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Northern Indiana Railway CERA Bulletin 132
Northern Indiana Railway Bulletin 132 of the Central Electric Railfans Association
Hard Cover w/Dust jacket
244 pages
Copyright 1998
CONTENTS
Foreword4
Acknowledgments 5
SECTION 1 South Bend and Mishawaka Rail Lines 6
18857
South Bend Railway Company 7
South Bend & Mishawaka Street Raliway8
An Electric Miracle! 9
1886-189415
1895-189818
South Bend Street Railway Company - 189821
Indiana Railway Company - 189924
Northern Indiana Railway Company - 190529
Chicago South Bend & Northern Indiana Railway Company31
South Bend Lines and System31
1908 - 1910, Major Decisions on Electric Power, Consolidation and New Shops 34
1913 - 1917, Storms - Jitney Buses - Track Extensions - New Streetcars38
1917 Strike 42
1919 Columbia Street Carbarn Fire 46
1923 Columbia Street Carbarn Fire 48
1923 - The Motor Bus Appears50
More Buses & Receivership54
South Bend End of Interurban Service, June 1, 193461
SECTION 2 Elkhart County Street Railway History 91
Elkhart 91
Citizens' Street Railway Company92
Goshen97
New Owners99
South Bend and Elkhart Electric Railway Company102
St. Joseph Valley Traction Company109
Goshen Streetcar Service Ends110
1930112
Elkhart Streetcar Service Ends114
SECTION 3 Southern Michigan Railway Company117
Construction Challenges118
Passenger Service Begins 121
Northward Expansion123
"The Longest Interurban Railway Bridge in the World" 124
Scottdale Powerhouse126
New Railcars Ordered128
"Fruit Belt" Service 131
The Blizzard of 1918133
Receivership and Reorganization1
Interurban Service Ends135
SECTION 4 LA PORTE AND MICHIGAN CITY RAILLINES
Michigan City137
La Porte - Chicago & South Shore Railway145
The "Air Line"152
CSB&NI - South Bend to La Porte154
The Interurban in the Mid-1920s 169
Michigan City Streetcar Service Ends171
1934173
APPENDICES 176
South Bend - Mishawaka Car Routes177
Car Barns187
Rolling Stock (City and Interurban Rail, and Motor Buses) 195
Car Drawings229
Employee Time Tables 236
Transfers 240
Bibliography 243
Northern Indiana Railway, Inc. Map
ON THE BACK COVER
An Historic Discovery
During the 1920's many interurban railways began using a highly visible, bright orange paint sometimes described as "Traction Orange." The Northern Indiana also changed to a new paint scheme which individuals recall as being more tan than the well-known South Shore Line orange. No one could provide an adequate description or paint sample. During the 1970's the Illinois Railway Museum (IRM) was advised the body of Northern Indiana 300 was available near South Bend. The 300 was one of the 61 ft. cars rebuilt and painted in 1930. Even though the car had been enclosed in a building the underbody had deteriorated beyond practical restoration but did contain useful hardware, windows, etc. which were removed before the car body was broken up by the owner. One salvaged item was a portion of the car siding which contained the railway's logo. Packed in a bundle the car siding hoards were stored at IRM. Learning of this new hook IRM members had the boards carefully pieced together, mounted on a large plywood sheet and photographed. The photo shows the actual shade of orange used by the Northern Indiana plus the other long forgotten colors used in the company's logo.
Almost forgotten, South Bend, Indiana had what is arguably North America's first, in a major public street, electric street railway which began electric car operation in October 1885 and died before the next Spring because merchants wouldn't allow the railway to clear snow from the tracks as plowing spoiled the sleighing and supposedly kept customers from the stores. The line then reverted to horse cars until June 1890 when part of the system was electrified. A second company built an intercity line on both sides of the St. Joseph river. South Bend and Mishawaka, in those days, were separated by open country and the horse cars ran in a rural setting along the side of the road. In 1895 the two cities were joined by an electric rail line using large double-truck passenger cars which were operated in two car trains. This train operation makes the intercity line one of the earlier "interurban" operations and the first of its kind in Indiana.
By the mid 1890's several smaller cities in the three northern Indiana counties of La Porte, St. Joseph and Elkhart had city streetcars. Over the next decade the Northern Indiana acquired these properties and joined them together under one ownership. During the same period a line was pushed north into Michigan reaching Niles and, later, to St. Joseph and Benton Harbor where connections were made with the Lake Michigan freight and passenger boats. Much of this area is excellent orchard country and generated a long season of fruit crops which were shipped via the fast and convenient service of the interurban cars to on-line cities and to Chicago and Milwaukee by lake steamboats.
The Northern Indiana and what we now call the South Shore Line engaged in a building race west from South Bend with both lines located just north of today's Conrail main line. For 10 miles the three lines were almost side by side.
The Northern Indiana was always an innovator and quick to adopt policies that might conserve money. At the same time the management did not hesitate to experiment with new ideas or capitalize on any edge they might have over competition. Parlor cars were introduced in the mid 1920's and, for a while, stole riders from the South Shore until the Insull interests rebuilt and re-equipped the South Shore line. Most of the competing motor bus operations were purchased. After that buses ran on schedules which complemented the electric cars and gave even better service. Reorganized in 1930 the company added new lightweight interurban cars but even these were not enough and all the interurban lines were abandoned in 1934. City car operations continued in South Bend and Mishawaka where the city streetcars were kept in excellent condition. City motor buses were introduced in the 1920's. By 1938 the company planned to phase out the streetcars over a period of years. This was to spread out the cost of purchasing new equipment. This plan might have allowed some of the heavier trafficked lines to survive the war years. The company, to end the receivership, was reorganization in 1940. This created a situation where some vocal civic groups and politicians put pressure on the company to immediately change to "modern" buses in 1940. The streetcars were hastily replaced by buses and were sorely missed during the subsequent war years.
Motor bus operations continued under the same management until 1956 when the company was sold to outside interests. Eventually, the two cities acquired control of the operation and set up the South Bend Public Transportation Corporation which operates the buses today under the name Transpo.
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