Our 225th Post

January 14, 2019April 9, 2021David Sadowski 16 Comments

A Ravenswood “L” train at State and Lake in April 1964. Trains ran counter-clockwise around the Loop in one direction until the opening of the Dan Ryan line in 1969. Fritzel’s restaurant is at left. At right, you can just make out one of those “praying mantis” street lights, installed in 1959. Steve Felsenthal adds, “Ravenswood trains switched to the inner track after stopping on the outer track at Randolph & Wells except during weekdays rush hours during the CTA era from sometime in the early to mid 50s until 1969 when the direction of the inner loop track was reversed.”

Happy New Year! We begin 2019 with classic traction photos for our 225th post. William Shapotkin has generously shared more with us, and we have some recent finds of our own to round things out.

It costs real money to bring you these fine images, and soon the bill will come due for maintaining this site. It’s the time of year for our annual fundraiser, and our goal is to raise $436, to keep the Trolley Dodger blog around for another year. Can you help us?

We thank you in advance for your generosity in helping to keep this site going and free of advertising. If you wish to contribute, there are links at the end of this post.

We finished 2018 with 122,358 page views from 38,469 visitors. Page views increased by nearly 3% from the year before, making this our second-best year to date. We had about 10% more visitors than the year before, and in that category, it was our best year yet.

January 21 marks our fourth anniversary, and we will have another new post for you then.

During 2018, we made 22 posts in all. While this was less than in previous years, several of these posts had more than 100 images apiece (as does this one). With 225 posts, we have achieved our initial goal of creating an online archive and resource for people who are interested in vintage transit images. Our current goal is to keep the quality high while avoiding repeating ourselves.

We also published Building Chicago’s Subways, our second book in two years. Information on that book can be found at the end of this post.

Enjoy!

-David Sadowski

From the William Shapotkin Collection

Classic South Shore Line Photos

Here are 49 great South Shore Line images, all from the William Shapotkin Collection. We are very grateful to Mr. Shapotkin for his generosity in sharing these photos with our readers and the railfan community.

#8 heads up train #511 at Miller on May 30, 1988. (Gordon E. Lloyd Photo)

#44 at Dune Park, headquarters of the Northern Indiana Commuter Transit District that funded the electric operation and the new cars. This was a charter train. (Walter Veilbaum Photo)

#3 at Michigan City in 1938. (C. V. Hess Photo)

#4 at Gary on June 16, 1946. (Gordon E. Lloyd Photo)

#6 at Michigan City in 1938. (C. V. Hess Photo)

#12 at Michigan City in 1939. (C. V. Hess Photo)

#22 in East Chicago, Indiana in 1953. (Richard Brown Photo)

#26 in Gary on October 29, 1949. (Gordon E. Lloyd Photo)

#30 at South Bend in August 1938. (C. V. Hess Photo)

#30 at Tremont on May 17, 1941. (Charles Savage Photo)

#32 at South Bend on September 15, 1948. (Paul Stringham Photo)

#34 at Michigan City in September 1953. That’s the note that came with the photo… on the other hand, Spence Ziegler says, “Looks more like CSS&SB Car #34 is in the South Bend coach yard.” (Richard Brown Photo)

#100 at Chicago on February 8, 1944. The only patriotic car of CSS&SB. (Gordon E. Lloyd Photo) (Editor’s note: there is a different picture of car 100 in this paint scheme in my book Chicago Trolleys.)

#100 at South Bend, apparently in the 1940s. (Charles Savage Photo)

Another photo of #100 at South Bend, but not taken at the same time. Note how the windows have been changed, with the installation of air conditioning. This photo appears to date to the early 1950s. (Charles Savage Photo)

#100 at Wagner Siding, east of Gary, on May 30, 1940. (Eugene Van Dusen Photo)

#103 on September 20, 1942. (Paul Stringham Photo)

#106A at Chicago on August 22, 1968. (Will Whittaker Photo)

#102 at South Bend on July 8, 1947. At right, the auto appears to be a 1947 Studebaker, known as the “which way is it going” model. (Charles Savage Photo)

#201 at Michigan City in September 1953. (Richard Brown Photo)

Trailer #203 at South Bend in October 1938. (C. V. Hess Photo)

Dining car #301 in 1939. (Photo by A. Q.)

