| The History Of The Illinois Traction System During the late 1800’s several interurban railways had formed in Southern Illinois and Missouri. The (ITS) was an affiliate of the Illinois Light and Power Company. The Illinois Traction System, at its height, provided electric passenger rail service to 550 miles (900 km) of tracks in central and southern Illinois. The system's Y-shaped main line stretched from St. Louis to Springfield, IL, with branches onward from Springfield northwest to Peoria and eastward to Danville. A series of affiliated street-level city trolley lines provided local passenger service in many of the cities served by the main line. The success of the Interurban in central and southern Illinois can be traced to one individual, William B. McKinley. Born in Petersburg, McKinley settled in Champaign and became a leading businessman and politician. In the late 19th century, McKinley acquired the Urbana & Railway Street Gas and Electric Co. That purchase led to the launch of the Interurban system. The Interurban consisted of a series of subsidiary companies controlled by McKinley. His holdings included the St. Louis and Springfield Railroad, Illinois Traction, and the Peoria, Bloomington & Champaign Traction. According to Dale Jenkins, president of the Illinois Traction Society, an organization established to preserve the history of the Illinois Terminal and subsidiaries, McKinley set up a number of subsidiaries to ensure the entire system wasn't affected if one of the lines failed financially. The name Illinois Terminal was formally incorporated in 1937. The Interurban was an electrified railroad with tracks laid down the center of the streets that it served. One to three passenger cars and a occasional freight car snaked their way through various central Illinois downtown locations before making their way to the outskirts of town. Train motormen had to keep a close eye out for pedestrians, vehicles, and even a stray animal or two. Conductors frequently would have to disembark to lead the train through a city intersection. In the country, the Interurban traveled past cornfields, paralleling roads and other railroad lines. Trolley wires, suspended by guide wires from poles, were laid out in the cities and lined the linear tracks through the countryside. Substations to convert alternating current to direct current were built along the track or within passenger stations. The ITC was dominant throughout central and southern Illinois, linking towns like Danville, Champaign, Decatur, Bloomington, Peoria, Lincoln, Springfield, Carlinville, Staunton, and Edwardsville. In 1910, the system was tied to St. Louis with the completion of the majestic McKinley Bridge across the Mississippi. During the Depression, the Illinois Traction System staggered. The ITS relinquished many of its city street trolleys in the 1930s, and was forced to cut its ties with the electrical utility services. In 1937 the Illinois Traction System was now know as the Illinois Terminal Railroad (ITR) and continued to provide electric-powered, long-distance passenger service through downstate Illinois for another two decades. The rise of the automobile as the primary mode of transportation in the 1950’s, made the ITR's passenger service hopelessly unprofitable. In March 1956 the Illinois Terminal Railroad ended its passenger service. In June of that year nine railroads consolidated and acquired the remainder of the ITR. They operated as the Illinois Terminal Railroad for the next twenty five years hauling short line freight on a diesel powered system. On May 8th, 1982 the ITR came to an end, it officially became part of the Norfolk and Western Railroad. Article By: Daniel C. Mathis 06/15/2008 |
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