of
"Union Traction Co. of Indiana"
1897-1930
A lot of information for this site was gathered from the book, "Electric Railroads of Indiana" by Jerry Marlette. Without the information gathered by Mr. Marlette, this page would not have been possible.
This page is UNDER CONSTRUCTION !
1891
June 20- Charles Henry, "Father of the Interurban" enters the scene by buying the Anderson mule line. Mr. Henry coined the word "interurban" after attending the Chicago Worlds Fair in 1893.
1892
March 14- Anderson Electric Street Railway electrified.
1897
December 23- Union Traction Company makes test run between Anderson & Alexandria.
1898
January 1- UTC begins regular service between Anderson & Alexandria. This line has usually been considered the first Interurban line in Indiana, probably due to the fact that it used the first cars designed specifically for interurban use.
April 12- UTC opens Alexandria to Summitville.
1899
Union Traction of Indiana (#1) begins operation.
1900
March 26- UTC of I refused permission to cross the Belt Line RR in Anderson by the PRR. The PRR built a switch across the street used by the UTC, put rail cars on the switch, then tore out the switch points. It took 3 mos. to resolve the dispute.
1901
January 4- UTC opens the Anderson-Indianapolis line.
January 18- Two UTC cars collide in the dark on the White River bridge east of Anderson. The most severe injury was a crushed foot. The accident was caused by a broken circuit.
July 3- UTC opens Anderson-Muncie line.
1902
June 25- Tornado destroys poles and wire between Pendleton and Fortville on Anderson-Indianpolis line.
December ?- UTC and Lake Erie & Western RR involved in dispute over crossing rights 3 mi. west of Elwood.
1903
February 10- UTC opens Elwood-Tipton line.
July 1- Indiana Union Traction Co. begins operation.
July 30- UTC wreck in Anderson kills one, injures 21.
September 9- IUTC loses brakes while approaching Alexandria station at 40 mph. Stops after hitting station, burying 2 people in the debris.
December 6- IUTC opens Indianapolis-Kokomo line.
1904
January 5- Indianapolis attorney rules that interurbans MUST carry freight.
July 28- IUTC opens Kokomo-Logansport line.
July 30- IUTC opens Kokomo-Peru line.
September 12- Indianapolis Traction Terminal opens.
1905
Janurary 12- First meeting of Indiana Electric Railway Association in Indianapolis.
May- IUTC opens local service in Alexandria.
August 1- IUTC opens service from Anderson to Middletown.
1906
April 8- IUTC car struck by lightning while runnion at high speed. Front end catches fire, the feed wires leading to the battery are burned away, but no one is injured.
May 1- Indianapolis-Ft. Wayne through limited service begins by IUTC and Ft. Wayne and Wabash Valley. The running time is 4 hrs. 30 min.
December 31- The Indianpolis Traction Terminal sees 87,730 1/2 round trips carrying 4,469,982 passengers in 1906.
1907
October 31- IUTC Tipton car house burns destroying 3 interurbans and 5 trailers.
Date unknown- IUTC abandons local service in Alexandria.
1910
August- IUTC and Winona Interurban inaugurated through service between Indianapolis and Goshen.
September 17- IUTC head-on collision near Union City kills 2, injures 16.
September 21- Fort Wayne and Wabash Valley head-on collision north of Kingsland kills 41 persons. The worst interurban accident in Indiana history. (Involved IUTC car).
September 24- IUTC limited and freight collision at Ressler Crossing 2 miles north of Tipton kills 6, injures 12.
1912
May 28- Union Traction of Indiana (#2) begins operations.
October 28- A sweeping order for the installation of block signals on Indiana interurban lines was issued by the state Railroad Commission. Ten lines and 276 miles of track are affected by the order, which is to be fulfilled by 7-1-13.
1913
UTC opens Muncie-New Castle line.
1916
UTC receives the 1915 Anthony N. Brady award for "Achievement in Safety and Sanitation on Electric Street Railways of America".
December 31- Traffic through the Traction Terminal in 1916 totals 462 trains and 694 cars per day, carrying 7,208,747 passengers.
1917
December- Continuing snow storms severly hamper interurban operations in Indiana.
1919
May 24- Out of control UTC car roars into Noblesville town square, overturns, and crushes 10 automobiles. A small boy in one of the autos is killed, 23 injured.
June 13- Wreck at Carmel kills 2, injures 20.