This remarkable very early color picture shows NSL Birney car 332 and a variety of interurban cars in Milwaukee. In back, that’s car 300 in fantrip service. It was used by CERA as a club car circa 1939-42, which helps date the photo. Don’s Rail Photos: “332 was built by Cincinnati Car Co in December 1922, #2625. It was retired in 1947 and scrapped in April 1948… 300 thru 302 were built by Jewett in 1909 as mainline coaches. As the steel cars arrived, they were downgraded to local and school tripper service. In 1936 they became sleet cutters. In 1939 300 was turned over to the Central Electric Railfans’ Association as a private car. The ownership remained with the CNS&M, but the maintenance was taken over by CERA. During the war, with many members in service, CERA relinquished control, and the car was scrapped in 1947. 301 and 302 were retired in 1939 and scrapped in 1940.” CERA bulletins of the time say that fantrips, being non-essential travel were not allowed for much of the war, starting in 1942. By the time the war ended, car 300 had been stripped of some parts in order to keep other wood cars running. Several were sold to the Chicago, Aurora & Elgin in 1946. The North Shore Line had decided it no longer wanted to run wood cars in passenger service. Then, the 300 was vandalized and some windows were smashed. It was scrapped by CNS&M.
Today, we continue our look at the great Chicago interurbans* by featuring the North Shore Line. The Chicago, North Shore & Milwaukee last ran on January 21, 1963, just over 54 years ago.
This is widely considered the end of the Interurban Era.
But wait, there’s much more on offer in this, our 175th post. All of today’s black-and-white photos are scanned from the original negatives. This includes an original medium format neg taken by Edward Frank, Jr., which he traded with another collector. I don’t know what became of the rest of his negatives.
CNS&M wooden interurban car 303 in its days as a sleet cutter. Don’s Rail Photos: “303 thru 305 were built by American Car in 1910 and were almost identical. In 1939 they became sleet cutters and were retired and scrapped in 1940.”
CNS&M 704 getting washed at the Milwaukee terminal. Don’s Rail Photos: “704 was built by Cincinnati Car Co in May 1923, #2635.” (Walter Broschart Photo)
The information I received with this negative says that CNS&M 169 is a Special on the Shore Line Route in Wilmette in 1954. On the other hand, one of our long-time readers says this is actually Mundelein terminal on that branch line. Since this is apparently a fantrip car, the Shore Line Route sign may be incorrect. Don’s Rail Photos: “169 was built by Jewett in 1917.”
A not too sharp picture of a southbound train on the Shore Line Route at Wilmette.
Richard H. Young took this picture on June 2, 1960 from the back of a moving North Shore car somewhere near Mundelein. We see a line car at work on the other track. One of our regular readers says that we are looking east toward South Upton tower, with Rt. 176 at left (north).
A close-up of the line car. Not sure whether this is the 604 or the 606.
The same location today.
CNS&M 774 at the Milwaukee terminal. Don’s Rail Photos: “774 was built by Standard Steel Car Co in 1930, It was rebuilt as (a) Silverliner on May 9, 1950.” This photo appears to predate that.
CNS&M 761 at the Milwaukee terminal on May 29, 1950. Don’s Rail Photos: “761 was built by Standard Steel Car Co in 1930. It was modernized in 1949 and rebuilt as Silverliner in October 11, 1957.”
One of the two Electroliners passes a train of older cars in this wintry scene. Not sure of the exact location. The Electroliners entered service in 1941. Don Ross: “The Electroliner in the snow was at North Chicago. I have one similar from a different angle and no snow.” Jerry Wiatrowski: “The picture of the Southbound Electroliner is entering the curve to North Chicago Junction. The photographer is looking Northwest from North Chicago Junction. The bypass line continues South to the left.”
The same location today. We are looking north at about 2225 Commonwealth Avenue in North Chicago, IL. The cross-street, which was 22nd Street, is now Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr.
North Shore steeple cab 459 looks like it is backing up to connect with a couple of stalled cars. The information I got with this negative says this is Cudahy, Wisconsin in April 1954. That is just south of Milwaukee. However, it’s been pointed out to me that this municipality was a couple miles west of the right-of-way and the station in the picture looks more like Waukegan. Don’s Rail Photos: “459 was built by the SP&S in August 1941 as OERy 51. It was purchased by the North Shore in December 1947 and was completed as 459 on November 22, 1948.”
North Shore Birney car 335 in July 1947. Don’s Rail Photos: “335 was built by Cincinnati Car Co in December 1922, #2625. It was retired in 1947 and scrapped in April 1948.” The car is signed for Oklahoma Avenue in Milwaukee.
Car 409 on an early CERA fantrip, which may have been on June 4, 1939. It appears to be coupled to 716. The car at left may be 168. Car 255 is also supposed to have been used on that 1939 fantrip, but at that time, it was a full-length baggage car that had no seats and was often used to move musician’s instruments to and from Ravinia Park. The seats were not put in again until 1942. Don’s Rail Photos: “409 was built by Cincinnati Car in May 1923, #2465, as a dining car motor. In 1942 it was rebuilt as a coach and rebuilt as a Silverliner on March 30, 1955. Since it had no bulkhead between smoking and non-smoking sections, it was our favorite car to be used for meetings of the Milwaukee Division of the Electric Railroaders Association in Milwaukee. The North Shore was very cooperative in making sure that the car was in the location shown on meeting nights.”
I received no information with this negative, but this may show a bunch of North Shore Line cars in dead storage after the 1963 abandonment. Notice the destination sign is missing from combine 254. This car was not saved. Don’s Rail Photos: “254 was built by Jewett in 1917. The seating was changed to 28 on August 26, 1955.”
CNS&M 759 and train at South Upton on June 15, 1947. Don’s Rail Photos: “759 was built by Standard Steel Car Co in 1930. It was modernized in 1949.”
CNS&M 737 at Highwood in 1950. Don’s Rail Photos: “737 was built by Pullman in 1928. It was modernized in 1940 and rebuilt as Silverliner on June 30, 1950.” (Richard S. Short Photo)
CNS&M 739 near Glencoe. The date given is June 21, 1941; however, there was a CERA fantrip the following day, so the date may actually be June 22. The car is signed for charter service on the Shore Line Route. June 22, 1941 was also the day that Hitler invaded the Soviet Union. Don’s Rail Photos: “739 was built by Pullman in 1928. It was modernized in 1940 and rebuilt as (a) Silverliner on August 31, 1950.”
CNS&M 155 is a Skokie Valley Route Special at North Chicago on April 17, 1952. Don’s Rail Photos: “155 was built by Brill in 1915, #19605. It was damaged by fire at Highwood on August 11, 1955, and scrapped. One end from it was used to repair 735.”
South Shore Line
The other great Chicago interurban, of course, is the South Shore Line, which continues to operate between Chicago and South Bend, Indiana. We have just a couple vintage photos to show you today, but are sure to have more soon.
CSS&SB car 1 heads up a train at Randolph Street in downtown Chicago in 1946. Don’s Rail Photos: “1 was built by Pullman in 1926. It was later air-conditioned. It went to National Park Service in 1983 and (was) loaned to (the) Southern Michigan RR.” Spence Ziegler says, “The photo of CSS&SB #1 was more likely 1950-52; I have a slide from the Interurbans Slide set from 1983 showing #1 leaving Kensington in 1949 (on the rear of a train) still with the destination sign and train number sign on it’s end, though both were disused. Bill Wasik: “The CSS&SB car 1 at Randolph Street in downtown Chicago photo dated 1946 instead likely was taken between July 1952, when the giant Pabst sign on Randolph was dismantled, and mid-1953, when steel going up for the Prudential Building would have been visible in this view.”
CSS&SB freight motor 903 at Michigan City on July 17, 1956. Don’s Rail Photos: “903 was built by Baldwin-Westinghouse in September 1929, #61047, as IC 10001. It became CSS&SB 903 in July 1941.”
Chicago & West Towns Railways
The Chicago & West Towns Railways operated streetcars in Chicago’s western suburbs. But a 1942 Chicago guidebook referred to it as an “interurban,” probably referring to its longest and busiest line, which ran from Cicero to LaGrange and had sections of private right-of-way. Starting in 1934, it went to the Brookfield Zoo.
C&WT 163 at the Oak Park car barn on April 23, 1939. There was a CERA fantrip on the West Towns on this date. 163 was built by the Cummings Car Company in 1927. (LaMar M. Kelley Photo)
C&WT line car 15 at the Harlem and Cermak car barn. Don’s Rail Photos: “15 was built by Pullman Car in 1897 as Suburban RR 512. It was renumbered 515 and rebuilt as 15 in 1927. It was rebuilt in 1940 and scrapped in 1948.” (Edward Frank, Jr. Photo)
Edward Frank, Jr.’s famous bicycle, which appears in many of his pictures.
C&WT 146 at Lake and Austin, east end of the line. Riders could change across the street for a Chicago car. The Park Theater, at right, was showing Sutter’s Gold, starring Edward Arnold. That film was released in 1936, which may be the date of this photo. This car was built by McGuire-Cummings in 1924.
C&WT 105, described as being tan in color, in front of the North Riverside car barn on April 28, 1939. (However, if the date was actually the 23rd, there was a CERA fantrip.) Don’s Rail Photos: “105 was built by McGuire-Cummings in 1915.” (Gordon E. Lloyd Photo) Gordon E. Lloyd grew up in the Chicago area and would have been 14 years old at the time. He later became a well-known railfan photographer and authored some books. He died aged 81 in 2006. Pretty good picture for a teenager!
C&WT 105 at Cermak and Kenton, probably in the late 1930s. This was the east end of the long LaGrange line and this car is signed for the Brookfield Zoo. Note the CSL car at rear. Riders could change here to go east on route 21 – Cermak. Don’s Rail Photos: “105 was built by McGuire-Cummings in 1915.”
Angel’s Flight
The Angel’s Flight Railway is a narrow gauge funicular in the Bunker Hill neighborhood in Los Angeles. A funicular is somewhat like an elevator that goes up the side of a hill; when one car goes up, the other goes down. I’ve been on three of these myself– two in Pittsburgh and one in Dubuque, Iowa.
Most of these have operated for over a century without major incidents, but Angel’s Flight has been plagued by bad luck for a long time. First, starting in the early 1960s, the area around it was slated for redevelopment, and the surrounding buildings were torn down. The hill it was on was partly leveled.
Fortunately, Angel’s Flight was disassembled after it stopped running in 1969, and put into storage. It was moved a half block south and reopened in 1996.
Unfortunately, there were some problems with how the thing was engineered as reconstructed, which led to some accidents. While Angel’s Flight has not run for a few years, these safety concerns have been addressed one by one, and now all that stands in the way of its reopening is the installation of an emergency walkway in case the thing breaks down on its 298-foot journey. Meanwhile, the not-for-profit group that operates it has to pay thousands of dollars each month for insurance.
Still, Angel’s Flight is an LA landmark and we hope that it will operate once again, and safely.
In the meantime, I was surprised to find it featured in a brief scene in the film La La Land. The two leads (Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone) are shown riding and kissing on the funicular.
Although Angel’s Flight is closed to the public, the operators thought it would be OK to use it in a film, and I’m sure they benefit a great deal from the publicity. But while they have been reprimanded (right now, no one is supposed to ride except employees), I am glad it appears in the film.
Angel’s Flight has been appearing in movies for nearly 100 years now. You can read an article about this here.
Angel’s Flight at its original location (3rd and Hill Streets) on July 5, 1962, before nearby buildings were torn down. (Leo Callos Photo)
A view of Angel’s Flight in 1964, showing the building at left demolished.
A side view of Angel’s Flight in 1964, after nearby buildings were being demolished. (Leo Callos Photo)
The Angel’s Flight funicular on June 13, 1961. (George Basch Photo)
Recent Correspondence
Jack Bejna writes:
I enjoy the Trolley Dodger immensely, especially anything CA&E! I grew up in Broadview and walked to Proviso High School every day along the CA&E right of way from 9th avenue to 5th Avenue. This month’s CA&E images are some that I haven’t seen before and are great, especially since they’re medium format images. I have a request….I would like to see a good image of the old dispatcher’s office (before it was repainted and the upper windows covered over. I’m sure someone took pictures of the office but I’ve never seen one.
Thanks for all you do; it sure makes my day!
I post these images practically as soon as I can buy them, but I can put this request in my next post, in hopes that someone might be able to help.
Glad you enjoy the blog.
Thanks David, I’ll be looking and hoping for a good shot. Again, thanks for all you do for us CA&E fanatics!
Bill Shapotkin writes:
Dave — in your January 2015 posting, this photo was included:
CTA 78 is shown at the east end of the Madison-Fifth shuttle in February, 1954. But wait– wouldn’t car 78 be on the Hammond, Whiting, and East Chicago? According to Alan R. Lind’s CSL book, the CTA renumbered car 1780 to 78 in the waning days of red car service, in order to free up numbers in the 1780s for some buses. This was the only time a CSL streetcar was given a two-digit number, except for work cars. That’s one school of thought. On the other hand, the number on the side of this car looks like 1781, and according to Andre Kristopans, it was still 1781 when scrapped. It may in fact not be a renumbering at all, just a case where either the car’s paint got touched up and obscured part of the number, or part of the number fell off and did not get replaced, since red car service was ending in a few months anyway. At left in the background you can see Fohrman Motors, a Chicago car dealer from 1912 to 1979. Three people were killed at the dealership by a disgruntled customer on January 7, 1966. The neighborhood, not far from the construction site for the Congress (now Eisenhower) expressway, is already showing signs of urban decay. We discuss this in our post Some Thoughts on “Displaced” (August 30, 2016).
Your caption read (in part):
“CTA 78 is shown at the east end of the Madison-Fifth shuttle in February, 1954. But wait– wouldn’t car 78 be on the Hammond, Whiting, and East Chicago? In actuality, I think this is car 1781. Perhaps part of the number has fallen off”
Well, I have an explanation (courtesy of Roy Benedict — who seems to recall that he heard this from Glen Anderson). It JUST SO HAPPENED, both car #1781 AND bus #1781 were assigned to Kedzie station at the time. To avoid confusion, the decals for the digit”1″ were removed off the streetcar — thus avoiding any confusion. Roy had ridden car #78 on the Fifth Ave Shuttle on at least two occasions (and noticed the strange two-digit car number) — only to find out years later (again, he recalls that it was via Glen) as to the reason.
That’s great to know, thanks. I recently bought another copy of the Lind book, and while it does mention the renumbering, offers no explanation. (I have owned several copies of Chicago Surface Lines, An Illustrated History over the years, but have given some of them away, and other copies are in storage.)
The only thing that would need to be double-checked is whether there really was a bus 1781 working out of the Kedzie car house. I suppose Andre would know that.
Andre Kristopans writes:
There was a bus 1781 in 1954, but not at Kedzie. 1700’s at the time were at North Av, North Park, and Limits. Best explanation I can give is that when 1781 was last repainted, they didn’t have any “1” decals, and so out it went as “78”, and the problem was never corrected. Note it does appear the side number is 78 also! However, CTA’s streetcar retirements documentation show 1781, both in the AFR and the scrap ledger.
Gina Sammis wrote us a while back, looking for information on Gustav Johnson, a longtime Chicago Surface Lines employee (born June 23, 1855 – died November 23, 1946). He retired around 1925, after having worked on streetcars for 35 years.
As it happens, I recently purchased a copy of the December 1946 Surface Service, the CSL employee magazine. These do not often come up for sale, in comparison with the later CTA Transit News.
Mr. Johnson is mentioned in two places. There is the one you already know about on page 15, in a section titled In Memoriam.
But there are also reports from individual car houses (barns), and on page 8 it says,”Retired Motorman Gus Johnson passed away November 24.”
So, at least that tells you that he was driving the streetcars, and not just the conductor taking fares.
I took the liberty of writing to George Trapp, in order to find out just what streetcar lines would have been operating out of Devon Station (car house) in the early 1900s. Here is his reply:
I would guess the Evanston cars before 1913 or so before the barn on Central Street in Evanston was built and after 1901 when the Devon barn was built. The North Shore & Western dinkey may also have been stored there in the Winter when the golf club was closed. The Devon shuttle and the Lawrence Avenue lines as well and possibly the North Western line before being through routed with Western which also used the barn for part of the service from sometime in the 1930’s and half the service in the PCC era.
His answer needs a bit of further explaining. I did some additional research, From 1901, when the Devon car house opened, until 1913, Evanston streetcars would have used the facility. After that, they had their own barn.
You need to consider that this area was just getting built up around this time. So, there were a lot of changes. In general, the dates of the changes will give you a clue to about when development was happening.
The North Shore & Western Railway Company was formed and owned by the members of the Glen View Club in Golf, Illinois. It comprised two pieces of equipment, one streetcar and a snow plow. There were two employees, a motorman and conductor. The hours of operation were set for the convenience of the members of the golf club.
It operated from the golf club through a portion of Harms Woods crossing the North Branch of the Chicago River in the woods and ran straight east on what is now known as Old Orchard Road to Evanston, where the street becomes Harrison Street. It was nicknamed the Toonerville Trolley and a piece of a rail is on display at the Skokie Historical Society.
The membership tired of the trolley’s ownership and sold the line to the Evanston Railway Company.
George Trapp refers to their sole streetcar as a “dinky,” meaning it was small.
The “Devon Avenue Shuttle” would have run east-west. According to Alan R. Lind on page 254 of Chicago Surface Lines, An Illustrated History (Third Edition):
This short North Side shuttle started operation May 20, 1917 from Clark to Western. One-man cars took over the service March 13, 1921. A west extension opened December 14, 1925 from Western to Kedzie, and an east extension opened from Clark to Magnolia January 30, 1928. When Broadway cars began to run to Devon and Kedzie on July 10, 1932, the Devon shuttle car was discontinued.”
