Wednesday Update

The main priority today was to start inspection on the 319, which hasn't operated yet this year.  So if you've forgotten what it looks like, from the outside:

and inside:

The inspection process really doesn't lend itself to photography.  I inspected everything I could on my own without having the car over the pit.  The only unexpected problem that was found was that the interrupter for the buzzer has stopped working and needs to be adjusted.  The 309 has the same problem.  I'll try to address this next time, but we may have to resort to hand signals or shouting to communicate.  Stay tuned.

I also looked at the 308.  We would like to have it on display at 50th for Vintage Transport in order to drum up support for getting the motor rewound.  It needs a new feed valve, but the compressor works fine and the car pumps itself up without problems.  And the interior is as nice as ever.

Meanwhile, the rest of the weekday crew were hard at work in Barn 4.   Here Pete is scraping away at the bottom of the roof in one end of the 160, in preparation for repainting.  Fritz was doing similar tasks elsewhere.

Tim is patching up the 1808 piece by piece.

But wait, that reminds me....   On my recent vacation to the St. Louis area, we stopped in St. Charles, Mo. and got some pictures of the old ACF plant.  This is where the 1808 and several other cars in our collection were constructed.

A private car is stored in front, presumably an ACF product.

"Steel Shop No2" seems to stretch for about a quarter mile.

And in building news closer to home, the North Western building facade is much more complete.  The building itself looks much bigger and more impressive than it did before!

And Jeron sends us a picture taken on Wednesday evening, after the scaffolding was removed.  Nice!

Southern Illinois Railway & Power

Southern Illinois Railway & Power

by Stephen M. Scalzo

Headline image: One of the 1913 SIR&P combines, either 53 or 54, is at the north end of the line at Eldorado, probably sometime in the 1920s. All photos are from the Stephen Scalzo Collection of the Illinois Railway Museum except where noted.

The Saline County Traction Company was incorporated on September 18, 1908, to build an interurban system in the Harrisburg, Illinois, area, and during 1910, plans were drawn up to build 15 miles of trackage. The Southern Illinois Railway & Power Company was incorporated on April 26, 1912, with $2,500 of capital, and acquired the Saline County Traction Company. Mr. John Beggs had organized the company, and became the president when interurban service began.

The electric railway, connecting Eldorado in the northeast section and Carrier Mills in the southwest section of Saline County, was the only interurban ever to be operated in southeastern Illinois. Harrisburg was the county seat for Saline County. The interurban was designed for and serviced mining villages and the municipalities of Eldorado, Wasson, Muddy, Harrisburg, Dorrisville, Ledford, and Carrier Mills; within that area there were 12 deep shaft coal mines. In addition to passenger traffic, the interurban planned from the start to share in the hauling of coal, which was estimated to run as high as five million tons per year. Because the interurban was able to develop considerable carload freight business, primarily in coal, the system outlasted most of its fellows.

Early on, freight service was handled by freight motor 40, shown here in a 1913 builder's photo. The car was fitted with 27MCB trucks and Type M control; the underbody object underneath the word "Illinois" may be a dynamotor to generate 600-volt power for the control system.

By September 12, 1912, all the franchises were secured for the right-of-way. Construction began in October on the grading for the trackage. M.C. Conners and Company was the contractor for the electrical system and the powerhouse at Muddy. The line was single track throughout, using 70-pound rail, but was of heavy construction, with long turnouts to accommodate the freight operation and steam railroad operating practices being followed.

The interurban cars built in 1913 for the SIR&P were handsome, if not ornate. The passenger doors, at opposite corners, were unusually wide, even on coaches 50-51.

On July 4 and 5, 1913, steam construction locomotives were used (because the powerhouse was not completed) to pull passenger cars between Harrisburg and Eldorado as a preview of the new system. Two 1250 KVA Curtis turbo-generators with a 35 KW turbo-driven exciter and 50-KW motor generator set, two 300 KW motor generator sets, three 250 KW water cooled transformers, and switchboard apparatus from General Electric were installed in the powerhouse. That equipment supplied 1200 volt DC power to the overhead for the interurban and commercial power to the surrounding area.

