website watertownhistory.org
ebook History of Watertown, Wisconsin
The Interurban
(Trolley, Street Car)
1908 – 1940
Watertown’s trolley
cars were part of
The Milwaukee Electric
Railway & Light Company's (T.M.E.R.&L.)
(today We Energies)
fleet of interurbans
Interurban
book; general, not Watertown specific
1900
08 17 READY
TO BUILD OUR LINE TO DELAFIELD
John
L. Beggs, manager of the Milwaukee Railway and Light Co. says: “We are ready to build our line to Delafield
if we can get a suitable right of way.
We are ready to do the grading this fall, and would have the road ready
for the steel rails next spring.
Possibly we could have it open for travel by the time the season opened
at Waukesha Beach, which is generally about Decoration Day, May 30. The road will eventually be put through to
Oconomowoc, thence to Watertown and north to Green Bay. I said some years ago that we would have a
line from Chicago to Green Bay. We are
not crowding this thing, for the reason that the line would have to be carried
if we were to hurry it up. We shall
build it step by step as there is a demand for it.” WG
1904
Watertown Leader, 01 06 1904
At proceedings of a regular meeting of the Common Council,
held January 5, 1904. — Ald. Mayer introduced the following entitled
ordinance:
An ordinance granting to the Rock River Traction Company, a
corporation organized under the laws of the State of Wisconsin, its successors
and assigns, the right to construct, maintain and operate an electric railway
in certain streets and avenues in the city of Watertown, Wisconsin and
prescribing the terms and conditions upon which said streets and avenues may be
used and occupied by said Traction Company.
After the first reading of the ordinance, there being no
quorum present any more the council on motion adjourned until Friday, January
8, at 7:30 o’clock P. M.
1905
Watertown Leader, 03 14 1905
In an interview in Sunday's Sentinel, John L. Beggs, president of the Milwaukee Electric
Railway Company, states positively that the building of the new line from Waukesha Beach to Oconomowoc,
which the people in that section of the state have desired for a long time,
will be accomplished during the summer.
The company expects to expend $300,000 in constructing this line. It
will be 13 miles long and a trip over the line can be made in an hour's
time. The officials in the town of Emmet
have granted a right of way over the cross ways and highways and the company
now has the entire route from Waukesha to Oconomowoc. An ordinance is now pending before the
Oconomowoc council to allow the extension of the 
line through the city, and the officials have consulted with
them which will undoubtedly result in the passage of an ordinance which must
result in the passage of an ordinance (sic) for the mutual protection of the
interests of the city as well as the street car company . . .
Naturally citizens of Watertown are interested in the early
completion of the Oconomowoc-Waukesha street car line, believing this will
indirectly hasten the completion of the Oconomowoc-Watertown line. William C. Stone, president of this company,
states that the line from Oconomowoc to Watertown would certainly be built but
could not tell when the work would be commenced. "The line," said he "will be
put through to the city as soon as practicable but will not touch portions of
streets where property owners have refused permits. That is out of the question. The line, however, will be built to Watertown
and seek another avenue besides West Main streets for the projection of the
line south and west of Watertown as proposed."
1905
03 17 New line from Waukesha Beach to Oconomowoc
announced by John I. Beggs The Oconomowoc Enterprise, 03 17 1905
1905
Watertown Leader, 06 25 1905
Two grading gangs have commenced work on the proposed
extension of Milwaukee Electric Railway and Light Company’s system from
Waukesha to Oconomowoc. It is expected
that this part of the road will be completed by June 1, 1906. The line will then be extended to Watertown.
1905
Watertown Republican, 09 20 1905
Friday forenoon, John I. Beggs, president of the Milwaukee Electric
Railroad and Rights Company, and Charles F. Pfister, a heavy stock-holder and
one of the directors, reached this city coming in Mr. Pfister’s 40 H.P.
automobile, accompanied by two civil engineers, making the run quickly
considering the round-about way they came.
The object of the trip was to make a preliminary inspection of the
routes with the view of securing the best when ready to build an interurban
line into this city from Oconomowoc, which it is expected will be reached early
next season, and it is quite probable to this city within a year, if the
unforeseen does not happen. We
understand that the lines when built will enter the city from the south so as
to avoid building a bridge and will cross the river over the Main street bridge
and will go as far west as the Northwestern depot. It is a project that should receive the earnest
support and encouragement of all for it means much for Watertown which will
certainly be on the “map” when the line has been constructed and is in
operation.
John I. Beggs
1905
Watertown Leader, 09 26 1905
Last week, there was a very
good imitation of a street railway now in one of the front windows of the
hardware store of Henry Winkenwerder. The car was constructed entirely of hardware
and was certainly unique and attractive as an advertisement. Upon the car were the placards “Third St.
Line;” . . . “All aboard for Fair Grounds” and “Watertown Street Railway.” Otto Winkenwerder designed and constructed
the car, which was very ingenious.
c.1906
INSTALLING TROLLEY
WIRE
Line cars for installing the trolley wire. They are being moved with a small steam loco
as there are no overhead wires in place yet.
Octagon House in the distance
1906
Watertown Leader, 01 09 1906
We Will Have Trolley Lines
Application Made by the Milwaukee Traction Co
for Franchise
A trolley line to this city from Milwaukee and making this a
division point for branches from north, south and west means a large increase
in the population of Watertown in the immediate future and the enhancement in
the value of all kinds of real estate.
It means a new and better epoch in the history and experience of the
city. ... This is an important matter - one that should receive the most careful
consideration and the writer would suggest, that before the committee makes its
report, that a public mass meeting should be called at the council chamber and
the matter discussed, so that thereafter none can say, and that they were
ignorant of the provisions of the franchise.
If there are objections let them be made at such meeting, that the
committee and council can act advisably and for the best interests of the city,
its citizens and the company asking for the franchise.
1906
Watertown Leader, 02 09 1906
The Milwaukee Electric Railway and Light Company has asked
this city for a franchise for a trolley line through certain specified streets
in the city. The building of the line
will add at least one third more to the population of Watertown and enhance the
volume of real estate in an equal ratio.
It means the beginning of a new era of advancement and prosperity in
which every citizen will participate and every one should be active in furthering
the project . . . The franchise is now in the hands of the council, and a
change in the franchise will be asked for which will cause considerable
additional expense but will be of great advantage to the city. The change anticipates going south on Utah
and Kansas Sts. to the city limits passing the fairgrounds. The change is made at the request of a large
number of our citizens.
1906
Watertown Leader, 02 13 1906
Few in this city are aware of and appreciate the fact, that
we have a very important manufacturing enterprise here which may develop into
gigantic proportions in the years to come.
Reference is made to The Hopkins Geared Street Car Co. which has its
factory at 112-116 Fifth St. which proposes to improve urban transportation by
reducing the expense and increasing the speed and making travel more safe and
comfortable. A gentleman recently at the
Schlitz Hotel in Milwaukee in speaking of the wonderful progress being made
during the past twenty years said:
“Twenty years more will see another revolution in the traction business.
Overhead wires and posts on the streets
will be done away with. A man is now
working at Watertown building two cars, which are destined to revolutionize the
street and interurban business. His cars
will be propelled by gasoline engines, of which there will be two on each car,
one in case of accidents. These cars
will carry sixty passengers each; will be able to stop in their length. It is claimed for them, that they can be operated
more cheaply than electric cars and that they will save a large initial
expenditure in the construction of roads, doing away entirely with costly power
plants and unsightly wires and poles.”
1906
Watertown Leader, 02 17 1906
The special committee appointed by the mayor at the last
regular meeting of the council, consisting of six aldermen and five businessmen
to examine the franchise asked for by the Milwaukee electric street railway
company, met Friday evening at the city clerk's office all being present but
Thomas Brooks. After examining the franchise and discussing the same, the
meeting was adjourned until copies of the franchises of other cities could be
obtained when the matter will be taken up by the committee and a conclusion
reached.
1906
Watertown Leader, 03 06 1906
The special committee to consider the franchise asked for by
the Milwaukee Electric Street Railway company and quite a number of interested
citizens met at the council chamber last Friday evening to hear the matter
discussed and listen to an argument in favor of granting the original offered
by John I. Beggs of Milwaukee, president of the company . . . The first
objection he raised was to the limitation of the life of the franchise to
thirty years and very bluntly and frankly informed the committee that the
company he represented would not accept the franchise with that limitation. He
stated that the line was only a part of the system and that the road would not
be a profitable enterprise for years and as they purchased the right of way
between cities and villages in perpetuity, the company could not afford to take
a franchise for a less period than asked for. Mr. Beggs objected to cleaning
and sprinkling streets as the cars occasion neither debris nor dust. In case of
snow or ice the company will clean the streets of the snow or ice thrown off
the track should it interfere with travel adjacent to the tracks. In regard to
bearing a part of the expense of maintaining the bridge on Main Street, Mr.
Beggs thought it was asking too much, as the company would pay the city
annually about $9,000 in taxes and called attention to the fact that the state
statutes provide for much of the detail incorporated in the substitute
franchise ... Mr. Beggs left a good impression upon the minds of the auditors.
1906
Watertown Leader, 03 08 1906
The report that Henry Mulberger as a member of the special
committee voted against granting the Milwaukee Electric Street Railway Company
was a mistake and did him an injustice. He voted against but one provision in
the franchise - the time limitation of fifty years, he having opposed it and
would not conscientiously vote for it although he was in favor of the franchise
aside from that one provision.
1906 At a meeting of stock
holders of the Hopkin's Diamond Gear Car Co. held yesterday afternoon at the
office of the company ... officers were elected for the coming year ...