North Western Avenue is covered in the same book on page 312:
This extension of the regular Western route began October 18, 1915 between Lawrence and Bryn Mawr. Extensions brought the line to Devon on December 11, 1915, and to Howard on December 16, 1916. The line was through-routed with Western on May 1, 1923.
The busiest route working out of Devon station would have always been Clark, which started running downtown (from Howard) on October 21, 1906. It was through-routed with the south side Wentworth line on March 17, 1908.
Here is what Lind says about the Broadway route on page 231:
In 1906 this North Side trunk route ran from Clark and Howard at the city limits to a loop in downtown Chicago via Cark, Devon, Broadway, Clark, Randolph, LaSalle, Monroe, Dearborn, and Randolph. At this time streetcars to north suburban Evanston also ran on the Broadway route from the old Limits carbarn at Drummond and Clark to Central and Bennett in Evanston. The route was the same as the Broadway cars to Howard, then via Chicago, Dempster, Sherman, and Central to Bennett.
On July 24, 1907 the Evanston line was extended west from Bennett to Lincolnwood Dr. On the same day a single track extension line known as the North Shore & Western Railway began service via Lincolnwood and Harrison to the Glenview Golf Club west of the Chicago River.
The local Broadway cars and the Evanston service to Lincolnwood Dr. were operated by the Chicago Union Traction Company, a Yerkes property. The track north of Irving Park was owned by the Chicago Consolidated Traction Company. (The North Shore & Western was owned by some men with a stake in the golf club.) On February 25, 1908 CUT was reorganized as Chicago Railways Company. On December 27, 1910 Chicago Railways sold its suburban lines to the County Traction Company. At midnight on that date the track connection between the Broadway line, still under CRYs, and the Evanston line was cut at Clark and Howard. Through passengers had to walk across a 30-foot gap in the track from the Evanston cars, now in local Evanston service only under County Traction, to the Broadway cars, still under Chicago Railways.
Because of a franchise requirement of one of the underlying companies,, free transfers from Evanston to Broadway cars were issued starting December 31, 1910. County Traction was split into two companies on August 5, 1913: Evanston Traction and Chicago & West Towns Railway Co. Evanston Traction became (the Evanston Railways Company and in 1936) Evanston Bus Company.
In sum, if your relative worked at Devon station in the early 1900s, chances are most of his work would have been on the Clark and Broadway lines. On my blog, if you do a search on the words Clark or Broadway, you will turn up lots of photos showing service on those lines.
Gina replied:
You have been so helpful and I am very appreciative. Thank you David.
We have added a complete scan of the December 1946 Surface Service to our E-book Chicago’s PCC Streetcars: The Rest of the Story, available in our Online Store.
Keep those cards and letters coming in, folks. But better yet, why not write us at:
thetrolleydodger@gmail.com
Thanks.
-David Sadowski
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NJ Transit’s Gladstone Branch took on the appearance of an Interurban railroad once it reached the open country side of Somerset County New Jersey. Close head ways, fast running, wooden catenary poles, and 1930’s era MU equipment combined to create that Interurban look. This photo shows clearly the wooden catenary poles as a fast running Gladstone bound train of Ex-DL&W DC electric MU cars fly down the track near Bernardsville, NJ on June 2, 1983. (Kenneth Gear Photo)
Reader’s Photos
Kenneth Gear writes:
On the subject of the The Guy Wicksall Traction Collection*, I am, as you said (you were referring to me?), looking forward to seeing the Gladstone Branch material on it.
NJ Transit’s Gladstone operation is about as close as I ever got to riding and photographing a true Interurban Railroad. I think it was very close, with it’s DC electric MUs and wooden catenary poles. It sure had the “feel” of an interurban, at least it did to me. I attached two photos to illustrate my point. One of my “railfan regrets” is never getting over to SEPTA’s Norristown line and riding and photographing the Bullet cars. I always meant to, but somehow it never happened. Another regret is that when I made a railfan trip to Chicago back in 1982 I did not ride the CSS&SB’s old MUs. I did however, photograph ONE train of them, I attached the photos as well.
Looking at this CSS&SB photo gave me an idea for the Trolley Dodger. Perhaps you could ask people to send in a few of their traction photographs to use in a “Readers Photos” section. These photos would not necessarily pertain to the subject of the post, just a little gallery of unrelated traction photos. It might come in handy if you need to fill out a Trolley Dodger post that’s a little short. It’s just an idea.
Thanks! I will run your pictures. Once people see how it’s done, they will probably be inspired to send others of their own. And yes, I was referring to you.
Does the Gladstone branch retain any of that interurban character today? Interesting that it was so interurban-ish, yet was probably never classified as one. Unfortunately, I never got to ride it before the old cars were replaced.
Ken replied:
I’d say the Gladstone Branch does retain it’s Interurban look, too a lesser degree. It’s still a single track main line with many passing sidings where, during rush hours, a lot of meets are done. The headways are still rather short between trains and the Gladstone end of the line has not changed all that much. It is an affluent area and land owners like their large estates and are not so willing to sell out for strip malls and housing developments.
What mostly made me think of Interurban trains on this line were the original Lackawanna RR DC electric MU cars, With their replacement, a good deal of that “charm” disappeared (daily commuters on those cars would most likely disagree). The wooden catenary poles have also been recently replaced with metal ones.
I’ve attached a recent photo of a NJT train of ARROW MUs departing the Far Hills station to show you how it looks now, still somewhat Interurban if you ask me. The photo was taken in December of 2014.
I forgot to attach a photo of the Lackawanna MUs in traction orange. This scene, too me, has a very strong interurban flavor. It was taken in the last weeks of DC electric service and the lead MU looks a little rough around the edges, but I really like the shot. It was taken at Pond Hill Road near Millington NJ on August 23, 1984.
South Shore coach/baggage car # 108 is the last car of a afternoon rush hour train. Seen from East Balbo Avenue, Chicago on June 23, 1982.
Hoboken sure don’t look like this any more! The Ex-DL&W MUs are gone, the cranes along the long slip are gone, and the World Trade Center Towers are gone. This Kodachrome slide was taken on a gloomy day in March of 1980, just outside of the MU shed.
A nice broadside view of an afternoon rush hour Gladstone Branch train of NJ Transit (Ex-DL&W) DC electric MUs. The train is approaching the station stop at Far Hills, NJ on June 2, 1983. The Interurban RR look of this operation must not have been lost on someone in NJ Transit’s employ. When these cars needed repainting they were not given another coat of olive green paint- NJT painted them in a nice bright paint job of traction orange!
PS- I may be able to shed a little light on the mystery of the Lehigh Valley RR Baldwin switcher under catenary on the DVD.
Mr. Wicksall says in the narration that the scene may have been filmed on the North East Corridor in New Jersey. I think that is correct. It may have very likely been shot between Edison, NJ (at the time it may still have been called Stelton) and Metuchen. In this area was a former military base called Camp Kilmer. It was served by three railroads, the Pennsylvania (off the mainline), Lehigh Valley (off the Perth Amboy Branch), & Reading (off the Port Reading Branch). By the 1960s’ when that film was shot the base was closed and the land was being sold off for business redevelopment. Before this happened some of the base trackage was removed and that may have caused one railroad to use the tracks of another while serving the various industries on the former base property. I know the relationship among the competing RRs was not always friendly there. The Penn Central & Reading ended up in court fighting over who had the right to switch a chemical factory located on the Kilmer land.
Anyway, that is, in my humble opinion, the most likely reason for the LV train having been seen on PC electric trackage.
The only other place I know of that LV trains were regularly seen under PRR catenary was at “NK” tower in Newark, NJ where the “Hunter” connecting track linked the PRR NEC to the LV mainline. This was primarily a track used in the days of LV passenger service (which ended in 1961). Here LV diesels or steam was changed for PRR GG-1s (and reverse) for the trip into or out of Pennsylvania Station, New York. I believe a small amount of freight was interchanged here but the film footage on the DVD does not appear to have been shot here.
Thanks! I will forward this to Guy.
Another Mystery Photo
Tony Zadjura of the Jefferson Township (Pennsylvania) Historical Society writes:
Hi Dave! Help! Need your help again. I don’t know what we have here. Overall view shows “Cobbs Gap” as it was called years ago. Present day PA Rt 435 runs below the cliffs, known as Greenville Cliffs years ago, in the background. The second photo is a cropped enlargement of the same. The car has the Erie logo, and the number 200. Thanks in advance.
Hopefully some of our readers can shed some light on this mystery photo, thanks.
Early CTA Schedules, Fares
Andre Kristopans recently sent us several scans, including a CTA schedule summary for Westchester trains, fare changes over the years, and CRT schedules as of the CTA takeover. Note Sunday only North-South. Other routes ran 24 hours terminal to terminal on Sunday.
Regarding fare changes, Andre adds:
A few items of interest:
On 10/1/47 CTA raised the fare from 8 cents to 10 cents. Chicago Motor Coach had already been 10 cents, so now inter-company transfers were free. CTA kept raising the fares, to 11c 5/11/48, and 13c 6/20/48, while CMC did not follow to 13c until 9/18/48. CTA again upped to 15c 10/15/49, while CMC did not follow until 11/8/51, but then CTA again went up, to 20c 6/1/52, which CMC did not match. So much of the time, CMC fares were LOWER than CTA.
Transfers were free until 7/23/61, then charge 5 cents. Went up to 10 cents 7/8/70.
Supertransfer (Sundays only) started 6/2/74
I replied:
Thanks. So, in 1952 if you transferred from CMC to CTA, you had to pay a nickel?
Andre:
Yes indeed! Additional amount was, as far as I can tell, paid to the receiving agency, in this case the CTA bus driver. But you can tell that towards the end, passengers were probably not too happy with this, because until 10/1/47 the extra fare was the other way!
Keep those cards and letters coming in, folks. You can always drop us a line at:
thetrolleydodger@gmail.com
-David Sadowski
New From Trolley Dodger Press
VIDEOS ON DVD:
The Guy Wicksall Traction Collection (1963-1975)
Our latest release, by special arrangement with Guy Wicksall, features video transfers of rare, high quality 16mm color films of electric railroads taken across the country between 1963 and 1975. These are much better quality than the more typical 8mm films railfans used back then. If you like classic railfan videos, you are sure to enjoy this collection, which features narration by the photographer. Mr. Wicksall receives a royalty on each disc sold.
Disc 1: 38 Chicago and New York Commuter Trains, 1963-1964 (18:24)
Includes Illinois Central Electric, South Shore Line, Chicago Transit Authority “L” trains in the Loop, on Lake Street, Howard, and Evanston lines, Chicago & North Western and Milwaukee Road commuters, Pennsylvania Railroad, New York Central, Long Island Rail Road, New Haven, and New York elevated trains.
Disc 2: 48 Commuter Trains, 1968-1975 (57:22)
Includes San Francisco Municipal Railway (Muni)PCCs (some double-ended), trolley buses, and cable cars, Philadelphia Suburban (Red Arrow Lines), including Straffords and Bullets), Penn Central,New Haven, Erie Lackawanna, South Shore Line, Illinois Central Electric, and more.
Total time – 75:46
# of Discs – 2 Price: $24.95
Help Support The Trolley Dodger
This is our 164th post, and we are gradually creating a body of work and an online resource for the benefit of all railfans, everywhere. To date, we have received over 213,000 page views, for which we are very grateful.
You can help us continue our original transit research by checking out the fine products in our Online Store. You can make a contribution there as well.
As we have said before, “If you buy here, we will be here.”
Double-ended Red Arrow 13 at the end of the line in West Chester (Gay and High Streets) circa 1954.
The same location today.
The Red Arrow Lines in Philadelphia’s western suburbs are a real example of perseverance. Privately owned and operated until 1970, and now by SEPTA (Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority), Red Arrow (or, as it was known for some time, the Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company) can trace its origins back to 1848.
Only two lines (Media and Sharon Hill) remain of its vaunted interurban network. The smaller Ardmore trolley was replaced by bus at the end of 1966, with its private right-of-way portion converted into a dedicated busway.
Today, we celebrate the Red Arrow with some classic pictures, mainly featuring its longest line, between 69th Street Terminal in Upper Darby and West Chester. This is a distance of some 19 miles end to end along West Chester Pike.
The West Chester line was to some degree a victim of its own success. It helped stimulate growth in the region to such an extent that West Chester Pike was widened in 1954, displacing the trolley. It was replaced by buses.
The Red Arrow story is made all the more remarkable when you consider that much of this line was single-track, and still does not provide a one-seat ride into downtown Philadelphia. Riders must change trains at 69th Street Terminal and ride the Market-Frankford subway into town.
Lack of a one-seat ride into Chicago’s Loop is widely credited with killing off the Chicago, Aurora & Elgin interurban, which ended passenger service in 1957. But Red Arrow has never had a one-seat ride and its service continues to this day.
Much credit for its survival must go to Merritt H. Taylor, Jr. (1922-2010), who guided it into the modern era, and finally had little choice but to sell out to SEPTA. Red Arrow was one of the very last holdouts against public ownership and set a very high standard for the industry.
From what I have heard, Merritt Taylor was something of a “closet railfan,” who learned to operate the cars as a youth and sometimes took them out for late-night “joy rides” to West Chester.
In 1954, Philadelphia Suburban Transportation purchased the Philadelphia and Western, which operated the Norristown High-Speed Line. This 13 1/2 mile long, grade-separated third-rail route also continues today under SEPTA.
Until 1956, the Norristown line included a branch to Strafford, which gave name to the famous Strafford cars that ran alongside the more well-known Bullets. Today, SEPTA is working on plans to extend the High-speed Line to King of Prussia.
For the longest time, Red Arrow favored J. G. Brill railcars, which were built in nearby Philadelphia, including Master Units and Brilliners in the 1930s and 40s. But with that firm’s exit from the market in the early 1940s, there was one order of double-ended cars circa 1949, made by St. Louis Car Company.
Although those cars had styling very much like PCC streetcars, they had conventional interurban running gear and are thus not technically considered “true” PCCs. Service on the Media and Sharon Hill lines is handled by 29 modern Kawasaki cars, built in 1981.
We hope that you will enjoy this trip down memory lane in the Keystone State. Meanwhile, back here in Chicago, one can only wonder what fate might have awaited the Chicago, Aurora & Elgin if it had been run by Merritt Taylor, Jr. in the 1950s. For all we know, it might still be with us in some form.
As for West Chester, SEPTA ran commuter rail service there until 1986, when it was cut back due to deteriorating track conditions. There are hopes for restoring service by the year 2040. Meanwhile, the bus service that replaced the West Chester trolley remains popular and convenient.
You can read my 2013 report on the Media trolley centennial fantriphere. (Videos are here.)
-David Sadowski
PS- You can read an interesting report on the Ardmore line and its busway successor here.
Red Arrow 78 and 80 in 1959. These were Brill-built “Master Units.” Garrett Patterson adds, “It might be pointed out with the second image, that both 78 & 80 operate to this day, #78 at PTM in Washington, PA, and #80 at Steamtown.”
Red Arrow 17. Michael T. Greene writes, “The first picture of Red Arrow 17 was taken in Media, probably at the end of the line, sometime starting in 1956, based on the 1956 Plymouth parked (or passing) by the trolley.” Kenneth Achtert: “The shot of #17 is at the end of the line in Media (Orange St.) as evidenced by the two poles raised as the operator is in the process of changing ends.”
350 W. State Street in Media, the end of the Media light rail line.
Near 69th Street Terminal. This is where the Ardore and West Chester lines (left) converged with Media and Sharon Hill (right). Over the years, the tracks to the left have been cut back to just a few short blocks where cars can be stored.
Brilliner 6 in Ardmore service near 69th Street Terminal circa 1954.
Near 69th Street Terminal.
A Brilliner near 69th Street Terminal.
A West Chester car at 63rd and Market in 1905. (Robert Foley, Jr. Collection)
Car 12 at a passing siding along West Chester Pike circa 1954.
Near 69th Street Terminal circa 1954.
Car 12 at a passing siding along West Chester Pike circa 1954.
Brilliner 3 at the end of the line in West Chester, circa 1954. This car is an Express. There were many photos taken here over the years, by the W. T. Grant dime store. The line was single track going into town.
An outbound car in “side of the road” operation along West Chester Pike, circa 1954. Matt Nawn: “The scene of #22 outbound along West Chester Pike appears to be near Broomall. The homes along this part of West Chester Pike look much the same today. Zooming in on the photo, a former Acme store near the intersection of West Chester Pike and PA Route 320 can be seen in the background. “
The same location today. That certainly appears to be the same house at right. We are looking west on West Chester Pike in Broomall, just east of PA Route 320.
Near 69th Street Terminal.
A Sharon Hill train at 69th Street Terminal, circa 1954. Garrett Patterson: “Sharon Hill Train of Center Doors was most likely a School Tripper servicing Archbishop Pendergast (girls) and Msgr. Bonner (boys) at Lansdowne Ave.” On the other hand, Matt Nawn says, “The two-car train of center door cars is probably a few years too early to be a school tripper to Monsignor Bonner and Archbishop Prendergast High Schools (combined into one school in recent years). These schools did not open until the late 1950s.”
Double-end car 14, a product of St. Louis Car Company, signed for Sharon Hill in the 69th Street Terminal circa 1954. Garrett Patterson: “Where #14 is shown loading at 69th St., the track was paved to street rail condition days before the cessation of West Chester car service for the startup of the W Bus which took its place.”
Caption: 2 car “MU” Train, which operated along with an extra single car behind it on the last rail trip (by MPRA Club) to West Chester, PA., Sunday, June 6, 1954.
Car 12 in August 1952. Garrett Patterson: “Llanerch Car house.” Kenneth Achtert: “That shot of #12 in August 1952 would be at the Llanerch car barn. The street at the top of the hill behind the cars is West Chester Pike, and the car barn structure is to the right out of the frame.” (Arthur B. Johnson Photo)
This postcard, showing the end of the line in West Chester, was mailed in 1907. The view is the opposite of the one shown at the top of this page. Caption: “You might take the early trolley to Atlantic. Think the photo is something worth having, thanks.”