Parlor car #352 at Lydick, Indiana on September 20, 1942. It appears to have been rebuilt later and gone to the Canada Gulf & Terminal Railway. See their car 504 for comparison. (Paul Stringham Photo)

#354 was built by Pullman in 1927 as a parlor car trailer, and rebuilt as a passenger car trailer in 1939.

Loco #802 at Fremont, Indiana in June 1956. (Will Whittaker Photo)

Loco #701 at Michigan City on August 22, 1968. (Gordon E. Lloyd Photo)

Loco 702, lettered for South Shore RR.

Loco #900. (R. Biermann Photo)

Loco #903 (ex-IC), and #503 (ex-Indiana Railroad #375.

Loco #1005 at Michigan City in April 1940.

Locos #1009 and 1004 at Michigan City in June 1939. (Birney Miller Photo)

Loco #1013 at Michigan City. (Gordon E. Lloyd Photo)

Loco #1014 at Michigan City. (C. V. Hess Photo)

Line car #1100. (Gus Wilson Photo)

Line car #1100 at Chicago on June 28, 1986 (for a fantrip, which I also attended). (Gordon E. Lloyd Photo)

#1100 in Chicago on June 28, 1986. (Gordon E. Lloyd Photo)

Don’s Rail Photos says, “73 was built by Niles in 1908. In 1927 it was rebuilt into work motor 1126. In 1941 it was sold and converted to a house. In 1994 it was purchased for restoration from a buyer who had picked it up the month before for back taxes. He really did not want the car, just the land. Bob Harris began restoration in 2005. There were delays when Bob had a heart attack. There is a recent report on June 17, 2017.”

#1100 at Hudson Lake on June 28, 1986. (Gordon E. Lloyd Photo)

#1100 at Dune Park on June 28, 1986. (Gordon E. Lloyd Photo)

Loco #1014A at New Carlisle, Indiana on August 7, 1938, during an Illinois Central excursion. (Eugene Van Dusen Photo)

Line car #1101, formerly a passenger car, at Michigan City in April 1940. (Eugene Van Dusen Photo)

#1126 in August 1938. (Photo by R. S.)

CSS&SB combo, used by railfans at South Bend on March 22, 1938.

An 8-car train at Lake Park in Fall 1940.

RTA loco #126 heads a leased 10-car train, which supplemented electric service for a time due to a car shortage. It made one round-trip a day out of Michigan City.

Loco #2000 at Michigan City in May 1988. (Walter H. Vielbaum Photo)

#2004 and caboose #003 at Michigan City in May 1988. (Walter H. Veilbaum Photo)

Misc. Photos From the Shapotkin Collection

On July 25, 1943 several railfans posed on the northbound platform of the as-yet unopened State Street Subway station at North and Clybourn. From left to right, we have J. Goehst, O. Scheer, George Krambles, N. Strodte, John R. Williams, J. E. Merriken Jr., R. Burns, J. Hughes, and R. E. Geis. (William Shapotkin Collection)

A train station at an unidentified location in February 1970. (William Shapotkin Collection)

This is car #202 of the Chippewa Valley Electric in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. (William Shapotkin Collection)

Grand River Railway (Canada) baggage car 622. (William Shapotkin Collection)

Yakima (Washington) trolley #1776 in 1976. (William Shapotkin Collection)

Two CTA 4000-series “L” cars in Sylvania, Ohio in August 1976. (William Shapotkin Collection)

Recent Finds

We have a picture of South Shore Line car 100 of our own. This one was taken on October 15, 1967 at the shops in Michigan City.

This picture shows CTA trolleybus 234 (prior to the renumbering, where a “9” was added before all TB #s) running on the 51st-55th line. Perhaps the machine at left is removing streetcar track. Presumably this is the early 1950s. (William Hoffman Photo, Wien-Criss Archive)

CTA trolleybus 9672 and red Pullman 685 are near the Montgomery Wards complex at Chicago and Larrabee. This would be a Halsted streetcar, running on diversion trackage via Division to Crosby and Larrabee, then Chicago to Halsted, when work was being done on the Halsted Street bridge over the Chicago River. That dates the picture to 1953– after Marmon trolleybuses were delivered, but before streetcars stopped running on Halsted in 1954. (William Hoffman Photo, Wien-Criss Archive)

Chicago’s Initial System of Subways originally had parcel lockers for public use. This picture helps explain why they were eliminated. In this April 17, 1962 photo, bomb squad detectives are carefully removing some hand grenades that were found in just such a locker at State and Randolph, along with machine gun ammunition.