In conversation with representatives of the Republican, the manager said that the
company is in no manner allied with the Milwaukee Electric Street Car Co., and
is entirely independent and will remain so.
That in connection with car building it will conduct a machinery and
foundry repair shop. That the company is
doing business on its own capital without any aid from the city as yet, but
could use some to an advantage in extending its business, upon which it would
guarantee a good dividend.
There is no question but that the business, will develop in
time into a large and profitable industry and be a great help to Watertown and
surrounding country; an enterprise that the citizens of the city can afford to
aid, for the returns promise to be great.
Mar 23 WL
1906
04 01 FRANCHISE
GRANTED
At an adjourned meeting of the common council held Tuesday evening
the ordinance granting a franchise to the Milwaukee Electric Street Car Co. to
use certain streets in the space for a trolley line was passed, by a unanimous
vote of the aldermen present. The
ordinance has been signed by Mayor Wertheimer and will be enforced as soon as
the company files its acceptance with the city clerk. April 1 WL
1906 Watertown
Electric Light plant disposed of, to the John I. Beggs interests.
04 05 WORK TO BEGIN SOON IN
CITY
Work on the trolley line for the
Milwaukee Heat, Light and Traction Co., which has a franchise through this
city, is in progress west of Oconomowoc and it is the intention of the company
to push the work with all possible dispatch.
And there are rumors in this city to the effect that work will soon be
begun in this city on the line eastward so that in the early fall the line will
be in preparation and the cars running from the southeast limits of the city to
the Northwestern depot and then everybody will know that Watertown is on the
map and the city of “fat geese and retired farmers” is a place of importance.
05 02 PIPERSVILLE FRANCHISE
Fred G. Simmons, chief engineer of the Milwaukee Light, Heat
and Traction Company, was in the city yesterday and in company with W. C. Stone
drove out to Pipersville to close up a franchise at that place. The company proposes to push work on its time
to this city and will reach here as soon as it is possible to complete the road
bed, set its poles and string the wires and will be here long before the time
specified in its franchise. There is no
doubt in the mind of The Leader that
when the trolley line is completed to this city and other lines radiate to the
north, south and west, a large power house will be erected here and constant
employment will be given to a large number of men. It means much to Watertown which will be a
division point and many people living in the surrounding country will be
attracted here to do their trading and with the advent of large manufacturing
industries, the city will take on a new life, grow and prosper. As The
Leader has repeatedly said, Watertown possesses advantages which should
make it one of the largest, if not the largest, inland city in the state. Every citizen should let local pride inspire
them to labor for the city in all possible ways. WL
05 07 EXTENSIONS PLANNED, SOUTH, WEST AND NORTH
The engineers of the Milwaukee and Light and Traction company
has been busily engaged the past week in making a permanent survey of its
proposed trolley line from this city to Johnson Creek, Jefferson and Fort
Atkinson. There is no doubt but that the
line will be pushed from Oconomowoc to this city at an early date for it will
be in the interest of the company to have the line in operation at the earliest
possible date and one need [not] be surprised to see cars running on Main
street before snow flies. As soon as the
line is completed to Watertown, work on the extension south, west and north
will be begun and there is no doubt but that by a year from next fall the
extensions will be well under way if not completed. It means much to Watertown, for it will be on
the maps and take on a new life and prosper.
WL
07 03 INTERURBAN LINE TO BENEFIT WATERTOWN
Clipped from the “Heard at the Hotels” column of the Milwaukee Sentinel under date of July
3rd;
“A better tone is already making itself felt in Watertown due
to the announcement that the city will be the division center of part of the
interurban system of the Milwaukee Street Car Company,” said Miss Mollie
Gritzner [114 Monroe St], (one) of the society leaders in that city, at the St.
Charles. “There have been some people who at first thought Watertown would lose
by coming in closer touch with the metropolis of the state but that sentiment
is fast dying away. It is becoming apparent that instead of losing the city
will gain, and this will be especially true in the summer months.
No more beautiful scenery can be found anywhere in the
vicinity of Milwaukee than around Watertown along the river. Boating is excellent through the summer
months and the finest sylvan picnic ground can be picked out on both
banks. Watertown now has a population of
about 10,000 but with the coming of the new line this summer this number will
surely be doubled, thus benefiting our merchants, who may feel that some of
their customers still prefer to do their shopping in Milwaukee. Personally I do not think that any more of
this will be done in the future than at present, while, on the other hand,
there will be the paying from visitors, who may always be relied on for
spending money liberally . . “ WL
09 29 MAIN STREET BRIDGE TESTED
Al Kraft, chief engineer of the Milwaukee Electric Railroad,
and Light Co. with his force has for the past few days been examining and
testing the Main Street bridge for the
purpose of ascertaining its strength and the probability of its being strong
enough to hold fifty tons which would be the maximum weight it would have to
sustain when the trolley line was in operation and the cars passing to and fro
over the structure.
1907
01 24 WORK
SUSPENDED FOR WINTER
All work on the extensions of the Milwaukee Light, Heat &
Traction company’s lines with the exception of the Waukesha Beach-Oconomowoc
extension has been suspended for the winter.
The last line is now constructed to within two miles of the limits of
Oconomowoc and will be ready for business early in the spring.
Many of the employees of the
company have taken advantage of the extension of the line to purchase tracts of
land along the right-of-way which is being laid out in lots and blocks and will
be sold to summer resorters as sites for cottages. Milwaukee Daily News
02 10 PLANS
FOR SHOPS AND ROUTE THROUGH CITY
It is rumored that the Milwaukee Heat, Light and Traction Company,
the corporation for an interurban line, has, through another party, purchased a
piece of land in the vicinity of the gas plant for the erection of its shops
here. It is also reported, that a change
has been made in the plan of entering the city and that the line will run up
Western Avenue and down Second Street to the city proper. Every indication points to the fact that
operations will be commenced just as early in the spring as possible.
04 05 OCONOMOWOC-WATERTOWN
RIGHT-OF-WAY
Great local interest is centering in the building of the
interurban line from Milwaukee to this city and the public is anxious at all
times for news of the latest developments.
The work of construction means much to the city of Watertown and will
have a tendency to enliven things here soon and continue for several
months. William Sommerfeld of this city,
right-of-way man for the Milwaukee Electric Railway and Light Company, was
joined yesterday by a couple of gentlemen experienced in the work and the
fragments of this end of the work will be finished up soon. The right-of-way between here and Oconomowoc
has been pretty well secured. There are
a few condemnation proceedings now pending, otherwise the land necessary has
been bought and paid for. A large crew
of laborers is now engaged in the work of grading east of here. They are
working this way from Oconomowoc.
04 05 OCONOMOWOC
EXTENTION
Considerable delay on the Oconomowoc extension of the
electric railway has been caused by the bad weather of late and crews are kept
working day and night surfacing, putting switches, extra track, and otherwise
putting the line in readiness to open for regular traffic as early in May as
possible. The grading crew are now
established in their new camp west of this city.
1908
02 19 MILWAUKEE HEAT, LIGHT AND TRACTION CO
APPLICATION
No meeting of the city council was held last evening, a
quorum not being present. Several
matters of importance were to have come up, notably the application of the
Milwaukee Heat, Light and Traction Company for an extension of time to complete
their line into the city in accordance with the terms of their franchise. The committee on judiciary, together with the
city clerk and the city attorney to whom was referred the matter of revising
the rules proceedings of the council, have prepared a report stating that they
have now in force and have prepared a revision of the same. Owing to the lack of the quorum last evening,
it was decided that Mayor Mulberger call a special meeting for next Friday
evening. The amended rules . . . will
then be presented to the council for their approval . . .
04 03 Active
construction operations to commence
as soon as frost out of ground, in time for 1908
Homecoming event. WG
06 16 Interurban
line rails laid
as far west as Stafeil's farm near Pipersville. WL
06 14 POLES
- Stringing poles along Main St as supports for trolley wires
A meeting of the board of
public works, together with representatives of the Milwaukee Heat, Light and
Traction Company was held yesterday afternoon to arrive at some conclusion
relative to the matter of stringing poles along Main Street for the supports of
the trolley wires. It seems that the
franchise calls for iron posts on both sides of the street. The company, however, is desirous of placing
wooden poles on the south side of the street, placing a cross arm thereon and
painting the same black at the base and white at the top. It seems that there is a division of opinion
among the members of the board, the majority, however, holding to the original
provisions as set forth in the franchise, calling for iron poles on both sides
of the street. WG
07 10 Request to substitute wood poles instead of iron poles on
Main St. WG
07 10 Petition against laying track from Fifth to Second
streets along Western Ave. WG
1908, laying of track, 100 and 200 blocks of East Main
1908, laying of track, 100 block of East Main
07 10 Petition against change in
the sidewalk lines near corner of
Main and 5th WG
07 17 Oconomowoc to Watertown
extension to be opened middle of next
week WG
07 22 LINE TO BE OPEN FOR HOMECOMING EVENT
There is every indication now
that the electric line between this city and Milwaukee will be opened to
traffic next week, or at least in time to carry homecoming visitors. In an interview President John I. Beggs of
Milwaukee said that cars will run at the time of the Watertown homecoming. Until September the Watertown train will
leave Milwaukee every hour, on the half hour.
The cars will be run from Milwaukee to Watertown, leaving Milwaukee on
the half hour from 6 o'clock in the morning until 11 o'clock at night, two and
a half hours being necessary to make the trip.