The same view today. That’s the Greentree building at left, built around 1930.
Red Arrow 41 on the West Chester line in 1945.
Cars 14, 20 and 68 at a photo stop along the West Chester line on the June 6, 1954 NRHS fantrip.
Brill “Master Unit” 78, built in 1932, at the West Chester end of the line on August 24, 1941. This car is now preserved at the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum in Washington, PA.
Car 19 along West Chester Pike. What was once a “side of the road” operation is now part of the road. This long view gives you some idea of the distances involved on this 19-mile line.
Car 17 at a passing siding along West Chester Pike on April 25, 1954.
Car 66 (plus one) at Edgemont Siding on the West Chester line.
Cars 14 and 15 running in multiple unit operation at the West Chester end of the line on June 6, 1954.
Cars 69 and 71 at the West Chester end of the line on June 6, 1954.
Cars 69 and 71 at the West Chester end of the line on June 6, 1954.
Cars 14 and 15 at the West Chester end of the line on June 6, 1954.
Young railfan with a box camera, 62 years ago.
This picture shows Red Arrow Brilliner 8 and an older car at the end of the Ardmore branch on May 15, 1949. It looks like the older car is in fantrip service, while the Brilliner is the regular service car ahead of it. The Ardmore branch was replaced by buses in 1966.
Here, Red Arrow Brill Master Unit 86 is the regular service car at the end of the line in West Chester, with the older fantrip car behind it. Again, the date is May 15, 1949.
Red Arrow 66 and 76 at St. Albans Siding in Newtown Square on June 6, 1954.
Here, we see Red Arrow car 66 heading up a two-car train on May 6, 1962. This is the Clifton-Aldan stop on the Sharon Hill line.
The same location today.
Red Arrow car 21 on the private right-of-way section of the Ardmore line. Since Ardmore was converted to bus at the end of 1966, this area has been paved over to create a dedicated busway.
The photo caption reads, “Two car streamline train arriving at Norristown, looking up from R. R. tracks.” The date is May 12, 1935, meaning these “Bullet” cars were just a few years old.
Although the late Merritt Taylor, Jr. may have been, in some fashion, a “closet railfan,” he was also responsible for the ill-fated Railbus experiment on the Red Arrow Lines in 1967-68. This was an attempt to replace rail with buses that could also run on railroad tracks. Fortunately, the effort proved to be a failure. Taylor had found that he couldn’t simply convert all his rail lines to bus service, without losing much of the rights-of-way in turn due to the terms under which rail service had started many years earlier. It turns out that the requirements of a railcar and a bus are too much different to be combined into a single vehicle. Within a couple years of this experiment, Taylor sold Red Arrow to SEPTA, and the Norristown, Media and Sharon Hill lines remain rail to this day.
Red Arrow “Master Unit” 79 is inbound in 1949 on either the Media or Sharon Hill line, in spite of the sign saying Ardmore (thanks to Kenneth Achtert for that correction). He adds, “It was (still is) standard practice for Red Arrow operators, when changing ends at the outer end of their route, to set the sign on what would be the rear of the car for the inbound trip to read their next outbound destination. Thus, when the car arrived at 69th St. Terminal and went around the loop to the boarding platform the rear destination sign was already set. This was actually the more important sign, as most passengers approached the cars from the rear coming from the main terminal (and from the Market-Frankford Elevated line).” (Mark D. Meyer Photo)
Red Arrow “Master Unit” 82 is at the 69th Street Terminal on August 8, 1948. (Walter Broschart Photo)
On September 12, 1959, Philadelphia Suburban Transportation 3, a 1941 “Brilliner,” is on Lippincott Avenue north of County Line Road, on the short Ardmore line which was bussed in 1966.
Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company (aka “Red Arrow”) cars 5 and 14 pose at 69th Street Terminal on June 22, 1963. The car at left is a Brilliner, from the last batch of trolleys built by Brill in 1941. The car at right was built by the St. Louis Car Company in 949. Although it looks much like a PCC, it was not considered such as it had standard interurban trucks and motors. Both types of cars were double-ended.
A SEPTA commuter train, ex-PRR, at West Chester in May 1979. SEPTA rail service to this station ended in 1986, but the West Chester Railroad began running a not-for-profit tourist operation of train service on weekends between West Chester and Glen Mills in 1997. (Photo by Paul Kutta)
PS- Here is a video with many additional pictures of the Red Arrow Railbus:
A Red Arrow PCC!
Kenneth Gear writes:
I really enjoyed the latest Trolley Dodger installment about the Red Arrow Lines.
Although the Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company never owned a “true” PCC, one SEPTA PCC car, number 2799, was painted in their red & cream paint scheme! This car is single ended, unlike Red Arrow cars, but it was built by the St. Louis Car Company only a year earlier than the red arrow cars.
On May 7, 1995 I rode a Wilmington (DE) Chapter NRHS fan trip using Red Arrow painted car# 2799. Here are a few pictures.
For the last ten years or so, 2799 has been in the collection of the Baltimore Streetcar Museum.
All photos by Kenneth Gear:
PCC 2799 at Woodland Avenue & 60th Street, Kingsessing, PA.
2799 on Girard Avenue at St. Bernard, West Philadelphia, note cobble stones in road.
2799 on Lancaster Avenue & 41st Street, Barins, PA.
2799 on Girard Avenue at Corinthian, North Philadelphia.
2799 at the Market Frankford Line Girard station, Philadelphia.
The Red Arrow logo as applied to SEPTA PCC car # 2799.
PS- Here is a video tour of the Ardmore busway:
Also, video of West Chester trolleys:
The Chicago, Aurora & Elgin
Chicago, Aurora & Elgin 309 heads up a four-car train of woods circa 1940. This “coffee and cream” paint job is not often seen in color pictures. This one, however, has the appearance of being hand-colored, most likely not digital, either. The original was faded, which would not happen with digital. This is more like an old colorized postcard.
The CA&E Spring Road station in Elmhurst in the mid-1950s.
My guess is this 1950 CA&E scene shows the end of the line in Elgin, If so, the commuter rail coaches on the other side of the river belong to the Milwaukee Road.
A CA&E for-car train of steels, headed up by 460. Some think this may be 25th Avenue in Bellwood.
CA&E wood car 26. (Paul H, Stringham Photo) Don’s Rail Photos: “26 was built by Niles Car in 1902. It was modernized in June 1943 and retired in 1959.”
CA&E wood car 314 at an unknown location. Don’s Rail Photos says, “314 was built by Kuhlman Car Co in 1909, #404. It was modernized at an unknown date.” (Paul H. Stringham Photo)
Mystery Photo
This Chicago “mystery photo” showing two young girls is dated 1943. But where was it taken? The “L” structure in the background has some ornamentation, and we see a gate car as well as a 4000. Since the 4000s were all put onto the State Street subway when it opened in October 1943, this picture probably dates to a late snowfall in spring. So far, our best guess is this may be Independence Boulevard on the Garfield Park “L”.
Recent Correspondence
From Andre Kristopans, following up on some earlier correspondence we had regarding CTA transfer regulations:
A few items –
Half-fare for high school students started 5/10/1943. Before that half fare was strictly for 7 to 11 years old, and I guess grammar school kids, though this I have never seen actually spelled out anywhere. Until 7/23/1961 there were two kinds of student permits, those that allowed reduced rate travel 24/7 and cost $1 per year, and those that allowed travel only to and from school on school days that were issued by the schools free. I remember those – they would be accepted anywhere from about 6 to 8 am, and only within one block of the school after letout.
Transfer regulations remained remarkably constant for all the years that map transfers were in use. Basically good at points of intersection, divergence, convergence, and extension with travel only in the same general direction. Walking transfers were basically within two city blocks, such as between the 92-Foster/NW Highway bus and 151-Sheridan bus at Berwyn.
Transfers were free until 7/23/61, then charged 5 cents. This also caused two minor changes in procedures. ID checks showing that you paid the express fare were now needed on Evanston Express trains south of Loyola, and ID checks of a different sort were issued by ticket agents when they were opening and closing stations. Before, you just got a regular transfer.
The problem with CMC was that CMC fares were HIGHER than CTA’s. CSL went from 7 to 8 cents 4/20/42, while CMC and CRT were already 10. CRT went to 12 cents 5/24/46. CTA went to 10 cents 10/1/47 on surface, CMC was 20 by 10/1/52, while CTA had only hit 20 on 6/1/52. Unfortunately I do not have any better info on changes in this time period. I have a CTA listing somewhere that detailed some of this, maybe I will find it one day… When I was doing much of this research in the 1980’s, I basically just went thru the service bulletins that sometimes had fare stuff, but often not, and I never did dig thru the fares bulletins.
This much I can tell you, though: As of 10/1/47 transfers surface to surface were free, transferring to the L paid 2 cents to agent at station, as L fare was 12 cents. I do not know for sure what CMC was at the time, but coming from CMC to surface was free, to L was 2 cents to the ticket agent, so CMC fare must have been 10c as of 10/1/47. Only thing I can surmise is that CMC must have raised fares more or less as CTA did, to 13 in 1948, 15 in 1949, 17 in 1951 and 20 in 1952.
If you want to see how the transfers worked, look under irm-cta.org – documentation – service pamphlets – 02/60 transfer regulations. In some ways a very complex system, but in other ways very straight-forward and very hard to cheat.
As a note of interest – on 10/1/43 when the subway opened, the schedule for the North-South, which included Ravenswood-Loop, Wilson-Loop, Wilson-Kenwood, and Stock Yards wood car routes, called for 416 steel and 284 wood cars, 840 trainmen, 230 ticket agents, 20 switchmen, 54 towermen, 38 porters, and carried 64% (325,000) of the L system’s passengers.
Help Support The Trolley Dodger
This is our 157th post, and we are gradually creating a body of work and an online resource for the benefit of all railfans, everywhere. To date, we have received over 197,000 page views, for which we are very grateful.
You can help us continue our original transit research by checking out the fine products in our Online Store. You can make a contribution there as well.
As we have said before, “If you buy here, we will be here.”
CSL/CTA 4021, the only prewar Chicago car that survives, at the Illinois Railway Museum in 2002. (John Marton Photo)
I was going through my things the other day, and came across some images that were given to me a few years ago by the late John Marton. It’s hard to believe that he’s been gone for two-and-a-half years now.
Anyhow, mostly these are rare color images showing experimental paint schemes tried out by the Chicago Surface Lines on six of their prewar PCCs in late 1945 and early 1946. This helped CSL determine the eventual colors (Mercury Green, Croydon Cream, and Swamp Holly Orange) used on the 600 postwar PPCCs that were put into service starting in September 1946.
Unfortunately, these images were not of sufficient quality to merit inclusion in Central Electric Railfans’ Association Bulletin 146, Chicago Streetcar Pictorial: The PCC Car Era, 1936-1958. There are reasons for that.
The pictures were originally taken by John Marton’s uncle. Somehow, John ended up with color prints that had a textured finish. I assume these were made from color negatives. The prints were later damaged in a basement flood. Eventually, John had slides made from the prints.
Although not of the greatest quality, these photos do have historical importance as possibly the only surviving color still pictures taken of the cars in these experimental colors. Fortunately, the late Bill Hoffman took color films, and these are included in the Chicago Streetcar Memories DVD that comes with each copy of B-146.
Fortunately, the St. Petersburg Tram Collection includes highly detailed, very accurate scale models of nearly all the various paint schemes and door configurations for the Chicago PCCs (I say nearly all, since there was one postwar car (4132) that had a unique roof treatment and has not so far been modeled. We have a color photo of that car in our post More Chicago PCC Photos – Part Three from October 7, 2015.)
Canadian railfan John F. Bromley owns all six models of the experimental PCCs, and generously provided us with pictures for use in B-146.
Here are reference pictures of models showing the various colors that Chicago PCCs, both prewar and postwar, were decorated in. That should provide you with a frame of reference for the Marton photos that follow.
We present those in tribute to John Marton, a good man who is unfortunately gone, but is certainly not forgotten by those who knew him.
As I look at the letters that you wrote to me
It’s you that I am thinking of
As I read the lines that to me were so sweet
I remember our faded love
I miss you darling more and more every day
As heaven would miss the stars above
With every heartbeat I still think of you
And remember our faded love
As I think of the past and all the pleasures we had
As I watch the mating of the dove
It was in the springtime when you said goodbye
I remember our faded love
I miss you darling more and more every day
As heaven would miss the stars above
With every heartbeat I still think of you
And remember our faded love
CSL 4021 in the standard prewar paint scheme.
Chicago Surface Lines 1940-41 experimental door configuration.
Chicago Surface Lines “tiger stripes,” 1945.
CSL 4010 in experimental paint, 1945-46.
CSL 4018 in experimental paint, 1945-46.
CSL 4020 in experimental paint, 1945-46.
CSL 4022 in experimental paint, 1945-46.
CSL 4035 in experimental paint, 1945-46.
CSL 4050 in experimental paint, 1945-46.
1952 CTA one-man conversion.
1946 Chicago Surface Lines as-delivered with white standee windows.
1946 Chicago Surface Lines in Mercury Green, Croydon Cream, and Swamp Holly Orange.
1952 Chicago Transit Authority Everglade Green and Cream.
A CSL prewar car in standard colors on Madison, somewhere west of the Loop. (John Marton Collection)
A CSL prewar car in standard colors on Madison, near the west end of the line. (John Marton Collection)
CSL 4035 on Madison near the west end of the line. (John Marton Collection)
A CSL “tiger stripes” car near the old State Theatre, which was located at 5814 W. Madison. (John Marton Collection)
“Tiger stripes” on route 20 – Madison, pulling out from the Madison-Austin loop. (John Marton Collection)
A CTA “tiger stripes” car at the east end of the 63rd Street line. (John Marton Collection)
A CSL prewar car in standard colors neat the west end of the Madison line. (Joh n Marton Collection)
CSL 4018 in experimental colors, at the Madison-Austin loop. (John Marton Collection)
There’s not much color here, but the shape of the stripe would indicate this is CSL 4018 heading towards is on the west end of Madison, while the yellow color would suggest that’s 4050 in the opposite direction. (John Marton Collection)
A CTA prewar car in “tiger stripes” on 63rd Street. (John Marton Collection) Andre Kristopans: “The shot of the prewar car on 63rd in tiger stripes between shots of 4018 and 4010 is just east of 63rd and Indiana. For some reason, 63rd St is offset to the south about 50 feet from State to Indiana, this is why there appears to be a curve behind the car, as there really is a jog there.”
CSL 4010 in experimental colors, near the State Theater (5814 W. Madison). (John Marton Collection)
This picture was taken at Madison and Austin, west end of route 20. Interstingly, two prewar CSL PCCs are posted side by side. That’s 4018 in experimental paint at left, next to a car in “tiger stripes.” (John Marton Collection)
A CSL prewar car in standard colors stops at a safety island near the old State Theatre, which was located at 5814 W. Madison. The State, opened in 1925, could seat 1,900. It was taken over by the Balaban and Katz chain in the 1930s and remained open into the late 1970s. Sadly, it was demolished in 1995. (John Marton Collection)
CSL 4020 in experimental colors, on route 20 – Madison just west of the Loop. (John Marton Collection)
A westbound PCC nearing the west end of route 20 – Madison. You can tell by the radio tower, which is still located at the Madison-Austin loop. (John Marton Collection)
CSL 4020, in experimental paint, at the Madison-Austin loop. (John Marton Collection)
“Tiger stripes” on route 20 – Madison, leaving the Madison-Austin terminal. (John Marton Collection)
“Tiger stripes” on route 20 – Madison just west of the Loop. (John Marton Collection)
Recent Correspondence
Andre Kristopans writes:
Sending you two files which were originally researched by George Chaisson in the early 1990’s, one detailing 6000 assignments thru 6/58 and the other 4000 assignments 1949 thru 1958. Put them on your blog.
Thanks very much. I am sure our readers will appreciate having the information.
Island Model Works offers this model of a Chicago 4000-series “L” car (among others). This is the earlier 1913 version with center doors that were not used in service this way. The idea was to speed loading and unloading, but the doors were sealed before these cars were put into service and seats were put there. These cars were built by the Cincinnati Car Company and many were in service for 50 years.
