A Cold Last Ride

January 25, 2016January 29, 2016David Sadowski 10 Comments

319-320 in Wheaton. (Mark Llanuza Collection)

Thanks to the generosity of Mark Llanuza, we are today featuring photos from his collection that were taken on December 7, 1958, on the final passenger movement on the Chicago, Aurora & Elgin interurban. This was a fantrip sponsored by the Illini Railroad Club.

As you can see in the flyer reproduced below, the trip started and ended at 5th Avenue in Maywood. This was as far east as CA&E could go in 1958. To get there from the DesPlaines Avenue CTA terminal, fans would have taken the CTA #17 bus (which replaced the Westchester “L” in 1951), got off at Madison and First, and walked about three blocks south.

In a previous post (“The CTA, the CA&E, and “Political Influence,” Feb. 18, 2015) we delved into some of the issues surrounding efforts to save the CA&E, and why they ultimately failed.

In short, CA&E was allowed to “temporarily” abandon passenger service as of July 3, 1957 because, at that moment, it was in the best interests of all the various power brokers who were involved.

The State of Illinois wanted very much to begin expressway construction near the DesPlaines River, so that two segments of highway could be connected. CA&E owned a crucial piece of property where the highway was to be built, and if they had not agreed to sell it, this could have held up construction for two years.

CA&E, in turn, had been operating at a loss since they voluntarily stopped running their trains over CTA trackage in September 1953. They had received a lot of income, on the other hand, through the sale of various parts of their right-of-way. For example, the CTA bought CA&E’s infrastructure between Laramie and DesPlaines Avenue (but not, apparently, the terminal itself) for $1m. Instead of using this money to purchase new equipment, the railroad distributed the proceeds from this partial liquidation to their shareholders.

These kinds of actions invited speculators to purchase CA&E stock and helped hasten the eventual liquidation of the entire railroad. It was worth more dead than alive. Operating, it lost money, but liquidated, it meant a handsome profit to the shareholders.

A CA&E stock certificate issued in 1956 to Curtis M. Wylie (1890-1958), a Michigan businessman. The stock was redeemed in 1959 after his death. Wylie left a bequest of $6.2m to the Grand Rapids Foundation, which continues to benefit the community today.

If CA&E had wanted to continue operating passenger service, it would have been possible to build a temporary track connection with the CTA Forest Park terminal via the Chicago Great Western starting at First Avenue using overhead wire. But CA&E was only interested in either selling the entire railroad (to the State or the CTA) or liquidating it. The highway project became an expedient excuse for abandonment. Meanwhile, CA&E insisted on being reimbursed for the operating losses they had incurred since 1953, and this appears to have been folded into the amount they were paid for their right-of-way between First Avenue and DesPlaines.

There were, in fact, additional portions of CA&E right-of-way that were needed for highway construction elsewhere. In retrospect, it would have saved the state money if they had simply purchased the entire railroad for $6m, as they nearly did in 1956. But this would have made the state responsible for maintaining service.

Likewise, it did not benefit the CTA to keep the CA&E running. Better to let them abandon service, in case it would have been possible for the CTA to resume service over a portion of the interurban (to Wheaton) later on. In any event, CTA did not want to operate any service over former CA&E trackage until and unless their additional operating expenses would be paid for. And nobody stepped forward to make that happen.

So, once CA&E had distributed the proceeds from various land sales to their shareholders, there was little or nothing left in the till to pay for a resumption of passenger service in 1959. And although there was a modest increase in freight traffic after the 1957 abandonment of passenger service, the railroad was still losing money. Without a firm sale or an additional funding source, the railroad’s choices were to either dissipate all their remaining assets, or simply go out of business.

It was hoped that the December 1958 fantrip would help generate interest in a resumption of passenger service on the CA&E. Unfortunately, this did not happen.

If service had been resumed, there likely would have been continued short-term losses in passengers due to completion of the Congress (now Eisenhower) expressway in the suburbs. But over time, this trend surely would have reversed itself and passenger counts would have once again increased as the western suburbs became more and more built up.

As it turned out, the state and CTA wanted to be the “good cops,” who would resume some partial level of service on the interurban if DuPage County would cover the costs, and were perfectly happy to let CA&E act as the “bad cop” who discontinued service. And in this, they rose to the occasion, with an abrupt midday shutdown that stranded thousands of riders on July 3, 1957. They were content to “take the money and run,” so to speak.

