005 built by CUT in 1900 and rebuilt by CSL at West Shops for resale, equipped for two-car train operation for use in Arsenal service due to a shortage of operating crews; apparently retired following WWI
(p) This listing not in the 1918 roster but rather sourced from Cincinnati Car Co order list; cars 408-415 were all destroyed in the 1913 barn fire*
(q) Originally cars 401-407 (7 cars) were built on this order but five were burned up in the 1913 barn fire*; cars 403 and 407 were renumbered as 414-415.
(r) PAYE cars (at least some later rebuilt to one-man); cars 423-425 had Brill 51E1 trucks; cars 416-420 had 4xGE 80 motors; car 428 had 4xGE 200 motors; originally 20 cars numbered 416-435 were built on this order but 10 were destroyed in the 1913 barn fire* and the remaining cars were renumbered 416-425; 9 cars were rebuilt 1923-1924 for interurban service, 3 sold to Mason City & Clear Lake as their #4-6, 6 sold to Clinton Davenport & Muscatine as their #21-26 (#23-26 renumbered #31-34)

(r.1) Cars 428 and 435 got 4 x GE 200 motors from 488 and 495 in 1935
(s) PAYE cars (at least some later rebuilt to one-man); car 483 from this series is preserved at IRM as a car body
(t) PAYE cars; built as Cedar Rapids & Marion City 41-50, purchased by TCR in 1914, in 1935 six cars were rebuilt and sent back to the CR&MC as #113-118 (renumbered #213-218)
(u) PAYE cars; car 505 had Brill 51E1 trucks
(v) This listing not in 1918 roster but rather sourced from American Car Co order list
(w) PAYE cars; bought secondhand from CSL in 1917 (Alan Lind's CSL book says 1486 was sold in 1914 while 1450 was sold in 1917), built c1899 by Chicago Union Traction; an image shows these two cars connected by a drawbar and captioned "two-car, four-motor train;" the 1918 roster isn't clear but suggests that 1486 may have been de-motored, so these may have been run as a motor-trailer set
(x) By 1918, only 14 cars numbered 64-69, 74, 77, 79, 80-84 were still on the roster, likely in utility use; car 77 had a Brill 21E truck; cars 64, 65, 67, 74, and 81 had GE 52 motors; car 65 was a trailer

(y) Originally cars 85-94 (10 cars) were built by SLCC on order #108 but by 1918 only one appears to have still been in service
(z) Ex-Moline, East Moline & Watertown same numbers, acquired 1906; car 5 noted as having no motors, presumably out of service; these cars are described in the 1918 TCR roster as being built by American Car but that appears to be incorrect
(aa) Ex-Moline, East Moline & Watertown same numbers, acquired 1906; car 7 had Bemis 40 trucks; cars 7 and 11 had K-6 control; car 7 noted as having no motors

(aa.1) 13-bench open cars, all but cars 303-306 were destroyed in the 1913 barn fire, those four were rebuilt in 1918 into closed cars with the same numbers, which see
(bb) At one point there was also a sweeper #1, not on the 1918 roster; sweepers #2 and #3 were sold in 1936 to Chicago & West Towns #18-19; date of #1-4 unknown, #5 built 1912, #6-8 built 1913
(cc) Later rebuilt as snow plow; another source says built by American Car on ord#908
(dd) Info from Electric Railway Review/CERA B-80

(ee) "City of Davenport" marked as poor condition

(ff) "Rock Island" not listed on 1918 roster at all
(gg) very little information marked for "Jumbo" but other sources say it was rebuilt from a steam railroad coach, sold 1946 to Rock Island Southern as RIS #800

*In the June 1, 1913 barn fire, a total of 94 cars were lost. Working from the above roster and builder order lists this total most likely included: 23 series (10 cars), 200-236 series (5 cars), 401-407 series (5 cars), 408-415 series (8 cars), 416-435 series (10 cars), and possibly 85-94 series? (9 cars). That leaves, at minimum, some 47 cars lost in the fire not shown on this roster. Other obvious number series gaps such as 245-246, 248-252, 259-265, and 267 may also have been among the lost cars.

In later years cars were painted yellow with a red stripe at the belt rail. The exceptions were cars used in Bridge Line service between Rock Island and Davenport via Arsenal Island, which had a green livery. Cars delivered around 1913 may have been overall yellow when new. Hand-colored postcards suggest pre-1913 colors were dark green with white or cream along the windows but this is suspect given the source.

Many thanks to Ray Piesciuk and Richard Schauer for their help in copying these rosters.

In Memoriam: Dana Ishman - Updated

We learned today (while at the visitation for Ed Rosengren) that Dana Ishman died yesterday of cancer.  He is survived by his wife Donna, also an IRM member.  I remember him best as an enthusiastic head of the dining car crew on the Zephyr, but he worked in several capacities over the years.  He too will be greatly missed.  If anyone has a picture of him that you could share with us, that would certainly be appreciated.  Arrangements will be announced when we know them.