CTA Rapid Transit Cars 4067-4455 History 1949-58:
07/49 4001-4455 on NS (North-South)
08/52 4251-4262 move NS to LS (Logan Square)
4299-4328 move NS to RV (Ravenswood)
10/52 4001-4051 move NS to LS
4052-4066 move NS to LK (Lake) (trailers off NS)
4261-4298 move NS to LS
4299-4301 move RV to LS
4302-4328 move RV to LK (1st 4000’s on Lake)
4329-4340 move NS to LK
12/52 4037-4051 move LS to NS
4052-4066 move LK to NS (trailers off LK, return to NS)
4302-4322 move LK to LS
4341-4370 move NS to LK
02/53 4101-4136 move NS to LS, coupled to 4001-4036
4137-4166 coupled to 4037-4066 on NS
04/53 4011/4111, 4044/4144 destroyed in fire at Logan Square (note 4044/4144 were NS cars)
05/53 4371-4455 (NS assigned) used on EV (Evanston) on weekends
03/54 4026-4028 move LS to NS
4099-4100 move NS to LS
4126-4136 move LS to NS
4299-4322 move LS to LK
4355-4370 move LK to NS
04/54 4126-4131 move NS to LS
4293-4298 move LS to LK
4335-4336 move NS to LK
05/54 4026-4028 move NS to LK
4037-4039 move NS to LK
4337-4360 move NS to LK
Status 5/22/54:
4001-4010 LS
4011 retired
4012-4025 LS
4026-4028 LK
4029-4036 LS
4037-4039 LK
4040-4043 NS
4044 retired
4045-4066 NS
4067-4098 NS
4099-4110 LS
4111 retired
4112-4131 LS
4132-4143 NS
4144 retired
4145-4250 NS
4251-4292 LS
4293-4360 LK
4361-4455 NS (also EV Sat-Sun)
07/54 4066 r# 4044 on NS
4040-4047 move NS to LK
4361-4402 move NS to LK
10/54 4048-4057 move NS to LK
4403-4448 move NS to LK
4455 move NS to LK
01/55 4067-4098 move NS to DP (Douglas Park) (1st 4000’s on DP)
05/55 4019-4025 move LS to LK
4029-4036 move LS to LK
4046-4057 move LK to DP
4067-4098 move DP to LS
4125-4131 move LS to DP
4132-4143 move NS to DP
4145-4194 move NS to DP
4283-4292 move LS to LK
4433-4448 move LK to GP (Garfield park) (1st 4000’s on GP)
4455 move LK to GP
Status 05/55:
4001-4010 LS
4011 retired
4012-4018 LS
4019-4045 LK
4046-4057 DP
4058-4065 NS
4066 r# 4044
4067-4110 LS
4111 retired
4112-4124 LS
4125-4143 DP
4144 retired
4145-4194 DP
4195-4250 NS
4251-4282 LS
4283-4432 LK
4433-4448 GP
4449-4454 NS (EV Sat-Sun)
4455 GP
07/55 4058-4065 move NS to GP (trailers off NS)
4195-4250 move NS to GP
4449-4454 move NS to GP (4000’s off NS)
4045 move LK to DP
4121-4124 move LS to DP
08/55 4005 off LS for motorization
09/55 4019 move LK to LS
4045 move DP to LK
4055-4058 move GP to DP
4186-4208 move GP to DP
4433-4455 move GP to DP
11/55 4455 move DP to LS
4005 return to service LS as 4456
4121-4126 move DP to LS
02/57 4046-4047 move DP to LK
4048-4049 move DP to LS
4058 move DP to GP
4127-4143 move DP to RV
4195-4208 move DP to GP
4433-4454 move DP to GP
05/57 4060-4065 move GP to RV
4127-4143 move RV to DP
4179-4194 move DP to RV
4195-4220 move GP to RV
06/57 4067-4088 move LS to RV
4127-4143 move DP to LS
4221-4242 move GP to RV
08/57 4058-4059 move GP to RV
4119-4142 move LS to DP
4172-4178 move DP to RV
4243-4250 move GP to RV
4433-4454 move GP to LS
09/57 4119-4142 move LS to DP
4145-4149 move LS to DP
4251-4282 move LS to EV (1st 4000’s assigned to EV)
12/57 4001-4004 move LS to EV
4006 move LS to EV
4050-4057 move DP to RV
4150-4171 move DP to LS
4172-4178 move RV to LS
4433-4455 move LS to EV
(note 4456 recoupled to 4143)
06/58 4007, 4107 retired off LS (fire)
4003-4004 retired off EV
4028-4029, 4032-4033, 4039 retired off LK
4065 retired off RV
06/22/58 status:
4001-4002 EV
4006 EV
4008-4010 LS to WNW (West-Northwest)
4012-4019 LS to WNW
4020-4027 LK
4030-4031 LK
4034-4038 LK
4040-4047 LK
4048-4049 LS to WNW
4050-4064 RV
4067-4088 RV
4089-4106 LS to WNW
4108-4110 LS to WNW
4112-4143 LS to WNW
4145-4178 LS to WNW
4179-4250 RV
4251-4282 EV
4283-4432 LK
4433-4455 EV
4456 LS to WNW
Chicago Transit Authority 6000-series “L” cars in their 1950 as-delivered colors.
CTA Rapid Transit Cars 6000s 1950-1958:
08-12/50 6001-6084 new to LS (Logan Square)
12/50-03/51 6085-6130 new to RV (Ravenswood)
09-12/51 6131-6200 new to RV
6085-6090 move RV to LS
6091-6110 move RV to DP (Douglas Park)
07/52 6047-6048 move LS to RV
6085-6086 move DP to LS
6131-6134, 6141-6142 move RV to DP
08/52 6069-6086 move LS to RV
6087-6128, 6131-6134, 6141-6142 move DP to RV
10/52 6001-6068 move LS to NS (North-South)
6069-6146 move RV to NS (all 6000’s off LS, DP)
3/54 6201-6228 new to GP (Garfield Park) (1st on route)
03-07/54 6229-6350 new to NS
6201-6228 move GP to NS
6111-6146 move NS to GP
6091-6110, 6177-6200 move NS to DP (6000’s return to DP)
12/54-04/55 6351-6450 new to NS
6041-6090 move NS to DP
6177-6200 move DP to RV
05-07/55 6451-6470 new to NS
6041-6110 move DP to NS
6111-6112 move GP to NS
6127-6130 off GP for modifications
6145-6146 move GP to DP
6147-6168 move RV to DP
07/55 6113-6126, 6131-6144 move GP to NS (6000’s off GP)
09/55 6145-6168 move DP to NS (6000’s off DP)
11/55 6127-6130 reinstated on EV (Evanston) as high-speed cars
03/56 6123-6126 move NS to EV, poles installed
06/56 6159-6168 move NS to RV
10/56-04/57 6471-6550 new to NS
6001-6034 move NS to DP (6000’s return to DP)
04-06/57 6551-6600 new to NS
6035-6066 move NS to GP (6000’s return to GP)
07/57-04/58 6601-6670 new to NS
6067-6092 move NS to GP
6093-6122 move NS to DP
6123-6130 move EV to NS
6131-6144 move NS to DP
06/58 6145-6152 move NS to DP
6153-6158 move NS to RV
6511-6522 move NS to GP
6/22/58 6001-6034 DP to WNW (West-Northwest)
6035-6092 GP to WNW
6093-6122 DP to WNW
6123-6130 on NS
6131-6152 DP to WNW
6153-6200 on RV
6201-6510 on NS
6511-6522 GP to WNW
6523-6670 on NS
On the Chicagotransit Yahoo discussion group, Dennis McClendon asked:
Did Chicago Motor Coach—or, for that matter, CSL’s bus operations—ever use conductors or onboard collectors in addition to drivers?
Andre Kristopans:
CMC certainly did, on the open-top double-decks from 1917 until WW2, when the last were retired. There was no reasonable way to convert them to one-man as they were rear-entrance/exit. The 1930’s Double-deckers were one-man, with a front entrance. The rest of the CMC single-level fleet, from the early 20’s onward, were always one-man, as they were relatively small.
CSL never had two-man buses, as before CTA took over, CSL buses were really rather tiny by comparison to a streetcar, and were used strictly on what would be considered minor and feeder routes. However, in 1950 when the CTA ordered the 5000 Twins, there was some question whether two man buses would be needed to convert the remaining streetcar routes, as some were very heavy, and it was thought a one-man bus would suffer from excessive dwell time at stops loading and unloading, resulting in extremely slow schedules. However, as “luck” would have it, riding fell so dramatically in the early to mid 1950’s that by the time the heaviest main lines were being converted, buses were quite able to handle the loads on a reasonable schedule.
I replied:
I have seen a picture, taken in the 1950s, showing a CTA employee standing outside a trolley bus, taking fares and letting people in through the back door.
This was a practice that CTA also seems to have done, at least at first, at certain times and certain points along streetcar routes that had recently been converted to one-man.
Chances are the practice did not last too long, for the reasons you mention– surface ridership was in decline, and as a result, there was less crowding on the buses.
Andre again:
The last remnants of this lasted into the 1980’s. Last place I know of was at Belmont/Kimball L stating in the PM rush, mostly on WB Belmont buses. In the 1960’s there were a lot of loaders at L stations (and also at high schools). From what I gather, many of these guys were “medical cases”, drivers who could no longer drive buses for one reason or another, and they were given part-time work to help out with their work-related disability pensions. Towards the last years, there were also regular drivers doing this as overtime.
There is still a very minimal version of this to this day at one location that I know of – Belmont/Sheffield L station, where in the PM rush they send a guy with a portable Ventra reader to help load up westbounds, but as far as I know it is somebody from the office detailed to do this. On Cubs game days they also use this same portable reader at Cubs Park to help load westbound extras.
robyer2000 adds (on Chicagotransit):
CTA used to have collectors at choke points and major events, like the ball parks, to take fares and admit people using the rear doors. I saw it many times.
THE RAILROAD RECORD CLUB & THE 60th ANNIVERSARY CD
By Kenneth Gear
I’ve been a fan of the Railroad Record Club albums ever since I played the first one. That was in the late 1970s when my Uncle, a huge PRR fan, loaned me his copy of RRC # 10. That record contained the sounds of Pennsylvania RR steam and I enjoyed it so much, that I wrote to Hawkins, Wisconsin to find out if I could buy my own copy. I could and did. I was in high school then and funds were rather scarce, and I was only able to buy a few more LPs before the Railroad Record Club ceased to exist.
Just a year or so ago, my interest in these recordings was rekindled. I began bidding on the RRC LPs on eBay, then sending them out to a sound lab to be converted to CD. The resulting CDs were disappointing because the sound lab employees had no idea what to do to improve these sounds, they were used to working with music, not the traction motor sounds of a CSS&SB MU car.
Enter Trolley Dodger Records!
When I found out that David Sadowski was releasing CDs of the old RRC albums I couldn’t wait to buy some. Not only was I now able to get many of the albums that I never bought on vinyl, but David made these recordings sound better than they ever had before! I sent him my entire RRC collection (and searched eBay for more) and he converted them to digital, improved the sound quality, and made those great recordings available again!
Now David has taken the next step and has recorded a brand new Railroad Record Club album, RRC # 37, a 60th anniversary tribute to William A. Steventon and his legacy of preserving the sounds of America’s railroading history.
This new CD was recorded at the Illinois Railway Museum, a place that I’m sure the late Mr. Steventon would have been be very fond of. The Railroad Record Club released many recordings of traction sounds over the years and the new CD pays tribute to that legacy. It contains the sounds of a large assortment of Chicago area trolleys and interurban cars including CTA single car units, CA&E wood and steel cars, a PCC (a favorite track of mine since I rode PCCs in revenue service on the Newark, NJ City subway) and many others. There are even a few cameo appearances from Frisco 2-10-0 #1630!
Some of the tracks on the CD contain a brief history of the cars being ridden as told by the conductor on the train. The inclusion of this bit of narration gives the listener a better appreciation of the equipment and puts a historical context to the sounds that follow.
Tracks 4, 5 & 6 on disc one of the CA&E steel cars making a main line run really invokes the “on train” recordings of the RRC interurban records! The sounds of these wonderful cars come through perfectly, so crisp and clear that you can almost feel the bounce and sway of the cars as they hit each rail joint. It’s not hard to imagine how it felt to ride on the “Roarin’ Elgin” albeit at a slower speed.
Another interesting nod to the original RRC recordings is track 7 of Commonwealth Edison electric locomotive # 4. Just as the train was leaving the station, a gusty wind began to blow and the resulting wind noise is plainly audible. This reminded me instantly of a favorite track on RRC # 10, the PRR album. Track 3 is of PRR # 4249 at Paxinos, PA on a windy day in 1954. Here, as on the PRR LP, the wind is as much a part of the “sound picture” as the locomotive on the train.
Track 9 is a great but much too short “on train” speed run of CTA single unit cars # 22 & 41.
Track 3 on disc 2 is a real treat! It’s another trip on the “Roarin’ Elgin”, this time on board the wood cars. Every little moan, creak, bang, & rattle of these 100 year old cars is splendidly recorded in digital audio. Also of note on this track is a “meet” between the train of CA&E “woods” and Frisco 2-10-0 # 1630. Heard here is the sound of a steam locomotive recorded from inside a transit car. Mr. Steventon did a very similar thing in May of 1954 when he recorded a NYC 4-8-2 in Cleveland, OH from a Shaker Heights Rapid Transit car. This track is on RRC # 20 NYC/C&IM.
Track 4 is also reminiscent of RRC recordings of the past. In this case, CSL red Pullman car 144 departs the depot. The gear noise is plainly heard but the best part is when the sound of the departing transit car mixes with the high pitched excited voices of young children, just as they did on RRC # 18. The first track on RRC # 18 has the sound of CNS&M car 754 at Racine, WI leaving the station to a chorus of children’s shouting.
Another fine recording of CSL car 144 is track 6. This is a complete trolley loop circuit and the gear nose couldn’t come through any clearer.
The last track, number 11, contains another mix of traction and steam. On RRC # 7 the last track is also a traction/steam mix but there IC # 2507, a 4-8-2, is at center stage while a IT interurban is heard in the background. On the new CD the roles are reversed and the traction is in the lead role and the steamer reduced to the background.
These CDs are great modern digital recordings of vintage railroad equipment with more than a little inspiration coming from those wonderful old Railroad Record Club recordings!
Another interesting comparison between the new CDs and the old RRC LPs. These new CDs contain as much audio as five of the original RRC LPs and costs $19.95. According to a 1966 Railroad Record Club catalog, 5 LPs would cost $21.00. What else can be bought today at lower than 1966 prices!
RRC #37
Railroad Record Club
60th Anniversary Tribute
# of Discs – 2
Railroad Record Club #37:
We celebrate the Railroad Record Club with a 60th anniversary tribute containing all new audio of vintage streetcars, interurbans, trolley buses, and even a bit of steam, recorded in 2016 at theIllinois Railway Museum. Electric equipment featured includes CTA PCC 4391, CSL red Pullman 144, CSL “Matchbox” 1374, CTA “L” single car units 22 and 41, CTA trolley bus 9553, and the interurbans of the Chicago, Aurora & Elgin, and Chicago, North Shore & Milwaukee (North Shore Line). Steam sounds are provided by Frisco 1630. Recorded with the finest quality digital equipment of today, this is a fitting tribute to the late William Steventon and the Railroad Record Club of Hawkins, Wisconsin, with all the bells and whistles, dings, and gear sounds we could fit onto a pair of CDs. The material presented here is equivalent in length to about five of the original RRC LPs.
Total time:
Disc 1- 79:38
Disc 2- 79:55
Editor’s note: This title is no longer available for purchase.
NOW AVAILABLE, DIGITALLY REMASTERED ON COMPACT DISC:
Steam Echoes:
First published in 1959, and long out of print, Steam Echoes captures the unforgettable sound drama of steam engines in action. Like Whistles West, it features the recordings of E. P. Ripley, made in the waning days of steam during the 1950s.
The scenes were selected for listening pleasure as well as to create an historical document. They represent the everyday workings of our old steam friends, selected for the most interest, or the most beauty. The series are purposely kept short to preserve their brilliance. They show the steam engine in all four of the ways it may be heard at work– riding in it, on the train behind it, traveling along beside it, and standing at trackside while it goes by, or stops and takes off again.
Railroads featured include Southern Pacific, Union Pacific, and Canadian National.
Ghost Train: Ghost Train, first issued in 1962 and also long unavailable, is a Hi-Fi stereo sound panorama of haunting memories, highlighting the final days of steam railroading. Railroads featured include the Grand Trunk Western, Norfolk & Western, Nickel Plate Road, Union Pacific, and the Reading Company. A particular highlight is a special whistle recording, demonstrating the famous “Doppler Effect” in true stereophonic sound.
Total time – 79:45
Help Support The Trolley Dodger
This is our 148th post, and we are gradually creating a body of work and an online resource for the benefit of all railfans, everywhere. To date, we have received over 180,000 page views, for which we are very grateful.
You can help us continue our original transit research by checking out the fine products in our Online Store. You can make a contribution there as well.
As we have said before, “If you buy here, we will be here.”
Chicago Union Traction car 4858. According to Don’s Rail Photos, “These cars were built by St. Louis Car in 1903 and 1906 for Chicago Union Traction Co. They are similar to the Robertson design without the small windows. Cars of this series were converted to one man operation in later years and have a wide horizontal stripe on the front to denote this. Two were used for an experimental articulated train. A number of these cars were converted to sand and salt service and as flangers.” This car was probably renumbered to CSL 1329 and thus would be part of the same series as 1374, which has been restored to operable condition at the Illinois Railway Museum. The 1374 is one of the cars heard on our new Railroad Record Club tribute.
Recent Correspondence
Gina Sammis writes:
I am doing research on Gustav Johnson, who was a “motorman” in Chicago for the Chicago Surface Lines for many decades. He is listed this way in the 1900, 1910, 1920 and 1930 census records. Do you by any chance have a photo of what a street car (am I using the right word or is it trolley?) looked like on the streets of Chicago in those days? He immigrated from Sweden in about 1880.
Thanks for writing. We have included a picture in this post showing one of these early streetcars as it appeared prior to 1914, when the Chicago Surface Lines became the “umbrella” operating entity for several local companies. Our previous post IRM Times Two (July 7, 2016) has some color pictures in it of CSL 1374, which has been restored to how it appeared starting in the early 1920s. That’s when Chicago”s streetcars were painted red, in order to make them more visible to motorists. Prior to that, the main color was Pullman green, which is rather dark.*
Here is another picture dated 1914, showing early Chicago streetcars in this darker green. Of course, this is a hand-colored image as color photography did not become popular until the late 1930s with the development of Kodachrome.
The word streetcar is interchangeable with trolley. Back in the day, newspapers like the Chicago Tribune typically had it as two words, i.e. “street car.”
I hope this helps.
*You can read a discussion of what Pullman green is here.
Charlie Vlk writes:
Just found the info via Facebook. Have found better link on YouTube. What goes around, comes around….
Interesting… the same idea as a trolley bus, adapted to trucks. Thanks for sharing.
Andre Kristopans writes:
Here is a complete list of CTA streetcar retirements to put on your blog. I might also suggest you take the list of one-man conversions that I sent you some months ago and move it to the same installment.
Thanks very much. We are always very appreciative of Andre’s hard work in researching these things, and sharing them with our readers.
