Chicago, Aurora and Elgin Railroad: The "Roarin' Elgin"

Last revised: October 17, 2026

The Chicago, Aurora & Elgin was the high-speed electric railroad from Chicago to the Fox River. Riders knew it as the Roarin’ Elgin and as the Great Third Rail. Reporting mark CAE. Its trains ran on 600-volt direct current, collected from a third rail, and reached Aurora, Batavia, and Elgin, with a Geneva and St. Charles branch for part of the railroad’s life. Passenger service stopped at noon on July 3, 1957. Freight service ceased at 6:00 p.m. on June 11, 1959. The official abandonment came on July 6, 1961.

Cleveland syndicates built it as the Aurora, Elgin & Chicago. The Aurora line opened on August 25, 1902, and through trains reached downtown Chicago on March 11, 1905. Out of a 1919 receivership the property became the Chicago, Aurora & Elgin on July 1, 1922. The railroad owned six electric locomotives. Its passenger equipment began with wooden Niles and Stephenson cars and later included steel coaches from Pullman, Cincinnati, and the St. Louis Car Company. The last new interurban cars were the ten St. Louis coaches 451–460, ordered in 1941 and delivered in 1945.

Chicago, Aurora and Elgin steeple-cab locomotives 2001 and 2002 at the Indiana Harbor Belt interchange in Bellwood, March 1959

Steeple-cabs 2001 and 2002 at the Indiana Harbor Belt interchange in Bellwood, Illinois, in March 1959. Gordon Lloyd photo.

On this page: Two syndicates · Opening the line · The third rail · Conway and Insull · Forest Park · At a glance · Passenger cars · Locomotives · Fox River cars · The last day

Two syndicates

The Fox River towns already had electric cars before anyone built a fast line into Chicago. Those local lines ran from Carpentersville and Elgin south through Geneva to Aurora, and a branch reached Yorkville in 1901. The Pomeroy-Mandelbaum syndicate gathered them as the Elgin, Aurora & Southern Traction Company. In 1906 that company became the Fox River Division of the Aurora, Elgin & Chicago.

The third-rail railroad was a separate project, backed by two Cleveland groups, Everett-Moore and Pomeroy-Mandelbaum. They combined their charters in the Aurora, Elgin & Chicago Railway, formed on April 10, 1901. Everett-Moore sold its interest in 1902, and Pomeroy-Mandelbaum remained in control. The new line was built on its own right-of-way, with stone ballast, and it was double-tracked from the Chicago terminal out through Wheaton. Beyond Wheaton the branches were single track.

The Chicago, Aurora and Elgin Railroad logo. Author’s work.

Opening the line

An inspection train ran from 52nd Avenue to Aurora on May 16, 1902. Heavy rain and trouble with the new power system pushed the opening back. With six Niles cars available and a powerhouse at Batavia still being sorted out, the Aurora branch opened on August 25, 1902. A one-way fare was 25 cents. Passengers for the Loop changed to the Metropolitan West Side Elevated at 52nd Avenue. The Batavia branch, meeting the Aurora line at Eola Junction, opened in the last week of September 1902. Elgin service began in May 1903, on a 17.5-mile branch that left the main line at Wheaton. A Chicago–Elgin trip was timed at sixty-five minutes.

On March 11, 1905, the interurban began running over the Metropolitan’s Garfield Park line into downtown Chicago and terminated at the Wells Street Terminal. That one-seat ride, from a Fox River town to the Loop, is what set the railroad apart from the ordinary interurban. A short branch off the main line at Bellwood served Mount Carmel Cemetery. In 1926 the Westchester branch opened from Bellwood, and the Chicago Rapid Transit Company’s elevated trains were the passenger service on it.

The Geneva branch left the Elgin line near Wheaton and reached Geneva on December 1, 1909. It was extended to St. Charles in 1910, and those last miles used the trolley wire of the Fox River Division. Shops and the operating center were at Wheaton, where the Aurora and Elgin lines met before the double track ran east toward Chicago.

Chicago, Aurora and Elgin steeple-cabs 2001 and 2002 at the Wheaton shops, circa 1950

Steeple-cabs 2001 and 2002 at the Wheaton shops, circa 1950. American-Rails.com collection.

