Rockford & Interurban Railway

Rockford & Interurban Railway PDF Author: Mike Schafer with Brian Landis
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
ISBN: 1467112399
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 128

Book Description
With today's America dominated by the automobile, it is difficult to believe that until the 1920s nearly 100 percent of the US population traveled via rail. Conventional passenger-train service spread rapidly by the 1850s, but another form of rail transportation did not emerge until the turn of the 20th century: the interurban. Almost always electric, interurbans linked cities with burghs. Rockford, one of Illinois's three largest urban centers during the 20th century, enjoyed a system appropriately named the Rockford & Interurban, dating from the city's horse-drawn streetcars of the 1880s. By World War I, the Rockford & Interurban ran from downtown Rockford to Cherry Valley and Belvidere; Winnebago, Pecatonica, and Freeport; Roscoe and Rockton; and Beloit and Janesville, Wisconsin. The Rockford & Interurban enjoyed a supernova of success, rising quickly in popularity before slowly dying when the automobile became widespread in the 1920s; the Great Depression finished the job in 1936.

Rockford & Interurban Railway

Rockford & Interurban Railway PDF Author: Mike Schafer
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
ISBN: 1439650527
Category : Transportation
Languages : en
Pages : 128

Book Description
With today's America dominated by the automobile, it is difficult to believe that until the 1920s nearly 100 percent of the US population traveled via rail. Conventional passenger-train service spread rapidly by the 1850s, but another form of rail transportation did not emerge until the turn of the 20th century: the interurban. Almost always electric, interurbans linked cities with burghs. Rockford, one of Illinois's three largest urban centers during the 20th century, enjoyed a system appropriately named the Rockford & Interurban, dating from the city's horse-drawn streetcars of the 1880s. By World War I, the Rockford & Interurban ran from downtown Rockford to Cherry Valley and Belvidere; Winnebago, Pecatonica, and Freeport; Roscoe and Rockton; and Beloit and Janesville, Wisconsin. The Rockford & Interurban enjoyed a supernova of success, rising quickly in popularity before slowly dying when the automobile became widespread in the 1920s; the Great Depression finished the job in 1936.

The Electric Interurban Railways in America

The Electric Interurban Railways in America PDF Author: George Woodman Hilton
Publisher: Stanford University Press
ISBN: 9780804740142
Category : Transportation
Languages : en
Pages : 500

Book Description
One of the most colorful yet neglected eras in American transportation history is re-created in this definitive history of the electric interurbans. Built with the idea of attracting short-distance passenger traffic and light freight, the interurbans were largely constructed in the early 1900s. The rise of the automobile and motor transport caused the industry to decline after World War I, and the depression virtually annihilated the industry by the middle 1930s. Part I describes interurban construction, technology, passenger and freight traffic, financial history, and final decline and abandonment. Part II presents individual histories (with route maps) of the more than 300 companies of the interurban industry. Reviews "A first-rate work of such detail and discernment that it might well serve as a model for all corporate biographies. . . . A wonderfully capable job of distillation." —Trains "Few economic, social, and business historians can afford to miss this definitive study." —Mississippi Valley Historical Review "All seekers after nostalgia will be interested in this encyclopedic volume on the days when the clang, clang of the trolley was the most exciting travel sound the suburbs knew." —Harper's Magazine "A fascinating and instructive chapter in the history of American transportation." —Journal of Economic History "The hint that behind the grand facade of scholarship lies an expanse of boyish enthusiasm is strengthened by a lovingly amassed and beautifully reproduced collection of 37 photographs." —The Nation

Rockford Area Railroads

Rockford Area Railroads PDF Author: Mike Schafer
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
ISBN: 9780738583907
Category : Transportation
Languages : en
Pages : 132

Book Description
Railroads were key to Rockford's rise as a thriving manufacturing and commercial center. With an area population of over 200,000 residents and a reputation for manufactured goods, Rockford had a critical need for railroads into the bust years of the 1970s. Eventually four railroads rose to prominence in Rockford, all of them Class 1 carriers: the Chicago and North Western; Chicago, Burlington and Quincy; the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific (the Milwaukee Road); and Illinois Central. For nearly a century, these four roads--all of them esteemed Midwestern railroads--carried the bulk of freight and passengers arriving and departing Rockford, Davis Junction, and Loves Park by rail. Two other smaller railways, the Chicago, Milwaukee and Gary and the Rockford and Interurban, also played a part in Rockford's railroad history and are spotlighted in this volume.

Rockford Area Railroads

Rockford Area Railroads PDF Author: Mike Schafer
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
ISBN: 1439641005
Category : Transportation
Languages : en
Pages : 132

Book Description
Railroads were key to Rockfords rise as a thriving manufacturing and commercial center. With an area population of over 200,000 residents and a reputation for manufactured goods, Rockford had a critical need for railroads into the bust years of the 1970s. Eventually four railroads rose to prominence in Rockford, all of them Class 1 carriers: the Chicago and North Western; Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy; the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Pau,l and Pacific (the Milwaukee Road); and Illinois Central. For nearly a century, these four roadsall of them esteemed Midwestern railroadscarried the bulk of freight and passengers arriving and departing Rockford, Davis Junction, and Loves Park by rail. Two other smaller railways, the Chicago, Milwaukee, and Gary and the Rockford and Interurban, also played a part in Rockfords railroad history and are spotlighted in this volume.

Bulletin

Bulletin PDF Author: Electric Railway Historical Society
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 352

Book Description

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