We are currently working on compiling historical information on Illinois Terminal 170, the Birney car owned by the museum, as part of an effort to raise money towards rebuilding the car's single truck. Car 170 originally ran in Galesburg and The Galesburg Streetcar Story, a previously unpublished history by Stephen M. Scalzo, is being printed here as part of that effort. If you would like to support the restoration of car 170, donations may be sent to the Illinois Railway Museum - R170 fund. Thanks to Stephen M. Scalzo for his support of this project and for his contribution of this article.
The Galesburg Streetcar Story
by Stephen M. Scalzo
Postcard scene on Main Street Galesburg
Galesburg is the county seat for Knox County in west central Illinois. The first settlers arrived in 1836. George Washington Gale, a Presbyterian minister for whom the city was named, selected the site for the college community. In 1837, Knox Manual Labour College was chartered. The college was renamed Knox College in 1857 when the city was incorporated and in 1858 was the site of the fifth Lincoln Douglas slavery issue debate. The Chicago Burlington & Quincy (CB&Q) Railroad arrived in 1854 and the Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad arrived in 1888. Galesburg became the county seat in 1873. It was the birthplace of Carl Sandburg, the poet and biographer of Abraham Lincoln. Dissension, false starts, paper lines and general confusion for fifteen years troubled the origin of the street railways in Galesburg before the College City Street Railway Company (CCSR) was organized in 1885 by Lake W. Sanborn (who would serve a company president from 1887 until 1891) and other local businessmen.
Before the Horsecars: 1867-1885
The Galesburg Horse Railway (GHR) Company was incorporated on March 6, 1867 with $50,000 of capital; in May 1871 the principal owner, John Colton, approached the city council for a franchise, and formally petitioned the city council for a franchise on November 15, 1871. The planned line, operating on Simmons Street from the CB&Q depot to Broad Street, was also to be used to haul freight for the businesses on Main Street. However, before any action on that petition was taken, influential industrialist George W. Brown also announced plans for a street railway. Brown, the proprietor of a large farm implement factory, wanted to run a freight-only line from the CB&Q depot to his facility and had no desire to compete with the GHR for passenger service. After much heated debate, the city council passed an ordinance granting both the GHR and Brown a franchise. Brown never built his line because he was able to get the CB&Q to build a siding into his plant. The GHR requested and received several franchise renewals but never built anything. Later, horse drawn four wheel omnibuses with lengthwise seats and a rear entrance were operated for several years as the first form of public transportation. Between 1871 and 1891, about 165 feet of track was reportedly laid on Broad Street, but the one horsecar that ran on those tracks scarcely represented the realization of those who hoped for an efficient intra city network. Finally in 1877 the GHR franchise was voided.
In January 1884, a group of investors, calling themselves the Galesburg Street Railway Company, announced plans to seek an ordinance for their company. After negotiations with the city council during 1884 produced nothing, the group changed its name to the CCSR. On January 5, 1885, the CCSR obtained a franchise to build a horsecar line from the Union Hotel on the Square to the CB&Q depot. On March 24, the company was officially incorporated.
In April 1885, another investor group, calling themselves the Lake Washington and Highland Park Street Railway, approached Knox County about securing a franchise to build a street railway in East Galesburg on Main Street east of the Galesburg City limits. Shortly thereafter, the group announced plans to ask the Galesburg city council permission to extend their line west on Main Street to the CB&Q crossing, where a connection was planned. Because the company plans were to operate freight from the brick works, considerable opposition developed from property owners along East Main Street. When it became apparent that the city council would not allow freight operations on Main Street, the group gave up and dissolved. Afterwards, the CB&Q recognized the potential for freight business on the proposed line and soon built a long side track into East Galesburg to serve the brick company and other businesses.
