Chicago PCC Mystery Photos – Part 1

David Sadowski 10 Comments
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To take note of the 57th anniversary of when the last Chicago streetcar ran, we’re having another “Mystery Photo Contest” featuring Chicago’s PCCs. The actual anniversary is June 21st.  You can find Part Two here.

Tell us something interesting about these photos– the who, what, when, where and how. We will print the most interesting answers once the contest is finished.

The winner will receive a copy of our newest Trolley Dodger Press publication Chicago’s PCC Streetcars: The Rest of the Story, which you can find in our online store.

You can send in your submissions as comments to this post or via e-mail to: thetrolleydodger@gmail.com

The deadline for Part One of this contest is midnight Chicago time on Monday, June 22nd. There may be separate winners for both parts of the contest. The photos are numbered (i.e., #41, etc.) in the captions, so please refer to these numbers in your answers.

As always,clicking on each picture with your mouse should bring up a larger version in your browser.

Good luck!

-Ye Olde Editor

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10 thoughts on “Chicago PCC Mystery Photos – Part 1”

  2. #44 Looking north on Halsted at 63rd Sears building on northeast corner
    #52 Chinatown at Cermak Rd and S Wentworth Ave. chartered car running north bound on route 22.

    Reply

  3. #46 – apparently in the last days they weren’t too particular about destination signs, were they? This is on Halsted at the then-abuilding Congress Expressway with the Met L in back, yet the car is running a 42 sign, when it should have an 8 HALSTED-79. Note also that contrary to modern practice, traffic is using the half-completed bridge with no barriers, nothing.
    #56-57 – the trolley bypass at Clark and 16th – after streetcar service ended, the bypass was paved and remained intact into at least the 1980’s as a “high clearance” bypass for trucks, as the main roadway IC bridge was quite low, something like 12 foot, and even in the 1960’s many trucks going to the freight houses north of there (see #48) would have clearance problems.
    #44 – looking north from the L station up Halsted towards 63rd – how that scene has changed! Not a single one of those buildings still stands!

    Reply

  4. I’ll defer to any older and more-knowledgeable folks, since I was only 4 when streetcar operation ended, but here’s my guesses on some of the photos:

    56 & 57: Canal Street, at the St. Charles Air Line;

    52: Wentworth & Cermak, Chinatown;

    51: Clark & Archer;

    49, 40, 37: South Shops;

    48: Clark Street, south of Roosevelt;

    44: Halsted & 63rd;

    43: Halsted & Chicago;

    31: Wabash & Lake.

    You pick up on some things after working 27+ years as a traffic engineer with the City of Chicago.

    And for a bonus point, did you know that much of the buried streetcar trackage still carries current? They serve as a current return for the L. I suspect this has to do with the CTA acquiring all the CSL substations, and is intended to prevent corrosion of water and gas mains.

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  6. #34 rt 4 car 4015 forms a line-up with three other pre-war PCCs as they wait to turn from Cottage Grove Ave onto E 115th St.

    #35 rt 4 no.4047 is starting its turn onto Cottage Grove Ave from E 95th.

    #39 4071 passes the Civic Opera Bldg on Madison at N. Wacker June 1950

    #56 a rt 22 Clark-Howard car 4233 heads north near 16th / 15th sts on S Clark St.

    #57 rt 22 no. 4276 northbound on S. Clark St. @ 16th

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  7. #41 took some real figuring. Looking west towards Madison and Fifth. Taken on a Sunday as Fifth is a one-man shuttle car connecting with the main route.

    #50 is on 81st between Halsted and Vincennes, the bridges are the BRC and Western Indiana. Rock Island bridge is behind photographer

    #54 is on Wentworth, probably around 70th or so.

    #47 is at 119th and Halsted. Car just made right turn off Halsted onto 119th and is crossing PRR tracks

    Reply

  8. #36 Madison looking West towards Wacker.
    #38 Might be the same area but looking East. That looks like the Madison/Wells L station in the background.

    #53 Southbound car on Clark at Monroe.

    Reply

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