Jim Huffman: Pix #564 & 565 (below) are SB Cottages returning from Grand and State on Wabash. The #38 Indiana north terminal was Navy Pier via Wabash and Grand, when it ended as a route, the #4 Cottage took its place north to Grand on State & south on Wabash, for awhile.

CTA 4056 is running on Route 4 – Cottage Grove in 1953. This is one of the postwar PCCs that was converted to one-man operation.

CTA 7013 running on Route 4 – Cottage Grove in 1953.

A colorized postcard view of a two-car Lake Street train crossing the Chicago River in the early 1900s. The postcard itself was mailed in 1907.

This transit worker is wearing a Chicago Union Traction cap, and a Chicago Railways jacket. This may help date the photo, as Chicago Railways acquired Chicago Union Traction in 1908.

CSL 7003 on Madison.

CSL 4018 in experimental colors, at Kedzie Station circa 1945-46. It’s signed for the Madison-Fifth branch line. (Joe L. Diaz Photo)

CTA 4012 and 4090 at Kedzie Station. Since neither PCC has a logo, this is probably early in the CTA era that started on October 1, 1947. Both cars would have been running on Route 20 – Madison. (Joe L. Diaz Photo)

CTA prewar PCC 4047 is running on the 10-cent Madison Shuttle.

CSL 7053, 4145, and follower, at the Vincennes and 80th turning loop.

CSL 3300 on Montrose. Note the old Divco milk truck at left. Jim Hufman adds that we are “looking west on Montrose from Ashland, the building on the right is on the NW corner.” (Joe L. Diaz Photo)

CTA prewar PCC 4007 at 63rd Place and Narragansett, west end of Route 63, on September 11, 1948.

CSL 2730 and 2728, among others, at an unknown location. Jim Huffman: “Seems to be a Riverview-Larrabee car, could be Wrightwood car barn.” (Joe L. Diaz Photo)

CSL 4080, a Pullman PCC newly delivered at South Shops.

CSL 3210 on Montrose at Milwaukee, west end of the line. Streetcars were replaced by buses on July 29, 1946. Trolley buses ran west o here. The entire line was converted to trolley bus on April 19, 1948, and they continued in used until January 13, 1973. Jim Huffman adds, “car #3310 is behind the car waiting to go east. This was always a problem with PM pull-out trippers at the end of line crossovers. The regular cars would have a longer layover/recovery time than the pull-outs would have. Often the tripper would arrive after their follower, hence the follower at the extreme end with its leader squeezed in so as to leave first. If two followers were there first, one would have to take the crossover & back up on the adjacent track. This I learned from observation when I was younger & also from CSL family members. Buses do not have this problem, they just go around.” (Joe L. Diaz Photo)

CSL 3298 on Montrose. (Joe L. Diaz Photo)

CSL 5702 on Archer. (Joe L. Diaz Photo)

CSL 5731 on Route 5, South Chicago Avenue. Note two fans on the railroad embankment, taking pictures. (Joe L. Diaz Photo)

CTA 4036 is turning westbound on 63rd Place at Central. There was a section of nearly a mile of private right-of-way west of here. (Joe L. Diaz Photo)

CSL 3287 on Montrose near Kedzie. (Joe L. Diaz Photo)

CSL 3307 on Montrose. (Joe L. Diaz Photo)

CSL 2616, signed for 115th and Halsted. (Joe L. Diaz Photo)

CSL 2733, signed for Downtown. Jim Huffman: “Riverview-Larrabee.” (Joe L. Diaz Photo)

CSL 5073, signed for Archer and Western. (Joe L. Diaz Photo)

CSL 2754 on a wintry day, signed or Roscoe and Western. Andre Kristopans writes, “I strongly suspect (2754 is) northbound on Larrabee at Clybourn on Route 40 Riverview-Larrabee.” (Joe L. Diaz Photo)

CSL 3298 on Montrose. (Joe L. Diaz Photo)

CSL 2816, signed or Cottage Grove and 38th.

CTA 4330, a Pullman PCC, heads south on Halsted, crossing a brand-new bridge over the Congress Expressway, then under construction, in 1950. In the background is the Met “L” main line, which remained in use at this location until June 1958. The PCC is signed for Route 42, Halsted-Downtown. M. E. adds, “The streetcar’s destination sign reads route 42, but route 42 did not run when and where the picture was taken (Halsted at Congress). At that spot, only route 8 ran. The correct sign would have said 8 Halsted-79.” Jim Huffman adds, “The motorman saw the 79th thru the little view window & stopped there.”

