View source for Waupaca Electric Light and Railway Company

{{refimprove|date=December 2010}}
{{Infobox rail line
| name            = Waupaca Electric Light and Railway Company
| type            = First-generation [[streetcar]]
| status          = Defunct
| locale          = [[Waupaca County, Wisconsin]]
| start           = [[Waupaca, Wisconsin]]
| end             = [[King, Waupaca County, Wisconsin|King, Wisconsin]]
| open            = July 4, 1899
| close           = July 4, 1925
| linelength_mi   = 5.12
| gauge           = {{Track gauge|ussg|allk=on}}
| electrification = [[Overhead line]]s
}}
The '''Waupaca Electric Light and Railway Company''' was set up in 1898 as successor to the Waupaca Electric Light Association. It opened on July 4, 1899 with regular service from July 9. Service was typically hourly.
The single line ran {{convert|5.12|mi}} from the [[Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railroad]] (Soo Line) depot in Waupaca via Oak Street, Mill Street, Main Street, Fulton Street, and [[Wisconsin Highway 22|Highway 22]] to King on Rainbow Lake. The [[Grand Army of the Republic]] Veterans Home in King housed 600 [[American Civil War|Civil War]] Veterans and their wives, who provided much of the line's ridership. A small station was located near the Veterans Home in King. From there, it continued on to the Grand View Hotel which served vacationers visiting the Waupaca Chain of Lakes.
== Equipment ==
* No. 1 and 2: Four wheel gravel cars, built in 1899 by James Jensen, a Waupaca boat builder
* No. 10: Single truck open passenger car, purchased used in 1899
* No. 12: Single truck open passenger car, purchased used in 1899
* No. 16: Single truck enclosed passenger car, provided year-round service, known as the "Winter Car", purchased new in 1900 from the [[Jewett Car Company]] of [[Newark, Ohio]]. Equipped with Peckham trucks, [[General Electric]] motors, cherry woodwork, and rattan seats.
* No. 17: Single truck open passenger car, probably purchased in 1900 at the same time as No. 16 having the same equipment
* No. 19: Double truck open passenger car, may have been purchased in 1905 at the time of a planned, but never constructed, extension to Camp Cleghorn
* Two open trailer passenger cars, purchased used in 1899
* Single truck baggage smoker car, purchased used in 1899. The car body is still in existence, owned by the Waupaca Historical Society and on display at their depot museum.
== Closure ==
The line was losing money from 1917 and closed on July 4, 1925 after exactly 26 years of service.<ref>Badger Traction: Published by Central Electric Railfans Association 1969: Library of Congress Catalog 70 93226</ref>
==See also==
* [[Waupaca Railroad Depot]]
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
[[Category:1898 establishments in Wisconsin]]
[[Category:1926 disestablishments in Wisconsin]]
[[Category:Defunct town tramway systems by city|Waupaca Electric Light and Railway Company]]
[[Category:Waupaca County, Wisconsin]]
[[Category:Streetcars in Wisconsin]]