Update:  I just saw this message on another group.  Unfortunately, the visitation and funeral are just hours away, in Racine, as I type this.

Notice for Dana Ishman

Inspection #2

Today inspection started on car 319.  Joel told me in advance that the car could be left over the pit until Saturday or Sunday, so there was no pressure to get everything done.  In particular, lubrication will have to wait, because otherwise the car would be dripping oil into the pit.  Having to put off lubrication was almost enough to ruin my whole day....

But it was nice weather, perfect for this type of work.   Here the 319 is on its way into the barn.

There aren't a lot of things in this process that are very photogenic, but here we are looking straight up through the bottom inspection hole, after the plate is removed.  That's a dipstick that we use for checking pole piece clearance, and above it is the commutator.  The dipstick makes sure that we still have plenty of clearance between the rotating armature and the stationary pole pieces.  If they were to start hitting each other, it would be bad, to put it mildly.

And looking down at a motor through the top inspection hole, we can check that the brushes and brush holders are in good condition, nothing has come loose, and so on.

Jeff Brady is working on making new steel pieces for the 28, helped by Joe, a recent recruit who works as a welder at Belvidere, and is currently on a temporary layoff while the factory is retooled.  Joe also helped me remove the covers for the contactor box, which would be difficult to do alone.

Elsewhere in the shop,  Norm is working on other new steel pieces.

Victor showed me some pictures of the late Dana Ishman he had on hand.  For now, I was reduced to taking pictures of pictures, and at an angle to avoid glare, but it's the best we have so far.  He says these date to about 1988.

At IRM, we have from left to right, Roger Kramer, Dana Ishman, Bruce Bergman, and another volunteer and his son whom I don't recall.

And Dana helped Victor and the other coach guys with moving some Rock Island coaches from Iowa.  Above, he's helping clear out a disused grade crossing.

We haven't seen what's happening in the Electroliner for a while.  Ed Oslowski is still hard at work.

Here he's cleaning up the door to the little closet in the motorman's compartment.

Below, we have some reproduction castings in aluminum of the North Shore herald. which will be on sale in the gift shop for about $200, he says.  All proceeds go to the Electroliner fund.

And next, we found some of the water flasks from the dining section in storage.  They look quite nice.

Looking into the cab, you can sort of make out the closet on the right, minus its door.

The Electroliner cab is very cramped.  Ed points out that it's almost impossible to get past the controller to work on the front part of the compartment.  Luckily we have a couple of young guys who are skinny enough to fit through this space.

Tim is making progress on spraying the imitation gold-leaf outlining on the 24.

Finally, by the end of the day I had finished most of the inspection items that needed to be addressed, without any major issues.  I took the controller cover into the shop, and after looking at it in better light, decided to wire-wheel it down to bare metal before repainting.

 And here's the white primer.

We'll finish this up on Saturday.  Anybody who wants to come on out and help will be most welcome!

Prototypical Train Day

Frank writes...

I wasn't able to spend much time at IRM on Sunday, but the time I did spend was mostly spent helping with a switch move. Joel, Jeron, and Richard did most of the work of moving cars around and in the end most of track 83 was emptied and then refilled. The purpose, of course, was to re-create some prototypical interurban trains of days past!

First, we have an authentic Trent Tube Employee Tripper consist from the days of the Municipality of East Troy Railroad:

And then next up is a Federal Yard caboose hop from the joint Illinois Terminal-C&NW operations in Alton:

...so you're not buying that, eh? Well, your skepticism is well-placed. These strange trains are just results of unusual car placement on track 83. The goal of the switching was actually just to swap the positions of Milwaukee Electric (later METRR) box motor M15 and wooden "L" car 1754 so that the latter is under wire. As such the 101 was used to tow out the North Western caboose, which was behind it, and the same with the M15 and the 1754.

Speaking of unusual operations, there's a CC4 air compressor that's been sitting just inside the door at the east end of barn track 43 for many years. With the M15 out of the barn the decision was made to put the compressor into the car, seeing as the M15 is one of only one or two cars we own that has a CC4 pump. So the 43 east doors were opened for the first time in years, presenting the sight above (the air compressor in question is in the right foreground). At the front left is a trap from CA&E 318, hiding for quite some time behind the quantity of "stuff" at this location. So THAT'S where I left that!

And here's here's Richard on the forklift and Joel inside the M15 loading the CC4 into the car. After this operation was concluded all of the cars went back into track 83, with the M15 now right behind the Russell plow and out from under wire (though it can easily be retrieved if and when we want to run it again). The 1754 is now a bit closer to the door, under wire, which will allow some electrical issues that cropped up the last time it ran to be diagnosed and, hopefully, fixed.

As usual, other projects are seeing progress as well. Inspection work on the 4391 is being done, work is progressing on the Kansas City and Cleveland PCC cars, and the indefatigable Norm and Jeff were hard at work on the front end of the Michigan Electric car as usual. And the big news for Sunday was that the 1630 passed its hydro test! So mark your calendars now for Memorial Day Weekend, which is the first scheduled steam operation for 2017.