The Horsecar Era: 1885-1892
Construction of the CCSR trackage began in May 1885. After the first horsecar was unloaded from a railroad car at the CB&Q depot in May, horsecar service commenced on June 22 over 1.5 miles of trackage that ran from the Union Hotel to the CB&Q tracks at a place that was then called Five Points. The fare was five cents or 25 tickets for $1.00. The CCSR office was located at 23 Main Street. During the rest of the year, a total of three miles of track was built. During the first year, the line operated four horsecars, carrying 53,500 passengers and earning about $33,000. In 1886 tracks were extended to Highland Park and by 1887 another line had been built to Lombard College. By 1888, the company had 26 mules to operate nine horsecars over 5.5 miles of track. When the weather was bad, an extra horse had to be kept on the Main Street line east to the brickyard to help horsecars up the hill on the return trip. Horse drawn sleds were substituted for horsecars during the 1888 winter of the big snow.
Two Galesburg horsecars meet downtown.
Also during 1885, the Electric Light and Power Company of Galesburg was granted a franchise to furnish lighting, initially for downtown businesses and later to homes. The company used the Thompson Houston electrical system and would also control the gas company. Unknown at that time, the power company would later play an important roll in the further development of Galesburg's street railway.
In 1890, the Galesburg Street Railway (GSR) Company was formed with $10,000 of capital by businessman Wilkins Seacord (who would served as company president until 1894) and his two sons, Fred and Jesse, to build the North Broad Street line. In actuality, the GSR would never be more than a paper company and would never own any equipment or facilities; its only asset would be the North Broad Street and other franchises. In July 1891, Wilkins Seacord purchased all of the stock from the other principal shareholders of both the GSR and the CCSR. The CCSR then proceeded to build the North Broad Street line.
Afterwards, Wilkins Seacord formed the Galesburg Electric Motor and Power (GEM&P) Company that was chartered on May 13, 1892 and obtained a city franchise eighteen days later for electrification. By June, the CCSR and the GSR had been merged into the GEM&P, and no time was lost in developing the plans for an electric railway by its new president, E. A. Bancroft. The Seacords would be the powers in the company until it was purchased by the McKinley Syndicate. In addition to the North Broad Street line, the GEM&P would also have about four miles of track, with lines to Glenwood Park, Lombard University, and the Cedar Street crossing of the CB&Q.
Electrification: 1892-1903
On December 16, 1892, four small four-wheel Pullman-built electric streetcars commenced operating over the Main and Broad Street lines. Gradually all of the horsecars were replaced with electric streetcars. The ancient CCR horse barn, located at 324 Main Street, was moved intact to the Charles Craig farm on the Knoxville Road between Galesburg and Knoxville in 1892. Later a new North Broad Street line was built, the Main Street line was extended to East Galesburg, and the Cedar Street line was extended south to Third and Liberty Streets.
Single-truck streetcar 75 outside the carbarn in the 1900-1910 era. This car's history is uncertain but it appears to be 1890s vintage.
In 1896, Wilkins Seacord, then president of the GEM&P, favored building a suburban line to Knoxville, but his plan was opposed by the Board of Directors; thus he raised $10,000 from Knoxville residents and built the line himself. It took just thirty days to obtain the right of way, grade and construct the trackage; construction on the line began early in June 1897 and streetcar number 9 opened service to Knoxville on August 18. By the end of the year, the GEM&P was operating the line. Fred Seacord, a director between 1895 and 1905, would become the president and general manager in 1897, a position he would hold until 1904.
By 1899, tracks had been laid on North Seminary Street, and streetcars began operating on another line that connected the East Main Street line with the race track. During the summer, the streetcars transported large crowds when the races were run and on Sundays to Lake George. Two or three trailers were coupled behind a streetcar on runs to Highland Park for band concerts, with the trailers being parked on a sidetrack on the north bank of Highland Lake until needed for return trips after the concerts. For several years, the motormen tried unsuccessfully to get the company to put vestibules on the open platforms where they operated the cars; eventually the city council passed an ordinance forcing the company to put them on. The vestibules were frail affairs that were hooked on during the winter and were removable in the summer time.
Electric car #3 with John E. Swanson (left) and John Wagemon at North and Clark in 1905.
At the turn of the century, Galesburg had a population of 18,607, and the company had 24 closed streetcars, four open streetcars, and 12 trailers which were operated by 38 employees over 18.5 miles of trackage. The car barn and power house, containing two 80 kilowatt Westinghouse generators that supplied power to the overhead, were located on East Main Street. There was fifteen minute service in Galesburg and hourly service to Knoxville. About 2,000 passengers were being carried daily with a five cent fare or 25 tickets for $1.00.
