Its rolling stock consisted of standard wooden interurban cars which typically ran in short one- to three-car trains on hourly intervals.

Arnold himself was heavily involved in the line's construction and management, and at one point operated the cars himself during a strike.

On March 10, 1930, the railroad ceased operations[7] due to competition from the parallel Chicago and North Western Railway and from the automobile, after the paving of nearby US 20.

For a time the railroad sat moribund, with the cars stored at the shops in Marengo, until Arnold scrapped the line himself in the mid to late 1930s.

The Illinois Railway Museum acquired 7 miles (11 km) of the abandoned right of way through a delinquent tax sale east of Union in 1956.