Some of you may find this interesting. I downloaded the newspaper and then enlarged it to be able to read it.
What is particularly interesting to me is the importance attached to overnight freight service from St. Louis to central Illinois communities. Even in 1910 there was an understanding of the need to keep the goods moving through the logistics system and not have them sit in a warehouse.
https://stltoday.newspapers.com/clip/7806865/benefits_of_the_mckinley_system/
greyhounds Some of you may find this interesting. I downloaded the newspaper and then enlarged it to be able to read it. What is particularly interesting to me is the importance attached to overnight freight service from St. Louis to central Illinois communities. Even in 1910 there was an understanding of the need to keep the goods moving through the logistics system and not have them sit in a warehouse. https://stltoday.newspapers.com/clip/7806865/benefits_of_the_mckinley_system/
Thanks!
C&NW, CA&E, MILW, CGW and IC fan
Illinois Terminal as a freight hauler became a victim of its own success. Its own lines mostly were built to interurban standards and the electrical system could no longer support the heavier freight trains. The second item led to ITC's dieselization and the first item led to trackage rights operations on paralleling steam roads, with all of the problems implied in that sort of operation.
Tha was important business for the interurbans.
The Kohler plant in Sheboygan Wisconsin shipped plumbing supplies via the Milwaukee Electric Railway and Light company- North Shore Line and Chicago Aurora and Elgin. The companies invested heavily in this business. the "Bathtub train" Came to an end because of city ordinance against freight trains on Milwaukee city streets.
I think the all time king of the interurban LCL freight had to be the Cincinnatti and Lake Erie. Also as interchange partner was the Indiana railroad. The C&LE bought the very last new trolley express cars.
A wonderful book is Cincinatti and Lake Erie railroad by Jack Keenan. I highly recommend it !!
Randy Stahl A wonderful book is Cincinatti and Lake Erie railroad by Jack Keenan. I highly recommend it !!
I second the recommendation, having bought my copy almost exactly 40 years ago on my first visit to OERM. The first major nail in C&LE's coffin was the loss of the Michigan connection via Toledo, second major nail in the coffin was the loss of the Dayton & Western connection to Indiana and the last nail in he coffin was the loss of freight connection with the Lake Shore Electric.
A couple of what-ifs with interurban freight would have been a connection between Illinois Traction and the THI&E along with the Western Ohio connecting with the Indiana network.
FWIW, the last interurban express shipments were made on the CSS&SB in the early 70's, making same day delivery.
I can still remember South Shore's express cars (secondhand from IRR), specifically on a mid-morning eastbound run that passed through Hegewisch about 10:30AM. The Insull-era combines (100 series) also were used to handle express shipments. South Shore public timetables up to about 1970 used a "bc" indication by the train number to show trains that had a baggage car for express shipments.
I can almost smell those traction motors on the CA&E!
https://archive.org/stream/illinoistraction00jans#page/n1/mode/2up
https://archive.org/stream/interurbanera00midd#page/192/mode/2up
schlimm I can almost smell those traction motors on the CA&E!
I collect Ovaltine memorabilia and my two railroad pocket watches are Elgin watches for that reason.
I do know that the North Shore and the Roarin Elgin in the 1920s had a lot of joint operations. I do not know the extent of the package freight business but I believe it was substantial. The North Shore merchandise fleet was huge !! Too huge I think for only the business generated on the North Shore. I know that North Shore equipment was in service to Sheboygan Wisconsin and I have seen evidence that these trains or portions or them went to points West on the CA&E.
The CA&E also contributed semi trailers the the pool of North Shore (Insull) TOFC service. I don't know the specifics on the CA&E's TOFC operation.
We know about the CA&Es carload service, much less about the lcl service.
I recall that in 1947, age 15, I rode a work motor pulling a South Brooklyn freight on Macdonald Avenue under the Culver Elevated structure (now the Fm for a while was the D, before that the BMT Culver line to Chambers Street via the Nassau Loop (rush housrs) or just the Tunnel and Nassau cut (other times). I rode it through the lower level of Ninth Avenue Station to the 39th Street yards, switching from trolley to 3rd rail power before joining the rapid transit tracks before entering 9th Avenue Station. In the 39th Street yard, I think on the team track, was an outside-steel-framed wood Illinois Terminal box car. Maybe someday I will locate the B&W negetive taken with my old second-hand black Leica D with f3.5 50mm Elmar lens.