The McKinley Years: 1903-1923
On April 15, 1903, the company was sold to the McKinley Syndicate (better known as the Illinois Traction System). On May 24, 1904 the Galesburg Railway and Light Company was organized to take over management of both the streetcar company and the Galesburg Gas and Electric Company. During 1905, the Lombard line was relocated to avoid the diagonal grade crossing at the CB&Q depot; after turning off East Main Street beside the car barn, the line ran through an alley and then south on Pearl Street to Knox Street. Earnings were $273,674 in 1905 with 2,426,846 passengers carried. By 1907, the streetcar system had 20.25 miles of trackage over which eight lines were operated using 13 closed and 14 open streetcars. During 1909 1910, one man service was introduced on the system, but shortly thereafter went back to using conductors due to public opposition. During 1910, the company was carrying about 2,000 passengers a day.
Double-truck streetcar 27 at an unknown location c1900-1910.
A view of the GRL&P powerhouse from a 1908 postcard.
The company was reorganized as the Galesburg Railway Lighting and Power Company on October 2, 1913. In the spring of 1916, construction began on an extension of the Seminary Street line to Fremont Street, and streetcars began using the new trackage in November. By 1917, the system consisted of 21.57 miles of trackage served by 36 streetcars. A short time later the company's office was moved to 5 East Main Street, where a waiting room was established for East Galesburg, Knoxville and local passengers. All seats in the waiting room faced the street, and when a streetcar pulled up in front of the building, an indicator board at the front window would light the route number of the streetcar that was ready to depart.
Single-truck streetcar 102 on South Broad Street
Early in October 1918, the Illinois Public Utilities Commission approved a new seven cent fare along with four tickets for 25 cents and a ten coupon book for 60 cents. Later that month, the company petitioned for the use of one man streetcars on certain routes; authority was received for that conversion in July 1919. In June of 1919, the West Main Street trackage was extended to Linwood Cemetery. However, the increased usage of automobiles during the early 1920s was already taking passengers away from the streetcar system. On July 27, 1920, authority was received to increase the fare to 10 cents or ten tickets for 75 cents. In an attempt to improve service, twenty new single truck steel Birney streetcars were received in January 1921 to replace all the older streetcars. On March 14, 1922, the company received a new twenty year franchise from the city council. On January 1, 1923, the company purchased the People's Traction Company streetcar line to Abingdon.
Birney car 12 signed for Clark in Galesburg in 1928. This is the only picture of a Birney in service at Galesburg we have been able to find.
Illinois Power and Light: 1923-1932
On May 25, 1923, the corporate ownership changed with the merger of the ITS, the Southern Illinois Power & Light Company and numerous subsidiaries to form the Illinois Power & Light Corporation (IP&L). The Galesburg transit system then became simply IP&L's Galesburg Division. The Galesburg transit operation at best was only marginally profitable, and the loss of even a few riders to the private automobile had a noticeable impact on revenues. In an effort to reduce operating costs, IP&L undertook a review of its streetcar lines for possible conversion to buses if ridership declined or if extensive track repairs were needed. The outcome was that it became company policy to discontinue streetcar service on streets where the city would have paving scheduled in order to avoid sharing the costs of roadway improvements.
Double-truck car 151 on Main Street Knoxville
On February 1, 1924, an ICC application asked for permission to discontinue streetcar service on the eight mile Galesburg-Knoxville line because ridership had declined so as to be insufficient to justify track rehabilitation. Then on April 16, local streetcar service within Galesburg on the Grand Avenue trackage, used by the Knoxville line, was converted to buses, isolating the Knoxville line and its two Birney streetcars from the rest of the system. The Knoxville line was cut back to the Knoxville city limits in July 1925 to allow concrete paving of Knoxville's Main Street. On August 15, service to East Galesburg was converted to buses. However, poor road conditions for the replacement Knoxville buses resulted in full rail service being restored in September 1925. On March 23, 1926, the ICC gave the company permission to formally convert the Knoxville line to buses when the concrete road was completed, and on July 1 buses finally replaced the streetcars.
