This may not be the sharpest photograph, but it does show CTA wooden “L” cars on the old street-level portion of Lake in the early-to-mid 1950s. We are probably a few blocks east of Marion Street, perhaps not too far west of Oak Park Avenue. This is an “A” train, meaning this picture could not have been taken before 1948, which is when “skip stop” service was introduced. CTA’s plans during this period involved grade crossing elimination or reduction on all three of the west side lines (Lake, Douglas, and Garfield), a goal that was achieved when this line was shifted to the C&NW embankment in October 1962.

This may not be the sharpest photograph, but it does show CTA wooden “L” cars on the old street-level portion of Lake in the early-to-mid 1950s. We are probably a few blocks east of Marion Street, perhaps not too far west of Oak Park Avenue. This is an “A” train, meaning this picture could not have been taken before 1948, which is when “skip stop” service was introduced. CTA’s plans during this period involved grade crossing elimination or reduction on all three of the west side lines (Lake, Douglas, and Garfield), a goal that was achieved when this line was shifted to the C&NW embankment in October 1962.