This schedule will be maintained until September, when the travel to the
inland lakes and summer resorts enroute begins to slacken up, when a change in
the schedule will be made and the headway will be materially reduced to meet
the diminished demand on the resources of the road. WDT
BRIDGE
OVER RR TRACKS IN RICHARD’S CUT
The overhead bridge which
will carry the electric cars over the Milwaukee road track in what is known as
Richard's cut will be rolled into place tomorrow morning. Everything is now in readiness and it
certainly will be an interesting sight.
The steel structure known as a pony truss, was built for the electric
company by the Dornfeld-Kunert company of this city. It was erected on the north side of the
railroad tracks and will be rolled into place on rollers. There is a gap over the tracks 42 feet wide
which must be left open for the passage of trains and the truss will be carried
out over that without any support except its own weight on the land until it
touches the falsework on the other side and eventually be placed in the
concrete abutments. It is possible that
a locomotive on the electric line now stationed south of the cut will furnish
the power.
The truss is of steel, 96
feet in length, and will rest upon huge concrete foundations built last spring
by Edward Racek of this city. The truss
will be at a height of 24 feet above the railroad tracks, sufficient to clear
any train. The rails have been laid up
to the south side of the cut, but are not yet laid between the cut and Western
Avenue, but this will require only a short while. Watertown Daily Times, July 22, 1908
-- -- ROUTE INTO WATERTOWN
click to enlarge
-- -- INTERURBAN BRIDGE OVER C.M.&St.P
RAILROAD TRACKS
Engine
was former C.M.&St.P RR 4-4-0, used on construction trains.
A
syphon hose is noted on the tender, used to take water from rivers and creeks.
Concrete bridge abutments still exist on both sides of
tracks, visible from the end of Terry Lane.
07 31 Lewis Fountain removed from Main
St while street car tracks being laid
WG
1908 07 30 1908
WHS_005_039
and WHS_005_039b and WHS_PC_032
Having made the turn
off of Fifth Street onto Main, the first street car enters
Watertown, July 30, 1908
Watertown
Daily Times, 07 31 1908
Arrival of First Street Car was Joyous Event
Dawn of a new era for the city of Watertown.
Completion of electric line into the city
means progress and prosperity in the future
Firebells and whistles announce arrival of
first car last evening.
Thousands crowd Main Street to witness the
demonstration
The
interurban electric line is an accomplished fact. The first car from Milwaukee reached the city
shortly after 6 o’clock last evening.
The
railway system between Oconomowoc and Watertown, which was the connecting link
between the cream city and Watertown, was put into service with a blare of
trumpets and a congregation of people which included almost the entire
population. The word had been given that
the first car would reach Watertown about 6 o’clock and the crowds which
thronged the streets bore evidence of the interest that was taken by the
people.
Shortly
after the hour the big special car Watertown bore down Richards Avenue, Western
Avenue and Fifth Street and when it reached the corner of Fifth and Main
streets, where the band and members of the city council were stationed, a short
stop was made, and anxious people along Main Street were happily expectant.
From Fifth Street, the car, which was occupied by officials of the Milwaukee
Heat, Light and Traction Company and Milwaukee newspaper men, proceeded slowly
down Main Street, headed by the mayor and aldermen with the Watertown band.
As the
car progressed there were cheers on all sides and when the visitors left the
car at the junction of Main and First streets thousands of people, young and
old, gathered to see the sight. It was a
gala evening for Watertown and both officials and citizens entered into it.
Mayor Talks
When
the climax came, the mayor was called on for an address and he responded in a
neat speech which was heartily applauded. He said:
“This
occasion marks a great epoch in the history of Watertown. The interurban came
at a critical period in our fortunes and by the employment of 350 of our
citizens in the work of construction it has come to pass that Watertown has not
felt the depression which has been so serious elsewhere. Equal thrift and
transcendent pluck have marked the people of Watertown and we feel today that
the rise of our city is just beginning. We thank the Milwaukee Electric Railway
and Light Company for the expedition it has shown in this work and we hope the
new line will inure to the financial benefit of it owners.”
The
arrival of the car in the city limits was heralded by the ringing of the fire
bells and the blowing of steam whistles in the manufacturing plants about the
city. This was also the signal for the rush of thousands of people to Main
Street, which from Fifth to First Street was lined with people, the children
being in great evidence. So infatuated
with the situation were the latter that they filled the car at First Street and
remained there for over an hour and 225 of them were given a ride to the city
limits and back.
After
the supper hour throngs of people congregated about the car which for many
minutes had been taken possession of by the children. They were given a ride up
to Richards Avenue and return and shortly after the Milwaukee people entered
the car for the return trip. The band was there as was also thousands of people
to cheer them on the return journey. Supper had been served at the New
Commercial Hotel, the officials of the road and city officials and
newspaper men being seated at the table.
Main Street Demonstrates
When
the car moved eastward from First Street there was a flare of red fire along
the street and the band played. The procession was led by Fred Felshaw and
Patrick Finerty, the men who have charge of the work of building the line from
Oconomowoc to Watertown. Their names have been familiar to the people of
Watertown for more than two years. It was a recognition of the steadfast and
persistent effort of the men along the line which made possible the culmination
of what was wrought out in the brains of the men at the head of the
undertaking.
Included
in the party which made the trip were Chief Clerk E. B. Meisner; E. W. Olds,
superintendent of rolling stock; George Kuemmerlein, superintendent of
transportation; R. H. Pinkley, superintendent of drafting; F. G. Simmons,
superintendent of construction; C. N. Duffy, controller; C. J. Davidson,
superintendent of power plants; H. L. Everest, superintendent of printing; C.
W. Lamb, superintendent of publicity; C. J. Munson and J. E. White, division
foreman; Anthony Killa, interurban division foreman; Carl Riegel, Christian
Priener, James McCuen, instructors; George Hubbell, assistant superintendent of
rolling stock; C. A. Cahill, assistant superintendent of power plant; Fred Yeo,
clerk transportation department; E. D. Whitcomb, claims department; Howard
Mullett, electrical engineer; Nels Renquist, chief clerk in chief clerk’s
department; T. C. Kelcey, Milwaukee Free
Press; George C. Nuessy, Journal;
C. L. Clark, Wisconsin, and H.
Luening, Sentinel.
First Customer
Charles
Gillis of route 6 has the honor of paying the first fare on the interurban
line. When the car stopped in Watertown, Mr. Gillis stepped up to the conductor
and tendered him a coin for a ride this morning. The money was accepted.
The
first regular electric car left this city this morning at 6 o’clock having on
board seven passengers at First Street.
The car was in charge of Henry Bence, motorman, and Bert Olson,
conductor. Cars will run every hour
thereafter until 10 at night. The first car from Milwaukee started at 5:30 a.m.
and the last car will leave at 11:30 p.m.
On
leaving Waukesha Beach the line drops the direct current used in Milwaukee and
up to that point and picks up an alternating current which is sent out from the
Commerce Street power station at high tension, 33,000 volts. This is stepped
down in the transformer tower at Waukesha Beach to 3,300 volts and again in the
car to a direct current of 550 volts.
61 Miles an Hour
Between
Waukesha and West Allis, with George Kuemmerlein, superintendent of
transportation, at the controls, the big 53 foot car weighing 40 tons and
costing between $14,000 and $15,000, ran 5,390 feet a minute, or over 61 miles
an hour, yet so smoothly that one would not have believed it had not the
watches of the railway men borne testimony to the fact. It was a splendid showing for the roadbed of
this interurban line.
The
electrical system used is known as the alternating current, single phase
system, just becoming recognized as the fastest thing in interurban
railroading. The application of the
alternating current to transportation was commenced at Budapest and has been
improved within the last four years until it is now at the head of the known
systems.
A
powerful current can be sent a long distance over a wire no larger than is used
for the ordinary direct current and with far less loss in transmission. This
system would enable the Milwaukee Road to use power from the new $1,000,000 dam
at Kilbourn, which is one of the plans of the company, according to rumors.
Although
no definite schedule has been arranged for stopping the cars in the country
districts, it is rulable for the car to stop at public highway crossings on
signal or allow passengers to leave the car.
This is quite an advantage to people desiring to go into the country for
a visit or on pleasure.
Three
crews will lay over in Watertown each night.
Attorney
C. R. Blumenfeld bought the first ticket sold on the car this morning.
Watertown’s
trolley cars were part of The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light Company's
(T.M.E.R.&L.) fleet of interurbans built by St. Louis Car Company just
before the turn of the century.
WATERTOWN GREETS FIRST TROLLEY CAR
City Turns Out on Completion of Electric Line
In Touch With Milwaukee
Center of Great System
Watertown Gazette,
08 07 1908
Branches of T. M. E.
R. & L. Co. Will Radiate
in All Directions From
New Terminus
Shortly after 6 o'clock on Thursday evening, July 30, 1908,
the first car on the Inter-Urban Railway entered this city from Milwaukee. It
contained officials of the Milwaukee Light, Heat and Traction Co., and
representatives of the Milwaukee daily newspapers. All along the line from
Oconomowoc to this city, the arrival of the car was the cause of hearty
cheering and especially so from the time the car entered the city limits south
of Richards cut till it came to the terminus of the line at corner of Main and
First streets. At the corner of Fifth and Main streets the car was met by the
city officials, members of the local press, and Watertown brass band and
hundreds of businessmen and representative citizens. The brass band and city
officials marched in front of the car to First Street, where Mayor Mulberger
delivered an eloquent little speech. The first Watertown people to ride on the
car were James W. Moore, editor of The
Gazette, and Paul Schoechert. The first to pay for a ride was Chas Gillis
of route 6. When the car stopped at First Street he handed the conductor and
tendered him 10 cents for a ride that evening on the cars return to Milwaukee.
