Northern Indiana Railway CERA Bulletin 132

Description: RailroadTreasures offers the following item: 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. All pictures are of the actual item. If this is a railroad item, this material is obsolete and no longer in use by the railroad. Please email with questions. Publishers of Train Shed Cyclopedias and Stephans Railroad Directories. Large inventory of railroad books and magazines. Thank you for buying from us. Shipping charges Postage rates quoted are for shipments to the US only. Ebay Global shipping charges are shown. These items are shipped to Kentucky and then ebay ships them to you. Ebay collects the shipping and customs / import fees. For direct postage rates to these countries, send me an email. Shipping to Canada and other countries varies by weight. Payment options Payment must be received within 10 days. Paypal is accepted. Terms and conditions All sales are final. 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Price: 35 USD

Location: Talbott, Tennessee

End Time: 2024-08-11T18:55:48.000Z

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