102 01/08/46 105 02/19/46 108 12/10/45 111 01/04/46 116 01/26/22 Devon Fire 139 01/26/22 Devon Fire 159 01/26/22 Devon Fire 162 01/26/22 Devon Fire 164 01/26/22 Devon Fire 166 01/26/22 Devon Fire 168 01/26/22 Devon Fire 169 01/26/22 Devon Fire
179 01/26/22 Devon Fire 189 01/26/22 Devon Fire 193 02/08/46 198 01/26/22 Devon Fire 210 06/05/47 212 01/26/22 Devon Fire 226 01/26/22 Devon Fire 231 12/10/45 244 01/18/46 247 01/14/46 264 02/01/46 266 01/26/22 Devon Fire 268 03/24/38 Fire 02/14/38 Lawndale 294 02/08/46 300 01/14/46 316 01/26/22 Devon Fire 332 01/26/22 Devon Fire 351 02/08/46 360 07/17/45 371 01/26/22 Devon Fire 376 01/26/22 Devon Fire 386 02/08/46 387 01/26/22 Devon Fire 394 12/10/45 404 01/26/22 Devon Fire 405 01/26/22 Devon Fire 406 01/26/22 Devon Fire 408 01/26/22 Devon Fire 413 01/18/46 420 01/26/22 Devon Fire 428 02/08/46 438 01/26/22 Devon Fire 454 01/26/22 Devon Fire 456 01/26/22 Devon Fire 457 01/26/22 Devon Fire 464 01/26/22 Devon Fire 465 02/01/46 466 01/26/22 Devon Fire 467 02/01/46 468 01/26/22 Devon Fire 471 01/26/22 Devon Fire 472 01/14/46 476 01/26/22 Devon Fire 487 09/20/47 502 01/26/22 Devon Fire 505 01/14/46 516 01/26/22 Devon Fire 519 01/26/22 Devon Fire 524 01/26/22 Devon Fire 539 01/26/22 Devon Fire 552 01/18/46 564 01/26/22 Devon Fire 576 01/26/22 Devon Fire 583 01/26/22 Devon Fire 589 02/08/46
3262-3281 Brill 09-10/26 6240-6252 Brill 10/26 3282-3301 St Louis 09-10/26 6253-6265 St Louis 10/26 3302-3321 Cummings 09-10/26 6266-6279 Cummings 10-11/26
4052-4061 St Louis 07-08/47 4062-4171 Pullman 09/46-02/47 4172-4371 Pullman 09/47-02/48 4372-4411 St Louis 05-10/48 7035-7114 St Louis 03-06/47 7115-7274 St Louis 12/47-05/48
1994-1999 to convertibles (can be operated one or two man) 1936 2841,2842,2845 to one-man 1926-27 5703-5722 to convertibles 1933 5723-5731 to convertibles 1935 6000-6019 to one-man 1945, back to 2-man 1946 6061-6065 to convertibles 1936 1721-1726,1728-1737,1739-1753,1755-1762,1764-1769,1771-1785, 6155-6158 to one-man 1949-50 3119-3129,3131-3132,3134-3149,3151,3153,3154,3156-3158,3160, 6159-6186 to one-man 1949-50 3161-3169,3171-3175,3177,3178,6187-6196,6198 to one-man 1949-50 3179 to convertible 1935 3200-3201 to convertibles 1936 3202-3231,6199-6218,3232-3261,6219-6238 to one-man 1932 3204-3206,3210-3216,3220,3222-3224,3227,3229,3244,6219-6221,6223-6227,6229,6235 return to 2-man 1948, back again to 1-man 1949 3262-3281,6240-6252 to one-man 1932 3262,3264,3265,3267-3270,3275,3276,3278,3279,6241-6252 return to 2-man 1948, back again to 1-man 1949 3282-3301,6253-6265 to one-man 1932 6253,6255,6257,6258,6261,6264,6265 return to 2-man 1948, back again to 1-man 1949 3302-3321,6266-6279 to one-man 1932 3319,3321 return to 2-man 1948, back again to 1-man 1949 3325,3347-3349,3351,3352,3354,3355,3357,3360,3361-3363,3368,3372,3378,3379,6303,6305,6310,6319 to one-man 1952, never operated as such 4002-4051,7002-7034 to one-man 1952 4052-4061 to one-man 1952, 4059-4061 back to 2-man 1954, then all 4052-4061 to convertibles 1955 7035-7044 to one-man 1952, back to 2-man 1954, to convertibles 1955 7049,7052,7053,7057,7058,7060,7062,7064,7066,7067,7070-7074 to one-man 1952, but back to 2-man same year 7235-7249,7251,7253-7259 to convertibles 1955
Barry Shanoff writes:
Here is my list of items for sale. You’ll note that it has my e-mail address for direct contact by anyone interested. Please post at your convenience. Thanks for your assistance.
Three more documents have been added to our E-book Chicago’s PCC Streetcars: The Rest of the Story, available in our Online Store.
A 60th ANNIVERSARY TRIBUTE TO THE RAILROAD RECORD CLUB
The Railroad Record Club, of Hawkins, Wisconsin was active from the mid-1950s through the early 1980s. They issued about 40 LPs of steam and traction recordings over about a ten-year stretch, starting in 1956. Some of the recordings were made a few years before that.
The development of wire recorders, which had a brief heyday circa 1946-54, made “field” recordings of train sounds practical. Previously, portable disc cutters were used and these obviously would have been impractical on a moving vehicle. Wire recorders were soon replaced by portable tape recorders that could be powered by batteries.
William A. Steventon became interested in such recordings. He began making some himself, and this naturally brought him into contact with others who did the same. Collectors swapped recordings and eventually, the best of these were culled onto 10” vinyl discs, pressed especially for the Railroad Record Club by RCA. Each LP had about 30 minutes of audio.
Club members received three or four LPs per year, and these records were also advertised through train magazines, and sold to the general public. During the 1950s and 60s, steam trains more or less disappeared from American rails, as did the great majority of streetcars. Perhaps, over time, it became more and more difficult to find subjects for new recordings.
Train videos are very popular today, but interest in sound recordings continues. While the technology has improved, the ultimate aim is still the same—to paint a picture with sound, using interesting sounds that are music to the ears of railfans, instead of the “noise” others may think them. The sounds have to stand or fall on their own, without the benefit of pictures.
We present these new recordings in the spirit of the Railroad Record Club, as a 60th anniversary tribute. Here are the sounds of vintage streetcars, interurbans, and steam engines, recorded using today’s digital technology. We would like to thank the volunteers at the Illinois Railway Museum, whose hard work and dedication in creating a “demonstration railroad” helps keep history alive for future generations.
Several hours of audio got recorded each day, using two digital recorders. The results were synched up, and the four channels mixed to stereo to provide a full dimensional recording with excellent fidelity to the original sounds. We selected the best of what we captured to provide you with an audio “snapshot” of these events.
In spite of the occasional wind noise here (this is, after all, the “Windy City”), we’d like to think the late William A. Steventon would approve of our efforts.
Electronic Memory is truly one of the most useful additions to the modern home. Not only does it afford never ending amusement of hearing ones voice or dramatic productions, but it is also invaluable for wire recording outstanding programs and fine music from radio or record discs, speech development, family events, the voices of growing children and home movies. The Electronic Memory is extremely easy to use and comes complete with microphone and three spools of wire in an attractive light weight carrying case and gives beautiful results. Wire recordings may be played indefinitely or erased by recording over the same wire. Webster-Chicago $149.50 Prices slightly higher west of the Rockies Copyright 1948
An early Wollensak-3M portable tape recorder.
Chicago, Aurora & Elgin car 36, looking rather shopworn at Trolleyville USA in 1962. Now restored at the Illinois Railway Museum, this car is among those hear on our new Railroad Record Club tribute recording.
A color version of the same badly faded Anscochrome image. Frank Hicks adds, “Neat photo! The car is definitely still in CA&E red and light blue/gray. The color is badly washed out but that’s definitely the same lettering that the car left Wheaton with (Brookins lettered the car for Columbia Park & Southwestern as soon as they repainted it green). It looks like the car has been rigged for road transport. I’m guessing that this photo was taken when the 36 arrived at the Columbia Park trailer park for the first time. If memory serves, the CA&E cars that went to Brookins traveled to Ohio on their own wheels and sat on a siding near Columbia Park for a period before being trucked over to Trolleyville. I’d guess that the splotchy appearance is due to white primer or paint being applied over bad spots in the original paint during its period on the siding.”
RRC #37
Railroad Record Club
60th Anniversary Tribute
# of Discs – 2
Railroad Record Club #37:
We celebrate the Railroad Record Club with a 60th anniversary tribute containing all new audio of vintage streetcars, interurbans, trolley buses, and even a bit of steam, recorded in 2016 at theIllinois Railway Museum. Electric equipment featured includes CTA PCC 4391, CSL red Pullman 144, CSL “Matchbox” 1374, CTA “L” single car units 22 and 41, CTA trolley bus 9553, and the interurbans of the Chicago, Aurora & Elgin, and Chicago, North Shore & Milwaukee (North Shore Line). Steam sounds are provided by Frisco 1630. Recorded with the finest quality digital equipment of today, this is a fitting tribute to the late William Steventon and the Railroad Record Club of Hawkins, Wisconsin, with all the bells and whistles, dings, and gear sounds we could fit onto a pair of CDs. The material presented here is equivalent in length to about five of the original RRC LPs.
Total time:
Disc 1- 79:38
Disc 2- 79:55
This title is no longer available for purchase.
Help Support The Trolley Dodger
This is our 147th post, and we are gradually creating a body of work and an online resource for the benefit of all railfans, everywhere. To date, we have received over 178,000 page views, for which we are very grateful.
You can help us continue our original transit research by checking out the fine products in our Online Store.
As we have said before, “If you buy here, we will be here.”
CSL 1744 and 830 at Western and Howard. The sign on the diner advertises a “small fry lunch,” perhaps for children, unless they had a tiny griddle. Another sign at rear promotes the Howard business district. George Trapp: “The Small Fry Restaurant was a full restaurant that lasted into the 1960’s under that name. I believe it was renamed the Small Chalet sometime in the late 1960’s.”
7555 N. Western today. The Small Fry/Chalet has been replaced by a Wintrust Bank.
For our latest post, we offer another ample selection of Chicago Surface Lines photos from the George Trapp collection. To find earlier posts in this series, just type “George Trapp” into the search window at the top of this page.
Sometimes, the photos organize themselves into “themes,” and today’s batch features a lot of Broadway-State cars on the northern part of that route. Don’s Rail Photos has an excellent page with additional information on this type of car here.
Don Ross says:
When the various Chicago street railways were consolidated as Chicago Surface Lines, there were still vestiges of prior ownership which is why this group of cars is divided into various number groups. The CSL shops and other manufacturers turned out a number of cars for the various divisions including this group in 1923. There were also some smaller 10 window cars which are covered on another page. Some of the cars were converted to one man service in later years as indicated by the horizontal white stripe on the front dash.
Technically speaking, CSL was a unified operating entity made up of several underlying companies, the Chicago City Railway, Chicago Railways Company, Calumet and South Chicago Railway, and the Southern Street Railway. Of the four, the first two companies were by far the largest. All continued to exist, at least on paper, until the Chicago Transit Authority bought out the various bond holders on October 1, 1947, after which they were liquidated.
As always, if you can help us with locations and other tidbits of information about what you see here, don’t hesitate to let us know so we can update the captions and share the information with our readers. You can comment on this post, or write us directly at:
thetrolleydodger@gmail.com
We are very grateful for the generosity of George Trapp in sharing these great classic images with us. We also wish to thank the original photographers who took these pictures, most notably the late Edward Frank, Jr. and Joe Diaz, who tirelessly roamed the streets of Chicago in the 1930s and 1940s to document what was then the largest streetcar system in the world.
-David Sadowski
Help Support The Trolley Dodger
This is our 136th post, and we are gradually creating a body of work and an online resource for the benefit of all railfans, everywhere. To date, we have received over 154,000 page views, for which we are very grateful.
You can help us continue our original transit research by checking out the fine products in our Online Store.
As we have said before, “If you buy here, we will be here.”
We thank you for your support.
CSL 3367 and 3111 at Devon Station. (Krambles-Peterson Archive)
CSL 3111 at Devon Station. (Krambles-Peterson Archive)
CSL 3111, signed for Devon and Kedzie. George Trapp: “Cars 3111 and 3118 are westbound and eastbound respectfully at Devon and Glenwood (1400 west ) sometime prior to July 10, 1932 when the Devon shuttle was replaced by the extension of the Broadway and Through Route 1 cars to Devon-Kedzie. Both are 45 class small safety cars.”
CSL 3118, signed for Devon, in the mid-1930s. George Trapp: “Cars 3111 and 3118 are westbound and eastbound respectfully at Devon and Glenwood (1400 west ) sometime prior to July 10, 1932 when the Devon shuttle was replaced by the extension of the Broadway and Through Route 1 cars to Devon-Kedzie. Both are 45 class small safety cars.”
CSL 3191 in the 1940s. The old Cine Theater, at rear, was located at 2516 W. Devon. According to Cinema Treasures, “The Rapp & Rapp-designed Cine was opened in 1937 in the neighborhood of West Rogers Park, on Devon Avenue at Maplewood Avenue. The Cine closed in 1953 and was converted into a clothing store. The former theater has housed an Indian restaurant for many years.” (Edward Frank, Jr. Photo)
CSL 1750 near the Cine Theater, at about 2560 W. Devon. Don’s Rail Photos says, “1750 was built by CSL in 1923. It was rebuilt as one-man in 1949.” (Edward Frank, Jr. Photo)
Devon and Maplewood today.
There is a nearly identical picture of CSL 1775 in our earlier post Chicago Surface Lines Photos, Part Four (November 27, 2015), which we reproduce below. However, careful examination shows that they are two different photos taken at nearly the same time. They were so similar that I even tried using photo stitching software to see if they could be the same. The program said there is no overlap. Notice how the front trolley pole is in a slightly different position than in the other photo, which must have been taken seconds before this one. (Joe L. Diaz Photo)
CSL 1775 during WWII, promoting the Navy, is signed for Broadway. At right there is one of those supervisor’s shantys that used to dot the Chicago landscape. (Railway Negative Exchange Photo) George Trapp: “CSL #1775 turning from Clark onto Devon.”
CSL 1784 at Devon and Western in the 1940s. That’s a 1938-40 Cadillac at right. This William L. Mitchell design did much to catapult Cadillac to the forefront of the luxury car market. (Joe L. Diaz Photo)
CSL 1741 at Devon and Western in the 1940s. (Edward Frank, Jr. Photo)
CSL 1750. Perhaps the Sinclair gas station and the gas tank can help identify the location. (Edward Frank, Jr. Photo) Rex Nelson says it’s Devon and Kedzie. George Trapp: “Side shot of 1750 is at Devon and Kedzie, gas holder with red and white checkerboard located a couple of blocks North of Devon.”
CSL 1725 on the Broadway-State route. Perhaps the buildings at left can help identify the location. (Edward Frank, Jr. Photo) Rex Nelson identifies this as Devon just west of Ridge. (Edward Frank, Jr. Photo) George Trapp: “CSL 1725 is westbound on Devon at Damen, Angel Guardian Orphanage is located on South Side of Devon. Old St. Henry’s Church is in background at Ridge Blvd.”
CSL 1725. Same location information as above. (Edward Frank, Jr. Photo)
Devon west of Ridge today. You can recognize the same church building as in the 1940s pictures, even though the orphanage just to the west of the cemetery has been replaced by Misericordia, another Catholic institution (out of this picture).
A Brill builder’s photo of CSL 3119. Don’s Rail Photos says, “3119 was built by Brill Car Co in December 1922, #21686. It was rebuilt as one-man in 1949.” This was part of a series known as the 169 or Broadway-State cars. (Historical Society of Pennsylvania Photo)
The as-new interior of CSL 3119 at the Brill plant in 1922. (Historical Society of Pennsylvania Photo)
George Trapp: “Car 3120 and others of it’s class are actually in the Clark-Arthur loop, materials stockpiled for rebuilding of Devon Depot which was being rebuilt at the time.” Half of Devon Station burned down in a 1922 fire. (Fred Borchert Photo, printed by Edward Frank, Jr.)
CSL 3124 being delivered. Don’s Rail Photos says, “3124 was built by Brill Car Co. in December 1922, #21686. It was rebuilt as one-man in 1949.” (Krambles-Peterson Archive)
CSL 3137 at Clark and Devon. (William C. Janssen Collection)
An early photo of CSL 3161. Don’s Rail Photos says, “3161 was built by Cummings Car Co in 1923. It was rebuilt as one-man in 1949.” This may be a builder’s photo at the Cummings plant.
CSL 3161 as new at the McGuire-Cummings plant in 1923. This same builder also made Chicago and West Towns car 141, now restored to running condition at the Illinois Railway Museum. (Edward Frank, Jr. Collection)
You might wonder if both poles are up in this 1930s picture of CSL 3178. But there is another car behind this one. I would assume this picture was taken on Clark Street near Lincoln Park, and 3178 is operating as a Broadway car. (Edward Frank, Jr. Photo) George Trapp: “Car 3178 on Broadway line not Broadway-State in the early 1930’s before two lines combined in August of 1937.”
CSL 6158 and followers at Devon and Kedzie. Don’s Rail Photos says, “6158 was built by CSL in 1923. It was rebuilt as one-man in 1949.” This was another Broadway-State car. (Joe L. Diaz Photo)
CSL 1745 at Devon and Sacramento. As another “169” or Broadway-State car, Don’s Rail Photos adds, “1745 was built by CSL in 1923. It was rebuilt as one-man in 1949.” This photo predates the rebuilding since a one-man car of this type would have a white stripe on the front. (Edward Frank, Jr. Photo)
CSL 1750 at Devon and Kedzie, north end of the long Broadway-State route. As you can see, the area here was not yet built up. (Edward Frank, Jr. Photo)
CSL 1745, presumably near Devon and Kedzie. (Edward Frank, Jr. Photo)
CSL 1725 on the Clark-Wentworth route. (Edward Frank, Jr. Photo) George Trapp: “CSL 1725 is at Vincennes and 79th with coupler reattached at one end for possible use of trailers during World War II, which never took place.”