Abingdon, with a population of 3,000, also wanted to pave its Main Street. In May 1925, the IP&L asked authority to abandon the Abingdon line because it was faced with impending concrete road paving along Knox Street on the city's east side. There was nothing in the company's contract to force the removal of the rails on Main Street in Abingdon, so the mayor had city workers tear out the rails one night, and after that Main Street was paved. Work began on paving the highway beside the trackage from P.T. Junction to Abingdon, and by late September paving was completed except for the subway under the CB&Q and RIS tracks where the tracks went to the center of the road. Finally, on October 2, buses replaced the streetcars. Final authority for abandonment of the streetcar trackage was granted on November 16, but by that time, all of the tracks had already been completely dismantled. Bus substitution proved to only be a temporary solution, and all service was discontinued on April 13, 1932, a victim of the automobile and the Depression.
Decline of the Streetcar System
The year 1925 brought ICC approval to convert North Broad, one of the city's major streetcar lines, to buses because the city wanted to pave the street and that would require trackage removal or rebuilding north from the Public Square to Dayton Street. The conversion took place in stages, with service north of Losey Street replaced by a shuttle bus on June 9, 1926, and the remainder of the line, plus the CB&Q Depot route, replaced on June 10, 1928. Three surplus Birney streetcars were transferred to IP&L's Jacksonville Division in 1927.
Single-truck streetcar 110 on South Broad Street
The Clark route received buses on July 1, 1928, after which three additional surplus Birney streetcars were sold to Jefferson City, Missouri. By the end of 1928, only fourteen streetcars remained, and by July 1929, ridership had fallen to a point where only eight streetcars were required on the remaining Main, Seminary-Monmouth and Seminary-West lines. Finally on August 21, 1929, IP&L announced its intention to substitute buses on the remaining routes in October. Four buses received in September allowed the conversion of the western half of the Main Street line on September 11.
The great Crash in October 1929 and the resulting Depression caused a dramatic falloff in IP&L's power business, and eventually the Insull Empire could not service its huge debt load. Insull's stock held up well in the immediate months after 1929, but New York bankers finally refused to continue financing Insull's overextended holding company. In 1931, Insull's Middle West Utilities Company was placed into receivership; Insull was forced to resign from all of his companies and sent into involuntary retirement. However, none of Insull's utilities went into receivership or bankruptcy.
An 18-inch snowstorm in January 1930 created additional problems when the company had a difficult time in clearing the tracks on the remaining streetcar lines. When the ICC turned down IP&L's request to convert the remaining streetcar lines on August 16, 1930, they were paired as East Main-South West and Seminary-Monmouth and continued to operate. The necessary approvals were finally received, enabling the retirement of the last streetcars on April 30, 1931. All of the remaining overhead wires were removed by May 6, and the streetcar trackage that crossed steam railroad tracks was removed by May 12. The remaining fourteen Birney streetcars were stored on a track east of the carbarn after the facility was converted to a bus garage; those streetcars were transferred to IP&L's Alton Division in 1932 for further service.
Galesburg Birneys lined up next to the powerhouse on 9/27/31 before they were sent to Alton.
Bus Operations: 1932-1950
Total bus operations made possible a reduction in operating costs, but the Depression year of 1933 saw the Galesburg Division with a $16,000 operating loss which IP&L carried, waiting for better times. However, the mood of the country was turning against big utilities. As a result of little prospect for a return to profitability, IP&L began disposing of its transit properties. By 1934, it was announced that the Galesburg system was for sale, even though the new Securities and Exchange Commission legislation passed under President Roosevelt's leadership would not force IP&L to sell a majority of its transit properties until 1935. On January 11, 1934, it was announced that E. Roy Fitzgerald, who with his brothers controlled the Chicago based Rex Finance Corporation, would purchase the Galesburg transit property under the name Galesburg City Lines (GCL) which had been formed. GCL took over operation of IP&L's eight routes on February 26, for which only minor modifications were instituted in the following decade. In 1936 ownership was recorded as Transportation Investors, Inc. who obtained the common stock shares originally held by Rex. The National City Lines (NCL), purported to be a subsidiary of General Motors, had not been formed yet, but shortly thereafter became a fast growing holding company that would be buying large and small city transit systems. GCL never was incorporated into the NCL that E. Roy Fitzgerald operated; after 1938 and until 1951, all GCL common stock was owned with Kent Fitzgerald. However, GCL operated in much the same manner as other NCL properties, under which many buses were acquired.