CTA 282 and 285 at 63rd and Kedzie in August 1953.

The same location today, looking north on Kedzie at 63rd Street.

CTA 6101-6102 on the Paulina Connector, crossing the Congress rapid transit line, on April 21, 1991. This trackage is now used by the CTA Pink Line. Ater being stored at the Fox River Trolley Museum for many years, these cars are now back on CTA property as part of their historical collection and it is hoped they will someday run again. (Albert J. Reinschmidt Photo)

CTA red Pullman 225 and PCC 4406 on an October 21, 1956 fantrip. M. E. adds, “This picture is at 16th and Clark, facing north. Streetcars had their own private right-of-way west of Clark going under the two railroad viaducts located here.”

CA&E #321 is on the back of an outbound train at Marshfield Junction.

A train of CA&E woods near Wells Street Terminal in downtown Chicago.

CTA 2067-2068 head up a westbound Lake Street train in June 1965.

CTA 2175-2176, a northbound Lake-Dan Ryan “B” train, near Adams and Wabash station on August 2, 1974. (Douglas N. Grotjahn Photo)

Chicago, Aurora & Elgin wood car #30. Don’s Rail Photos notes, “These 15 motor cars and 5 trailers were built by Stephenson Car Co. in 1903 and were part of the original stock. 30 was built by Stephenson in 1903. It was retired in 1959.”

North Shore Line city streetcar #354, which once ran on the streets of Milwaukee and Waukegan, at the Illinois Electric Railway Museum in North Chicago, September 15, 1957.

CTA Pullman PCC 4111 heads west on Monroe Street in 1950, running on Route 20 – Madison.

A two-car train of CTA 6000s heads east on Garfield Park temporary trackage at Paulina on April 3, 1954. The photographer was standing on the platform of the Met “L” station at Marshfield Junction, then still in use or Douglas Park trains.

Red Arrow Brilliner #9 at the end of the Ardmore line in May 1965.

Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Co. (aka Red Arrow) #17, a double-ended interurban car built by St. Louis Car Co. in 1949, is at the west end of the long West Chester line, which was bussed in 1954 to facilitate the widening of West Chester Pike.

Philadelphia Transportation Co. PCC #2031 is on a section of private right-of-way at the end of Route 6 in the early 1950s. That looks like aa 1953 Cadillac at right. This section of route was eventually cut back due to highway construction. (Walter Broschart Photo)

Public Service #2695 is inbound on the Hudson line on the old Hoboken elevated near the Summit turnoff at Palisade Avenue.

A Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit articulated “Bluebird” set of cars, on its inaugural run in 1939.

A set of articulated Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit “Bluebird” cars on Fulton Street at Tompkins Avenue.

We recently purchased some original plans from the Initial System of Subways, which detail where various utilities were intended to be relocated at the subway station at Grand and State. This just goes to show the incredible level of detail required for a project of this sort. Interestingly, these plans were in London, England and have now been repatriated back to Chicago. They are dated October 1939, and this document was voided out in December of that same year (and no doubt replaced with an updated version, based on the actual locations of utilities).

Recent Correspondence

Ashley Koda writes:

I came across your website while researching the history of my apartment building. I have the attached photo reflecting a Chicago Surface Line Car No. 3098 on the corner of Erie & Bishop. I understand that this line was in operation between 1913-1947. I found a photo on your website of a 3098 car at Erie & Racine which looks identical to the one attached, so I was hoping you could please help me narrow the time frame of this photo or perhaps point me to some resources that may assist.

Thanks for writing.

Your note doesn’t mention which route the streetcar is on, and neither does the caption on the picture you found on my blog. However, it is probably this one, although the dates don’t quite match up with 1913-1947 (information from www.chicagorailfan.com):

23 Morgan-Racine
Horse car route introduced by Chicago Passenger Railway
Streetcar route introduced by West Chicago Street Railroad/Chicago Railways (north of 21st St.)
Streetcar route introduced by Southern Street Railway (21st St. to Archer)
Streetcar route introduced by Chicago City Railway (south of Archer)

1886 – horse car service introduced primarily on Erie between downtown and Ashland
1886 – horse car service introduced on Racine between downtown and 21st St.
1896 – service on Erie and Racine converted to electric streetcar
1898 – Racine streetcar extended south via Throop and Morgan to Union Stockyards
12/1/12 – Through Route streetcar introduced, combining Erie and Racine routes
7/25/48 – streetcar route converted to buses
9/13/81 – discontinued

Through Route operated between Union Stockyards and near northwest side. Segment between 21st St. and Archer actually introduced by Chicago General Railway Co., acquired by Southern Street Railway Co. in 1905.