Charles R. Blumenfeld bought the first ticket on the Friday morning car, when
schedule time began.
The entrance of the Inter-Urban railway marks another period
in Watertown's prosperity, and it means much to our city's advancement. A few
years ago, the press of the city took up the matter of public improvements
here, and our people in general gave a generous response, till now we have
nearly everything in that line that could be wished for, and still the good
work goes on—sewerage, waterworks, electric light, finely paved streets, etc.
Later on the Watertown Advancement Association was organized and incorporated.
This little body of energetic, progressive and public-spirited men have kept
reaching out for factories and locating them here, securing several of the very
finest in the country, and what has been the consequence? There is not an empty
building in the city, many new ones have been erected, others are being built
over the city, and the latest result of these men's efforts have been the
Inter-Urban electric railway.
The majority of our businessmen and citizens have responded
generously in a financial way and by moral encouragement to the Advancement
Association, and by pulling together, Watertown is now considered the most
progressive little city in Wisconsin. True, discouragement and some opposition
have been encountered, but they were all passed over as smoothly and
diplomatically as possible, and many who discouraged and threw cold water on
these enterprises are now enthusiasts. Since the entrance of the Interurban
into our city we hear of several who opposed it are now as happy over the event
as though they had been enthusiasts from the start. Let's all pull together,
regardless of immediate personal interests, work for the advantage of the city
as a whole, and our personal interests will eventually turn out all right.
Beginning next year the inteurban lines out of the city, south, west and north
will no doubt be completed. Watertown
will then be a very important railway center, and other industries will fast be
attracted here, and our city's prosperity and advancement continued to a point
that few of us can now realize. The men in charge of the securing of the right
of way in this city for the railway, Messrs. J. C. Fitzpatrick and G. A. Dean,
have handled the matter with as little friction as it was possible under such
circumstances. True, they have not pleased everybody, but over 75 per cent of
the people who own property along the right of way of the railway, have been
satisfactorily settled with, and that speaks well for the efforts of these
gentlemen The cars will leave Milwaukee for this city at the present on the
half hour, and Watertown for Milwaukee on the full hour, the trip taking two
and one-half hours. The fare for the round trip is $1.75; one way $1.10; to
Oconomowoc one way is 30 cents, return, ticket 50 cents ; fare in the city 5 cents,
into the country on a mileage basis.
Below we republish a full write-up of the first car's
entrance into the city from last Friday's Milwaukee
Free Press.
At 6 o'clock this morning regular service will begin over the
new interurban line between Watertown and Milwaukee, the first car leaving
Watertown at that hour.
At 6 o'clock last evening the first street car rolled into
Watertown and the residents gave it a royal reception. When the city limits was
reached at Western Avenue cheering crowds were found lining both aides of the
street, and so it was up Fifth and down Main Street to the bridge.
Mayor Arthur Mulberger was on hand to extend the official
welcome of the city and at Main Street a band was waiting which marched down
the street ahead of the car while every whistle in Watertown sounded a note of
welcome.
At First Street the reception committee, Dr. A. H. Hartwig,
Dr. F. C. Werner, J. P. Holland of the Watertown
Times, George Nichols and G. Gahlmann, met the incoming party, the band
played again and the cheers which had followed the car in its progress through
the streets were stilled while Mayor Mulberger addressed the visitors and his
townspeople,
"This occasion marks a great epoch in the history of
Watertown," said the mayor. "The interurban came at a critical period
in our fortunes and by the employment of 360 of our citizens in the work of
construction it has come to pass that Watertown has not felt the depression
which has been so serious elsewhere. Equal thrift and transcendent pluck have
marked the people of Watertown and we feel today that the rise of our city is
just beginning. We thank the Milwaukee Electric Railway and Light Company for
the expedition it has shown in this work and we hope the new line will inure to
the financial benefit of its owners."
The entrance of the road into Watertown will be observed
formally Aug. 27, when the time for its completion under the franchise will
expire and when the car barns will have been located and the line completed
across the bridge to the intersection of West Main and Montgomery streets.
While the Milwaukee visitors were being entertained at dinner
through the courtesy of the Milwaukee Electric Railway and Light Company, a
perfect mob of children took possession of the big interurban car, No. 1109,
which was the first to bear the words: " Waukesha-Oconomowoc-Watertown,"
and the ringing of bells was kept up by the excited youngsters until the dinner
at the New Commercial was finished. Then their cup of joy was filled to
overflowing by the officials of the road who obligingly ran the car, packed to
its capacity, out to the city limits and back to give the children their first
street car ride.
The electric arches put up for Watertown's
homecoming Saturday and Sunday were lighted for the occasion; colored fire
was burned at every street corner and the band played, while the cheers of the
children were echoed by their elders along the streets. It was a fitting welcome for the great
improvement which had come to bring Watertown up into the line with her sister
cities in the state.
The entrance of the Milwaukee company means more to Watertown
than to almost any other city in Wisconsin.
Watertown is destined, according to the plans of President Beggs as
sketched to the state railroad commission, to be a great interurban center from
which lines will extend to the four points of the compass. From the intersection of Main and Montgomery
streets, which will be the terminus of the present extension, the line is to be
extended west thirty-nine miles to Madison. From the same street intersection a
line is to be run south through Jefferson, Ft, Atkinson to Janesville,
fifty-three miles distant. Another line is to be extended from this corner
northerly through Juneau to Beaver Dam and Waupun and eventually to Fond du
Lac, while the Milwaukee line completes the list.
"Watertown granted a franchise for this road March 27,
1906," said Mayor Mulberger in an interview. ''The time was extended and
will not expire until Aug. 27. Watertown is fifty-three years old and it is
just fifty-three miles to Milwaukee by the route traversed by the car which is
now here. Our people hardly realize what this is the beginning of for
Watertown. It means that farmers all
along the route can come to Watertown to trade, no matter what the condition of
the roads, and poor roads have heretofore been our great drawback.
“The company owns our gas and electric light systems, so that
all will be under the same management and we think that will be for the best.
Pewaukee Lake is brought to our doors and our people will make common use of
Waukesha Beach and its improvements with Milwaukeeans, while the relations of
Watertown with the state metropolis will be made more binding and will result
in good to both parties. We have reason to rejoice tonight."
"The new road cannot help but conduce to our
prosperity," said Col. A. Solliday, banker and retired business man.
"It will make Watertown a trading center for a large and rich farming
community, the trade of which has largely gone to Oconomowoc in the past
because of the poor roads about Watertown at certain seasons of the year. In connection with the big Van Camp milk
condensing recently located here, the new line can work up a big business in
milk and cream from farms along its line. It is certainly a great thing for us
to have such a strong company enter our city and become interested in it, as
must needs be the case."
The new line is most substantially built. It embraces some
unusually heavy construction, as it runs across ridges necessitating cuts,
while between lies low ground which must be filled. The largest cut is
thirty-eight feet deep and 1,000 feet long; the maximum grade is 1% per cent
and every curve between Oconomowoc and Watertown is a high-speed curve built on
steam railroad lines. The steel weighs eighty pounds to the yard and is of the
latest American Society of Civil Engineers' pattern, while the trolley is of
the catenary type.
On leaving Waukesha Beach the line drops the direct current
used in Milwaukee and up to that point, and picks up an alternating current
which is sent out from the Commerce Street power station at high tension,
33,000 volts. This is stepped down in the transformer tower at Waukesha Beach
to 8,300 volts and again in the car to a direct current of 550 volts. On the
way out the Oconomowoc station had not been cut in and the car ran through to
Watertown on the current as transformed at Waukesha Beach. The new station was cut in at 7:30 and the
difference was very marked on the return.
Between Waukesha and West Allis, with George Kuemmerlein,
superintendent of transportation at the controller, the big 53-foot car
weighing forty tons and costing between $14,000 and $15,000, ran 5,390 feet a
minute, or over 61 miles an hour, yet so smoothly that one would not have
believed it had not the watches of the railway men borne testimony to the fact.
It was a splendid showing for the roadbed of this interurban line.
The electrical system used is known as the alternating
current, single phase system, just becoming recognized as the latest thing in
interurban railroading. The application of the alternating current to
transportation was commenced at Budapest and has been improved within the last
four years until it is now at the head of the known systems.
A powerful current can be sent a long distance over a wire no
larger than is used for the ordinary direct current and with far less loss in
transmission. This system would enable the Milwaukee Road to use power from the
new $1,000,000 dam at Kilbourn, which is one of the plans of the company,
according to rumors from Watertown. The Milwaukee Electric Railway and Light
Company is reported there to be financially interested in the new power project
from which Madison has been expecting so much, and as it is the plan to extend
the Watertown line to the capital city another season the report may well be
true.
Although this was the first car to run over the line into
Watertown, the return trip, fourteen miles, to Oconomowoc was made in exactly
thirty minutes while the 500 men in the five construction camps cheered
themselves hoarse and fired guns and revolvers in celebration or the event as
the lighted car swept past them.
Four locomotives, two steam shovels, one of the heaviest
traction engines in the country and other equipment have been engaged in the
completion of this line since work was resumed April 1. The result is a road
bed which will stand comparison with the very best new construction in the
country.
The round trip was greatly enjoyed by the party of
transportation officials and newspaper men who made it. The first stop was at
the large spring at the Waukesha gravel pit, which has been improved by the
company and which furnishes the water supply for the Public Service building,
the water being brought to Milwaukee daily in tank cars. At Waukesha Beach
improvements costing $30,000 were looked over under the escort of T. M. Holl,
in charge of the park, and the plans for an additional expenditure of still
more another season were explained.