The great majority of images in this post were shot by one unknown photographer who went on the 1959 fantrip. Mark Llanuza purchased them from the man’s daughter after he died.

Film speeds were much slower in 1958 than they are today. Kodachrome was ISO 10, meaning it was mainly usable only on sunny days. However, Kodak had also introduced Ektachrome, another slide film with an initial speed of 32. I believe this is the film used on that day.

These images have a larger grain structure than is typical for Kodachrome, and are, in general, underexposed. This was a day when ISO 400 would have been a better choice, if such a thing had existed. Even the most popular black-and-white film of the time, Super-XX, only had a speed of 200 ISO.

Many railfan photographers were turned off to Ektachrome because the version available around 1956 faded badly to red in a short period of time. (Technically speaking, the red layer stayed the same, while the green and blue layers faded.) This problem appears to have been solved by 1958, when these pictures were taken.

Under the circumstances, we can be glad that the pictures turned out as well as they did. Since the film was somewhat underexposed, there are reciprocity shifts in color, which generally gave these images an overall blue cast which is unnatural. We have attempted to correct for these color shifts as best we could, but it was not always possible to eliminate all of them without increasing the contrast in each image to an excessive degree. In other words, if there is snow in the picture, you want the snow to look white and not blue, yellow, or gray.

Looking at these pictures, it’s possible to figure out somewhat the itinerary for the trip, including the photo stops and where there were staged run-bys for the benefit of motion picture cameras. Presumably, if there weren’t any freight movements on that Sunday, the fantrip had the entire railroad to itself and didn’t have to worry about any meets.

The flyer mentions a “speed run” back from Elgin but I do not know offhand to what extent CA&E’s automatic gates were still in use at this point. Freight service continued for but a few more months after this before it, too, was abandoned forever.

Thanks again to Mark for sharing these rare images with us, the last gasp of the legendary “Roarin’ Elgin.”

-David Sadowski

PS- You can hear rare audio recordings of the Chicago, Aurora & Elgin on Railroad Record Club LP #36. This recording has been digitally remastered onto compact disc, along with RRC 35, and is available in our Online Store. Along with the CA&E, this disc also features recordings of the CTA Garfield Park “L”, the North Shore Line, and Milwaukee city streetcars.

Mark Llanuza writes:

You did a really great job putting this together for your fans and members. I talked to Norm Carlson who rode this trip on a very cold December 7th 1958 trip. He said it was cold and damp, then started to rain and got colder and snow came. They ran five photo run bys– one at Elgin station, Lakewood, Wheaton Golf club, Price Crossing rd., Glen Oak, and a grand tour of the Wheaton shops in the snow storm.

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http://www.greatthirdrail.org/images/ROW_despl_br.jpg
When the fantrip took place, the CA&E’s former right-of-way near the DesPlaines River was torn up for expressway construction. As you can see in this photo, the bridge was in the process of being shifted to the north, with a new track alignment. This process was not completed until the second half of 1959, by which time the railroad was unable to resume service even on a trial basis. The new track connection to the CTA Forest Park terminal was never used.

The Chicago Tribune weather forecast for December 7, 1958 called for cloudy and cold conditions, with a temperature between 12 and 20 degrees.

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)

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.

When the fantrip began at 10:00 am, it had not started snowing yet. By the time it ended, at 5:00 pm, a substantial amount of snow was on the ground.

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.

319-320 at the Aurora terminal. (Mark Llanuza Collection)

Aurora terminal. (Mark Llanuza Collection)

319-320 at Glen Oak. (Mark Llanuza Collection)

320-319 at Prince Crossing on the Elgin branch. (Mark Llanuza Collection)

320-319 at Prince Crossing Road. (Mark Llanuza Collection)

Chicago Golf Club at Wheaton. (Mark Llanuza Collection)

319-320 at the Chicago Golf Club in Wheaton. (Mark Llanuza Collection)

319 at Wheaton Shops. (Mark Llanuza Collection)

Freight motors at Wheaton Shops. (Mark Llanuza Collection)

Wheaton Shops. (Mark Llanuza Collection)

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Wheaton Shops. (Mark Llanuza Collection)

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Wheaton Shops. (Mark Llanuza Collection)