CSL 3201 is northbound at State on the Broadway route. That’s Tribune Tower and the Wrigley Building at rear. (Edward Frank, Jr. Photo) George Trapp: “CSL 3201 is on State not Wabash sometime between 7/10/32 and 8/19/37. Car is one of two experimental MU cars built by CSL in 1924 with the 23 class cars. Cars ran mainly on Broadway after their first year.” Broadway-State cars ran on Wabash from 1939 to 1949, when the State Street bridge was being rebuilt.
George Trapp: “CSL 2859, built in 1924 by CSL for the Calumet & South Chicago to replace a wrecked car.” This is typed as a “169” or Broadway-State car.
CSL 3246 and 3247 operating in tandem in the 1920s. Andre Kristopans has pointed out that two cars would have used but a single trolley pole in order to avoid having the second car run afoul of switches. The location is given as Maypole and Springfield. (CSL Photo)
CSL 6222 signed for Devon and Kedzie. One of our readers says this car is going westbound on Chicago Avenue at Clark.
I’m attaching a photo of my grandfather, Arthur Defenbaugh from Streator, who was a conductor on the Streator to Ottawa branch, with his engineer, standing in front of their trolley. I don’t know when or where the picture was taken. We think it was Streator. I believe it was in the late 20’s as this is a metal trolley car. The trolley car number appears to be 18. I read on your website that you don’t have many operational era photos for the CO&P. I thought you would enjoy it.
If you have information about my grandfather or the other gentleman, please let me know.
Arthur Ingram Defenbaugh was born on October 6, 1881, and died in July 1972, aged 90. It appears he spent most of his working life as a farmer. His wife died in 1926 and it does not appear he ever remarried.
If any of our readers have additional information, please let us know, thanks.
Toronto Peter Witt Car 2766
Dave Barrett recently did some volunteer work on Toronto’s sole remaining Peter Witt streetcar (whiich is now 93 years old) at Hillcrest shops, to get the car ready for the annual Beaches Easter parade. He has generously shared his photos of car 2766 with us:
You show the South Side L Indiana Ave. station in two pictures. I saw Andre Kristopans’ comment at the bottom, and I learned something from his comment: I had no idea the middle track west of the station was used for storing spare Stock Yards L cars. But I am sure Andre is correct.
The first photo shows a bigger scope. Let me start with the platform at the right.
Notice that the section of wood nearest the track looks newer than the wood under the cover. This is because the newer wood was constructed over the third track that went through the station. Yes, there were three tracks on the north / south main. The three tracks actually continued east of the station, then south on the north / south main to just north of the 43rd St. station, where the easternmost track merged into the middle track.
Also, prior to (I think) 1949, the Kenwood L did not end at Indiana Ave. Instead, it went downtown onto the Loop. I’m not sure where it went from the Loop — some sources say to Ravenswood, others say to Wilson. My own experience is that the Englewood ran to Ravenswood, and the Jackson Park ran to Howard, through the State St. subway. And I think the Kenwood ran to Wilson. There were several smaller stations north of Indiana that were serviced by the Kenwood L. The Englewood and Jackson Park were supposed to be express through that area but were frequently delayed by being behind Kenwood trains.
Back at the Indiana station, both the Kenwood trains and the Englewood / Jackson Park trains used the two outer tracks of the three-track main. South/east-bound Kenwood trains crossed over from the southernmost main track to the Kenwood L structure to head east.
Later, when the Kenwood was cut back to shuttle service from Indiana to 42nd Place, the wood was added to cover most of the north/westernmost outer main track, leaving (at the east end of the platform) the terminal for the Kenwood shuttle. As I recall, that space could accommodate two cars. When Kenwood cars needed service, they turned south onto the easternmost main track, merged into the northbound main near 43rd St., switched over to the southbound main, and made their way to the Jackson Park yards at 61st St. and lower 63rd St.
So the photo shows two main tracks through the station, which had been the middle and south/westernmost tracks of the three-track setup.
Regarding the platform at the left, you see that the Stock Yards L terminated on the south side of that platform. Its only connection to the rest of the L system was the set of switches west of the Indiana station.
The Indiana station had an overhead bridge connecting the two platforms, thus enabling north/west-bound customers to access the Stock Yards L, and south/east-bound customers to access the Kenwood shuttle.
Now, on to the picture showing the Normal Park L shuttle. I think it was in 1949 that the CTA relegated the Normal Park line to shuttle service. Before that, the Normal Park cars were hitched onto the rear of Englewood trains. So people riding the Englewood L southbound had to be alert that the last car would be split off and go to 69th and Normal. If someone was in the wrong car, he/she could move between cars, which is apparently taboo today.
The structures along the sides of the L track are where the connections were made and unmade. Workers were stationed there to do this. Yes, even in frigid weather. And with live third rails. OSHA would have had a fit. The motormen of northbound Normal Park trains rode the trains into the Harvard station, then down and under to the southbound platform, then onto the last car of incoming southbound trains.
You also see in the distance the switch tower where the Normal Park line branched off to the south.
When the Normal Park line became shuttle service, northbound trains went into the Harvard station. The motorman quickly changed ends, then immediately (so as not to delay northbound Englewood trains) proceeded to the switch over to the south/west-bound track. You can see this switch next to the bigger structure.
In the photo, I have no idea why the motorman of the Normal Park car is standing in the walkway between the tracks. Perhaps this picture was deliberately posed.
This photo was taken from the southwest end of the south/west-bound L platform at Harvard. The address on the food shop below is 6316 S. Harvard. Busy 63rd St. was just to the right, and a block south at 64th St. and Harvard Ave. was St. Bernard’s Hospital, which I believe is still there. Two blocks east of the Harvard L station was Englewood Union Station (New York Central, Nickel Plate, Pennsylvania, Rock Island), and three blocks west was the other Englewood train station (Erie, Monon, Wabash, Chicago and Eastern Illinois, Chicago and Western Indiana). Plus, there were several streetcar lines. All told, for a fan of anything on rails, it was nirvana.
Chicago or Copenhagen?
I recently wrote to the Chicagotransit Yahoo discussion group about the above photo:
There’s a photo negative on eBay that is identified as showing a couple streetcars at the 1933-34 Chicago World’s Fair. Yet I don’t recognize where this could have been taken there.
I know that Chicago Surface Lines had a couple of line extensions built to bring people to the fair, but was not aware of any trolleys on the grounds themselves.
Is the photo misidentified, and if so, what does it actually show? To me, it looks like it could have been taken in Europe.
The famous Copenhagen church (Grundtvigskirke) just behind the trams might be a good clue.
Pardon my stupidity, but I assume you mean the famous Copenhagen church in Copenhagen, and not one that was moved, brick by brick, to the 1933-34 Chicago World’s Fair?
I wonder what it was about this picture that made the seller guess that it was taken in Chicago. For transit on the fair grounds themselves, I am pretty sure they used buses of a type similar to those used at the 1939-40 New York World’s Fair.
Dennis McClendon replied:
The Century of Progress grounds stretched for three miles along the lakefront, from Roosevelt to 39th. Greyhound got the concession for motorized transport within the fairgrounds, driving these open-air trailer conveyances along a portion of Leif Eriksen Drive that later was part of South Lake Shore Drive.
Within the exhibits area, where motorized vehicles weren’t allowed, you could ride in a pushchair, providing summer employment to dozens of high school and college students.
Similar buses (actually, they look more like trucks) were also used at the 1939-40 NY World’s Fair. As it tuns out, they were not the same vehicles. This is explained in an article from Hemmings Motor News.
Apparently, the Chicago buses used at the fair were one-offs made by General Motors.
There were at least two types of buses used at the New York World’s Fair, a “tractor train” and a more streamlined bus. Neither looks much like the ones used in Chicago. The streamlined buses were made by Yellow Coach.
After the fair ended in 1940, some of the streamlined buses were used to transport WAACs.
The question has been raised as to whether or not the Chicago buses were then sold to Bowen Motor Coach for use at the Texas Centennial Exposition in 1936. You can see pictures of the Texas buses below, and there is also a quick view of them in a video clip here.
At this point, it’s not clear whether they were the same buses that were used in Chicago with a bit of new sheet metal attached, or simply similar buses built later by General Motors.
A Greyhound Bus’ tram drives in front of Chrysler motors Building at the Chicago World’s Fair. (Photographer Unknown/www.bcpix.com)
Buses purported to be those from the 1933-34 World’s Fair, shown in Texas in 1939, where they were owned by the Bowen Bus Company.
A Bowen bus at the Texas Centennial Exposition in 1936. (J. Elmore Hudson Photo)
FYI, we have added another Liberty Bell Limited photo to our recent post Alphabet Soup (March 15, 2016):
LVT 1006 heads from Norristown to Philadelphia over the P&W in June 1949.
“Keeping Pace” – A Rare Chicago Surface Lines Recording
We have a unique opportunity to buy a 16″ transcription disc made by the Chicago Surface Lines‘ public relations department in 1939. Chances are, this is a 30-minute radio program promoting CSL, most likely played a few times on local radio stations, and has been unheard since then. The script was written by Hollis Farley Peck (1909-1971).
For all we know, this recording may include the sounds of Chicago streetcars, which would be very rare.
It will not be easy to play this record due to the large (16″) size. Although this is a 33 1/3 rpm record, it used the same technology as the 78 rpm records of its time. The current LP system of vinyl records did not come about until 1948.
Such large recordings were necessary to provide a longer running time than a standard 78 rpm record, which could only last about 3:20. I assume that each side of this transcription disc has 15 minutes on it.
Once I have the record, I plan to consult with the Museum of Broadcast Communications here in Chicago. Possibly they may have the necessary equipment for playing it. If a successful recording can be made, we will digitally remaster it and issue it on a compact disc.
If MBC can help us, we may donate the original disc to the museum for their collection. After all, this is local history.
However, before we can do that, we first have to complete the purchase. If you can help contribute to the $60 cost of this rare recording, your donation will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
-David Sadowski
DONATIONS
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Specialized equipment is required to play a 16″ transcription disc. This is one such turntable made by Esoteric Sound.
A 1936 phonograph for playing transcription discs. This one played records from the inside out, with a maximum running time of one hour per side.
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This is our 130th post, and we are gradually creating a body of work and an online resource for the benefit of all railfans, everywhere. To date, we have received over 141,000 page views, for which we are very grateful.
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Ephemera from a 1957 CA&E fantrip organized by the late Maury Klebolt. He later moved to San Francisco and was instrumental in starting the historic trolley operations that continue to this day. (William Barber Collection)
Back in the 1930s and 40s, railfans were sometimes referred to as “juice fans,” since they liked electric trains. I suppose this was a derisive term, at first, coined by outsiders to the hobby. But like many such nicknames, it was gradually embraced by the fans, who eventually wore it as a badge of honor. This explains its use in a 1957 flyer advertising a fantrip on the Chicago, Aurora & Elgin in its last weeks of passenger operation, reproduced above.
Eventually, the term fell out of favor, and is about as common today as “Oh, you kid” or “23 Skidoo.”
Some months back, William Barbershared with us a picture taken on a 1957 Chicago, Aurora & Elgin fantrip. There was some question about the location, which our readers eventually identified as being on the Batavia branch, in the section between the old power house and the Batavia terminal.
One of the CA&E pictures in our last post Tokens of Our Esteem (January 20th) got Mr. Barber interested in sharing some additional CA&E pictures with us:
This 1955 photo’s a bit of a mystery. Could this be Wheaton? William Barber: “Yes, this is Wheaton at the grade crossing immediately east of the depot.” The location is Main Street looking east.
Main street looking east on Wheaton as it looks today.
Bill Barber:
Reference this photo from the 01/20/16 Trolley Dodger. Yes, this is Wheaton at the grade crossing immediately east of the depot. Below are several photos that I took around 1959 or 1960. I apologize for the poor quality. The first one was taken from the upper platform of the tower looking east. Note the same building in the background and the the dead end switch leading from the eastbound main just before the next grade crossing. I have also attached some photos that my dad took on a 1957 Illini Railroad Club excursion.
The photos of cars 20 and 459 as well as the other operating equipment were all taken on an Illini Railroad Club fan trip on June 9, 1957. Attached are copies of a portion of the flyer for the trip and our ticket stubs. In the July 2015 issue of the Trolley Dodger, you posted another photo of mine from that same trip showing car no. 20 at a rural grade crossing which I thought was Prince’s Crossing. However, your readers corrected my comment and I think they finally identified it as near the Elgin terminal. (Editor’s note: It was actually identified as being on the Batavia branch, as you will see in the photo captions that follow below.) My other comments with that first post describe the events of that trip fairly well. Here they are again:
“As a 14 year old, I had the pleasure of riding the CA&E with my late father in June 9, 1957 on a Illini Railroad Club fan trip. At that time, the CA&E terminated at the Forest Park loop where our fan trip started. We covered the entire railroad from there to Wheaton, Elgin, Batavia and Aurora. We started with car #459 and would have used it for the entire trip except for a mishap that occurred while we were traveling up the Mt. Carmel Branch along Mannheim.
One of the third rail shoes struck a pile of gravel in the stone quarry and was damaged. We were able to operate to Wheaton with one shoe, but the Railroad decided that we should change cars there. This was a fine turn of events and significantly improved the trip for most of the passengers. Hopefully, someone else will respond who was on the same trip. I would like to hear from them. I am guessing that there were probably 40 people on that trip.”
The other four photos of the railroad at Wheaton after the shut down. Several friends and I drove over to the railroad during 1959 or 1960, from Downers Grove where we lived. At that time, of course, nothing was running, but most of the equipment was still held at the shop.
I just found the ticket stubs and part of the flyer for that trip, copy attached. I have also attached a copy of a flyer from another trip, but I don’t know if it ran or not. If it ran, we did not ride that trip.
Yes, the December 7, 1958 fantrip did take place, and was actually the last passenger train to ever run on the CA&E. Wood cars 319 and 320 were operated that day. We have previously posted a picture taken from that wintry day, and will include it in this post as well.
Interestingly, both cars were saved. 319 is at the Illinois Railway Museum, while 320 is in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa. 320 had a notable distinction as, I believe, the last car ever to leave the CA&E property in April 1962, just prior to the complete dismantling of the railroad.
As Larry Plachno has written:
A special note must be made of car 320 which assumed some special importance. The car had been sold to the Iowa Railway Historical Museum in Centerville, Iowa. On Friday, April 6, 1962, Jim and Bob Lewis of the Museum and V. Allan Vaughn of the Iowa Chapter of the NRHS were in Wheaton to prepare 320 for movement to Iowa.
That morning was spent oiling journals and motors, removing motor brushes, and boarding up the car for movement. Arrangements had already been made with Walter Schneider, head of the Commercial Metals scrapping operation, for a special movement of this car. At 1:00 P.M. the Commercial Metals EJ&E switcher 212 came up to the car and was coupled up with an adapter coupler. By 1:30, the diesel and car 320 headed down the Aurora branch. By 2:30 P.M. the diesel and car reached the CB&Q interchange at Aurora. After arriving in Aurora, additional work was done on boarding up the windows for the trip west.
On Sunday, a CB&Q switcher pulled 320 to the Eola Yard where it was placed on a flat car for shipment to Centerville, Iowa. Only days later the Commercial Metals locomotive would return to Aurora to start ripping up rail. However, 320 arrived safely in Centerville and began museum operations on June 9 and 10, 1962. Consequently, 320 was the last car to operate over CA&E mainline rail. It was also the first museum car to operate after the abandonment of the CA&E. In all, 12 wooden passenger cars, seven steel passenger cars, one line car, and one flat car were saved. As far as is known, all but one car (320) left Wheaton through a temporary interchange track installed by the C&NW in Wheaton.
Chicago Aurora & Elgin 320 on CB&Q flat car 94027 at Eola, Illinois on May 12, 1962. (Chuck Zeiler Photo)
We thank Mr. Barber for sharing these great pictures with us.
I actually enjoy seeing the ones that have motion blur in them. They remind us that the “Roarin’ Elgin” wasn’t a static or slow-moving affair. It was all about SPEED and these pictures demonstrate that quite well, showing things in motion. I assume that several of these photos have not been published before.
CA&E ROW at Wheaton Looking East from the gate tower. (William Barber Collection)
CA&E Wheaton Station, which was eventually torn down. (William Barber Collection)
Main street looking west in Wheaton, the site of the old CA&E station.
CA&E Motor 3003 at Wheaton Shops. (William Barber Collection)
CA&E Motors 2001, 2002 and 3003 at Wheaton Shops. (William Barber Collection)
CA&E Motor 4006 at Wheaton Shops. (William Barber Collection)
CA&E Motor no. 7 at Wheaton Shops. (William Barber Collection)
In a previous post, our readers identified the location of this June 9, 1957 fantrip photo as being on the CA&E Batavia branch, between the power house and the Batavia terminal. This was one of but two sections on this branch that used overhead wire. (William Barber Collection)
As this enlargement from Roy Benedict’s 1957 track map shows, there were but two places on the CA&E Batavia branch under trolley wire. Having eliminated State Road as a possibility, that pretty much decides it as the stretch between the Power House and the end of the line.
