Terre Haute, Indianapolis And Eastern Traction Company
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The Terre Haute, Indianapolis and Eastern Traction Company, or THI&E, was the second largest
interurban The interurban (or radial railway in Canada) is a type of electric railway, with tram-like electric self-propelled railcars which run within and between cities or towns. The term "interurban" is usually used in North America, with other terms u ...
electric railway in the
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of
Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...
during the height of the 1920s "interurban era." This system included over of track, with lines radiating from
Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...
to the east, northwest, west and southwest as well as streetcar lines in several major cities. The THI&E was formed in 1907 by the Schoepf-McGowan Syndicate as a combination of several predecessor interurban and street car companies and was operated independently until incorporation into the
Indiana Railroad The Indiana Railroad (IR) was the last of the typical Midwestern United States interurban lines. It was formed in 1930–31 by combining the operations of the five major interurban systems in central Indiana into one entity. The predecessor comp ...
in 1931. The THI&E served a wide range of territory, including farmlands in central Indiana, the mining region around
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, and numerous urban centers. Eventually, it slowly succumbed like all the other central Indiana interurban lines, to competition from
automobiles A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, peopl ...
,
trucks A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport freight, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame construction ...
, and improved paralleling highways.


Consolidation

On March 1, 1907, financiers Hugh J. McGowan, Randal Morgan and W. Kesley Schoepf formed the THI&E out of four predecessor companies: the Indianapolis and Western Railway, which operated the line from Indianapolis west to Danville; the Indianapolis and Eastern Railway, with lines from Indianapolis east to
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and from Dunreith to New Castle; the Richmond Street and Interurban Railway, with the line in eastern Indiana from Dublin to
Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...
; and the Indianapolis Coal Traction Company. Three weeks later the THI&E acquired the Terre Haute Traction and Light Company, which operated a line from
Terre Haute Terre Haute ( ) is a city in Vigo County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 58,389 and its metropolitan area had a population of 168,716. Located along the Wabash River about e ...
south to
Sullivan Sullivan may refer to: People Characters * Chloe Sullivan, from the television series ''Smallville'' * Colin Sullivan, a character in the film ''The Departed'', played by Matt Damon * Harry Sullivan (''Doctor Who''), from the British science f ...
, north to
Clinton, Indiana Clinton is a city in Clinton Township, Vermillion County, Indiana, Clinton Township, Vermillion County, Indiana, United States. The population was 4,893 at the 2010 census. History The city was established in 1829 and is named for DeWitt Clint ...
, and west to Paris, Illinois. In April 1907 the Schoepf-McGowan Syndicate leased the Indianapolis and Northwestern Traction Company, a system of over with lines from Indianapolis to Lafayette and from
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to Crawfordsville, and purchased the Indianapolis and Martinsville Rapid Transit Company, which ran between the cities in its name. The final major piece of the THI&E was the 1912 addition of the Indianapolis Crawfordsville and Danville Electric Railway, nicknamed the "Ben Hur Route" in honor of
Lew Wallace Lewis Wallace (April 10, 1827February 15, 1905) was an American lawyer, Union general in the American Civil War, governor of New Mexico Territory, politician, diplomat, artist, and author from Indiana. Among his novels and biographies, Walla ...
of Crawfordsville, author of the novel " Ben Hur." The THI&E system totaled over of track at this point and was the largest Indiana interurban. It also turned out to be one of the financially weakest due to its many unproductive branch lines.


Operations

The THI&E was a typical
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interurban electric railway line, operating six far-reaching lines out of Indianapolis to mostly small and midsized prairie cities using large and heavy wood combines like the one pictured. Tracks and right-of-way quality varied. Some track ran tightly adjacent to a steam railroad, some track ran cross country and was very substantial featuring expensive cut-and-fill construction to provide a direct and flat right of way, and some was meandering side of a country road and went up and down with the road and the terrain plus would occasionally jog from one side of the road to the other depending on how uncooperative a farmer had been when the line was constructed. The THI&E's busier lines had color signal block protection which was rare at the time. Many interurbans, including the other major Indiana interurbans and in particular Union Traction, suffered major wrecks as the result of few or no block signals. Most THI&E passenger service was hourly, and main routes also saw package express service. THI&E's limited stop express to Terre Haute from Indianapolis was named the "Highlander." The "Ben Hur Special" ran to Crawfordsville, and the "Tecumseh Arrow" ran to Lafayette. Eventually the most valuable route in terms of both passenger and freight business, its eastward to Richmond line, connected to the Dayton and Western at Richmond, and the two companies combined for a profitable and busy Indianapolis to Dayton service. In the 1920s, the two ran express passenger service between the two large cities, and the freight interchanged from Ohio interurbans by way of the Dayton and Western became financially very important. The THI&E was never prosperous enough to replace its aging fleet of wood interurban cars,. but many were modernized. Much of the THI&E's various town streetcar lines were eventually equipped with new one-man
Birney A Birney or Birney Safety Car is a type of streetcar that was manufactured in the United States in the 1910s and 1920s. The design was small and light and was intended to be an economical means of providing frequent service at a lower infrastruc ...
streetcars. The THI&E used the huge
Indianapolis Traction Terminal The Indianapolis Traction Terminal was a major interurban train station in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana. It was the largest interurban station in the world and at its peak handled 500 trains per day and seven million passengers per year. The s ...
along with its neighboring Indianapolis interurban companies.