Nearing Oconomowoc the line runs for nearly three miles
through land owned by Fred Pabst and used for his great horse farm. It dodges
among the lakes of Waukesha County, past splendid farms where ripened oat
fields contrast with the fresh grass of pasture land, and not a sign of the hot
weather of the past few weeks was to be discovered in the crops. The little
shelter stations, of concrete and steel and painted in the canary yellow and
turkey red of the company, were especially noted. On the new line long strings
of dump cars marked the sidings and cheering work crews hailed the advent of
the first interurban over the lines.
The Milwaukeeans were greatly impressed with the richness of
the country traversed in Waukesha and Jefferson Counties. Magnificent farms
stretched on every side, the fields yellow with ripening oats and barley or
deep green with corn and crowing crops. The character of the farm buildings
denoted wealth and abundance on every hand. A threshing machine at work
attracted attention to the rapidity with which grain is ripening, while the
farm machinery in use on all sides was noticeable because of the latest
improved models. Splendid dairy cows and fine stock, were seen in every
pasture, and the new line seems destined to increase the trade of Milwaukee
with this favored people,
In the party were: F. A. Simmons, superintendent of
construction and maintenance of way; E. W. Olds, superintendent of rolling
stock; George Kuemmerlein, superintendent of transportation; O. M. Rau,
superintendent of lighting and chief electrician; R. H. Pinkley, superintendent
of the draughting bureau; C. N. Duffy, comptroller; C. J. Davidson,
superintendent of power plants; H. L. Everest superintendent of printing; F. G.
Goetz, roadmaster in charge of construction; C W. Lamb of the publicity bureau;
George Hubbell, assistant superintendent of rolling stock; C. A. Cahill,
assistant superintendent of power plants; Fred Yeo, clerk in the transportation
department; E, D. Whitcomb, claim department; E. B. Meisner, chief clerk;
Anthony Killa, interurban division foreman, C. J. Munton and J. E. White
division foremen; Carl Riegle, Chris Priener and James McCuen, instructors, and
Nels Renquist of the chief clerk's department, Milwaukee Electric Railway and
Light company, and representatives of four Milwaukee papers.
President Beggs had expected to accompany the first car, but
a bank directors' meeting held him in the city.
The first regular car will leave Watertown for Milwaukee at 6
o'clock this morning in charge of Henry Bence, motorman, and Beart Olson,
conductor. Cars will run every hour thereafter until 10 at night. The first car
from Milwaukee will start at 5:30 a. m. and the last at 11:30 p. m.
Watertown Intercity Fair
When
the Interurban Railway came to Watertown in 1908, it laid tracks down Second
Street to the fairgrounds on the south side of the city, site of the Watertown Intercity Fair (held 1905-1927),
charging a nickel for the ride. The cars were always crowded. On one "Watertown Day" - always the
Wednesday of the four-day fair - 11,000 people attended. But by 1927 interest
had waned and Watertown called it quits with the fair for the last time.
Interurban Terminal
200 S Second
Kiessling, Elmer C., Watertown
Remembered (Watertown: Watertown Historical Society,
1976), pp 202-203
. . .
The Interurban made an attempt to bolster its failing business by opening a
fine new depot on Second Street (later
the Ford garage), adding plush new cars and reducing the time of the
Milwaukee run. When the new electric train
came to town for the first time, it stopped at the city limits to pick up the
employees of the Electric Company, who had been taken out there to board the
train and make the entry more impressive.
The ride to Milwaukee was much more pleasant than it had been on the old
trolleys. But the Interurban could not
compete with the automobile, and it followed the fair into oblivion in 1940.
1908, Main St, looking east from First
and Main
_________________________
Watertown Remembered
When the Interurban Railway came to Watertown in 1908, it laid tracks down Second Street
to the fairgrounds, site of the Watertown
Inter-County Fair, charging a nickel for the ride. This annual fair was initiated by Mayor
Herman Wertheimer in 1905 and the fair site was on the grounds south of the
Armory. The cars were always
crowded. On one "Watertown
Day" - always the Wednesday of the four-day fair - 11,000 people
attended. But by 1927 interest had waned
and Watertown called it quits with the fair for the last time.
In that same year the Interurban made an attempt to bolster
its failing business by opening a fine new depot on
The ride to Milwaukee was much more pleasant than it had been
on the old trolleys. But the Interurban could not compete with the automobile,
and it followed the fair into oblivion in 1940.
The T.M.E.R.& L., as it was called (The Milwaukee
Electric Railway and Light Company), had come to Watertown 32 years before, in
1908. It once ran the length of
08 14 Rate
to high near city limits; Real estate booming along route WG
08 28 The
first electric car crossed Main Street bridge. WG
09 04 Interurban car kills man. 09 04 1908 WG
09 04 All
arrangements completed for fair, including special trains
WG
09 09 INTERURBAN
EXTENDED TO NW DEPOT
The interurban electric line
will be extended from Montgomery Street to the North Western railroad depot and work
on the extension will begin at once, John I. Beggs of Milwaukee, president of
the Milwaukee Light, Heat and Traction company, has issued orders to this
effect and work will probably begin tomorrow.
This will mean a great deal to people in Watertown using the cars, as it
will afford rapid transportation to the railroad station. Local labor, as much as possible, will be
hired on this work and it is expected it will be finished before late
fall. It seems to be the aim of the
electric company to give Watertown as good a service as possible and it is to
be hoped that city officials and citizens generally will not retard the work
when it is being pushed now. All that
can be reasonably expected is that the company construct its lines according to
the terms of the franchise and petty exactions should not be made a
deterrent. Watertown is in the field for
all the transportation lines it can get and the sooner we leave aside ill will
and ill feeling and boost the sooner we will receive what we are after.
An order has also been issued
to the effect that beginning next Monday all electric cars running into the
city from Milwaukee will make one round trip between Montgomery Street and
Western Avenue. This is a trial which
Mr. Beggs will make to determine whether the traffic will warrant this measure. It will be given a fair trial and if found of
mutual benefit will be continued. It
will be continued any way until the North Western extension is in operation and
will allow each car fifteen minutes in which to make the round trip before
leaving on the interurban trip.
During next week each electric
car will have a trailer and enough other trolley cars will be put on to give a
good service for the Watertown Inter-County Fair,
and each car will bear a banner advertising the fair.
The agitation for the
extension to the North Western depot was started in the Daily Times
sometime ago and it was urged that business men and city officials unite in an
endeavor to secure it. The matter was
placed before Mr. Beggs before local action was taken, with the result that he
has ordered the work done. In this
connection it might be well to state that farmers from as far southeast as
Delafield are taking advantage of the transportation facilities to do their
trading in Watertown. This means much to
local merchants and in turn to the public generally. Let's boost the work along and hope that the
line will be extended south next year as far as the fairgrounds, at least.
09 11 Rebuilding
of Main St ` by Milwaukee Light, Heat and Traction Co completed WG
09 11 EXTENDING
THE INTERURBAN from Montgomery St to the
C.&N.W. Ry. Depot
John I. Beggs of Milwaukee,
president of the Milwaukee Light, Heat and Traction Co., has given orders that
work begin at once on extending the interurban railway from Montgomery Street
to the C.&N.W. Ry. depot. This means
a great deal to the people of this city, for it will add greatly to the good
service already in force here, and it is hoped all will help the good work along. Mr. Beggs has also ordered that all electric
cars entering the city make one round trip between Montgomery Street and
Western Avenue, allowing 15 minutes for this service. If the experiment pays, this service will be
continued. During the fair next week
each car will have a trailer, and enough cars will be run to accommodate all
going to the fair who wish to patronize the electric line between Montgomery
Street and Western Avenue. The company
means to give Watertown the best possible service, and as merchants and
business men have already felt the good effects of the interurban railway, it
is hoped that no citizen will do anything to retard the growth and extension of
this public enterprise. WG
09 18 TWO-HOUR SCHEDULE
On Sept. 15th the interurban
railway service between this city and Milwaukee put on the two-hour schedule,
cars coming and going every two hours, from now till May 15th next, when the
hourly schedule will be resumed. The
same rule prevails with all interurban roads controlled by John I. Beggs. Between 9:05 a. m. and 10:05 p. m. a daily
city service will be maintained between Montgomery Street and Richards Avenue
leaving Montgomery Street at 9:05 and arriving at Richard's Avenue at 9:15, returning
to Montgomery Street at 9:05 and back to Richard's Avenue at 9:35, and back to
Montgomery at 9:45, and so continuing till 10:05 at night. This service will be
continued till the extension is completed to the Northwestern depot; and if it
is found the local service pays, regular city cars will be put on next year.
09 18 Street
car startles horses
WG
Sept INTERURBAN AT
TIME OF 1908 INTER-COUNTY FAIR
10 16 Carl Schurz homestead proposed for
memorial park; Purchase of estate from the Milwaukee Light, Heat and Traction
Co WG
11 13 Matter
of the condition of streets after construction for interurban WG
12 04 Watertown-Beaver Dam, Beggs line, proposed, W. C. Stone
of Watertown WG
1909
01 01 Watertown to become center for interurban
traffic; a junction point; eventually a Iine will be built west to
Madison WG
01 15 Request to build interurban this year as far
south as the fairgrounds so that it could be of use in time for the 1909
annual fair WG
02 05 Winter storm brings interurban to
standstill WG
02 19 A RIDE ON THE TROLLEY
Watertown Gazette article, 02 19 1909
Have you ever been on a Watertown trolley car? It is a fine craft, rocking along in fine
style. If the swaying motion doesn't
exactly lull one to a state of blissful unconsciousness, it will assuredly make
him at times feel like taking a good snooze.