One of the arch-roof combines, either 53 or 54, loads at the south end of the line next to the Odd Fellows hall in Carrier Mills. This view looks east from Main Street down Walnut Street - today known, appropriately, as Carline Street.

Four interurban cars and one trailer arrived in August 11, and on September 5, the first electric operation took place between Harrisburg and Eldorado. Electric operations to Carrier Mills began in October. Freight service began shortly thereafter, which was handled by an electric locomotive, 16 gondolas, and five cinder cars. Interchange freight service was established with the Louisville & Nashville Railroad and the Illinois Central Railroad in Eldorado.

Harrisburg was the center of the interurban business, which moved into and out of the city in both directions, rather than through from Eldorado and Carrier Mills. The company operated 17-20 daily interurban passenger trains on hourly headways, usually handled by two interurban cars. Early morning interurbans connected with steam road passenger trains at Eldorado by which passengers went to St. Louis, and the morning and afternoon interurbans hauled trailers to handle miners to and from their work. Extra interurban cars were required for Saturday evening shoppers into Harrisburg. The interurban system owned three motor and two trailer interurbans, and later purchased two more motorized interurbans from the Central Illinois Traction Company.

Combines 55 and 56, the two cars purchased from Central Illinois Traction in 1924, are shown next to the Eldorado station. Beyond the rear car was the interchange with the Louisville & Nashville.

Passenger traffic proved fairly good and plans were developed for a $3 million expansion of trackage from Harrisburg west through Marion to Carbondale and south to Rosiclare. On April 26, 1917, the Central Illinois Public Service Company (a Middle West Utilities Company) purchased the system with an eye to using the railway's power plant to supplement its electricity needs. The plant was enlarged twice by the CIPS before it was replaced by larger, more modern generating stations built in other areas.

Steeplecab 45, a secondhand purchase originally built for service along the Welland Canal in Ontario, is in charge of a freight train at the powerhouse in Muddy.

Earnings increased from $78,867 ($4,787 freight) in 1914 to a peak of $208,964 ($48,215 freight) in 1921. However, the fortunes of the area were dependent almost entirely on coal, and when the Depression seriously affected the already declining coal industry of the area, the fate of the interurban was sealed. Automobiles and concrete highways arrived as coal mines began shutting down, a deadly combination for the interurban. The expansion plans were then dropped as unrealistic. The Harrisburg Bus Line began operating in 1921 to further erode ridership. By 1928, passenger service only earned $38,890 but cost $51,463 to operate. By 1931, earnings had declined to $46,300 (negative $20,483 net).

Combines 55 and 56, purchased secondhand from the Central Illinois Traction line between Mattoon and Charleston, are shown southbound at the carbarn approaching Harrisburg.

The company was authorized on November 25, 1931, to discontinue all passenger service between Eldorado and Carrier Mills. The company substituted its own buses to replace rail service. Interurban freight service continued until November 30, 1932, when all service was abandoned, and the entire line was dismantled for scrap. Because the interurban trackage paralleled the New York Central Railroad throughout, there was little economic need for retention of the interurban system.

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.

Click here for photos of SIR&P from the Krambles-Peterson Archive

Roster of Equipment

Passenger Equipment

Combine 54 in a 1913 builder's photo

Cars 50-51 - AR DE DT interurban coaches - American Car Co, 1913 (ord#980) - 49'2" long, 9'10" wide, 12'10" tall - 52 seats, Brill 27MCB2 trucks, 4 x GE 205 motors, Type M control - car 50 renumbered to 52 in 1917

Cars 53-54 - AR DE DT interurban combines - American Car Co, 1913 (ord#981) - 49'2" long, 9'10" wide, 12'10" tall - 48 seats, Brill 27MCB2 trucks, 4 x GE 205 motors, Type M control