319-320 at Lakewood Station in West Chicago. (Mark Llanuza Collection)

The former Lakewood station as it looked last summer. It is now part of the Illinois Prairie Path. (Mark Llanuza Photo)

At speed near Lakewood Station, West Chicago. (Mark Llanuza Collection)

319-320 near the Clintonville Station on the Elgin branch, December 7, 1958. (Mark Llanuza Collection)

319-320 in Elgin. (Mark Llanuza Collection)

At the Corrugated Box Co., Elgin. (Mark Llanuza Collection)

320-319 near the Corrugated Box Company on the Elgin branch, December 7, 1958. (Mark Llanuza Collection)

320-319 at the Elgin terminal. (Mark Llanuza Collection)

320 at the Elgin terminal. (Mark Llanuza Collection)

319-320 arcing in Maywood. (Mark Llanuza Collection)

320-319 at 5th Avenue, Maywood. (Mark Llanuza Collection)

After Abandonment:

Dunham Road, Wayne IL, January 1960. (Mark Llanuza Collection)

The former CA&E station at Wayne (Army Trail Road) as it looked in November 1961. (Mark Llanuza Collection)

Glen Ellyn Station in 1961. (Mark Llanuza Collection)

The Elgin Watch Factory in January 1963. It closed the following year. (Mark Llanuza Collection)

Tokens of Our Esteem

January 20, 2016February 4, 2024David Sadowski 9 Comments

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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As we have said before, “If you buy here, we will be here.”

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More Off-Street Loops

Andre Kristopans has a few additions to the very comprehensive list of Chicago’s off-street streetcar and bus turnaround loops he shared with us recently:

A few additions:

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.”

CA&E 409 and 414 on the turnback loop in Forest Park in 1957.

Throwback Thursday

January 7, 2016January 12, 2016David Sadowski 13 Comments

A recent post mentioned a May 25, 1958 CERA fantrip, where Chicago Transit Authority personnel brought out cars from their historical collection to pose for photographs. Here is another such car taken out that day, Chicago street railway post office #6, built in 1891 and currently preserved at the Fox River Trolley Museum in South Elgin.

This is “Throwback Thursday,” so rather than have an over-arching theme, we present several interesting photos spanning the 1940s to the 1970s that we hope you will enjoy.

Happy New Year!

-David Sadowski

Help Support The Trolley Dodger

This is our 110th post, and we are gradually creating a body of work and an online resource for the benefit of all railfans, everywhere.

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.

PS- As we approach our one-year anniversary this month, the deadline for renewing our premium WordPress account comes due in less than ten days. This includes out Internet domain www.thetrolleydodger.com, much of the storage space we use for the thousands of files posted here, and helps keep this an ads-free experience for our readers. Your contributions towards this goal are greatly appreciated, in any amount.

Updates

George Foelschow writes:

Some time ago, I mentioned that I had two CSL/CTA surface track maps and offered to scan them for The Trolley Dodger. Well, I am confined at home today thanks to an El Nino storm and finally got around to it.

I think the CSL 1939 map is notable in that it probably represents the maximum extent of surface track in Chicago. It includes the Roosevelt and Cermak extensions into Burnham Park, 47th Street into the same park, and the full extent of 87th Street. Add in improbable and early abandonments like Franklin/Elm, Erie, and Fulton. The only stretch already gone is the Chicago Avenue line along Lake Shore Drive and into the Navy Pier area. There is even a stretch of dead track on Jefferson Street between VanBuren and Jefferson, which showed up on a photo published on your blog recently. Maybe sharp eyes can detect other anomalies.

I just received the long-awaited “New Look” data disc and am looking forward to settling down with that.

We thank Mr. Foelschow for his generosity. Both of these supervisor’s maps have been added to our E-book Chicago’s PCC Streetcars: The Rest of the Story, available from our Online Store. Now, our unique collection includes the track maps from 1939, 1941, 1946, 1948, 1949, 1952, and 1954.

Recent Correspondence

Olin Anderson of Walla Walla, Washington, who worked for the Chicago Area Transportation Study in the 1990s, asked if we could clear up some mysteries regarding track arrangements on the CTA Congress rapid transit line (featured in our recent E-Book The “New Look” in Chicago Transit: 1938-1973, which you can also find in our Online Store.