They have several little conveniences too for the security and comfort
of the sleepy or seasick passengers. The
window sills particularly were devised especially for convenience in resting
the arms and elbows when it is impossible to sit up without something to hold
onto or lean against.
A young gentleman from the west side has it in for the
trolley cars. He says but little about it
himself, but a number of happy and joyous fellow passengers are telling
it. He got on one of the cars the other
night, and the only unoccupied space being by the side of a pretty,
well-dressed and refined-looking young girl, he took the seat, although with
apparent diffidence. The young woman's
elbow was on the window next to him. She
had found it necessary to brace against something, being evidently worn out
with a round of strenuous shopping and the car careening and plunging along
like a merry-go round. When the car
bumped passed one of the side streets the girl’s arm slipped from the window,
and in some inexplicable way onto the young man's shoulder. She was certainly sound asleep, he says, and
he is equally certain, in his modest way, that she did not open her eyelids
previous to this unfortunate accident.
He being a young man of retiring disposition and somewhat inclined to
bashfulness in the presence of ladies, found himself in a delicate position.
It was very evident to the other passengers that it was a
serious problem. The perspiration
starting from his forehead showed this, also the fixed and glassy way in which
he gazed at the "Uneeda Beer"
advertisement on the opposite side.
Several acquaintances of his among the passengers were making unseeming
exhibitions of mirth over his unfortunate predicament. One man was trying to place a bet that he
would stay to the end of the line and back again, unless the girl woke up, and
each and every villain agreed that he would stay on the car as long as he
did. He didn't know what to do. If he got up, the girl would wake and be
embarrassed; if he stayed, those devils in the car would never let him hear the
last of it. Just when he had given up
all hope, the conductor shouted "tickets," and the girl awoke with a
start, shot one glance at the bashful young man, smiled happily, and went to
sleep again.
04
23 Franchise
to go down Second Street considered
WG
05 14 Interurban excursion to Watertown on
Memorial Day, Milwaukee Northwestern University Club WG
05 28 William Gruetzmacher
Watertown agent for street railway guide
WG
06 25 Waukesha Beach resort, daily interurban
cars to WG
07 02 SPRINKLER SYSTEM
A sprinkler system will be installed in the car barns of the
electric railway company, corner of Hyland and Second streets. A water main is now being laid in Hyland
Street to Second Street and the company has laid the main from that corner past
their building to insure fire protection.
A hydrant will be placed at the corner named. W News
07 09 MUST BE PATIENT –
TROLLEY TRACKS ON S. SECOND
In a few days the interurban track on Second Street will be
connected with the main track on Main Street and as soon as the poles are set
and trolley wires attached, cars will be run and the road [track] pushed on to
the fair grounds. There is little or no
prospect of the line going farther south this season than the fairgrounds,
although it was the universal desire of the people of this city that it should
be extended as far south as Johnson Creek, if no farther. It requires money to construct, equip and
operate interurban lines and money does not grow on bushes. It must be obtained by the sale of bonds, and
investors must be assured, in fact, convinced, that the interest on the bonds
will be paid when due, before they will part with their money. The people of Watertown must be patient for
some time, the fruition of their hopes may be realized and this city become a
division point in the Beggs system. W News
Cross reference note: Tracks on S. Second
removed in 2015
1910
07 01 Matinee
Races; interurban carried crowds to main gate WG
09 16 Inter
County Fair, interurban carried crowds to the grounds WG
c.1910
INTERSECTION OF WESTERN AVE. AND
TWELFTH ST.
1910c, Lewis Fountain and
St. Bernard's
c.1911
TRACKS TURNING OFF OF WESTERN AVE ONTO S. FIFTH
Trolley headed
up S. Fifth to Main Street, then west on Main.
FIFTH AND MAIN INTERSECTION
400 block of East Main is seen
1912
01 03 BOULEVARD PROPOSED FOR
WESTERN AVE,
PORTION
OF INTERURBAN ROUTE
A petition for the improvement of Western Avenue
will shortly be circulated among the residents of that street for their
sanction. It is proposed to boulevard a
strip 14 feet wide in the center of the roadway and place the street cars rails
on each side of the street, with a strip of paving 25 feet in width on each side. As the street is a wide one the contemplated
improvement if accomplished would make a beauty spot of that thoroughfare.
100 BLOCK OF EAST MAIN
12 05 INTERURBAN OFFICIALS IN CITY
W. A. Way,
assistant general manager; G. G. Post, electrical engineer, and J. L. Fay,
superintendent of wire, of the Milwaukee Electric Railway and Light Co., were
in the city last Saturday and inspected the new gasholder recently built here. WG
1912-35
IVAR ZABEL, employee
Having passed his 87th birthday this
week, Ivar Zabel of 1307 Neenah Street isn't a man to sit around and be
idle. He still indulges in his hobby,
wood carving and painting. Mr. Zabel has
been a resident of Watertown for the past 20 years, coming here from
Milwaukee. He is a native of Norway and
was born in Dramman, 28 miles from Oslo.
His birth date is March 20, 1875.
From 1912 to 1935 he worked on the old interurban line and was a
conductor for 20 years. His period of
service with the Electric Co. covered almost 34 years. He retired on Jan. 1, 1941. After that he did various odd vacation jobs
and kept busy with his hobbies. WDT, 03 28 1962
1913
KILLED BY INTERURBAN CAR
Watertown Gazette,
04 10 1913
The
eleven o’clock interurban car from the east last night brought the body of Owen
Collins to the undertaking establishment of Thos. Brooks, West Main Street,
this city.
It is
supposed he was struck by the outgoing interurban at 10 o'clock and instantly
killed. The accident happened about five
miles east here near the Sauerkraut Club crossing (i.e., Hustisford Rd). His
skull was cracked but otherwise his body was not injured.
Deceased
was about 60 years of age, was unmarried and made his home with his sisters on
the Oconomowoc Road (i.e., Highway 16) about five miles east of here.
At
this writing the arrangements for the funeral have not been made and the exact
manner of his death we are unable to ascertain.
Deceased
was well known hereabouts and looked after the farm interests of his sisters,
with whom he made his home in a most faithful manner.
He was
a hardworking, genial man and his sad death is sincerely regretted by a large
acquaintance.
It is
said Mr. Collins took the 8 o’clock interurban car out of this city for his
home, getting on the card at the corner of 3d and Main streets, so it seems
there is some question as to how he met his death.
1914 TO
FORCE BOND COLLECTION
12 31 The following
letter has been sent to the city clerk and will be read at the next meeting of
the city council:
Dec.
29, 1914
To the
Mayor and City Council, Watertown, Wisconsin.
Gentlemen:
I, William G. Cody, taxpayer and citizen, have
consulted Madison attorneys as to the bond given to the city of Watertown by
the interurban line, as to running a line on North Montgomery Street and so
forth, as to the collection of said bond.
The said Interurban line has failed to run said line and I am advised by
counsel at Madison to ask this honorable city council to inform me as to what
has been done in the matter as to collection of said bond, and as to what your
intentions are in the future as to collection of said bond, so as to enable me
to take the proper legal steps to compel the collection of said bond if
necessary. Kindly answer and oblige.
Yours
very truly,
William G.
Cody. WG
1915
--- INTERURBAN
BRINGS IN THE NEWS
c.1915
INTERURBAN PASSING SOUTH SIDE OF 200 BLOCK OF W. MAIN ST
1918
08 12 FIRST FATALITY ON INTERURBAN IN THIS CITY
Mrs. Amalia [Emilie] Krause killed at Main and Second
streets
and two
other women injured when struck by electric car.
Mrs.
Amalia [Emilie] Krause, 109 Green Street, widow of the late August Krause, was
almost instantly killed and two other women, Mrs. Carl Schumann and Miss Martha
Schumann, were injured when run down by an interurban electric car at Main and
Second streets Sunday night at 10 o’clock.
Mrs.
Krause was thrown under the wheels, which passed over her body, severing one
arm, and death resulted almost instantly.
The accident was witnessed by Police Officer Henry Rutz and several
others who were about to take the car east.
Mr.
Rutz says that the 10 o’clock car was going east and when it struck the split
switch at Second street the front trucks passed over alright, but the rear
trucks were diverted to the Second street line and that portion of the car went
south.
Four
women, Mrs. Amalia Krause and daughter Anna and Mrs. Carl Schumann and daughter
Martha, were standing near Cole’s block and when the car was passing on the
north track started to cross over in the direction of the Penney store. The swerving car struck them before they were
able to get out of the way, and Mrs. Krause was thrown under the wheels of the
rear truck, while Mrs. Schumann was injured internally, but not seriously it is
believed, and was removed to St. Mary’s hospital, and her daughter Martha was
injured about the face, but not seriously.
The injuries
sustained by Mrs. Schumann consisted of two broken ribs and other internal and
external injuries, but the physician does not look for any serious
results. Her daughter. Miss Martha, was
quite severely bruised about the face and one of her hips is also badly
injured. She also sustained a fracture
of the nose, but will recover. Miss
Krause escaped uninjured. That all of
them were not mangled under the wheels is something to be thankful for as they
were all in danger. The motorman on the car was Charles Struck and the
conductor, Joseph Esser, both of Milwaukee.
The
body of Mrs. Krause remained under the car for half an hour before the car
could be raised in order to remove it, and a large throng of people watched the
work.
Mrs.