Cars 55-56 - RR DE DT interurban combines - McGuire-Cummings, 1914 - 49' long - 52 seats, McGuire 70A trucks, 4 motors - former Central Illinois Traction 205 and 207, acquired 1924

Cars 100-101 - AR DE DT interurban coach trailers - American Car Co, 1913 (ord#982) - 48' long - 52 seats, Brill 27MCB2 trucks - car 100 retired March 1923

Car 110 - AR DE DT interurban trailer - McGuire-Cummings, 1919 - 68'6" long - 120 seats, McGuire trucks - photo makes it appear the car was built as a freight trailer, but accounts suggest it was - or could be - fitted with seating for 120 people

Freight and Non-Revenue Equipment

Car 40 - AR DE DT freight motor - American Car Co, 1913 (ord#983) - 48' long, 9' wide, 12'10" tall - Brill 27MCB2 trucks, 4 x GE 205 motors, Type M control

Locomotive 45 - steeplecab locomotive - National Car Co, 1918 - 41' long, 8'11" wide, 12'8" tall, 100,000# weight - arch bar trucks, 4 x GE 66B motors - former Hydro-Electric Power Commission (Canada), acquired 1921

Cars 801-820* - secondhand gondolas, acquired sometime after 1917

Car 1001 - line car, likely rebuilt from flat car, on property by 1917

Cars 1002-1006* - flat cars, 1002-1004 on property by 1917, 1005-1006 acquired thereafter, also listed as cinder cars

Car 1100 - line car

Car 1101 - flat car, rebuilt from wood gondola, on property by 1917

Car 1102 - wood gondola, on property by 1917

Cars 1103-1105 - steel hopper-bottom gondolas, on property by 1917

Cars 1201-1202 - wood boxcars, on property by 1917

* = capable of use in interchange service

AR = arched roof

DE = double-ended

DT = double-truck

RR = railroad roof

This view of the carbarn (which still stands today) is looking northwest and shows unpowered line car 1100 on the left, a 51-52 series coach poking out the door of the barn, and to the right an 801-series gondola coupled to a flat car.

Route Map

Click here for a map of the SIR&P created and hosted by the Southern Illinois Railroads website

For as few structures as the SIR&P had, a surprising number still exist. These include:

• The Eldorado station, at Locust and Veterans Streets
• The Harrisburg car barn, on Jackson Street north of Towle
• The Harrisburg station and freight house, at Jackson and Logan, complete with the dispatcher's bay window

Click here to return to the Scalzo History Collection index page

Uneeda Subway

Recently we were able to visit the St. Louis Art Museum again, perhaps my favorite.  It's always a temptation to turn this blog into a class on fine art, but I digress.  Slightly on topic is a picture I found to be a real hoot:

The Subway   Oil on canvas, Walter Pach, 1919

Although 1919 was still in the period of the Spanish Flu, nobody's wearing a mask.  Slackers!

Sunday Report

Frank writes...

There wasn't a whole lot to report from Sunday, though I was certainly busy. I was running CSL 1374, the "Matchbox," all day for the last day of the Day Out With Thomas event, with Riley as my conductor. Everything seemed to go very smoothly and the crowd, as always, was very impressive. We ended up making about 30 loops around the car line. I didn't get a chance to snap a photo until late in the afternoon when things were dying down.

The other cars on the streetcar line were the 144, 3142, and 4391. It's always neat to see all four of our operating Chicago streetcars in service at the same time! After dinner I took a look at the tack molding on the 460, since Saturday night the "second shift" guys spent a while adding more liquid epoxy and wood filler to the tack molding to make it a bit more solid. A huge THANK YOU to everyone who worked on this!! Unfortunately I failed to get a photo, but hopefully my father will rectify that. I also spent some time stripping paint off of another window for the 18.

And speaking of dinner, Zach brought along an O scale locomotive that he built from a brass kit and hand-painted, even painting all the striping by hand using One-Shot. It's GWR 4019 Knight Templar, a Star-class 4-6-0 built at Swindon in 1908. What a beauty! It reminds me of Didcot...

