Marengo's Second Interurban Railroad-- Part 3

Dr. Charles Brown of St. Charles was the main promoter of the line and had sucsessfully developed interurban lines elsewhere in northern Illinois.

The line's first car, #711 was ordered in 1910 from McKean Motor Car Company in Omaha, Nebraska, which described its product as "a palace on wheels."

It took six months to complete the line from Genoa to Marengo.  On June 11, 1911, over 800 people attended the celebration of its dedication.

Not sure what happened to their first interurban railroad.

--DaCoot

Marengo's Second Interurban Railroad-- Part 1: Sycamore to Marengo

From the January 6, 2013, Marengo (Illinois) Union Times by Dorothy Otis.

Before the automobile put them out of business, interurban railroads were a popular and affordable way to get around between cities in the Midwest.

Marengo's second interurban began at the Sycamore city limits and followed a portion of the future Illinois Highway 23 north to Genoa then northeast to Marengo.  (This is the way we use when we go to DeKalb these days.)  By 1913, the line has 23 miles of track.

It was used for passengers and hauling light freight.  originally it was intended to use electricity as a power source but costs led to only gas cars ever being used.

--CootUrban

The Woodstock and Sycamore Traction Company-- Part 2

The line stretched for 26.3 miles, but was never electrified due to a lack of funds, so they used gasoline-powered cars.  Three 55-foot McKeen cars were purchased but proved unsatisfactory and were replaced by two small Fairbanks-Morse cars.

The increased popularity of automobiles put the company out of business.

There is a 56-page book on the company by William L. Robertson offered on the National Business Trader site.

Pylons of the tracks over the Milwaukee Road Railroad tracks near Hampshire still stand.

--DaCoot

The Woodstock and Sycamore Traction Company-- Part 1

From Wikipedia.

Back in April, in a Looking Back post I wrote that John Seymour, a contractor who constructed the Woodstock-Sycamore Traction Line was injured along with three men on a gasoline section car near Genoa.  on March 24, 1915.

The Woodstock and Sycamore Traction Company was a short-lived  interurban railroad that ran from 1911 to 1918 between Sycamore and Marengo.  It never did reach Woodstock as it planned.

The headquarters and repair shop were in Genoa, about half-way between Sycamore and Marengo.

--CooterUrban