Absorption into Indiana Railroad

The THI&E was perhaps the financially weakest line of the great Indiana interurban railways. During the prosperous 1920s, its consistent operating deficits were offset only by the sale of power from its coal driven power plants and by the profits of the
Indianapolis Street Railway Company The streetcar system in Indianapolis, Indiana, was the city's original public transit system, evolving from horsecar lines that opened in 1864 and running through 1953. Mirroring its status as a hub of railroad activity, electric railways also conc ...
, a
subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company, or daughter company is a company (law), company completely or partially owned or controlled by another company, called the parent company or holding company, which has legal and financial control over the subsidia ...
company. The onset of the Depression added to its woes, and the THI&E went into "operating" bankruptcy called Receivership, where it would continue to operate but not be obligated to pay interest on its bonded debt on April 2, 1930. At this time
Samuel Insull Samuel Insull (November 11, 1859 – July 16, 1938) was a British American business magnate. He was an innovator and investor based in Chicago who helped create an integrated electrical infrastructure in the United States. Insull created hold ...
's Midland Utilities was in the process of consolidating most of the major Indiana interurbans (Indiana Service Corporation, Interstate Public Service, Union Traction, Northern Indiana Power, and the THI&E) into the new Indiana Railroad. The unprofitable
branch line A branch line is a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line. Branch lines may serve one or more industries, or a city or town not located ...
s that made up much of the THI&E did not fit into Insull's master plan, and they were abandoned. The busy west-east Terre Haute through Indianapolis to Richmond line survived, but the Danville, Martinsville, Lafayette and Crawfordsville branches were abandoned on October 31, 1930. The Sullivan and
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lines were abandoned early the next year. In June 1931, Midland Utilities absorbed the THI&E into its Indiana Railroad. Track and facilities were improved, and THI&E's large wood passenger combines (passenger+freight in one car) replaced with new lightweight fast passenger cars. Some of the old wood cars became freight box motors. The last of this former THI&E line was abandoned in 1940, and the Indiana Railroad itself abandoned all operations in 1941.


The essential Dayton and Western connection

The THI&E, in 1930 now the Indiana Railroad, and the Dayton and Western interurban tied together at Richmond, Indiana. The two lines combined their equipment to run direct no car change passenger service from Indianapolis to
Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...
As passenger business diminished, the two line's freight business picked up, and for the Indiana Railroad the Dayton and Western was essential for moving freight to Dayton and to the rest of Ohio, particularly to industrial
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and
Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...
. When the Dayton and Western went bankrupt in 1937, it was a big financial blow to the Indiana Railroad and its Ohio freight interchange partner at Richmond, the
Cincinnati and Lake Erie Railroad The Cincinnati and Lake Erie Railroad (C&LE) was a short-lived electric interurban railway that operated in 1930–1939 Depression-era Ohio and ran between the major cities of Cincinnati, Dayton, Springfield, Columbus, and Toledo. It had a ...
.
freight lost due to D&W closing.
Both the IR and the C&LE ceased operations within a few years.


References and notes


Bibliography

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External links



THI&E and Indiana Railroad photos from Dave's Electric Railroads site. * THI&E photos from Don Ross' Rail Photos

Indiana Railroad Society historical articles and maps regarding Indiana interurban lines. {{DEFAULTSORT:Terre Haute Indianapolis Eastern Traction Company Terre Haute, Indianapolis and Eastern Traction Company, * Defunct Indiana railroads Interurban railways in Indiana Defunct Illinois railroads Interurban railways in Illinois Transportation in Indianapolis