Midday service discontinued 9/10/61

Car House: Noble (until 8/31/47)
Blue Island (8/31/47-7/25/48)
Bus Garage: Blue Island (7/25/48-1/16/55)
Archer (1/16/55-9/13/81)

As for the streetcar itself, Don’s Rail Photos gives the following information:

3098 was built by CSL in 1922. It was scrapped in 1948.

More pictures of streetcars were taken by fans in the 1940s than in the 1930s, perhaps in part because it was widely known that the older ones would soon be disappearing. So while there may not be much in the picture that can help date it, chances are it is from the period 1940-1948 than anything earlier than that, just due to statistics.

I hope this helps.

-David Sadowski

PS- Here is the other picture of 3098 that we previously ran.

Andre Kristopans: “3098 SB turning off Erie into Racine.” (Railway Negative Exchange Photo)

The Trolley Dodger On the Air

We appeared on WGN radio in Chicago last November, discussing our book Building Chicago’s Subways on the Dave Plier Show. You can hear our 19-minute conversation here.

Order Our New Book Building Chicago’s Subways

There were three subway anniversaries in 2018 in Chicago:
60 years since the West Side Subway opened (June 22, 1958)
75 years since the State Street Subway opened (October 17, 1943)
80 years since subway construction started (December 17, 1938)

To commemorate these anniversaries, we have written a new book, Building Chicago’s Subways.

While the elevated Chicago Loop is justly famous as a symbol of the city, the fascinating history of its subways is less well known. The City of Chicago broke ground on what would become the “Initial System of Subways” during the Great Depression and finished 20 years later. This gigantic construction project, a part of the New Deal, would overcome many obstacles while tunneling through Chicago’s soft blue clay, under congested downtown streets, and even beneath the mighty Chicago River. Chicago’s first rapid transit subway opened in 1943 after decades of wrangling over routes, financing, and logistics. It grew to encompass the State Street, Dearborn-Milwaukee, and West Side Subways, with the latter modernizing the old Garfield Park “L” into the median of Chicago’s first expressway. Take a trip underground and see how Chicago’s “I Will” spirit overcame challenges and persevered to help with the successful building of the subways that move millions. Building Chicago’s subways was national news and a matter of considerable civic pride–making it a “Second City” no more!

Bibliographic information:

Title Building Chicago’s Subways
Images of America
Author David Sadowski
Edition illustrated
Publisher Arcadia Publishing (SC), 2018
ISBN 1467129380, 9781467129381
Length 128 pages

Chapter Titles:
01. The River Tunnels
02. The Freight Tunnels
03. Make No Little Plans
04. The State Street Subway
05. The Dearborn-Milwaukee Subway
06. Displaced
07. Death of an Interurban
08. The Last Street Railway
09. Subways and Superhighways
10. Subways Since 1960

Building Chicago’s Subways is in stock and now available for immediate shipment. Order your copy today! All copies purchased through The Trolley Dodger will be signed by the author.

The price of $23.99 includes shipping within the United States.

For Shipping to US Addresses:

For Shipping to Canada:

For Shipping Elsewhere:

Redone tile at the Monroe and Dearborn CTA Blue Line subway station, showing how an original sign was incorporated into a newer design, May 25, 2018. (David Sadowski Photo)

Help Support The Trolley Dodger

This is our 225th 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 480,000 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.

DONATIONS

In order to continue giving you the kinds of historic railroad images that you have come to expect from The Trolley Dodger, we need your help and support. It costs money to maintain this website, and to do the sort of historic research that is our specialty.

Your financial contributions help make this web site better, and are greatly appreciated.

The Great Chicago Interurbans – Part Two (CNS&M)

February 5, 2017March 10, 2017David Sadowski 23 Comments

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.

-David Sadowski

See our last post (January 28, 2017) for part one.

