|
Aurora-Elgin Area Street Cars & Interurbans Vol 3 The Third Rail Line
The Third Rail Line Chicago, Aurora & Elgin RR Vol 3-Street Cars & Interurbans by Hopkins Stolp Peffers
Hard Cover w/Dust jacket NOTICE the edges of the dust jacket - corners of the dust jacket have minor damage
224 pages
Copyright 1993
CONTENTS
Early Days12
Rolling Stock21
The Line to Aurora44
The Batavia Branch and Glenwood Park56
The Line to Elgin62
The St. Charles Branch72
Wheaton - Chicago Main Line81
Chicago109
The Cannon Ball122
Parlor Car Service124
Color Photos129
Freight and Express146
The Power House and Power Facilities164
Road and Way176
Yards, Shops and Offices187
People195
Sparks From The Third Rail200
OVERVIEW
Aurora and Elgin, Illinois were typical of small city America in 1900. They were high - spirited and competitive, owing their existence to crossing points of the Fox River with the first two railroads west of Chicago. Each was but thirty - five miles west of Illinois' major city, Chicago; but in those days, most of it was farm country. Each possessed its share of industry: Aurora - the general shops of the Burlington Railroad; Elgin - the famous Elgin Watch Company. Both had many other, but lesser - known, industrial concerns that altogether employed thousands of its citizens.
Besides the two cities, a dozen smaller municipalities straddled the mighty Fox in what today might be called a metropolitan area. All were alike - not bedroom suburbs, but mill towns dependent on the river. Naturally an area like this, though separated from the mighty Chicago, was perfect for the development of street railways. And it also mirrored the development of street railway properties throughout the Midwest, having electric street car systems in place in the 1890s, an early interurban system in the late 1890s, a major high speed line to Chicago and several smaller, less successful rural interurbans built between 1905 -1913. Most of the street railway properties, save the mighty Third Rail line to Chicago, were originally the promotions of local citizenry. Most of the operations built by 1903 were consolidated into the Aurora, Elgin and Chicago, taking that name between 1902 and 1906. These included the street car lines of Elgin and Aurora, the interurban line between them, and extended interurban lines to Yorkville and Carpentersville. Those built after 1903 remained independent from each other, although some had financial connections with other lines outside the region.
The development of the electric street railway took place in the United States in the mid - 1880s, with the first line in Illinois being built by 1889. Civic pride and the quest for investment profit put both Aurora and Elgin in a race to provide electric street cars at a very early date. The Elgin City Railway saw trolley cars operating on July 4, 1890, and the Aurora Street Railroad on March 16, 1891. Both cities had animal - powered street railway operations from the early 1880s, and local promoters included Colonel H.H. Evans and A.J. Hopkins from Aurora, both of whom later had other electric railway affiliations.
In the mid - 1890s, after extending lines throughout their respective cities, each company built lines beyond city limits to nearby towns: the Elgin system building one of the first interurbans in the U.S. north to Carpentersville and south to Geneva, both built in 1896.
The Aurora system, by 1896 affiliated with the Elgin system, built an interurban line north to Geneva, although not physically connected to the Elgin and Geneva line due to legal difficulties. It also built a line south to Oswego and Yorkville in 1900. At that time, all of these lines were purchased and succeeded by the Elgin, Aurora and Southern Traction Company, the prospectus of which is shown in Volume 1 of this set.
The EA & S was largely financed through a syndicate of investors known as Pomeroy - Mandelbaum, from the Cleveland area. At the same time, that group of investors began construction of the more famous and longer - lasting Aurora, Elgin and Chicago, linking, by 1909, four routes from the Fox Valley to downtown Chicago. The AE & C was built as a high speed, third rail - powered interurban line, running on double track from Chicago to Wheaton, the seat of DuPage County. It then split into two lines: one to Aurora and one to Elgin, each again splitting to serve Batavia, St. Charles, and Geneva. This was no mere rural trolley. It successfully served, and contributed to the development of a string of municipalities west from Chicago into "bedroom" suburbs. Probably no other line carried as many passengers per mile. Thirty - thousand riders a day used its fifty - two miles of line in the 1940s, by then renamed the Chicago, Aurora and Elgin Railroad.
Undoubtedly the success of the CA & E, often nicknamed "Third Rail" or "Roarin' - Elgin", lay in its fast route to the heart of Chicago, serving its communities east of Wheaton with often fifteen - minute interval midday service (147 trains daily during one era between Wheaton and Chicago, for example), as well as a friendly, locally - managed operating staff. So important was the line that, following a receivership (bankruptcy) due to World War I related problems, in 1922 it was reorganized and renamed the Chicago, Aurora and Elgin Railroad, and, during the 1920s was rebuilt and managed by Dr. Thomas Conway of Philadelphia, famous for his overhaul of several interurban lines. Conway sold out in 1925 to an even more famous investor in public utilities and interurbans, Samuel Instill, who, until a new bankruptcy brought about by the Depression in 1932, developed the line into the suburban operation it ultimately stood for.
While the bankruptcy of 1932 brought hard times to the CA & E, its existence was necessitated by its ridership. It made actual profits during the World War II years through 1952; was reorganized from bankruptcy in 1946; bought several new cars in 1945, but was forced to abandon passenger service between 1953 and 1957 due to the construction of the Congress Street Expressway, and the resulting loss of a one - seat ride into Chicago's loop. Freight service continued until 1959, and the line was torn up in 1962. Both Aurora and Elgin had other interurban routes radiating from their downtowns. Both had interurban lines North and South - with through cars running between the cities by 1900. These lines were owned, until 1923, by the Aurora, Elgin and Chicago, when a local Aurora company, The Western United Gas and Electric Company, purchased and rebuilt not only the interurban lines, but also the street car lines. Fifty - five new modern cars were purchased for the Aurora, Elgin and Fox River Electric Company as it became known. Street cars and interurbans gave way to buses during the early 1930s as the paved highway and auto made it uneconomical to continue rail service. The last trolley - an interurban car - ran for passengers March 31, 1935, ending almost forty - five years of electric operation in the Fox River Valley, except for the CA&E.
All pictures are of the actual item. If this is a railroad item, this material is obsolete and no longer in use by the railroad. Please email with questions. Publishers of Train Shed Cyclopedias and Stephans Railroad Directories. Large inventory of railroad books and magazines. Thank you for buying from us.
Shipping charges
Postage rates quoted are for shipments to the US only. Ebay Global shipping charges are shown. These items are shipped to Kentucky and then ebay ships them to you. Ebay collects the shipping and customs / import fees. For direct postage rates to these countries, send me an email. Shipping to Canada and other countries varies by weight.
Payment options
Payment must be received within 10 days. Paypal is accepted.
Terms and conditions
All sales are final. Returns accepted if item is not as described. Contact us first. No warranty is stated or implied. Please e-mail us with any questions before bidding.
Thanks for looking at our items.
|
