Terre Haute, Indianapolis and Eastern Traction Company

The Terre Haute, Indianapolis & Eastern Traction Company was the ultimate survivor of the more than forty smaller companies which organized, struggled to exist, and finally became a part of the actual operating system popularly known as THIE. From its conception in 1907 as the lessee of several existing larger companies, the THIE system became a worthy competitor for the state's other large interurban company, the Union Traction Company of Indiana. While the mileages operated by the two concerns were roughly equal, and continually changing, THIE did outperform UTC in several categories, such as stock hauling and safety (the THIE safety record far out performed UTC's, both if frequency of accidents and number of fatalities). The history records THIE,s growth from a tiny city installation in Brazil to a multi-county system serving areas of large population such as Indianapolis down to tiny Amo and Dunreith. Covered too are city lines in Crawfordsville (and its pitched battle to originally build!) New Castle, Richmond, and Terre Haute, along with the connecting Lebanon and Thorntown Traction as well as a line which started but petered out five miles out of town - the Covington and Southwestern Traction Company. Other subjects covered are the THIE passenger and freight service, despatching practices, stations and terminals, rolling stock rosters, mileage tables, and other necessary ancillary data to round out the line's history.