North Shore Line

<img class="size-large wp-image-9191" src="https://thetrolleydodger.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/dave588.jpg?w=665" alt="On a June 17, 1962 CERA fantrip, we see NSL car 744 posing for pictures on a section of track that was once part of the old Shore Line Route, abandoned in 1955. Don's Rail Photos: "744 was built by Pullman in 1928. It was modernized in 1940." We previously featured another picture taken at this location in our post More Color Restorations (August 9, 2016).” width=”665″ height=”407″ /> On a June 17, 1962 CERA fantrip, we see NSL car 744 posing for pictures on a section of track that was once part of the old Shore Line Route, abandoned in 1955. Don’s Rail Photos: “744 was built by Pullman in 1928. It was modernized in 1940.” We previously featured another picture taken at this location in our post More Color Restorations (August 9, 2016).

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.

Here is what the Rogers Park/West Ridge Historical Society says about the North Shore and Western Railway:

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

Help Support The Trolley Dodger

This is our 175th 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 248,000 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.

DONATIONS

As we mentioned in a previous post, we also are on a tight deadline to finish our new book Chicago Trolleys. Your financial contributions will help make this book better, and are greatly appreciated.

Chicago’s Prewar PCCs

May 22, 2015June 9, 2015David Sadowski 16 Comments

CSL 4040 is eastbound at Madison and Laramie on October 23, 1938. (M. D. McCarter Collection)

Continuing on from our recent article Chicago’s Pre-PCCs (May 5), by 1936 the Presidents’ Conference Committee, by then renamed the Electric Railway Presidents’ Conference Committee (ERPCC), had developed a streamlined modern streetcar.

Chicago was very much involved in this, and ordered 83 PCC cars in 1936. These were built by St. Louis Car Co. and were numbered 4002-4051 (owned by Chicago Railways) and 7002-7034 (for Chicago City Railway). The split numbering was due to the Chicago Surface Lines being a unified operating association made up of constituent companies.

To give you some background information on Chicago’s first batch of PCCs, here is an interesting article from the December 1936 issue of Armour Engineer and Alumnus. The Armour Institute is now the Illinois Institute of Technology.

Author Ralph H. Rice was Principal Assistant Engineer in charge of the work of the Board of Supervising Engineers, a partnership between the City of Chicago and the Chicago Surface Lines.

According to the Wikipedia page on the Chicago Surface Lines:

The Settlement Ordinance of 1907 imposed various operating requirements on two of the underlying companies, the Chicago City Railway Company and Chicago Railways, and established a new bureau, the Board of Supervising Engineers (Chicago Traction), a board of engineers and accountants with responsibilities for assuring compliance with the ordinances, and setting standards for equipment and construction.

It is important to note the role played by the City of Chicago, working in partnership with the Chicago Surface Lines through the Board of Supervising Engineers, in developing the specifications for Chicago’s prewar and postwar PCC streetcars.

The Chicago cars were unique in that they were longer and wider than the standard single-ended PCCs used in other cities. They were designed for two-man operation, and had three sets of doors.

They were initially put into service on CSL route 20 – Madison, which was considered representative and offered a wide variety of operating conditions. It ran downtown and through the neighborhoods to the city limits, and also had a branch line (Madison-Fifth). Even so, the 83 PCCs put into service in 1936-37 were not enough to handle the entire schedule on Madison, which to some extent actually competed with the nearby Garfield Park “L” rapid transit line.

The prewar PCCs were popular with the riding public, and as a result, ridership increased, and the cars ran faster than those they replaced. By 1939, the City of Chicago, anticipating transit unification of the Surface Lines with the Chicago Rapid Transit Company, developed a modernization plan that called for a total of 1000 modern streetcars.

Over many years, Chicago’s trolley riders paid into a modernization fund, and by the start of World War II, millions of dollars were available for purchasing new streetcars. However, wartime shortages made this impossible until 1945.

In anticipation of placing new orders for postwar PCCs, CSL experimented with different paint schemes, door arrangements, and with forced-air ventilation, before deciding on the specifications of the 600 new cars delivered in 1946-48. (We will delve further into the postwar cars in our next installment in this series.)

With the delivery of more PCCs, the original 83 cars were shifted to other lines, ultimately running on Cottage Grove, 63rd, and Western, before being retired after nearly 20 years of service in 1956.

Could they have lasted longer? A 1951 CTA (successor to the CSL) consultant’s report stated that the cost of maintaining these cars was increasing. By the standards of the time, the CTA considered streetcars to be fully depreciated after 20 years’ use.