The third rail

Most interurbans took power from a trolley wire. The Aurora, Elgin & Chicago used a third rail and 600-volt direct current, the same kind of supply as Chicago’s elevated lines, which is why its cars could run downtown on the “L.” Trolley wire was used where the cars had to run in the street, and on the St. Charles connection. A coal-fired generating station at Batavia fed the line, and the railroad also sold power beyond its own trains. The third rail was broken at grade crossings, with the current carried across the gap by cable. Substations along the railroad reduced the transmission voltage to the 600 volts the cars and locomotives used.

Official 1946 system map of the Chicago, Aurora and Elgin

An official 1946 system map of the Chicago, Aurora & Elgin. Author’s collection.

Conway and Insull

The First World War left the Aurora, Elgin & Chicago in receivership in 1919. The bankruptcy court separated the Fox River Division in 1923. That division took the name Aurora, Elgin & Fox River Electric and came out of receivership in 1924. Its interurban passenger service ended on March 31, 1935. The third-rail property emerged on July 1, 1922, as the Chicago, Aurora & Elgin Railroad, under Dr. Thomas Conway, Jr.

Conway rebuilt a railroad that had been allowed to wear out. There was heavier rail, new ballast, steel passenger cars, more substation capacity, and an enlarged shop at Wheaton. He left in 1926. Samuel Insull, who already controlled the North Shore Line and the South Shore Line, took the Chicago, Aurora & Elgin the same year. The Depression broke the Insull companies. The interurban was back in receivership in 1932 and stayed there through the Second World War. The Geneva and St. Charles line was abandoned on October 31, 1937.

Wartime traffic carried the company out of receivership in 1946, under the name Chicago, Aurora & Elgin Railway. The ten St. Louis cars ordered in 1941 arrived in 1945, late because of the war, and they were the last new passenger cars the railroad bought.

Chicago, Aurora and Elgin steeple-cabs in freight service near Wheaton, led by 2002, circa 1950

A freight near Wheaton, led by No. 2002, circa 1950. American-Rails.com collection.

Forest Park

The Congress Street Expressway, later the Eisenhower and now Interstate 290, was planned along the same corridor the interurban used to reach the city. Construction required the Garfield Park elevated to come down. During the years the highway was being built, “L” trains and interurban trains were expected to use a temporary track in the street. The Chicago, Aurora & Elgin refused that arrangement. Wood-bodied cars were also barred from the subway that the replacement line would use to reach the Loop, and the new route would not serve the Wells Street Terminal.

The compromise was a transfer station at Forest Park, at DesPlaines Avenue. On September 20, 1953, the interurban stopped running into the Wells Street Terminal. Riders changed there to Chicago Transit Authority trains. Within a few months about half the passengers were gone, many of them to the Chicago & North Western’s parallel commuter trains. The Chicago Transit Authority had already stopped its own passenger service on the Westchester branch in 1951.

Chicago, Aurora and Elgin car 420 on an express run to Chicago, circa 1957

Cincinnati-built car 420 on an express run to Chicago, circa 1957. American-Rails.com collection.

At a glance

Item	Detail
Railroad	Aurora, Elgin & Chicago Railway, April 10, 1901. Chicago, Aurora & Elgin Railroad, July 1, 1922. Chicago, Aurora & Elgin Railway from 1946
Reporting mark	CAE
Headquarters	Chicago. Shops at Wheaton
Gauge	4 feet, 8½ inches
Electrification	600-volt direct current. Third rail on the main line. Trolley wire in street running and on the St. Charles connection
Opened	August 25, 1902, from 52nd Avenue to Aurora. Elgin in May 1903, 17.5 miles from Wheaton. Loop service March 11, 1905
Lines	Wheaton–Aurora, Batavia branch, Wheaton–Elgin. Geneva, December 1, 1909, and St. Charles in 1910, abandoned October 31, 1937. Westchester branch from Bellwood, 1926, with “L” trains as the passenger service
Fox River Division	Separated in 1923 as the Aurora, Elgin & Fox River Electric. Interurban passenger service ended March 31, 1935
Passenger service	Ended at noon, July 3, 1957, after the September 20, 1953 cutback to Forest Park
Freight service	Ceased at 6:00 p.m., June 11, 1959
Abandonment	July 6, 1961
Locomotives	Six electric locomotives: GE 2001 and 2002, Baldwin-Westinghouse 3003 and 3004, and 4005 and 4006 from the Cedar Rapids & Iowa City
Slogans	The Roarin’ Elgin. The Great Third Rail

Passenger cars

The wooden list and the steel list below are the third-rail fleet. Number 109 was used twice: the Stephenson trailer of 1902, and a funeral car built at Wheaton in 1906. The parlor-buffet car Carolyn became coach 209. Niles car 305 and the parlor Florence were rebuilt at Wheaton in 1923 as parlor cars 600 and 601, and in 1929 those two frames became coaches 435 and 436. They are counted once, as the steel cars. Trailers 600–604 in the steel list are a later group, from the Washington, Baltimore & Annapolis, and they reused the numbers 600 and 601 after the parlor cars had been renumbered.