Line Car Update

 Gregg Wolfersheim sends us another update on the IT line car 1702:

With the usual heavy workload at the museum, not much has happened on M35. Last month the diesel shop got rearranged, and M35 moved to track 24 from its long time spot on 21. Recently window 13 & 14 were removed for restoration. Sorry, no pics of that.

  IT 1702, however, has seen some noticeable changes. The lower area that contains the tool racks had three coats of paint applied to the sheet metal:

Siding has been started at the number 2 end and is progressing towards the motorman's window on the #1 end.

More siding is being prepared with some in primer and others with a coat of Indian Red applied:

Thanks, Gregg!

Replica Railbus Revisited

Last year, we showed you some pictures of a replica railbus that was under construction in Grafton, Ill. in this blog post: Replica Railbus.

In less than a year they have completed putting it all together and painting it up quite nicely.  Given what they had to work with, this turned out better (and sooner) than I expected.

I couldn't help but notice, because this is a replica of a one-of-a-kind item that's still preserved, that it has a different paint scheme than the actual railbus currently does at MOT, which appears to be correct for end of service.  Does anybody know what the paint scheme history of the 206 might be?

The 308 Needs Your Help

Update: Thanks to a handful of generous donations during July, the fund has jumped to about $20,000, or 67% of the goal!  Our warmest thanks to all who have contributed!  Of course, we still have a way to go....

 This is Chicago Aurora and Elgin car 308, one of the jewels of our fleet, in my opinion....

It's been nicely restored and maintained over the years, but right now it's out of service due to a shorted traction motor.  These motors are big and heavy, and we estimate that one motor will cost about $30,000 to rebuild -- money the Museum doesn't have available at this time.  So it's time for another donation campaign.  YOU can help!

To donate safely online, go to this link.

Or you can always mail a check to the office.  Our address:

Illinois Railway Museum
P.O. Box 427
Union, IL    60180

  Be sure to designate your donation for the CA&E Wood Cars restricted fund with the magic word:

RCAEWOOD

That should be easy enough to remember - the R stands for Restricted Fund.  Thanks!!!

Midweek Miscellany

 This week we have several different projects to report on, briefly in each case.

First of all, the North Western Historical Society building is progressing nicely, and here we see the bricklayers hard at work.  The facade is starting to take shape.

A large front-loader lifts a load of bricks up onto the platform -- much easier than doing it by muscle power.

And we had a large company picnic taking place all day.  IRM is well set up to take care of medium to large sized groups like these.  We can only hope this might give you an idea....

Well, back in the barn, I see that progress is being made on the roof of the 306.  The running boards are not yet fastened to the saddles, and I'm not sure whether the saddles are fastened down yet, but it looks like everything will fit perfectly.

Tim continues rebuilding the 1808:

And I was working on the 460 again.

Update:  Jeron sends us another photo of the C&NW building:

Springfield Clear Lake & Rochester

Springfield Clear Lake & Rochester

by Stephen M. Scalzo

Headline image: SCL&R car 4 is shown on Main Street at John Street in Rochester. Cars 3 and 4 were built by the St. Louis Car Company in 1908 on order #785. Astute readers will notice that these cars were largely identical to the "Matchboxes" that ran in Chicago, including IRM's own car 1374. This was a stock SLCC design that was built for at least a dozen different systems. All photos from the Stephen Scalzo Collection of the Illinois Railway Museum.

John E. Melick planned a huge utility empire around Springfield and Hillsboro, Illinois. He began by incorporating the Sangamon Valley Railway on June 23, 1905, with $2,500 capital (which was later increased to $30,000) for a projected interurban railway between Springfield and Hillsboro. On April 30, 1906, ground was broken in Rochester, Illinois (located east of Springfield) for the construction of the line. However, the route was then sold to the Springfield Clear Lake & Rochester Railway, which was incorporated on May 10, 1906, with $120,000 of capital. At the organizational meeting, Mr. Melick was elected president of the new company.