CA&E Car no. 459 on the Mannheim Spur, June 9, 1957. (William Barber Collection)
CA&E Car no. 20 Elgin, IL Station, June 9, 1957. (William Barber Collection)
CA&E Car no. 20 meets a 450 series car at Geneva Junction on June 9, 1957. (William Barber Collection)
CA&E Motors 4005 & 4006 EJ&E interchange at Wayne, June 9, 1957. (William Barber Collection)
CA&E Car no. 459 End of Track 12th St., Hillside, IL, June 9, 1957. (William Barber Collection)
CA&E Car no. 20 taken from the EJ&E Bridge, June 9, 1957. (William Barber Collection)
CA&E Car no. 20 on the Aurora Branch, June 9, 1957. (William Barber Collection)
CA&E 459 at Raymond Street in Elgin, June 9, 1957. (Mark Llanuza Collection)
The flyer for what became the final passenger movement on the CA&E. Freight service lasted a few months into 1959 before it too was abandoned. Various efforts to revive the interurban failed, and it received government permission for complete abandonment in 1961. (William Barber Collection)
On December 7, 1958, CA&E wood cars 319 and 320 operated the last passenger train on that venerable railroad as a charter. Here, we are at Fifth Avenue station looking east. After the CTA abandoned the Westchester branch, this station was repainted in CA&E colors, and the interurban took over all service here from 1951-57.
Another picture from the December 7, 1958 CA&E fantrip. Here, the snow has started falling and we are at the Elgin end of the line. (Mark LLanuza Collection)
Help Support The Trolley Dodger
This is our 113th post, and we are gradually creating a body of work and an online resource for the benefit of all railfans, everywhere. During our first 365 days of operation, we received 114,587 page views for which we are very grateful.
You can help us continue our original transit research by checking out the fine products in our Online Store. You can make a donation there as well.
As we have said before, “If you buy here, we will be here.”
We thank you for your support.
Yesterday was The Trolley Dodger’s first birthday, and that’s the one that usually gets the most attention from the parents. They make a big fuss over the infant, throw a party, and take lots of pictures. Then, gradually, less and less pictures are taken of the brat and eventually he ends up in reform school. Anyway, we’re off to a good start thanks to your help. Let’s hope we don’t get the “terrible twos.”
Joey Morrow, one of our younger railfans, writes:
It’s the North Shore’s 53/100th anniversary!!!
Happy Birthday NSL, I thank the the world that I learned about the NSL and I think people should take a moment to look a how the railroads shaped America, and how the Chicago North Shore & Milwaukee Railroad shaped high speed rail operation. 100 years ago the Chicago and Milwaukee electric was renamed into the Chicago North Shore & Milwaukee Railroad, what it would remain for the last 47 years of service. 53 years ago (in about 2 1/2 hours). The railroad that shaped the awesome interurban era, will be the one to end it. It will ride the rails into heaven right behind her sister, the Chicago Aurora & Elgin, and it will show everyone the power of highways and what they can do to a railroad that shaped an era that could have been the railroads we see today.
Now the NSL shall sadly end what it has started. This railroad tops my list of favorite railroads. I watched the Amtrak HHP-8’s come to an end before I knew about the ACS-64’s. The awful story of Grand Trunk Western 5629 and 5632 scared me, to know the awesome steam power can’t stop a company to get it’s property. They shall join the other lost sister interurban roads that got lost from their southern sister. And the South Shore Line shall carry on the legacy of the interurban. The Iowa electric shall carry on last non-private electric freight operation, with their newest locomotives from 1923, these trains need help, help them. These stories of trains are what shape my life, and the adventure inside my soul to find remains of the NSL. Trains are what fuel me, it pumps steam powered pistons in my heart and turns drive wheels so I can walk. It’s what makes my life as a 13 year old in 7th grade possible. Please everyone, take trains into consideration, if there were no trains, then there will be no America. Trains are big, important, beautiful, behemoths on rails.
Thanks, Joey. Keep up the good work. Also keep in mind that, many times, when one door closes, another opens. While for many years there was one electric railway abandonment after another, now it is generally the reverse, with more and more new lines being built all the time.
Joey also asked if anyone can identify what railroad used to run in the shadow of the Manhattan Bridge in New York, on Plymouth Street. He is not sure whether these were freight tracks or streetcar. In the close-up view, you can see an overhead wire support:
So, let’s see if we can help out an aspiring (not expiring) railfan.
Dick Myers replies:
I have a possible answer to the question posed by Joey in your Trolley Dodger blog posting. I posed the question to another email group, and received the following reply:
That’s the Brooklyn Bridge you see in the photos and the tracks may have been those of the B.E.D.T. (Brooklyn Eastern District Terminal) which serviced the piers along the East River Brooklyn waterfront into the 1960s. They had a fleet of 0-4-0T locomotives. Steve Hayes
The Wikipedia article on this railroad indicates they only used steam and diesel locomotives.
Thanks, however further research has shown it was not the B. E. D. T. (PS- The 3-CD collection Twilight of Steam, available via our Online Store, has audio recordings on it of steam locomotives on the Brooklyn East District Terminal not long before they switched to diesel in 1963.)
Looks like both Seth (see comments section below) and Bill Wall have the correct answer:
The section of track you are looking at was formerly operated by the Jay Street Connecting RR, abandoned in 1959. It was never electrified. What you see there sticking out from the warehouse is most likely either an awning or some kind of hoist for unloading. Find attached another photo of the area from 1944:
Daniel Joseph has some additional information to share with us regarding off-street bus loops (mostly regarding Evanston):
The #202 and Saturday #203 short turns used Sherman-Davis as a terminal until those routes were discontinued. My memory fails me as to the location of the terminal for the #204.
If my memory is still working correctly, during Sunday Chicago Bears football games at Soldiers Field in the late 1980s, the left northbound lane of Lake Shore Drive south of Balbo was used by southbound #128 Soldiers Field buses. This will need verification.
The southbound contraflow bus lane in the left northbound lane in Lake Shore Drive from Balbo to Soldiers Field for Sunday Bears football games was confirmed by Robert Bourine and David L. Phillips. Unknown how the buses existed this lane.
Also the bus lane at Linden Purple Line is always used for bus replacement shuttles.
Weekday afternoons CTA operated a bus from Skokie Shops south on Crawford/Pulaski to Foster. In the morning a north bound trip may also have been provided.
Sherman & Davis bus bay was confirmed by Robert Bourine and David L. Philips. it was separated from Sherman by an Island with pillars supporting the parking garage.The city of Evanston has a photo.
Skokie Shops bus boarding in the parking lot was confirmed by Walter Keevil and David L. Phillips. In the afternoon it traveled south on Crawford/Pulaski to Foster. Technically this route would accept regular passengers at the parking lot. We cannot determine if a corresponding morning northbound trip existed.
Andre Kristopans adds:
It did turn into shop property. Routing at least until the 1970’s was Oakton-Dodge/California-Foster-Pulaski, I gather to make more connections. Also Sherman/Davis turn-in was used by all four Evanston routes until the big rearrangement when 202 and 203 went away and 205/206 started.
Model of North Shore Line Milwaukee Terminal
Yesterday, I noticed some interesting photos online in an e-mail distributed by Terrell Colson, posted by Jim Rindt:
There has recently been interest in the Depots by John “Midwest Interurban Terminal” which is, of course,The North Shore Line’s Milwaukee Terminal in HO scale. I built one for a customer a number of years ago but I cannot remember if I ever posted pics of it here or not. So here it is, enjoy!
After seeing the pictures of the model, I contacted Jim Rindt and asked if he would let us post them here.
He replied:
Thanks for your note. I would be glad to have you to post the pics of it on your blog. Your blog is one I enjoy.
My website is http://www.rindtsrelics.com and I have several other North Shore items available and soon the Insull Spanish depots in N, HO & O scales. By the Summer I am hoping to have HO kits available for the Dempster, Kenosha and Mundelein.
The Terminal kit came from John Dornfeld of Depots by John.
The original North Shore Line terminal in Milwaukee sat vacant for more than a year before it was torn down in the summer of 1964. Another building occupies the site at 6th and Michigan today, with nary a trace of traction heritage to be found. But model-making presents an opportunity to preserve history in another way, one that builds things instead of tearing them down.
That made it especially appealing to me yesterday, the 53rd anniversary of the North Shore Line’s demise. It is no coincidence that this is the same date I picked to launch The Trolley Dodger. I would like January 21st to be associated with new beginnings and not just sad endings.
There is a large North Shore Line sign very much like this one on display at the Illinois Railway Museum, although I do not know for certain whether it actually came from the Milwaukee terminal.
The North Shore Line Milwaukee terminal in January 1963.
We’ve reached our one-year anniversary, and have successfully renewed our Internet domain for another year, thanks to your generous contributions. Over the past year, many people have made contributions here, and not always financial.
I like to think of The Trolley Dodger as a place where we can all share information, discuss various topics and learn things together. As I’ve said before, I learn a lot from our readers and the things they choose to share with us. Coming here is like taking a stroll through a curiosity shop, and today we have lots of curios to share with you.
With the 53rd anniversary of the abandonment of the North Shore Line coming up on Thursday (the 21st), we have included a few pictures from the final days of that great electric interurban railway that once ran between Chicago and Milwaukee.
If you can shed any light on some of today’s mysteries, we would love to hear from you. You can make a comment on this page or drop us a line directly at:
thetrolleydodger@gmail.com
Thanks.
-David Sadowski
PS- We will continue our birthday celebration with another collection of great images in our next post, so watch this space.
Thanks to the generous donations from our readers, we have renewed our domain for another year. The various photos in today’s post are but tokens of our esteem.
Help Support The Trolley Dodger
This is our 112th post, and we are gradually creating a body of work and an online resource for the benefit of all railfans, everywhere. To date we have received 114,000 page views from over 32,000 visitors.
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Roosevelt/Monitor – abandoned 09/28/08 when lease expired and renewal could not be negotiated
Madison/Springfield – 07/16/1890 out 12/13/53 originally for cable cars
118th/Burley – 4/8/45 to 7/1/47 – this was an odd situation. Both 118th and Burley were “dedicated streets”, but only Burley was paved. the “terminal” which had been a passing siding, was thus on open track. In addition, after 10/21/46, when Ewing-Brandon was bussed, only the South Chicago cars ended there, basically in the middle of nowhere, next to a tavern.
Canal between Harrison and Polk – 2/7/72 to 10/1/81 – an exclusive counterflow lane for Taylor/Sedgwick buses after the Polk St bridge was closed.
Cortland/Paulina – 9/1/47 to 4/17/59 – apron of old Noble Carhouse used by Southport buses until it was about to be torn down
Pulaski/21st – 4/26/04 to 6/16/08 – part of rebuilt Pulaski L station, not used after Ogden bus cut back to California
Blue Island/Leavitt 7/27/1893 to 7/20/06 – terminal for Blue Island cable cars adjacent to Blue Island carhouse
Corcoran/Menard – 10/26/27 to 5/19/47 – CMC is said to have had an off-street terminal here for Washington buses, but no good description has survived. 1938 aerial photo shows nothing obvious, so it might have involved wyeing by backing into a driveway.
Another subcategory– Counterflow lanes:
Madison between Desplaines and Michigan, Washington between Michigan and Jefferson 9/13/81 to 9/8/85
Adams between Jefferson and Michigan, Jackson between Michigan and Jefferson 8/31/80 to 4/20/86 (note – one block on Adams between Jefferson and Clinton not put into use until 2/1/81 account construction at the corner of Jefferson and Adams)
Canal between Randolph and Washington (NW Station) 6/22/64, extended to Lake St 7/20/81 to 8/5/87
Canal between Adams and Jackson (Union Station) 5/14/69, moved to NB exclusive lane on east side of Canal 8/31/80, returned to SB on west side of Canal 4/20/86. (note – replaced use of River Drive between Adams and Jackson which had been used since 6/22/64, however River Drive was actually a cab drive and therefore not an “off street terminal” in the strict sense, even though cars were not supposed to use it.
About that previous list, Daniel Joseph writes:
The only addition I can add to this complete list is the terminal on Sherman between Church and Davis inherited from Evanston Bus Company.
Andre replies:
Don’t know much about it. Basically, EBC loaded along regular curb until city of Evanston “streetscaped” the street in late 60’s or so, leaving a short piece of original curb for buses to load while rest of street in the two blocks between Clark and Davis was substantially narrowed and sidewalks widened. Orrington was done at the same time, as were parts of Church and Davis. Last buses that could have used the cut-out would have been the N201. Sort of what was done much later to Benson between Church and Davis. The “bus lane” is the original right lane.
The North Shore Line in January 1963, shortly before the end.
North Shore Line freight loco 459 heads up a train in January 1963.
A Silverliner and an Electroliner at the North Shore Line’s Milwaukee terminal in January 1963.
An Electroliner on the Chicago “L” in July 1962. Not sure of the exact location, but I assume this is Roosevelt Road where the NSL had free reign between 1949 and 1963 (CTA trains ran through the nearby subway then).
CNS&M electric locos 458 and 455 in July 1962.
North Shore Line 712 at Roosevelt Road in July 1962.
Ad touting 349 new trolley coaches ordered for the Chicago Transit Authority, 1951.
An unusual Chicago Surface Lines supervisor’s badge just sold for $80 on eBay. I was not the buyer.
This 1886 trade magazine includes an article detailing how the LaSalle Street cable car tunnel under the Chicago River was being expanded and upgraded.
San Francisco cable car 524 at the Chicago Railroad Fair on June 21, 1949. (Jeff Marinoff Collection) One of our readers notes, “Most of the gentlemen shown in transit uniforms appear to be wearing caps that have the Chicago Surface Lines cap badge on them in spite of the fact that according to the date on the photo the CTA had been in existence for almost two years. The guy with the coin changer might be wearing a CTA cap badge of the period.” Interesting. Guess things didn’t get replaced immediately. “They were also slow to slap the CTA decals on some of the streetcars too.”
A Marion (Indiana) Birney car circa 1940.
South Shore Line #15 in an unusual paint scheme on a 1954 fantrip.
CSS&SB 106 heads up a two-car train going east from the South Shore’s old South Bend terminal. This street running was eliminated in 1970 when the line was cut back to Bendix at the outskirts of town. Since then, it has been extended to the local airport.
George Foelschow: “The latest Trolley Dodger installment, which included a photo of a South Shore Line train on East LaSalle Avenue in South Bend, reminded me of a watercolor painting I acquired before moving from Chicago in 1978. The artist is David Tutwiler and the painting is dated (19)77. It depicts a similar scene. I thought you may want to share it with Trolley Dodger readers.” Thanks, George!
The same location today.
South Shore Line cars 28 and 19 at the Randolph Street station in downtown Chicago in March 1978. By then, these cars were more than 50 years old and had but a few more years to run. That’s the Prudential Building in the background. Since then, this station has been rebuilt and is now underneath Millennium Park.
This is where the Lehigh Valley Transit’s Liberty Bell Limited interurban cars went up a ramp to an elevated connection with the Philadelphia & Western in Norristown. This photo of car 710 is from 1944. The ramp, a few blocks long, was torn down in 1954. The interurban quit in 1951, which made it superfluous.
As you can see from this current photo of Swede Street in Norristown, the elevated section in the previous picture continued a few blocks from the present terminus of the former P&W, running all the way to the domed building at rear. Once the LVT interurban quit in 1951, it was no longer needed and was torn down a few years later.
An interesting and unusual fate for a Philadelphia PCC– being turned into an ice cream stand. This picture was taken in 2002. Jeff Marinoff adds, “The Philadelphia PCC car is still at the Trolley Car Diner on Germantown Avenue in Mt. Airy. The car is not a diner, however. The car is an ice cream stand. You don’t sit on the car, you walk up to a window and get your order.”
Gwen Deanne writes: “My mother wearing the most fabulous shoes ever, and my brother exercising his “open carry” rights as a youngster bringing a BB gun on the train. This is 100% Chicago, but which station, I don’t now. Perhaps you can figure it out. They lived on North Talman at the time, but Nana lived in Wicker Park. They could have been going anywhere. Taken by my Dad. The next brother was born, and not pictured. He may be with Nana, or Auntie Olga.” Mike Murray: ” That’s the Ardmore station of the Chicago, Aurora, & Elgin Railroad, facing east in Villa Park. The station is still there, but the railroad quit passenger service on July 3, 1957. Much of the route is now the Prairie Path. The silver water tower in the distance is the Ovaltine Factory.” Here is another picture of the same station: http://www.greatthirdrail.org/stations/main/ardmore.html (Photo from the Gwen Deanne Collection, used by permission)
This 1955 photo’s a bit of a mystery. Could this be Wheaton? William Barber: “Yes, this is Wheaton at the grade crossing immediately east of the depot.” Bill Shapotkin: “This pic is Cross St, Wheaton. View looks east.”
CA&E freight and passenger trains in Elmhurst in this November 5, 1949 view. (Gordon E. Lloyd Photo) Bill Shapotkin: “This pic is just east of Mannhiem Rd. The frt locos are on the CA&E/IHB interchange. While technically near Butterfield Rd, it is nowhere near Roosevelt Rd.” (Roosevelt and Butterfield was written on the back of the photo, apparently in error. This was not uncommon when the photographer was from out of town.)
The CA&E Wheaton Yard. This photo was dated as the 1950s but looks to be earlier.
The CA&E Elgin terminal.
The same location as the previous photo, early 1950s.
CA&E 405 at Spring Road in Elmhurst. Dig that phone booth.
CA&E 406, in this 1957 picture, is identified as being at Fifth Avenue in Maywood. Perhaps one of our keen-eyed readers can confirm this. Bill Shapotkin: “This pic NOT anywhere near Maywood. It is WEST of Hill Ave (aka Glen Oak Rd) in Glen Ellyn. Beyond the bridge is the Glen Oak station. View looks east.”
A CA&E pocket map made by Roy G. Benedict in 1958, when the “Roarin’ Elgin” had already abandoned passenger service (except for charters) but was still running freight. Roy mimeographed these and sold them to aspiring railfans. He has made many additional maps since, and has had a successful career in the publishing industry. The Forest Park loop shown at the bottom of this page is where the next picture in this post was taken.
CA&E 409 and 414 on the turnback loop in Forest Park in 1957.
This is one of the very first CTA trains to use the permanent routing into the DesPlaines terminal on March 20, 1960. This bridge, originally designed for three tracks, is still in use. But with expressway construction far from finished, note the grade crossing right behind the bridge. That implies that the bridge was built first and then the area around it was later cleared out for the highway. Cars today go underneath the “L”. Behind the train, you can see a handsome 1939 field house, still in use today in a nearby park.