Wooden cars

Numbers	Builder	Built	Qty	Notes
10–28, evens	Niles	1902	10	Built for this railroad. The first cars delivered
30–58, evens	John Stephenson	1902	15	Built for this railroad. Motor cars
101–109, odds	John Stephenson	1902	5	Built for this railroad. Trailers. The number 109 was used again
109 (2nd)	Wheaton Shops	1906	1	Funeral car
129–130, 133–134, 137	Jewett	1907	5	Ex-Chicago, North Shore & Milwaukee
138–141, 144	American	1910	5	Ex-Chicago, North Shore & Milwaukee
142–143	Jewett	1909	2	Ex-Chicago, North Shore & Milwaukee
201–207, odds	Niles	1905	4	Built for this railroad
209	Wheaton Shops	1924	1	Rebuilt from the Niles parlor-buffet Carolyn of 1905. Same frame
300–308	Niles	1906	9	Built for this railroad. 305 later became parlor car 600 and then coach 435
309–310	Hicks Locomotive Works	1908	2	Built for this railroad
311–315	G. C. Kuhlman	1909	5	Built for this railroad
316–321	Jewett	1913–1914	6	Built for this railroad

Steel cars

Numbers	Builder	Built	Qty	Notes
400–419	Pullman	1923	20	Built for this railroad
420–434	Cincinnati	1927	15	Built for this railroad. Car 420 is the express in the 1957 photograph
435–436	Wheaton Shops	1929	2	Same frames as parlor cars 600 and 601, rebuilt from Niles 305 and Florence
451–460	St. Louis	1945	10	Ordered in 1941. Delivered in 1945. The last new passenger cars
500	St. Louis	1927	1	Lightweight car, built for this railroad
600–604	Cincinnati	1913	5	Ex-Washington, Baltimore & Annapolis. Trailers. Numbers 600 and 601 had already been used on the parlor cars that became 435 and 436
700–702	Cincinnati	1913	3	Ex-Washington, Baltimore & Annapolis. Trailers

Locomotives

The railroad’s freight motors were six electric locomotives. General Electric 2001 and 2002 are the steeple-cabs in the photographs. They received multiple-unit control in 1929 and were ordinarily used as a pair, which let them bridge the gaps in the third rail at road crossings. Baldwin-Westinghouse 3003 and 3004 were boxcabs, built in 1923 and 1924 and acquired in 1926. The last pair, 4005 and 4006, were also boxcabs. They arrived in 1955 from the Cedar Rapids & Iowa City, where they had been 72 and 73. Before that they were Union Electric 603 and 604, and before that Oklahoma Railway 603 and 604, the railroad whose shops built them.

Numbers	Type	Builder	Serial	Built	Qty	Notes
2001	Steeple-cab	General Electric	7688	1920	1	Built for stock and sold to the Aurora, Elgin & Chicago in 1920. Four GE 257 motors. Multiple-unit control with 2002 from 1929
2002	Steeple-cab	General Electric	8067	1922	1	Built for stock and acquired in 1922. Ordinarily paired with 2001
3003	Boxcab	Baldwin-Westinghouse	57070	September 1923	1	Acquired in 1926
3004	Boxcab	Baldwin-Westinghouse	57717	1924	1	Acquired in 1926
4005–4006	Boxcab	Oklahoma Railway shops	—	—	2	Acquired in 1955. Ex-Cedar Rapids & Iowa City 72 and 73, ex-Union Electric 603 and 604, nee Oklahoma Railway 603 and 604

Chicago, Aurora and Elgin steeple-cabs 2001 and 2002 at the Wheaton shops, circa 1959

Steeple-cabs 2001 and 2002 at the Wheaton shops, circa 1959. American-Rails.com collection.