The U.S. Construction Company of Springfield was in charge of building the railway. By the end of June 1906 most of the right-of-way had been graded, and in July, tracklaying began east of Springfield, with construction progressing slowly. In January of 1907 the company received a franchise to operate on Main Street in Rochester. Finally, on March 30, 1907, borrowed equipment from the Springfield streetcar system made up the first streetcars operated over the 4.63 miles of trackage that had been completed. Trackage reached Sugar Creek on July 15th. By January 1, 1908, trackage had been completed across the South Fork Bridge, with about two miles remaining to connect with the trackage that had previously been built in Rochester.

On June 10, 1908, the first streetcar was operated in Rochester. That streetcar was shipped to Springfield over the Baltimore & Ohio Southwestern Railroad because about two miles of trackage remained to be built on the line although the overhead trolley wire had been erected previously. A streetcar had to be operated by that date to save the franchise for operating on Main Street in Rochester. On September 16th, an inaugural streetcar operated over the entire line for invited guests and company officials. Regular service began on September 19th over the completed 10.5 miles of trackage from White City in Springfield to Rochester, including a 2.5-mile branch to Clear Lake. At White City, passengers had to change to Springfield streetcars. By that time, the company's name had been changed to the Springfield Suburban.

A crowd gathers around Springfield Consolidated Railway 48, a single-truck American Car Company product on loan from the Springfield city system. The location is Main Street in Rochester; both buildings visible are still there.

The railway in large measure was designed for traffic between Springfield and the resort of Clear Lake. Trolley travel initially was a favorite pastime, and the streetcars were filled Sundays and holidays during the summer with families and young men and their sweethearts bound for picnics at Clear Lake. The streetcars would stop any place along the way to pick up passengers and packages.

The railway initially operated two double-truck streetcars, numbers 3 and 4, from the Springfield city limits to Rochester and Clear Lake. On September 24, 1908, the Springfield City Council granted the company a franchise that permitted operation of streetcars into downtown Springfield over the Capital Avenue route of the Springfield Consolidated Railway from the eastern city limits. Streetcars then operated to Sixth and Monroe Streets in Springfield, looping at Washington and Fifth Streets. The company eventually used its streetcars (and two borrowed Springfield streetcars as spares) to operate seven daily round trips over the line. The streetcar from Springfield had a motorman and conductor, but at the old Johnson family grounds where the tracks branched, the conductor would get off and operate the Clear Lake shuttle streetcar for passengers while the motorman would continue on to Rochester in the other streetcar. Electricity for the overhead was purchased and carbarn facilities were leased from the Springfield Consolidated Railway.

On February 3, 1908, Mr. Melick incorporated the Mississippi Valley Interurban Railway (MVI) as the holding company for the Springfield Clear Lake & Rochester line and the Hillsboro streetcar lines. The MVI was to furnish funds to construct an interurban railway from Rochester to Hillsboro. By 1910, the MVI had absorbed the Springfield Suburban, and the MVI soon became allied with the Sangamon Valley Railroad and the Hillsboro Railway. Construction plans were developed calling for trackage to be built from Rochester southeast six miles to New City, and then south 35 miles to Hillsboro. However, financing of that plan never materialized.

SCL&R car 3 is pictured in an advertisement that lists departure times and promotes the annual Chautauqua at Clear Lake. Cars 3 and 4 were sold in 1914 to the Gary Hobart & Eastern, where they became 2 (later renumbered 5) and 3. In 1925 they became Gary Railways 26 and 25, respectively. They were retired in 1926-1927.