Although the 83 cars from 1936 had seen a lot of use, there is no doubt they could have continued in service if not for the fact that the CTA wanted to phase out streetcars as soon as possible. Similar considerations were at work when the 100 CSL Sedans (aka “Peter Witts”) were retired and scrapped in the early 1950s, after little more than two decades of service.

Other cities such as Toronto managed to keep their streetcars running for a lot longer than 20 years, under hard use.

The only other possible use that CTA had for the prewar cars in 1956 would have been to put them in use between Forest Park and Wheaton, as a “light rail” replacement for a portion of the Chicago, Aurora & Elgin interurban. Unfortunately, no funding to operate such a service was forthcoming (see our article The CTA, the CA&E, and “Political Influence”, February 18) and the CA&E was abandoned without replacement. This plan, while stillborn, may have helped influence the Skokie Swift, which began service in 1964 over five miles of abandoned North Shore Line interurban trackage.

Only one of the 83 prewar cars has been preserved. 4021 is now on static display at the Illinois Railway Museum. For many years, it was stored as part of the CTA’s Historical Collection, but the body was damaged when it was improperly handled while being moved from one location to another. Since arriving at IRM in the mid-1980s the car has been repainted and made to look a lot more presentable from the outside.

El Paso has put out a request for proposals to rebuild several prewar PCCs of about the same vintage as Chicago’s. These have been stored in the desert for 40 years.

This may present a unique opportunity to help restore the last remaining prewar Chicago PCC. Since it is likely that the El Paso cars will receive all new mechanical parts, it is hoped that some of the original parts, rather than simply being discarded, could be used to help bring CSL 4021 back to operating condition in the future. Or, at least, that is my hope.

Meanwhile, I hope that you will enjoy seeing these classic pictures of Chicago’s prewar PCCs in action.

-David Sadowski

CSL 4002 and crew at Madison and Austin on July 16, 1938. (M. D. McCarter Collection)

CSL 4005 at Fifth Avenue and Jackson Boulevard and Christiana in August, 1946. (M. D. McCarter Collection)

CTA 4015 at Central Park and 63rd. (Joe L. Diaz Photo)

According to Bob Lalich, CTA 4013 is “under the Grand Trunk Western overpass at 63rd and Central Park.” (Joe L. Diaz Photo)

CTA 4026 is eastbound at 115th and Cottage Grove on June 6, 1952. (Thomas H. Desnoyers Photo)

CSL 4009, in “tiger stripes,” at West Shops. These were meant to alert motorists that the streetcars were wider than they might think. (CSL Photo)

CSL 4022, with “handlebar mustache,” at Madison and Austin on Pearl Harbor Day, December 7, 1945. (Joe L. Diaz Photo)

CSL 4035, in experimental colors, at Madison and Austin on November 2, 1946.

CSL 4020, in experimental decor, at Madison and Austin. (Joe L. Diaz Photo)

CSL 4018, in experimental paint, at Kedzie Station (carhouse) on February 9, 1946. (Joe L. Diaz Photo)

CSL 4028 on the Madison-Fifth branch line, here at Fifth Avenue and Harrison, with a Harrison car at right. (Edward Frank Jr. Photo)

CSL 4022 at Kedzie and Van Buren. (CSL Photo)

CSL 4027, eastbound on Madison near Canal, on May 6, 1937. (George Krambles Photo)

CSL 4051 at Madison and Austin, sporting an experimental door arrangement . (Robert W. Gibson Photo)

CSL 7011 at Madison and Austin on July 16, 1938. (M. D. McCarter Collection)

CSL 7017 at Madison and Austin in 1938.

CSL 4003 at Madison and Lavergne. (Joe L. Diaz Photo)

CSL 4022 in experimental colors at Madison and Austin.

CTA 4010 at 63rd and Central Park. (Joe L. Diaz Photo)

Circa 1945, we see CSL 7026 fitted with experimental forced-air ventilation of the type used in some Boston PCCs. It was not used on the postwar Chicago cars.

CSL 4020 in experimental colors at Madison and Austin in February 1946. (James J. Buckley Photo)

CSL 4028 and 4010 pass at Madison and Hamlin in early 1937, shortly after entering service. We are at the west end of Garfield Park.

CSL 4009 at West Shops. (CSL Photo)

CSL 4007 at Madison and Austin in 1939. (M. D. McCarter Collection)

CSL 7016 and a line truck at the Madison and Austin loop. (Joe L. Diaz Photo)

CSL 4008 eastbound on 63rd Street in 1947.