In the first of two posts, as we close out 2015, we are featuring highlights from our recent E-book collection, The “New Look” in Chicago Transit: 1938-1973. Today’s highlights are from the CTA Transit News and mainly cover the period 1958-61. Watch this space for another helping in a few days.
There is a tremendous amount of useful information in the Transit News, and there are thousands of pages of material on this DVD data disc we are offering.
FYI, all current orders for The “New Look” have now shipped.
The “New Look” in Chicago Transit: 1938-1973 Edited by David Sadowski
Over a period of 35 years, between 1938 and 1973, Chicago’s transit system was radically transformed, for better or for worse.
The venerable Loop “L” was supplemented by two new subways, under State and Dearborn streets. Several “L” lines and dozens of stations were abandoned. New rapid transit lines were built in three different expressways.
Streetcars and trolley buses were eliminated, as were many grade crossings. Two of Chicago’s three major interurbans expired.
High-speed rapid transit cars were developed by the Chicago Transit Authority, and put into use on the new Skokie Swift service and, eventually, throughout the system. Air conditioning became standard on rapid transit cars.
By the early 1960s, the CTA began calling it a “New Look” in transit.
Now, to examine this transformation, we have collected many original CTA source documents from this revolution together in one place, as our third DVD data disc release, The “New Look” in Chicago Transit: 1938-1973, edited by David Sadowski.
Since our previous release Chicago’s PCC Streetcars: The Rest of the Story covered surface system changes, this new collection’s primary focus is rapid transit. Naturally, there is some overlap between the two E-books, but The “New Look” includes over 1000 pages of new material, including:
An introductory essay by transit historian David Sadowski, which puts the era into perspective
Special commemorative publications put out by the City of Chicago in 1943 and 1951, when the State Street and Dearborn subways opened
43 entire issues of CTA Transit News in hi-res (an employee publication, primarily covering the important transition period from 1958 through 1961), plus additional scans from 1964-65, 1967-68, and 1969-70
High-resolution scans of the 1958 and 1961 CTA Annual Reports (all reports from 1945-76 are also included in lower-res scans)
Rapid transit system track maps
A short book, The Story of the Chicago Rapid Transit Lines (circa 1938)
Numerous CTA pamphlets, covering A/B “skip stop” service, Rider’s Reader, opening of the Congress rapid transit line, “New Look” (aka “Fishbowl”) buses, bus overhaul shops, and the elevation of the outer end of the Lake Street “L”.
In addition, we have included a variety of CTA technical publications, including the operation of various old interlockings, signal systems, and troubleshooting manuals for the 4000-series rapid transit cars.
# of Discs – 1 Price: $19.95
Help Support The Trolley Dodger
This is our 107th post, and we are gradually creating a body of work and an online resource for the benefit of all railfans, everywhere. To date, we have received over 106,000 page views from 30,500 individuals.
You can help us continue our original transit research by checking out the fine products in our Online Store. You can make a donation there as well.
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Transit historian and author Andre Kristopans has sent us a preliminary list, which still needs work, of the CSL/CTA off-street turning loops:
Root/Halsted 1/1895 out 8/9/53
Cable Ct/harper 7/08 out 1960
Wentworth/63 11/08 out 6/22/58
Western/Flournoy 6/09 out 7/18/65
Cottage Grove/72 11/10 out 9/28/56
State/63 01/11 out 1/9/57
Western/Roscoe 7/11 out 1/24/51
Vincennes/80 8/11 out 1990’s
Clark/Arthur 11/11 active
Halsted/79 12/12 active
63/King 6/13 out 6/28/69 (temporarily reactivated circa 1977 when Ryan L out of service at 18th)
Halsted/Waveland 3/15 active
Clark/Howard 4/15 out 12/3/61
75/Lakefront 5/15 active (cul-de-sac)
Broadway/Ardmore 12/15 out 12/26/63
Torrence/112 3/17 active
Devon/Sheridan 5/17 (CMC) out 10/18/53
Archer/Cicero 12/17 active (relocated 1955)
Navy Pier 6/21 active (relocated 1959, relocated again 1990’s)
Madison/Austin 7/21 active
Milwaukee/Imlay 9/27 active
Montrose/Milwaukee 1/31 out 1980’s
Montrose/Narragansett 1/31 out 1990’s
Belmont/Pacific 5/31 out 1/9/49
18th/Lake Shore 6/33 out 3/9/49
Roosevelt/Columbus 8/33 out 4/11/53
Hamlin/Fulton (CMC) 6/35 out 2/11/53
87/Western 7/35 active
Belmont/Central 9/35 out 1/9/49 (relocated across street 1930’s)
Diversey/Western 9/35 out 7/1/55
Diversey/Neva 10/38 active
Caldwell/Central 8/39 (relocated 1961)
83/Green Bay 5/40 out 10/30/63
Bell & Howell 12/42 out 1976
76/Keeler 7/43 out 3/16/53
76/Kilpatrick 7/43 out 6/21/59
115/Cottage Grove 9/24/63 out 6/16/63 (south of 115th)
Montrose/Broadway 7/29/46 out 1970’s
Monroe Parking Lot 8/15/46 out 1972
Soldier Field Parking Lot 8/15/46 out 1990’s
Merchandise mart plaza 9/16/46 out 1990’s
Torrence/128 10/21/46 relocated to 130th west of Torrence 1980’s, out 1990’s
Torrence/112 10/21/46 out 4/25/48 (south of RR)
74/Damen 11/1/46 active
Irving Park/Cumberland 2/4/47 active (moved 1/24/64)
Damen/Elston 6/19/47 out 9/30/63
84/State 6/28/47 out 11/26/58
116/Burley 6/30/47 out 1990’s
Cortland/Paulina 8/31/47 out 4/17/59
31/Ellis 2/29/48 out 9/27/56
Narragansett/63 Pl 4/25/48 active
63/Archer 4/25/48 active (relocated 1990’s)
Harlem/64 Pl 6/15/48 active
Western/79 7/31/48 active
Devon/Kedzie 9/13/48 active
Irving Pk/Neenah 11/17/48 (moved from S to N of Irving Pk 7/9/58) out 1980’s
16th/47th Ct 12/12/48 active
Belmont/Halsted 1/9/49 active
Belmont/Cumberland 1/9/49 active
Belmont/Octavia 1/9/49 active
Western/Berwyn 1/10/49 active
Western/Howard 2/17/49 active
North/Clybourn 7/3/49 out 2000’s
Lehigh/Touhy 7/14/49 out 2/20/55
Cermak/Harlem (West Towns Garage) 8/13/49 out 1/16/57
Harrison/Central 8/14/49 active
Addison/Pontiac (CMC) 8/17/49 active
Western/Leland 11/14/49 active
Fullerton/Parkside 12/4/49 out 1990’s
North/Clark 12/4/49 active
North/Narragansett 12/4/49 active
Jersey/Peterson 5/13/50 out 1973
31/California 5/17/50 out 1990’s
111/Harding 10/21/50 active
Central/Milwaukee 11/17/50 out 9/24/70
Grand/Nordica 4/1/51 active
47/Lake Park 4/15/51 active (moved from W of Lake Park to E 7/26/66)
Cicero/Pensacola 5/10/51 active
Lincoln/Wrightwood 7/2/51 out 4/27/60
Elston/Kentucky 7/19/51 out 7/8/55
Pulaski/Peterson 7/20/51 active
Archer/Neva 11/2/51 active
Lincoln Village 11/13/51 out 1/30/55 (McCormick N of Lincoln)
Lincoln/Whipple 11/23/51 out 1970’s
Cicero/24 Pl 11/25/51 active
31/Komensky 12/6/51 active
Logan Square 12/19/51 out 1/31/70
North/Winchester 5/5/52 out 1973
Grand/Latrobe 5/24/52 active
Cermak/54 Av 5/25/52 active (moved 2000’s)
Fairbanks/Ontario 7/20/52 out 1990’s, new built 2000’s
79/Lakefront 8/11/52 relocated 2012
Roosevelt/Monitor 9/7/52 out 2000’s
Pulaski/Foster 9/8/52 out 1990’s
95/Western Evergreen Plaza 9/28/52 out 2015
Chicago/Mayfield 12/13/52 active (moved to Austin 1980’s)
Roosevelt/Wabash 5/12/53 out 1972
Racine/87 5/28/53 active
26/Kenton 6/18/53 out 1970’s
Desplaines/Congress 10/9/53 active relocated numerous times
Jackson/Central Fieldhouse 10/29/53 out 7/8/55
Niles Center/Pratt 11/15/53 out 1/15/54
Kedzie/63 Pl 12/15/53 active
42/Packers 2/14/54 out 11/9/70 (moved 4/22/63)
87/Cicero 8/13/54 active moved to shopping center across Cicero 1980’s
Ashland/95 11/4/54 active
California/Addison 11/26/54 out 2015
Grand/Natchez 12/20/54 out 2/22/67
Western/119 2/9/55 active
Cermak/57 Ac 4/17/55 out 1980’s
Jackson/Austin 7/8/55 active
Forest Glen garage 12/4/55
Damen/87 12/9/55 active
Cottage Grove/Burnside 8/22/56 out 2000’s
North Park Garage 12/4/55 no longer used as turnaround since 1980’s
Brother Rice High School 9/10/56 active
Cermak Plaza 1/14/57 active relocated to N Riverside Park Mall 1975
59/Keating 5/5/57 out 1990’s
Howard/Kedzie 1/26/58 out 11/19/60 (east of Channel)
Jackson/Kedzie Garage 7/3/58 not used as turnaround since 1990’s
83/Wentworth 7/14/58 out 1990’s
Teletype Corp 9/8/58 out 1980’s
Pulaski/104 9/17/58 active
Cicero/64 11/27/58 out 1990’s
Pulaski/77 6/21/59 out 6/1/62
79/Kilpatrick 6/21/58 out 1990’s
Indianapolis/101 7/5/59 out 1970’s
Cumberland/Montrose 8/3/59 out 7/13/64
Howard/McCormick 11/3/60 active
Cermak/State 11/19/60 out 9/28/69
McCormick Place 11/19/60 replaced 1970, out 1970’s
115/Pulaski 12/4/60 out 8/3/64
67/Oglesby 12/15/60 active
Howard/Hermiatage 12/3/61 replaced 1990’s
Pulaski/75 6/1/62 out 7/21/63
Pulaski/81 7/21/63 active
Beverly Garage 2/10/64 not used as turnaround after 1990’s
Skokie Swift 4/19/64 active
Old Orchard 4/20/64 moved 1970’s
Marist High School 8/24/64 out 2000’s
Randolph/Lake Shore 9/14/64 active moved to Randolph/Harbor 1970’s
55/St Louis 11/11/64 active replaced 2000’s
51/St Louis 1/13/65 out 1990’s
115/Springfield 5/10/65 active
King Dr/Burnside 6/20/65 out 1970’s
Ford City 8/12/65 active relocated 1990’s
Luther High School (87/Sacramento) 11/24/65 out 1990’s
Pratt/Kedzie 8/1/66 out 1990’s
Mercy Hospital 2/1/68 out 1980’s
Ashland/63 5/6/69 active
95/Dan Ryan 9/28/69 active
79/Perry 9/28/69 active
69/Dan Ryan 9/28/69 active
Cermak/Clark 9/28/69 out 1980’s
Jefferson Park 2/1/70 active
Irving Park/Keystone 2/1/70 active
Belmont/Kimball 2/1/70 active
Logan Square 2/1/70 active
Olive/Harvey 2/8/71 active relocated 1970’s and 1990’s
International Towers 6/7/71 out 1973
King Dr/96 1970’s out 1970’s
95/St Lawrence 1970’s active
Archer/Halsted 1990’s active
Archer/Ashland 1990’s active
Lincoln Village (Lincoln/Jersey) 1980’s out 1990’s
103rd Garage 1990’s active
Limits Garage 1860’s out 1990’s
47/Laramie 1970’s out 1980’s
Western/49 1990’s active
Archer/Leavitt 1990’s active
Kedzie/49 1990’s active
Pulaski/51 1990’s active
Skokie Courthouse 1990’s active
73/Kostner 1990’s active
59/Kilpatrick 1990’s active
71/Pulaski 1980’s active
Division/Austin 1970’s active
Clark/Wisconsin 1970’s out 1990’s
Chicago-Read hospital 1970’s out 2015 (relocated across Oak park Av 1980’s)
River Rd/Kennedy 1980’s – CTA stopped using 1990’s
Cumberland/Bryn Mawr – 1980’s active
Pavilion Apts – 1970’s active (relocated 1980’s)
Lincolnwood Town Ctr – 1990’s active
Bryn Mawr/Lake Shore 1980’s active
Wright College 1990’s active
Higgins/Harlem 1980’s active
Touhy/Overhill 1970’s – CTA has not used since 2000’s (replaced last Y terminal)
Evanston Twp High School Parking Lot 1990’s out 2000’s
74th Garage first used as turnaround 2015 active
Avon @ Golf/Waukegan 1990’s active
Pullman Plaza parking lot (Doty W/109) 2000’s
Grand/Columbus 1970’s out 1990’s
Desplaines/Harrison 1990’s active
Field Museum turn-in on McFetridge 1980’s active
King/24th Pl 1980’s active
McCormick Place South driveway 1980’s out 1990’s
Wilson/E Ravenswood 1970’s out 1990’s
Nature Museum (Cannon/Fullerton) 1980’s active
South Blvd/Sheridan 1973 out 1990’s inherited from Evanston Bus Co.
From 1951 to 1958, the CTA Dearborn-Milwaukee subway ended at a stub-end terminal at the LaSalle Street station. The original plans were for an underground loop just east of the old Main Post Office, but that was given up in order to save money.
In January 1951, a fire threatened CTA’s little-used North Water Street stub terminal, which managed to survive until 1963.
The CTA Transit News included many rare photos of Congress rapid transit line construction. This picture was taken around January 1958 at the DesPlaines terminal and looks to the northeast. While most of the Congress line went into service in June 1958, the portion west of the Lotus tunnel was not finished until 1961. Work in the terminal area continued into 1962.
The ramp connecting Congress with Douglas was still being built in February 1958, four months before service began. If a similar ramp could have been built to the west of Marshfield, interurban trains of the Chicago, Aurora & Elgin would have been able to access the Loop via the Paulina Connector and the Lake Street “L”, just as the Pink Line (successor to the Douglas Park “L”) does today.
Until 1969, the Englewood branch of the south side “L” ended at Loomis, not a convenient place for bus transfers going north and south. CTA made some improvements, but the ultimate solution was a short extension of the line to nearby Ashland Avenue. This photo is from about February 1958.
In May 1958, service continued uninterrupted during major projects.
Among many other things, the CTA improved safety and reduced labor costs by replacing manually operated gates with automatic ones, as shown in this April 1958 photo. There was some resistance to automatic gates, since some people thought that manually operated ones were safer. Signal systems, which were primitive on the older “L” lines, were also gradually improved. Automatic block signals were installed in the new subways and the Congress expressway median line.
The CTA added “Metropolitan Transit” to its logo early in 1958, to emphasize how their role extended outside the Chicago city limits. It was during this time that two of the three area interurbans were failing, and CTA unsuccessfully lobbied the Illinois legislature for financial aid that might have made it possible to incorporate larger parts of them into the CTA system. As it turned out, both the Chicago, Aurora & Elgin and Chicago, North Shore & Milwaukee railroads went out of business and were liquidated. Only a few miles of each line survives in the present rapid transit network.
By the time this picture was taken in May 1958, the four-track Metropolitan “L”, shown here near Aberdeen Street, had been shaved back to two, since part of the “L” footprint was needed for the expressway. Behind the two-car train of 6000s there is a ramp leading down to the temporary Van Buren trackage of about 2 ½ miles heading west.
The new Congress median rapid transit line shortly before being put into service.
By Spring 1958, work was nearly complete on the ramp connecting the Douglas and Congress lines.
The temporary “L” service in Van Buren Street, which operated from September 1953 to June 1958, shown here at Loomis prior to the demolition of the cavernous Throop street shops at right.
CTA’s first new rapid transit line opened on June 22, 1958, at least as far as the Cicero Avenue station. Work continued west of there until 1961. While service was faster than the Garfield Park “L” it replaced, the project was a major factor in the abandonment of the “Roarin’ Elgin
The first section of the old Garfield Park “L” to be removed after the opening of the Congress line.
The opening of the Congress line was a matter of considerable civic pride for Chicago, the CTA, and Mayor Richard J. Daley.
Bob Heinlein, shown here at right during his CTA days, has been a well-known railfan for many years. He’s a great guy.
The Congress line, in the median of an expressway, inspired two additional rapid transit extensions in other local highways a decade later. However, such operations are not without problems caused by truck and auto accidents, road salt, noise, wind, poor drainage, or snow.
This picture was taken in May 1958 on what was indeed the final operation of a red Pullman (#144) on Chicago streetcar tracks.
CTA opened a new bus turnaround loop at Irving Park and Neenah in July 1958. This was one of more than 100 such off-street loops. This particular loop is no longer in use and was sold to developers. It is now part of a driveway. It was originally used by the #80 Irving Park and #86 Narragansett routes. Over time, this loop became superfluous as the 86 was extended farther north and some of the short-turns were eliminated on 80.
The same location today.
July 1958. These sections of “L” were very close to the expressway.
Between 1959 and 1961, CTA embarked on a major construction project to fill a gap in the side “L”, where four tracks went down to two and then four again.
October 1958.
November 1958.
Many of CTA’s more than 100 off-street loops were beautifully landscaped, a tradition going back to the 1930s and the Chicago Surface Lines. Unfortunately, over the years many of these manicured green spaces have been replaced by asphalt.
The loop at Western and Berwyn today. Those trees in the middle have grown a lot larger in the 56 years since the earlier photo was taken.
