
This must be car 3142, which was saved by ERHS and is now in operating condition at the Illinois Railway Museum. In this September 10, 1959 scene, there are still a few PCCs left on the property at South Shops, including car 4400. (Clark Frazier Photo)
Following up on our earlier post Chicago Streetcars in Black-and-White, here are nearly 40 more pictures in color. Because they are in color, they naturally skew towards the last 10 years or so of service, leading up to that fateful morning on June 21, 1958, when the last Chicago streetcar ran:
We hope that you enjoy these glimpses of a bygone era. We have provided what information we have on the locations and circumstances. If you can help fill in some additional details, let us know.
-David Sadowski

Pullman PCC 4063, on route 22 – Clark-Wentworth, meets red car 6118, signed for route 42 at Clark and Halsted. Route 42 was an incorrect designation for this location, and the sign should read 8 instead.

“Sedan” 6296 on route 4 – Cottage Grove. The Chicago Surface Lines built one-third of this 100-car order themselves in 1929, not an unusual practice at the time. Bob Lalich says we are “just south of 95th St. The Rock Island, C&WI and BRC elevation can be seen in the background.”

This appears to be the temporary end of the line for route 73 – Armitage, as the bridge is out behind car 3297.

Work car F-305 at South Shops on September 10, 1959. This was purchased by the Electric Railway Historical Society and soon moved to their site in Downers Grove. (Clark Frazier Photo)

Here, we are at about 4600 west 63rd street looking west. Car 4013, heading east, wears the CSL “tiger stripes” introduced in 1945. Bill Shapotkin adds, “That caption is correct. I might add that “is” at 4600 West and the tracks are those of the BRC. By the way, as an aside, if you ride the Rt #63 bus, the stop here is called out as “4600 West.” No street name (which would otherwise be Kenton) is given.”

Although car 4410 appears to be going uphill, this is Chicago and not Pittsburgh. It’s the photographer who is tilted in this October 1956 view.

Prewar PCC heads south on route 49 – Western on June 13, 1956, shortly before the line was converted to bus.

It appears that car 4406is making a backup move in this October 21, 1956 photo. That may indicate we are at the south end of route 22, where there was a “wye” in traffic.

Car 585 on route 56 – Milwaukee near Downtown. Bill Shapotkin adds, “This pic of a Milwaukee Ave streetcar is at the Milwaukee Ave bridge over the MILW/PRR near Des Plaines St. Believe the view looks N/W. Note the long-standing MILW freight house on the right.”

Car 3144, a sister of the 3142 preserved at the Illinois Railway Museum, runs parallel to the outer end of the Lake Street “L” where it ran on the ground prior to 1962. Streetcar service on route 16 ended in May 1954. A CTA 4000 is visible at rear. Both cars are using overhead wire.

Prewar PCC 4029 running parallel to the Illinois Central electric on the south end of route 4 (Cottage Grove).

Postwar PCC 4377 heads south on Clark in the mid-1950s. The Clark Theatre, the Bamboo Inn, and the Blue Note are visible on the next block.

7038 heads south at Western and 14th. A “Qunoset hut” is at left. This is a type of prefabricated building that was in wide use during and after WWII.

Prewar PCC 4029 is shown heading south on a section of Cottage Grove between 33rd and 35th that had already been sold by the city to developers and was already off-limits to car and truck traffic. CTA was given six-month extensions on streetcar service through this area before the route was bussed in June 1955.

From the address on the Edward Don warehouse at rear, we can tell this picture of PCC 4115 was taken on Clark just north of Cermak.

Prewar PCC 4027 at an unknown location. Likely possibilities are routes 4, 49, or 63. Tony Waller writes, “Image 243 is on 63rd St. Look at the pre-war PCC. It’s door arrangement is that of two-man car. Cottage Grove and Western only had pre-war PCCs in one man operation.”

It’s not the best slide, and hard to make out, but the signs say car 4406 is chartered and it is signed for Devon and Ravenswood.

Postwar PCC 7142 pulls into the Clark-Howard loop in the mid-1950s. The white line indicates the swing of the car.

West Chicago Street Railway #4 was pulled out for pictures on May 25, 1958, the occasion of the final fantrip on Chicago’s streetcar system.
David, I may be confusing it with a different route — but I thought the #42 came from the south, and entered downtown via Archer Ave.
(again — I may be wrong)
You are correct. Technically, they had the wrong sign up.
42 DID run out Clark and Halsted to Waveland loop, returning via Broadway and Clark. Last couple of years of car service was cut back first to Clark and Chicago, then Clark and Kinzie. Bus only ran to Clark/Randolph
Great photos! I believe that the work car is supply car S3, not work car X3 which was a derrick similar to X4 now at IRM. Neat pre-preservation shots of the 3142 and F305; the latter was chosen for preservation by ERHS in 1959 over Brill experimental car 7001 because it was complete and the 7001 wasn’t.
Here is a magnified image of the number. Not sure if it is an “S” or an “X.”
http://thetrolleydodger.com/?attachment_id=522
Thanks for providing these views. The video is well done!
The CTA video was shot on 16mm by the late Charles Keevil, who appears to have been shadowing PCC 7213 in a car. Interestingly, there was also an official vehicle in front of the streetcar as it made the final run.
[…] This is the second installment in our ongoing series featuring color pictures of Chicago streetcars. (You can read our earlier post here.) […]
[…] in our ongoing series featuring color pictures of Chicago streetcars. (You can read our first post here, and our second one […]
Sedan 6296 on route 4 – Cottage Grove is just south of 95th St. The Rock Island, C&WI and BRC elevation can be seen in the background.
Thanks for this information.
[…] last Chicago streetcar ran in the early hours of June 21, 1958. Today, the last surviving postwar Chicago streetcar, […]
[…] of West Chicago Street Railway car 4, also taken the same day, there’s one in our post Chicago Streetcars In Color (February 22, […]
[…] of West Chicago Street Railway car 4, also taken the same day, there’s one in our post Chicago Streetcars In Color (February 22, […]
Red Pullman 332 is somewhere near the White Sox stadium. I can tell by the look of the buildings. My cousins live near it, and that is what their neighborhood looks like.
If a person were commuting from Clark and Dickens near Lincoln Park in Chicago to Church and Chicago Ave. in Evanston in April of 1949, would they have been able to get there entirely by streetcar or would they have had to switch to another means of transport at Howard? Any thoughts you have are appreciated. Jeff
Evanston streetcars quit in 1935. There are pictures of some in my book Chicago Trolleys. You could have taken a Clark-Wentworth PCC all the way to Howard, and a bus or the “L” the rest of the way.
In the 40s I took the red Cottage Grove car to and transferred at 35th street to Comiskey Park .
Thanks for the memories . .
[…] of West Chicago Street Railway car 4, also taken the same day, there’s one in our post Chicago Streetcars In Color (February 22, […]
[…] Chicago Streetcars In Color (February 22, […]
[…] we made four previous posts in the Chicago Streetcars in Color series. Here are the links to parts One, Two, Three, and Four. It’s been a while, though– the last such post was in […]