Krause was the widow of the late August Krause and has been a resident of
Watertown for the past years. She was
born in Germany September 4, 1853, and is survived by four children: Otto Krause, Milwaukee, Mrs. August Huth,
Whitewater, Arthur Krause and Anna Krause, at home. Mrs. Krause was a woman whose death will be
learned with extreme sorrow by a host of friends. She is spoken of as an excellent neighbor and
devoted mother and her sad and tragic death is a distinct shock to the whole
community.
The
initial cause of the accident is unknown.
It is pretty certain that the split switch in some manner was jarred out
of place after the wheels of the forward truck had passed through the switch,
but what caused it is only conjecture.
It is not the first time that such accidents have happened, but this is
the first fatality which has occurred on the interurban line in Watertown since
the advent of the company ten years ago.
Will
Hold Inquest.
An
inquest will be held before Justice of the Peace Ferd. Schmutzler at 10 o’clock
Tuesday morning at which time witnesses of the accident will be examined by
District Attorney A. L. Stengel.
Funeral
Tuesday.
The funeral will take place on Tuesday afternoon at 1:30
o’clock from the late residence, 109 Green Street. Services will be held in the Immanuel
Lutheran church in North Ninth Street at 2 o’clock. The burial will
be in Oak Hill cemetery. Friends are
requested to call at the home as the casket will not be opened in church. Watertown News
_____________ more on the same _________________
AUGUST
12. 1918 --- Ten seconds after Mrs. Amilla Krause had laughingly asked Police
Officer Henry Rutz whether he intended to put her in jail, her mangled and
lifeless body lay beneath the rear truck or a T.M.ER.& L. electric car at
Main and Second streets.
The
car had "split the switch." that is to say, the front trucks
continued east on Main Street, the direction in which the car was going, and
the rear trucks left the main tract and went up the Second street track. As a result the rear end of the car swung
around toward the Achtenhagen & Borchardt stand with terrific force.
The
speed of the car was sufficient to force the rear trucks from the Second Street
track, and they moved forward on the pavement to within two feet of the curb
line, the trucks and the rear end of the car blocking the right of way of foot
passengers along the south side of Main street.
The
other three members of the party of which Mrs. Krause was a member, were also
more or less injured. All three were probably struck. At least two others had
to be drawn
from
under the car.
They
were: Mrs. Amelia Schumann, two ribs
broken, ankle sprained and body bruises. Miss Martha Schumann, nose broken and
severe face and body bruises. Miss Anna Krause, suffers from shock.
Whether
or not Miss Krause was hit by the car seems a mooted point, Charles Herro was
probably the first man on the scene. He attempted to release the body of Mrs.
Krause, but quickly saw that it was impossible. He then attempted to assist
Mrs. Schumann, but she was entirely under the car and was drawn out from the
other side—the west side. Abe Herro was also quickly on the scene and assisted
Officer Rutz in drawing Miss Schumann from beneath the car. Charles Herro says
he saw only the three women under the car; he rushed from the front of the Main
street bowling alleys, only a few feet away, when the car stopped. If Miss
Krause was knocked down she had arisen before he arrived.
Mrs.
Krause and Mrs. Schumann with their daughters were coming home from church.
They were walking west and expected to cross the street at the Achtenhagen &
Borchardt corner to go north in North Second street. When the car approached, they waited for it
to pass. When it was even with them,
Mrs. Krause and Mrs. Schumann, who were walking in front, stepped down off the
curb to cross to the "Golden Rule" corner, expecting to cross Main
street from that corner and take the west side of North Second street to Green
street where both families live, Mrs. Krause No. 109 and Mrs. Schumann at No.
112.
Miss
Schumann and Miss Krause followed, Miss Krause a little behind. Just what
happened then, even the survivors can scarcely tell. It was too sudden—too
awful.
Mrs.
Schumann and her daughter were taken to the Leopold bakery, and later a
physician took them to their home. When he had examined the injuries, the
physician decided to take both to the hospital. At noon today Mrs. Schumann was
resting fairly well, but in considerable pain. She is about sixty-six years old
and the mother of eleven children, eight of whom are living.
There
was great excitement and a great crowd about the Main street corner for about
three-quarters of an hour during which carline employees and volunteers worked
desperately to raise the rear end of the car and release the mangled body—the
wheels passed over the body above the waist line, severing one arm and
practically bisecting the body.
During
practically all this time Miss Krause stood in the crowd, watching the efforts
of the men and believing that the mother was still alive.
There
were many complaints heard about the speed which the car was making when it hit
the switch. Officer Rutz, who had intended to take the car at this corner, will
be one of the witnesses at the inquest, which will be held at 10 o'clock
Tuesday morning, and he will likely be one of those who will be questioned as to
the speed of the car.
Justice
of the Peace Schmutzler was called to the scene, arriving soon after the
accident. The inquest will be held in his court. The members of the coroners
jury viewed the body at the Kohls and Knaak undertaking parlors this morning. They are Otto Wegemann, F.W. Lehmann, Leonard
Oestreich, Emil Tanck, J.P. Holland and Patrolman Arthur Doerr.
Mrs.
Amalia Krause, 109 Green Street, widow of the late Mr. August Krause, who was
killed in the street car accident here Sunday evening, was born in Germany, and
spent her early years in that country. She was Miss Amalia Neitzel prior to her
marriage, which also took place in Germany. Mr. and Mrs. Krause, with the
oldest son, came to this country thirty-six years ago, coming directly to Watertown,
where she has since resided.
The
surviving relatives are two sons and two daughters, as follows: Mrs. August W.
Huth, Whitewater; Otto Krause, Milwaukee; Arthur Krause, this city; and Miss
Anna Krause, at home. Funeral services will be held Tuesday afternoon at 1:30
o'clock from the late home and at 2 o'clock at Immanuel Lutheran church.
Interment will be made in Oak Hill cemetery.
Krause, Emilie,
b. Sep 4, 1853, d. Aug 11, 1918
Krause, August C.,
b. Apr 3, 1856, d. Jul 6, 1917
Krause, Arthur W.,
b. Oct 27, 1887, d. Jan 9, 1962
12 27 LAUDED FOR INVESTING IN INTERURBAN CO.
13-year-old
Theresa lad follows Papa’s advice.
1920
MOTOR TRUCK SERVICE
/ THE T.M.E.R.&L. Co.
The interurban
maintained a
pick-up and delivery service in Watertown.
As an experiment to determine the practicability of motor
truck lines acting as feeders to electric interurbans The Milwaukee Electric
Railway and Light Company established during 1919 a motor truck line to several
business centers beyond the terminal of one of its branch lines. The idea of the truck line was to reach
directly a number of towns that were not served by direct transportation to
Milwaukee and to thus provide a new service to these centers and increase the
haulage of express over the interurban lines.
Watertown has the second largest terminal on this
system. This terminal was recently
remodeled and made modern. It is
especially designed to facilitate the rapid and efficient handling of
express. The incoming platform has an
area of approximately 3,000 sq. ft. and the outgoing platform 1,500 sq.
ft. A track runs between these platforms
permitting the easy loading and unloading of cars. This terminal is also provided with a two-car
team track. Suitable warehouse and
platform facilities are provided at all stations and stops along the
lines. Source: Electric Traction, Vol XVI, No. 1,
January 1920.
c.1921
100 BLOCK S. FIFTH ST.
(idealized)
1920s, late
INTERURBAN POWER LINES RUNNING ABOVE MAIN ST
1922
Profile of Frank J.
Boehm of the Wisconsin Gas & Electric Co, an associated company of The
Milwaukee Electric Railway and Light Co, owner of Watertown gas works.
1925
11 14 INDIAN BITES THE DUST
Watertown's Indian Chief, originally the Lewis Fountain, who has stood guard for years
at the intersection of West Main and Washington Streets, bit the dust at an
early hour this morning when he failed to survive what proved to be a very
modern motor and street car crash.
When [With] so many white people unable to stand the terrors
of the modern automobile, the Indian is hardly to be blamed for passing into
the happy hunting grounds.
The Indian's end came this morning. A Ford car driven by John Neuman and the
street car which arrives from Milwaukee at that [same] time, collided and the
Ford was knocked against the red man.
The Indian was unable to withstand was shock and the shattered remains
were scattered in every direction.
Luckily Mr. Neuman was not injured although one of his hands
was bruised, it was stated by the police.
The Ford was almost as badly wrecked as the Indian and the street car,
being made of sturdier stuff, survived quite nicely.
The Indian suffered a similar mishap sometime ago when a
motorist took a fall out of him, but that time he survived and was put back
into place after much patching. This
time it looks as if it will be impossible to save him. There isn't enough of his face left to allow a beauty expert to lift it. WDTimes
300 block of E. Main Street
1927
09 15 TRACK REMOVAL IN WEST MAIN STREET WELL UNDERWAY
09 19 SITE PREP FOR INTERURBAN TERMINAL
The two-story brick building at 206
South Second Street, recently acquired by T.M.E.R. & L. Co. as part of the
site for the new interurban and bus terminal at 200 S. Second, has been
completely wrecked.
10 04 BY THE WAY: The large
elm tree at the corner of S. Second and Market Streets with its spreading
branches and huge trunk should be spared if possible although it may have to go
to make way for the new terminal station to be built there. In the many years
it has stood as a silent sentinel on the corner its grateful shade has been
enjoyed by many people. It should be spared if possible.
10 12 NEW TERMINAL SKETCH
This
is how Watertown’s new interurban railway and motor bus terminal will look when
completed. Construction work is under
way and will be finished in about two months, according to officials of The
Electric Co. and the Wisconsin Motor Bus Lines.