Here is what I believe at present:

1. The third track planned for Congress between DesPlaines and Laramie was intended to be used by CA&E as an express track that would keep CA&E and CTA trains separated.

2. The original transfer point between the two railroads was intended to be Laramie, where CA&E’s tracks ended and CTA’s began. These plans were eventually changed and DesPlaines became the transfer point. Meanwhile, CTA paid $1m to CA&E for their “infrastructure” between Laramie and DesPlaines Avenue, even though all this was due to be replaced soon anyway.

3. CA&E went back and forth on whether they would run their trains downtown even after completion of the new right-of-way. They made statements at varying times both ways.

4. CTA’s general preference would have been for CA&E to not run downtown since this would have complicated their operation of the line. They also felt that with the speed improvement of the new route, even if CA&E riders had to change to CTA they would still get downtown faster.

5. Expansion of the DesPlaines yard was an afterthought. The original plans envisioned a track connection to the old Laramie Yard. I have read that this was to be a flyover, but it would have made more sense to have a subway under the highway.

6. The City wanted Lake to be routed onto Congress via a new elevated connection. The location of this changed over the years, from about 3200 W. to 4400 W.

7. From the point where Lake was to be routed onto Congress there would have been four tracks. The two extra subway portals near Halsted were intended for use by Lake trains, as they would have gone into a new “distributor” subway.

8. CTA kept a portion of the old Humboldt Park branch until late 1961 as a potential storage area for CA&E trains.

9. There was talk right near the end (1957) of building a ramp for CA&E trains to connect with the “L” system. Presumably this would have been on the other side of the ramp that was built, and would have permitted CA&E trains to run downtown via the Paulina Connector and the Lake line to circle the Loop.

10. In 1953, when the track connection between CTA and CA&E was severed, that was fine with both of them, because they did not want to have to pay each other to run on each other’s tracks.

Thanks.

In the Comments section of a recent post, Jeff Weiner and I corresponded about the CTA’s PCC Conversion Program, a subject also covered in Chicago’s PCC Streetcars: The Rest of the Story. Thanks to Phil Becker, here are a couple of his photos showing cars going back and forth between CTA and St. Louis Car Company in 1957:

(Phil Becker Photo)

Here is a postwar Chicago PCC streetcar in the Streator Yard of the Santa Fe, on its way to St. Louis Car Company as part of the CTA’s “conversion program.” (Phil Becker Photo)

Again, thanks to Phil Becker, here are some of his pictures from a Central Electric Railfans’ Association fantrip held on May 27, 1973 using 4000-series “L” cars which were just being retired around this time. The occasion was CERA’s 35th anniversary.

Two 4000s remain on CTA property more than 90 years after they were put into service and are operated on special occasions.

(Phil Becker Photo)

Off-Street Chicago Bus and Streetcar Loops

Andre Kristopans has updated and expanded the list of off-street loops he recently shared with us:

