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After most of TMER&L's interurban system had been abandoned or cutback, Rapid Transit service remained
from Milwaukee to Hales Corners and Waukesha.
Following brief ownerships by Kenosha Motor Coach Lines, Shore Line Transit and Northland Greyhound,
these two lines were sold to Jay Maeder from Cleveland. Maeder was very familiar with TM, having rode it many
times while a cadet at St. John's Military Academy in Delafield.
Maeder formed the Milwaukee Rapid Transit & Speedrail Co., which was more commonly known simply as
Speedrail. The first official run was Sept 2, 1949.
To save operating costs, Maeder purchased the ten articulated streetcars (1031-32 to 1049-50) from
TMER&T and renumbered them 31-32 to 49-50. He also brought six second hand one-man, lightweight curveside
cars from Shaker Heights (Cleveland) numbered 60 - 65. He later added two more cars from Shaker Heights,
numbers 300 and 301. Several of the heavyweight TM interurbans remained on the roster for peak travel times.
Although they seemed to be holding their own financially, a major accident during a fan trip on Labor Day of
1950 caused 10 deaths and many injuries. The resulting claims, higher insurance premiums and loss of ridership
contributed to putting the company in a downward spiral.
All service ended on June 30, 1951.
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These light-weight cars from Shaker Heights were intended to supplement the 1030-series articulated cars.
For the 60-series cars, Speedrail was their fourth home. Originally from the Indianapolis & Southeastern, they also
operated on the Intercity Rapid Transit in Canton, OH, then Shaker Heights in Cleveland. The 60-series were
usually found on the Waukesha run.
The 300's were originally from the Aurora, Elgin & Fox River before serving their time on Shaker Heights.
Being older and a bit wider (close clearances at Waukesha loop) they were confined to the Hales Corners runs.
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Speedrail 33-34 heads through Waukesha. Built for TMER&L
South Milwaukee suburban service these ten articulated units
were acquired by Speedrail to replace the heavy-weight
interurbans.
Their seating capacity and light weight made them ideal for the
Rapid Transit commuter service.
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Ideally, Speedrail would have replaced all these heavy-weight
interurbans with lighter weight cars, but there weren't enough
available and several heavy-weight single and duplex units
were kept on hand.
Although use by Speedrail prolonged their lives, the remainder
met the scrapper in 1951, except for four that had been sold to
the London & Port Stanley in Canada during WWII.
Only of those four, three survive. One is a cottage in Canada,
and two are preserved at the Illinois Railway Museum.
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