CSSHEGEWISCH- Ok! I get it now...Chicago South Shore Hegewisch Station...here I thought it was cheese sandwich all this time.
Wanswheel- Amazing story on the Illinois Terminal Building...wow, built like a tank and so versatile. Nothing old fashioned and useless about it. Makes you wonder what could have been done with Penn Station...or many many other railroad structures and buildings.
The "family" home and property I referred to in S. Ontario when lamenting the CASO in another thread, was built in 1865 and by the same guy and crew that built the big freight house and station in St. Thomas, Ont. for the Canada Southern. It is far more adaptable and friendly to modern day living and high tech everything than anything I've seen after WWII.
Wonder what happened to that Illinois Terminal executive who ran off with the millions along with the love interest. Looks like he got away with it. I suppose it all worked out fine for everyone in the end.
Midwest Terminal Building (1) as it would’ve looked at full height, and the never built Illinois Terminal skyscraper station (2), from brochure at link
http://preservationresearch.com/downtown/midwest-terminal-building-brochure/
http://stltoday.mycapture.com/mycapture/folder.asp?event=1004444&CategoryID=38578&view=1 photo captions
https://dnr.mo.gov/shpo/docs/moachp/Midwest%20Terminal%20Building.pdf National register of historic places nomination
daveklepper I recall that in 1947, age 15, I rode a work motor pulling a South Brooklyn freight on Macdonald Avenue under the Culver Elevated structure (now the Fm for a while was the D, before that the BMT Culver line to Chambers Street via the Nassau Loop (rush housrs) or just the Tunnel and Nassau cut (other times). I rode it through the lower level of Ninth Avenue Station to the 39th Street yards, switching from trolley to 3rd rail power before joining the rapid transit tracks before entering 9th Avenue Station. In the 39th Street yard, I think on the team track, was an outside-steel-framed wood Illinois Terminal box car. Maybe someday I will locate the B&W negetive taken with my old second-hand black Leica D with f3.5 50mm Elmar lens.
I looked up the IT boxcars in the 1946 ORER :
5320-5354 XM , four cars
6000-6099 XM , 99 cars
6100-6299 XM, 199 cars
6300-6499 XM, 200 cars
7000-7049 XM , 48 cars
8000-8099 XM, 99 cars
8100-8199 XM, 100 cars
8200-8249 XM, 49 cars
8300- 8348 XAB 48 cars ( automobile)
846 cars total, quite a fleet for a trolley line !!
I would certainly think it very possible to see Illinois Terminal freight cars on most systems in the US.
Now I need more models...
Randy
This newspaper rememberance was particularly interesting to me for several reasons:
1) I grew up in a small central Illinois town. The IT served central Illinois and linked it with the metropolis of St. Louis. Unfortunately, I was born too late and too far away from an IT line to see the electrics. But when I see the communities served by the IT, such as Morton and Mackinaw, it hits at least close to home.
2) The men, and they were, in fact, "Men", in charge of the IT had access to capital. They were willing to invest that money in to the railroad. They not only built the significant buildings in St. Louis, but they also built bypass routes around cities such as Springfield, Decatur, and Champaign in Illinois. These bypass routes allowed the IT to operate long freight trains without using street running. These guys probably needed a better chrystal ball, becuase they probably lost most of the invested funds. But hey, nobody is right every time and they didn't operate out of fear. And they couldn't force anyone to invest.
3) The interurbans are a fascinating flash in the pan. They developed and died quickly. They left a well documented history. IMHO, one of the best books about railroading is "The Electric Interurban Railways In America" by Hilton and Due. Hilton was a PhD economist and a railfan. He could take a subject, such as the interurbans, and produce a book that explains "Why". Why did they develop? Why did they operate the way they did? Why did they use the technology they did? Why did the interurban industry decline? Why did it die? Hilton provides answers.
4) I'm also fascinated by LCL freight. In fact, I wrote a master's thesis with the title "The Transportation of LCL/LTL Freight By Railroad". (That was decades ago.) I've made the point on this forum several times that much of the diversion of such freight from rail to truck was the result of inane government regulation, not market forces or the superiority of motor freight for such movements.
Anyway, I find the IT and its operations very interesting. But that's enough for this cold and snowy night near the Illinois-Wisconsin state line.
Ken: Thanks for the Hilton reference, as one who grew up very near the CA&E and was fortunate to ride it before it shut down. I still ride its RoW (Prairie Path) on bicycle.
I also used to see the IT in Champaign as a UI student. Their diesel color scheme was bad!
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