Limits Garage 1860’s out 7/3/94
Root/Halsted 1/1895 out 8/9/53
Cable Ct/Harper 7/08 out 6/21/59
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 1/11 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 1/25/31 out 9/23/78
Montrose/Narragansett 1/25/31 out 9/3/78
Belmont/Pacific 5/30/31 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
Belmont/Central 5/30/31 out 1/9/49 (relocated across street 9/16/35)
Diversey/Western 9/12/35 out 7/1/55
Diversey/Neva 10/4/38 active
Caldwell/Central 8/39 (relocated 10/29/61)
83/Green Bay 5/13/40 out 10/30/63
Bell & Howell 12/5/42 out 03/08/87
76/Keeler 7/26/43 out 3/16/53
76/Kilpatrick 7/26/43 out 6/21/59
Pershing/Western Blvd parking lot east of intersection 8/28/45 out 2/14/48
Pershing/Ashland parking lot west of intersection 8/28/45 out 1947
115/Cottage Grove 9/23/45 out 6/16/63 (south of 115th)
Montrose/Broadway 7/29/46 out 6/22/80
Monroe Parking Lot (CMC) 8/15/46 out 1972
Soldier Field Parking Lot (CMC) 8/15/46 out 9/12/83
Merchandise Mart Plaza 9/16/46 out 1987
Torrence/128 10/21/46 relocated to 130th west of Torrence 6/21/78, out 9/11/81
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)
87/Western 5/22/47 active
Damen/Elston 6/19/47 out 9/30/63
84/State 6/28/47 out 11/26/58
116/Burley (Republic Steel) 6/30/47 out 11/30/86
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 1/24/88
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 12/28/08
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 9/8/85
North/Clark 12/4/49 active
North/Narragansett 12/4/49 active
Jersey/Peterson 5/13/50 out 9/7/73
31/California 5/17/50 out 9/2/80
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 4/9/84
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 9/7/73
Grand/Latrobe 5/24/52 active
Cermak/54 Av 5/25/52 active (moved 8/18/03)
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 12/20/15
Chicago/Mayfield 12/13/52 active (moved to Austin 11/21/88)
Roosevelt/Wabash 5/12/53 out 4/15/73
Racine/87 5/28/53 active
26/Kenton 6/18/53 out 6/12/77
Desplaines/Congress 10/9/53 active relocated numerous times until 2/23/81
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 12/29/96
Ashland/95 11/4/54 active
California/Addison 11/26/54 out 3/31/13
Grand/Natchez 12/20/54 out 2/22/67
Western/119 2/9/55 active
Cermak/47 Av 4/17/55 out 6/29/86
Jackson/Austin 7/8/55 active
Forest Glen Garage 12/4/55 active
Damen/87 12/9/55 active
North Park Garage 12/4/55 no longer used as turnaround since 1/31/92
Cottage Grove/Burnside 8/22/56 out 4/1/91 (reactivated 6/17/07 to 8/23/10)
Brother Rice High School 9/10/56 active
Cermak Plaza 1/14/57 out 11/30/75
59/Keating 5/5/57 out 9/6/87
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 3/7/86
Teletype Corp 9/8/58 out 6/26/81
Pulaski/104 9/17/58 active
Cicero/64 11/27/58 out 11/7/93
Pulaski/77 6/21/59 out 6/1/62
79/Kilpatrick (Scottsdale) 6/21/58 out 3/5/00
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 out 1/16/67 account McCormick Place burned down
115/Pulaski 12/4/60 out 8/3/64
67/Oglesby 12/15/60 active
Howard/Hermitage 12/3/61 replaced 3/22/02
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 11/19/03 (unofficially several years earlier)
Skokie Swift 4/19/64 active
Old Orchard 4/20/64 relocated to west mall entrance 2/11/74
Marist High School 8/24/64 out 8/30/07
Randolph/Lake Shore (Outer Drive East Apts) 9/14/64 out 3/7/75
55/St Louis 11/11/64 active replaced 2000’s
51/St Louis 1/13/65 out 11/7/93
115/Springfield 5/10/65 active
King Dr/Burnside 6/20/65 out 11/12/72
Ford City 8/12/65 active relocated 11/29/87
Luther High School (87/Sacramento) 11/24/65 out 1990’s
Pratt/Kedzie 8/1/66 out 6/23/03
Mercy Hospital 2/1/68 out 6/29/04?
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 12/10/76
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
McCormick Place 1/2/71 out 1/80 account McCormick Place expansion
Olive/Harvey 2/8/71 active relocated 8/3/81 to west side of main bldg and 8/20/82 to s side of bldg
International Towers (Bryn Mawr/Delphia) 6/7/71 out 5/29/73
Wilson/E Ravenswood 1970’s out 12/15/12
King Dr/96 11/12/72 out 7/30/73 temporary Chicago State terminal
Pavilion Apts – 5/29/73 active (relocated to N side of complex 2/28/83)
Clark/Wisconsin 6/18/73 out 9/8/96
95/St Lawrence 7/30/73 active (not used 6/17/07 to 8/23/10 because of dispute with CSU)
South Blvd/Sheridan 09/10/73 out 6/20/03 inherited from Evanston Bus Co
Touhy/Overhill 10/25/74 – CTA has not used since 12/15/12 (replaced last Y terminal)
Randolph/Harbor (Harbor Point Apts) 3/7/75 active
North Riverside Park Mall 11/30/75 active (relocated closer to entrance 7/9/81)
Division/Austin 2/16/76 active
Lincoln Village (Lincoln/Jersey) 4/2/78 out 2/3/80
73/Oak Park 4/2/78 out 12/31/81
Field Museum turn-in on McFetridge 6/18/78 active
Chicago-Read Hospital 9/3/78 out 9/6/15 (relocated across Oak Park Av 10/6/96)
71/Pulaski (Shopping center parking lot) 6/22/80 active
Pratt/Central Park 12/8/80 out 3/8/87
Central/77 (St Laurence HS) 1980’s active
Evanston Twp High School Parking Lot 1/3/82 out 6/20/03
Harlem/Higgins 2/27/83 active
Cumberland/Bryn Mawr – 2/27/83 active
River Rd/Kennedy 2/27/83 – CTA stopped using 1/23/88
47/Laramie (trucking company parking lot) 7/2/84 out 6/21/92
Riverside Square (Archer/Ashland) 12/1/86 out 11/4/97
Skokie Courthouse 1/25/88 active
103rd Garage 6/26/88 active
Grand/Columbus 12/27/88 out 2/28/93
Church/Lamon (Skokie) (JCC) 6/25/90 out 6/21/91
Bryn Mawr/Lake Shore 7/19/93 active
Wright College 8/22/93 active
Archer/Halsted 10/31/93 active
Archer/Ashland 10/31/93 active
Western/49 10/31/93 active
Archer/Leavitt 10/31/93 active
Kedzie/49 10/31/93 active
Pulaski/51 10/31/93 active
59/Kilpatrick 10/31/93 active
King/24th Pl 10/30/94 active but no scheduled service since 12/14/12
McCormick Place South driveway 2/8/97 out ca 1998 as impractical
Desplaines/Harrison 3/9/97 active
Nature Museum (Cannon/Fullerton) 12/12/99 active
Kostner/74 6/25/00 active
Golf/Waukegan (Avon Corp parking lot) 6/24/02 active
Central Park/Cleveland (Rand-McNally Skokie) 6/23/03 out 9/5/09
Lincolnwood Town Center Mall 6/19/06 active
Pullman Plaza parking lot (Doty W/109) 9/11/13
74th Garage first used as turnaround 3/30/14 active