The seasonal traffic for the Springfield Suburban soon proved inadequate to keep the company operating. The line had been poorly constructed and even more poorly maintained. Most of the trackage consisted of secondhand 50- or 60-pound rail, with 12-14 ties per 30-foot rail section and dirt ballast. On frosty early morning runs in the fall, passengers (mostly workmen and high school students) sometimes found it necessary to get out and push the streetcars up Bell Hill (adjacent to Glenwood Park) because of insufficient electric power and wet tracks. In fair weather, it took 50 minutes for a streetcar to operate between Springfield and Rochester, but in bad weather that trip took from one to two hours. There were seven bridges, four with I-beams as stringers and the others with timbers, all poorly constructed. A grade crossing with the Illinois Traction System's Springfield Belt Line was interlocked, but the Cincinnati Hamilton & Dayton Railroad (later C&IW) overpass near Bergen Park had extremely close clearances. In addition, the track alignment ranged from poor to very poor.

The company earned only $11,368 (-$3,687 net) in 1911, while the allied Sangamon Valley earned $9,500 (-$9,800 net). After an inspection of the trackage conditions on July 1, 1912, by the Illinois Railroad Commission, all service was ordered suspended on July 18th pending repairs, and the last streetcar operated on July 19th. In September of 1912, the Springfield Clear Lake & Southern Railway was incorporated to acquire the property and rehabilitate the trackage. However, the money for the project was never raised, and service never resumed.

On August 2, 1913, the company was sold at foreclosure as junk for $12,650 to Abraham Barker of Springfield, who scrapped the system. About $6,650 was distributed to the bondholders. On October 13th, the two streetcars were awarded to W.G. Brown of Rochester, the largest stockholder of the company, who had moved the streetcars to Decatur after service was suspended. The streetcars were overhauled, repainted, and sold to the Gary Hobart & Eastern Traction Company.

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.

Click here for a route map of the Springfield Clear Lake & Rochester

Click here to return to the Scalzo History Collection index page

New Details on the Hicksco Plant

Our friend Bill Stewart recently came across an article in the trade journal Railway Age from 1902 with a very detailed description of the Chicago Heights factory (West Plant) of the Hicks Locomotive and Car Works.  This article has a wealth of specifics I hadn't seen before, and it will be added to the complete company history that's been on this site from the beginning.  In the meantime, you can peruse it below.  You will need to adjust the magnification for best reading.  Enjoy!

And our thanks to Bill, and to the University of California, of all places!

Thomas, Day Two

Frank writes...

On Sunday I was signed up as conductor on the 4391, always the cushiest job at the museum. My motorman for the day was Jeff Obarek.

Zach was running the 144, and in keeping with the theme of the event, he was nattily attired in full London tram driver regalia. Here he is at the start of the day posing next to his car, while Jeff photobombs and shows off the contrasting CTA uniform. Zach pointed out that the colors on his tram may have been correct, but someone had removed the top half of it. Hmm.

And here's the requisite shot of the interior of the "Hornet" before we went into service and it quickly filled up with people. Operations seemed like they went extremely smoothly, and it seemed that everyone had a great time. We had four Chicago streetcars in operation - 1374, 144, 3142, and 4391 - which is always cool to see.

Of course it was "all hands on deck" for Thomas, so there wasn't really much car work going on, though I did run into John in the morning who was getting a bit of work done on the 306 roof before it got too hot. After the end of service, Zach helped me switch around the CA&E cars. The next time they're scheduled is the Vintage Transport Extravaganza in early August, but for that we will need three cars, which means we need to finish inspecting the 319 sometime in the next few weeks. So we put it at the door with the 36-309 behind it.

Many thanks to Zach for getting the above two photos, of me switching the blue cars and then of our three operational cars lined up on the ladder track.

After dinner, Joel, Nick, and I adjusted and tightened the ratchet straps being used to stretch the canvas on the roof of the 460. Thanks, guys!

And in other news, here's a new center bearing for WEPCO L4, one of our Milwaukee steeplecabs. A crack was found in its center bearing plate a year or two ago so it's been out of service since then. But the steam shop (I think?) machined a new center bearing, to which our guys welded the rectangular attachment plate. It still needs the king pin hole bored through the rectangular plate, but the L4 is getting closer to reentering service.