The Waupaca Electric Light and Railway Company was set up in 1898 as successor to the Waupaca Electric Light Association. It opened on July 4, 1899 with regular service from July 9. Service was typically hourly.
The single line ran from the
Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railroad
The Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railroad (MStP&SSM) was a Class I railroad subsidiary of the Canadian Pacific Railway in the Midwestern United States. Commonly known since its opening in 1884 as the Soo Line after the phonetic spe ...
(Soo Line) depot in Waupaca via Oak Street, Mill Street, Main Street, Fulton Street, and
Highway 22 to King on Rainbow Lake. The
Grand Army of the Republic Veterans Home in King housed 600
Civil War Veterans and their wives, who provided much of the line's ridership. A small station was located near the Veterans Home in King. From there, it continued on to the Grand View Hotel which served vacationers visiting the Waupaca Chain of Lakes.
Equipment
* No. 1 and 2: Four wheel gravel cars, built in 1899 by James Jensen, a Waupaca boat builder
* No. 10: Single truck open passenger car, purchased used in 1899
* No. 12: Single truck open passenger car, purchased used in 1899
* No. 16: Single truck enclosed passenger car, provided year-round service, known as the "Winter Car", purchased new in 1900 from the
Jewett Car Company
The Jewett Car Company was an early 20th-century American industrial company that manufactured streetcars and interurban cars.
History
The company was founded in 1893 in Jewett, Ohio, where its first factory was located. In 1904, the compan ...
of
Newark, Ohio. Equipped with Peckham trucks,
General Electric motors, cherry woodwork, and rattan seats.
* No. 17: Single truck open passenger car, probably purchased in 1900 at the same time as No. 16 having the same equipment
* No. 19: Double truck open passenger car, may have been purchased in 1905 at the time of a planned, but never constructed, extension to Camp Cleghorn
* Two open trailer passenger cars, purchased used in 1899
* Single truck baggage smoker car, purchased used in 1899. The car body is still in existence, owned by the Waupaca Historical Society and on display at their depot museum.
Closure
The line was losing money from 1917 and closed on July 4, 1925 after exactly 26 years of service.
[Badger Traction: Published by Central Electric Railfans Association 1969: Library of Congress Catalog 70 93226]
See also
*
Waupaca Railroad Depot
Waupaca Railroad Depot originally called the Wisconsin Central Depot a/k/a Soo Line Depot. was built in 1907 for the Wisconsin Central Railway and is located in Waupaca, Wisconsin. The former Soo Line Railroad depot is one of Waupaca's historica ...
References
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1898 establishments in Wisconsin
1926 disestablishments in Wisconsin
Waupaca Electric Light and Railway Company
Waupaca County, Wisconsin
Streetcars in Wisconsin