Fox River cars

These cars belong to the Fox River lines, the street railways and the interurban between Elgin and Aurora that became the Aurora, Elgin & Fox River Electric. They are a separate roster from the third-rail cars above. Fox River 300–306 are St. Louis interurban cars. They are not the Niles cars 300–308 of the Chicago line. The Fox River interurban made its last passenger runs at the end of March 1935.

Single-truck city cars

Numbers	Builder	Built	Qty	Notes
48	St. Louis	—	1	Acquired 1924. Ex-Aurora, Plainfield & Joliet 101
50–89	St. Louis	1923	40	Built for this company
90–97	St. Louis	1926	8	Built for this company
108–146, evens	St. Louis	1902	20	Built for this company
117–127, odds	Briggs	1893	6	Ex-Aurora Street Railway. Open cars
131–137	John Stephenson	1897	7	Built for this company. Open cars
154, 158, 160–166, evens	St. Louis	1897	6	Built for this company
182	J. G. Brill	1897	1	Built for this company
250–258, evens	Niles	1910	5	Built for this company

Double-truck city cars

Numbers	Builder	Built	Qty	Notes
111–115, odds	J. G. Brill	1897	3	Built for this company. Open cars
144–149, odds	St. Louis	1894	3	Built for this company. Open cars
234–240, evens	St. Louis	1916	4	Built for this company
242–248, evens	St. Louis	1913	4	Built for this company

City and interurban cars

Numbers	Builder	Built	Qty	Notes
148, 150	J. G. Brill	1898	2	Ex-Aurora & Geneva Railway
152	St. Louis	1894	1	Built for this company
156, 168	J. G. Brill	1909	2	Acquired secondhand
170	J. G. Brill	1898	1	Acquired secondhand
172	J. G. Brill	1898	1	Acquired secondhand
184–188, evens	Pullman	1894–1895	3	Ex-Southern Street Railway
190–196, evens	St. Louis	1908	4	Acquired secondhand
100–106, evens	St. Louis	1901	4	Double-truck interurban cars, built for this company
200, 202	Niles	1906	2	Double-truck interurban cars, built for this company
204, 206	McGuire-Cummings	1907	2	Double-truck interurban cars, built for this company
208–214, evens	Twin City Rapid Transit	1899	4	Ex-Twin City. Acquired in May 1913
216–226, evens	Cincinnati	—	6	Acquired secondhand
300–306	St. Louis	1924	7	Double-truck interurban cars, built for this company. Not the third-rail Niles cars of the same numbers

The last day

The Illinois Commerce Commission authorized an end to passenger service in April 1957. Injunctions kept the trains running into the summer. At noon on July 3, 1957, the Wednesday before a holiday weekend, the railroad stopped the passenger trains. People who had ridden into the city that morning came back to Forest Park and found no interurban home. Freight trains continued, including the work at the Indiana Harbor Belt interchange in Bellwood.

The Interstate Commerce Commission later found that the Chicago, Aurora & Elgin Railway ceased freight service at 6:00 p.m. on June 11, 1959. The cars and the right-of-way were held for a time in case a buyer appeared. The official abandonment was July 6, 1961. The rails came up afterward. Part of the grade west of the city is the Illinois Prairie Path. Cars from the railroad, including St. Louis coach 451, are at the Illinois Railway Museum.

Sources

George W. Hilton and John F. Due, The Electric Interurban Railways in America. The Fox River electric lines before the third-rail railroad, and the place of the Chicago, Aurora & Elgin among the Chicago-area interurbans.
Larry Plachno, Sunset Lines: The Story of the Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railroad, the history volume. Construction, the August 25, 1902 opening, the May 16, 1902 inspection, Elgin in May 1903, and the March 11, 1905 entrance to the Wells Street Terminal.
Central Electric Railfans’ Association, The Great Third Rail. The wooden and steel car lists and the Fox River car lists. The September 20, 1953 cutback to Forest Park. The official abandonment of July 6, 1961.
Interstate Commerce Commission, order of June 15, 1959, printed in the Federal Register of June 19, 1959. The Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railway Company ceased freight service at 6:00 p.m. on June 11, 1959.
Illinois Railway Museum, Chicago Aurora & Elgin 451. St. Louis Car Company, 1945. One of ten cars, 451–460, ordered in 1941 and finished after the war.
Aurora, Elgin & Fox River Electric history: separation from the third-rail railroad by the bankruptcy court in 1923, the Aurora, Elgin & Fox River Electric name, exit from receivership in 1924, and the end of interurban passenger service on March 31, 1935.

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