More “Throwback” Photos:

Indiana Railroad car 65 at the Illinois Electric Railway Museum in North Chicago. The date given for this picture is 1955. Behind it is, I think, North Shore Line city streetcar 354. To the right is North Shore Line 161, which presents somewhat of a mystery since this car was not preserved after abandonment. The original museum site, however, was adjacent to the North Shore Line, so this must be an in-service car and not part of the museum’s collection.

An interior view of a Red Arrow Bullet car in 1960. Note the similarity of these bucket seats and those on Indiana Railroad car 65, built around the same time as this car (1931).

North Shore Line city streetcar 356 in Milwaukee on May 13, 1951. Sister car 354 is preserved at the Illinois Railway Museum.

A sign advertising South Shore Line interurban service to the Indiana Dunes at Howard Street in Chicago, 1949.

In this July1947 view, photographer Perry Frank Johnson captured Chicago South Shore & South Bend freight locomotive #1002 on busy Franklin Street in Michigan City, Indiana.

With the recent news that the new but long-delayed Washington, DC streetcar may open by the end of February, we thought we would post this view of DC Transit #1512, the air conditioned “Silver Sightseer” near the Capital Building on August 22, 1961.

Chicago & West Towns cars 153, 140, and 119 on the busy LaGrange line.

Chicago & West Towns 155 on the LaGrange line in 1941.

C&WT cars 128, 104,122, and 152 at the car barn at Harlem and Cermak in 1941.

Chicago & West Towns 140, sister car to the 141 now operating at the Illinois Railway Museum, at the south parking lot of the Brookfield Zoo in the 1940s.

A pair of CTA 6000s head north from the Merchandise Mart in this wintry 1963 scene.

A two-car train of CTA 6000s heads west at Lake and LaSalle in April 1964. Below the “L” at right, we see the Loop location of Discount Records, a local chain who once had a great selection of LPs.

In July 1963, a two-car CTA Ravenswood train of 6000s approaches Adams and Wabash from the south. When this picture was taken, both tracks on the Loop “L” ran in the same direction. At right we can see Carl Fischer’s, sellers of sheet music for many years, at 312 S. Wabash.

PCC Side Roll Signs

Kenosha PCC 4617, the SF Muni 1950s-style tribute car. (John DeLamater Photo)

John DeLamater writes:

I found a sign shop here in Madison that made a nice replica of a vintage MUNI side roll sign for 4617. We installed it yesterday and it looks great. Photo attached. I am wondering if CTA PCCS in the 50s had side roll signs in a standee window, and if so, what destinations were listed. Do you happen to have any sources for that information?