Introduction of new equipment and reduced fares resulted in ridership increases and a decline in operating losses. A modest loss of under $1,000 for 1934 led to a profitable 1936 with one million riders. The proceeding years saw more riders and profits, record passengers traffic during World War II, and in 1947 saw an over $80,000 profit and 4.3 million riders. However, after that, post-war ridership started to decline because riders turned to the private automobile for their transportation needs, a norm that was affecting all transit companies throughout the country. By 1950, ridership had dropped to less than two million, with a small $3,000 profit. With no prospect likely of reversing the trends, GCL applied to the ICC to discontinue service, and on November 13, 1950 the company's drivers walked out on strike over wages and benefits dispute in negotiating a new contract.
Transit in Trouble: 1950-1972
In late January 1951, a new employee contract was reached, at which time veteran Midwest bus operator Frank McCreary and the Galesburg Safety Route (GSR) assumed operations. Valued at $22,000, including 12 GCL buses and leasing the GCL garage, service resumed on February 20 after ICC approval was received granting the transfer of ownership. On December 27, the company entered the intercity service when the ICC approved was received to purchase the American Buslines' 118 mile route between Galesburg and Quincy via Abingdon, Avon, Macomb and Ursa. However, the new service expansion was short lived due to operating losses because of low ridership, and the ICC cancelled the route's certificate on April 14, 1954. The economic picture for the city service also proved discouraging with operating loses and deferred bus maintenance. Service suddenly ceased on March 16, 1954 when IRS agents seized GSR assets and sealed the garage due to four liens alleging the company owed over $14,000 in unpaid withholding to the federal government. Efforts to temporarily resume service under a receiver were unsuccessful, and the company's assets were ultimately sold for $4,000 at a public auction.
On March 22, 1954, former GSR President Robert Lutes proposed to the ICC that the Kewanee City Lines (KCL) be permitted to establish a Galesburg division. At that time, KCL was operating a modest size transit operation in Kewanee (located 35 miles northeast of Galesburg), and a small division in Princeton. The ICC granted temporary emergency authority to the KCL on March 23, and Lutes was named general manager of the new operation. Bus service resumed on March 25 using six buses on four routes that was expanded to seven routes when another six buses were received. KCL's first nine months of service produced a nearly $900 loss, but conditions slowly improved with profits in December 1954 and January 1955, with daily ridership stabilizing at 2200 riders.
Early in March 1955, ICC approval was given to KCL to sell its Kewanee and Princeton bus service to Boiler City Transit. The ICC awarded a permanent certificate for the Galesburg service on March 30, after which the operations was formally reorganized as the Galesburg Transit Lines, Inc. However, in February 1956, Lutes announced that the company was operating at a loss because of major bus failure expenditures. A special Chamber of Commerce committee, appointed to help explore what help could be given to GTL to cope with the financial situation (and the threatened drastic service reduction) was ineffective, only postponing the formation of a municipal supported transit system. Then suddenly, Lutes made headlines with an ill-fated purchase of the Boiler City Transit assets for $3500 (with his own personal funds and funds from the Kewanee Chamber of Commerce) after that company suffered a financial collapse; the Kewanee bus service was short lived, being discontinued in mid July for lack of funds, and the Princeton service was never operated. Galesburg service was curtailed shortly thereafter, with other reductions being made on a piecemeal basis which only postponed the inevitable. Money was finally exhausted for the Galesburg operation, and buses stopped running on July 28, 1956. Eventually the GTL assets were sold through a series of sheriff's auction.
