Illlinois Terminal video Part 2

Illinois Terminal Railroad, 1952-1953. With permission of Dr. Howard Blackburn and the Illinois Traction Society.

[@johndonlon1611]

I'm thankful these old movies are on KZbin and not tossed in the trash. These historical film records are priceless.

[@kennethcooley3445]

Hi Pam, thanks for sharing

[@alcopower5710]

This is simply outstanding. Loved every second of it. Especially at 10:00 where they are outrunning the bus and the in cab views Thanks so much for sharing

[@davidbrownell1129]

I know some things about interurbans but a whole lot more about cars in the 1950s. Several times you’ll see a 1952 Ford and at the tail end of Part 1, there’s a flash sighting of a white Nash Healey, so that’s when I’d place this film. As a kid in St. Louis my father took me from Alton, Illinois back down to the terminal on 12th Street (now Tucker) on final days of interurban service. The first time was on a tall older car: the second trip was on a newer double-ended PCC car. I recall Pop telling me that during the height of midwestern interurban service, and with clever routing, it was possible to go from St. Louis, via Chicago, to Indianapolis.

[@oldenweery7510]

Many thanks for posting this. I finally got to see one of their neat little Class B freight motors in action---and was interested to learn something new after admiring them for more than sixty years: their pilots were attached to the trucks! Makes sense, of course. The passenger coaches seem to zip right along; is that a trick of the camera or were they really going that fast? (And approximately how fast did they travel on their private ROW?) Great footage, I presume thanks to fan trips.

[@pleiter940]

Great question! We think that the film shows them moving faster than they actually did - in some scenes in this series, the people are walking much faster than normal as well.

[@oldenweery7510]

@@pleiter940 Ah, I think it's the same situation they had with silent films when they transferred them, back in the early days: they didn't match the cranking speed of the old cameras. I've seen a lot of them since and they slowed down so people walked normally and then you couldn't tell the age. Some of those old films, like early photos, were amazing! Thanks again. I'm so glad to see this footage.

[@sardu55]

Did the ITR run down to Champaign and UI, or maybe even farther south?.

[@pleiter940]

Great question! It ran from St Louis to Danville, and also north to Peoria. In Champaign County, it only ran east-west, however. There are a helpful maps on this website: www.illinoistractionsociety.org/Plat.html

[@sardu55]

Thanks for the info. I was never sure how far downstate the interurbans ran, if they did at all, or were just locally oriented within the town or city. I know Indiana had a pretty extensive interurban network, where you could take one from Terre Haute to Hammond, but not really sure how that type service extended into or was unique to Illinois. Thanks again, I'll make sure and check the link you noted.

[@midwestgrammar2941]

Wish they came back with them electric trains today how high gas is