Improvement of the terminal facilities, including purchase of necessary
land, erection of the building and relocation of tracks, will cost $107,000.
The
terminal, located at Second and Market streets, will accommodate Rapid Transit
trains operating to Milwaukee and motor buses operating to Madison, Janesville
and Beaver Dam. Transferring of
passengers between trains and buses will take place under
cover. WDT
11 18 BID ON PLANS FOR NEW TERMINAL
New Passenger Terminal for the
T.M.E.R.&L. Co, the Interurban Railway, 200 South Second Street.
Portion of architectural drawing for
terminal held by Maas Bros. Construction.
To be determined if Maas Bros. was awarded the winning bid.
1929
TIMETABLE, WATERTOWN-MILWAUKEE, EASTBOUND &WESTBOUND ROUTES
1931
TMER&L CO FUNDS HELP PAY FOR MAIN
ST. BRIDGE
The
cost of the 1931 Main Street bridge was
borne by the state, Jefferson County and Watertown, the city taking its share
from a fund of $10,000 which had been paid the city under an agreement by which
T.M.E.R. and L. Co., Milwaukee, was allowed to remove its tracks and abandon
its interurban service.
1939
12 28 TRANSPORT CO. TO ABANDON WATERTOWN - OCONOMOWOC RAILS
In a Few Weeks. Busses to Run for Interurbans.
Electric
trains will be discontinued between Oconomowoc and Watertown by the Transport
Co. on Jan. 28 and busses will be substituted.
Permission was granted Wednesday by the state public service commission
for the change. Abandonment of this
portion of the Milwaukee-Watertown electric line was authorized after the
company said it would cost $68,000 to repair it. The Transport Co. said that income from the
route line had been going down steadily as motor trucks and busses took the
business away. Rapid transit trains will
continue to operate between Milwaukee and Oconomowoc. The Watertown-Madison bus line of the
Transport Co. will then be extended between Watertown and Oconomowoc. Pleas of business interests and residents of
the territory that transportation facilities should be kept intact because of
the European war were rejected by the commission. Milw Jour
1940
1940, Pipersville Station 
1940, Turning onto Western Ave
Jan 28, 1940,
Motorman Kopitzke & Conductor Miller
THE LAST TRAIN PULLED INTO WATERTOWN ON
JANUARY 31, 1940
Last Street Car Will Make Run Here Tonight
Bus Service Inaugurated
Last
interurban, interurban terminal, 200 S Second, 1940
Watertown Daily Times, 01
31 1940
The last
interurban electric cars will run in and out of Watertown tonight and tomorrow
morning a new bus service will be inaugurated between here and Oconomowoc,
connecting with the electric line there for Milwaukee.
In
accordance with a ruling of the state public service commission granting the
Milwaukee Electric Railway and Transport Company the right to abandon its
electric line from here to Oconomowoc, the company announced it is abandoning
the service tonight and replacing it with the bus line between the two
cities. Meanwhile, the city of Watertown
has started suit in the Dane County circuit court seeking to have the order of
the public service commission set aside.
However, the company is not waiting for the outcome of the court action
and is going ahead with the abandonment of the service.
Open Ticket Office
With
the abandonment of the electric line will also come the closing of the terminal
here. Beginning tomorrow a new ticket
office and waiting room will be established in the Hotel
Carlton.
A new
time schedule for service has been worked out but no copy of it was released
today for publication. However, it was
announced information for the present could be obtained at the terminal until
closing time tonight or at the new ticket office tomorrow morning.
Six
through bus trips daily to Milwaukee, via Okauchee, Hartland and Pewaukee will
be made and direct connection at Oconomowoc with the interurban trains will be
made at Oconomowoc for Delafield and Waukesha, it was announced by the
Wisconsin Motor Bus lines, operated by the Milwaukee Electric Railway and
Transport Company.
End 32 Year Service
With
the closing of the electric line here, the company will bring to an end 32
years of service. It was on July 30,
1908 that the first street car came into Watertown. The year before the service had been extended
from Milwaukee as far as Oconomowoc and in 1908 the tracks were laid to this
city. At first the line ran to Main and
First streets. A short time later it was
continued all the way to the Chicago and North Western Railroad tracks at the
West Main Street crossing of the railroad.
Coming
of the first car into Watertown over the line was the subject of a civic
celebration such as Watertown has rarely seen.
Thousands were on hand to view the arrival of the car. There was band music and the evening was an
event that was hailed at the time as the beginning of a new era for
Watertown. It was the late Haney Bence
who was the motorman to bring the first street car into the city. Mr. Bence died in 1935. Bert Olson was the conductor.
Arthur
Mulberger was mayor of Watertown at the time and Joseph E. Davies, late ambassador
to Russia and Belgium, was city attorney.
Huge Yellow Cars
The
first street cars, which were huge yellow affairs, were later replaced with
more modern cars as the trains were gradually improved and years later when the
new terminal was established fast and the most modern cars were put on the
line.
Several
months ago the utility company announced it had filed a petition with the
public service commission seeking permission to abandon the service. Following a hearing at which the company
introduced testimony as to its losses in operating the line and at which the
city fought for retention of the service the commission made public its report
and announced that it had granted the utility’s petition.
The
city then asked for a rehearing of the case but was turned down and the city
council ordered filing of the suit in the Dane County court.
The
suit was filed a few days ago by City Attorney Harold W. Hartwig in accordance
with the council s resolution.
Kiessling, Elmer C., Watertown
Remembered (Watertown: Watertown Historical Society,
1976), pp 202-203
The
last train pulled into Watertown on January 31, 1940 and that night left for
the last time. Alas, Watertown’s affair
with the electric interurban was over.
The
T.M.E.R.&L. had come to Watertown 32 years before, in 1908. It once ran the length of Main Street, from
Fifth to the Northwestern depot. The
screeching of its wheels as it rounded corners was a familiar sound, and the
owl car, coming in around one in the morning and bringing home a few late
Milwaukee visitors, would often awaken sleepers until they heard it rumble on,
realized it was only the owl car and went back to sleep again.
This
interurban depot location later became the Ray Miller Ford garage.
1990 50th ANNIVERSARY OF LAST INTERURBAN
2015
03 24 INTERURBAN TRACK
TO FAIRGROUNDS TORN UP
South
Second St, between Milwaukee St & Western Ave; were laid in 1909.
11 09 INTERURBAN BIKE
ROUTE PROPOSED
2016
06 21 WATERTOWN/OCONOMOWOC
INTERURBAN
The
Watertown/Oconomowoc Interurban Trail is a non-motorized recreational trail,
transforming the former electric rail line into a bike and pedestrian
path. The project is currently in phase
one, with the Watertown trailhead complete, and a stretch of the trail
available for recreational use. At the
completion of all 3 phases, this blacktopped, off-road trail will support
people bicycling, walking, and other non-motorized recreational purposes. It will offer cyclists the opportunity to
ride safely from the northern end of the Glacial River Trail in Watertown east
to the shores of Lake Michigan connecting along the way to trails such as the
Lake Country Trail in Waukesha County and the Hank Aaron Trail in
Milwaukee. A pedestrian bridge over the
Rock River is scheduled for completion in 2018.
2017
07 01 WATERTOWN/OCONOMOWOC INTERURBAN TRAILHEAD MARKER
Humboldt & Clark streets
11 16 FIRST PHASE OF
OCONOMOWOC/WATERTOWN INTERURBAN TRAIL ON TRACK FOR 2018 COMPLETION
Milwaukee
Journal Sentinel article
09 12 COUNTY GETS $1 MILLION TO DEVELOP
INTERURBAN TRAIL
Jefferson County will receive $1,102,840 to put toward
development of the interurban bike/pedestrian trail from Watertown to
Oconomowoc. The ultimate goal is
to link Watertown bicyclists with the Milwaukee lakefront. The grant money will be used by the county to
construct the trail from River Road to County Highway F, a span of 4.7 miles.
2022
06 04 GRAND OPENING
CEREMONY
11 17 TRAIL CLOSED
DURING GUN DEER SEASON
The Jefferson County Interurban Recreation Trail will be
closed during the Wisconsin gun deer season from November 17th to the 25th.
The trail will be closed from River Road to Hwy F
beginning Friday at sunset and continue until sunrise on Monday November 26th.
The trail will remain open during this time from the
Watertown Trailhead to River Road, and trail users are asked to wear florescent
or blaze orange clothing to ensure the highest level of visibility.
In all other Jefferson County Parks and Trails we discourage
users from wearing brown and white clothing or anything that could be mistaken
for a white-tailed deer.
Cross-References:
A street car
apparently zips along down the main street of the Wisconsin Dells and is one of
a vast series of fake trolley photos published in the first decade of the
1900's.
Interurban Buffet and Restaurant, 415 E
Main, 1914, Richard Pouchert, Prop., “Hot Lunch Served All Day”
Louis E.
Dornfeld and his team of horses worked on the construction.
THE TOONERVILLE TROLLEY: Of the days when Watertown still had street
car [interurban] tracks on Main Street and the battle that was fought in and
out of the council over their removal —— and the little yellow
"Toonerville Trolley” that was kept in service, running from West Main
Street to Northwestern College hill and then back just so folks who had been
used to the street cars could keep riding the car before it was finally
abolished. WDTimes
08 16 1938
Note:
The interurban ended (was abolished) in 1940. I interpret the above as the
"Toonerville Trolley" possibly running on the abandoned interurban
tracks for a short time afterwards. If
so, this would have occurred after the splendid history period of the
interurban documented by Chuck Damaske /
Ken
History
of Watertown, Wisconsin