Into the transit void stepped W. D. Kelly of Minot, ND, who operated transit properties in several midwestern cities (including Minot and Keokuk, Iowa). Kelly organized Galesburg Motor Coach (GMC) on November 7, 1956, and ICC temporary operating authority was given on December 4 to operate school type buses on three loop routes. However weather prevented the delivery of buses from Minot, with service finally starting on February 13. The permanent franchise was issued to GMC on February 17, 1965 (along with the GTL certification revocation), by which time the system had grown to include 17 school routes, being certified as fixed routes for which the general public was allowed to ride at the regular fare. By the early 1970s, Kelly was in bad health, wanting to retire and sell the company. Bob Martin, a GMC employee since 1958 and his wife Vonnie purchased the operations effective March 20, 1972 and renamed the service to Galesburg Transit (GT) which was incorporated in 1974.
Municipal Control: 1972-Present
Since 1972, the City of Galesburg and GT have been working as partners to provide public transit service. Bus service is operated six days a week on hourly headways on three routes between 7AM and 6:15PM. GT receives a monthly payment from the City based upon its operating deficit and the previous years' expenses. The City's funding comes from the Federal Section 5311 Operating Assistance and the Illinois Downstate Operating Assistance. Additional GT funding comes from fares, exterior advertising revenue and a local City match. The basic route structure is still virtually identical to what Kelly laid out. In 1976 GT carried over 150,000 riders in which normal schedules required only three buses (and several spares) operating on three through routes. Route extensions were implemented to serve the Carl Sandburg Mall in 1975 and the newly constructed Carl Sandburg College in 1984 in northeast Galesburg, and St. Mary's Hospital and the Galesburg Clinic on the extreme north end of Galesburg.
People's Traction Company
The People's Traction Company was organized on May 23, 1901 by Captain F. W. Latiner, Lake W. Sanborn, and nine others for the purpose of constructing a twelve mile electric railway from Galesburg south to Abingdon. After receiving a franchise from the Galesburg city council on June 11, 1901, construction began on the combination car barn power house and the trackage in Galesburg. The Galesburg station was located on East Simmons Street between Prairie Street and Boones Avenue, and the Abingdon station was located at 202 South Main Street. Small buildings, locally known as "Shanties", were erected at each intersection between Abingdon and Galesburg to accommodate waiting passengers during cold or inclement weather.
The first portion of the line in Galesburg was opened in June 1902 using borrowed streetcars, and the first load of express business was hauled on October 18. The first two passenger cars arrived on November 25, and on December 1 at 8 AM, the first streetcar left Galesburg on its inaugural trip to Abingdon. By 1905 the company was offering hourly service with 15 daily runs in each direction and three US Mail runs using five streetcars and one express motor operating over 12.5 miles of track and one mile of siding. The Rock Island Southern interurbans from Monmouth began joint use of the company’s trackage to downtown Galesburg on May 30, 1906 from where the tracks connected at P.T. Junction in southwest Galesburg. Two second hand closed trailers were purchased for use in 1909.
Freight connections were constructed to the Rock Island Southern and Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe railroads in Galesburg in May 1912. The company was sold to the Illinois Traction System in May 1913. Later that summer, the Rock Island Southern opened a new freight line into Galesburg alongside the CB&Q right of way between P.T. Junction and Academy Street. The Galesburg station was moved to 5 East Main Street in 1916.
A 250 foot connecting trackage link on South Henderson was constructed from the Galesburg Railway Light and Power Company's trackage on Monmouth Boulevard to the company's trackage at Knox Street in June 1921. That connection allowed city streetcars to serve the manufacturing companies on Henderson Street. However, the company continued to use its trackage on Knox and Prairie Streets to reach the downtown station because its streetcars could not negotiate the city trackage curves that were designed for the short wheelbases of the single truck city streetcars. During 1921, the Rock Island Southern interurbans quit using the joint trackage between P.T. Junction and South West Street in Galesburg. Afterwards, the RIS interurbans came into Galesburg over their freight line and made connection with the city streetcar trackage at Liberty Street before rejoining the company's trackage at Knox Street.
The beginning of the 1920s brought the increased use of the automobile, which brought about declining ridership. In April 1922, a friendly suit in foreclosure for $150,000 worth of mortgage securing bonds was brought by the trustee for the bondholders. The bondholders wanted to protect their interest and to speed up negotiations for the exchange of securities then in progress. Eventually, the company was purchased by the Galesburg Railway Lighting and Power Company on January 1, 1923.