Thanks for writing. That San Francisco tribute car sure looks good.

Yes, the Chicago PCCs had side roll signs, both prewar and postwar, as did both experimental cars (4001 and 7001). The postwar cars had them in a standee window.

You will find many, many pictures of these signs among the Chicago PCC pictures posted here on this web site.

Presumably, such signs were somewhat simpler in wording than the front signs, which were naturally a lot larger. In addition, I would imagine there were variations.

These signs were made via a silk-screening process in segments that were then stitched together. So, parts of a sign could be added and subtracted.

Offhand, I couldn’t say whether all PCCs had the same set of signs, or if the signs a car had were based on which Station (car barn) it ran out of. Perhaps our readers can enlighten us on that point. Surely there are fans out there who have such side rolls signs in their collections, and there is also the 4391 that can be checked at IRM.

One of our readers notes:

The side signs of the Post War PCCs differed between those built by Pullman-Standard and St Louis Car Company. The readings were probably the same, but the layouts were different. Pullman side signs were straight across with the route names such as CLARK-WENTWORTH. SLCC were often in two rows such as
CLARK
WENTWORTH.

It appears that there were three different sets of side signs based upon the car stations (Kedzie, 69th/Devon/77th, 38th-Cottage). Kedzie served Madison, Madison-Fifth; 69th/Devon/77th served Halsted, Clark-Wentworth, Broadway-State, Western and 63rd; 38th-Cottage served Cottage Grove.

The side signs for 69th/Devon/77th read as follows:

CHARTERED
BROADWAY-STATE
BROADWAY (added in 1955)
BROADWAY-WABASH
STATE
CLARK-WENTWORTH
CLARK
WENTWORTH
HALSTED
HALSTED-ARCHER-CLARK
WESTERN
63RD STREET
NOT IN SERVICE

The above readings were from a SLCC PCC.

George Trapp adds:

Actually the difference was not between Pullman and St.Louis but rather between first 200 cars 4052-4171, 7035-7114 which originally had route name such as CLARK-WENTWORTH squeezed into one line. The 400 cars of the second order 4172-4411, 7115-7274 had the route name on two lines.

Front signs between the two orders differed as well as built. On the front signs the style of the route numbers were more simplified on the second order and destinations with numbered streets showed 79th, 81st, 119th on first order versus 79, 81, 119 on second.

Thanks for this great information.

-D. S.

The CTA sign shop at work in the 1950s.

Highlights from The “New Look,” Part 2

December 31, 2015October 15, 2017David Sadowski 4 Comments

The Forest Park CTA terminal in June 1959. CA&E had stopped running here nearly two years earlier, which facilitated expressway construction (it opened here in 1960). If CA&E had resumed it would have used the track and platform at the left of the CTA property, begging the question of why a temporary track wasn’t instead built using one of the nearby CGW tracks.

In the second of two posts, our last for this year, we again feature 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. You will find the first installment here.

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.

This transformation included the creation of the Chicago Transit Authority in 1945 by act of the state legislature. CTA represented public ownership and unification of Chicago’s mass transit system. The Chicago Rapid Transit Company, Chicago Surface Lines, and (later) Chicago Motor Coach Company were all merged.

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 108th post this year, 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 107,500 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.

As we have said before, “If you buy here, we will be here.”

We thank you for your support.

PS- As we approach our one-year anniversary next month, the deadline for renewing our premium WordPress account comes due in less than 30 days. This includes out Internet domain www.thetrolleydodger.com, much of the storage space we use for the thousands of files posted here, and helps keep this an ads-free experience for our readers. Your contributions towards this goal are greatly appreciated, in any amount.

It’s an uphill climb, keeping this thing going. But we can do it with your help.

Space- The Final Frontier

One of our readers writes:

None of the pictures on this ‘thread’ are enlargeable, with the sole exception of the cover graphic piece. I don’t think it’s my PC as all the others readily enlarge.

We’ve just about run out of our 13 GB allotment of storage space for images. As a short-term fix, I started another free WordPress blog, which gives us an additional 3 GB. However, it seems that as a result, the pictures are not enlargeable.

This may be because they are links that are not pointed to the storage space for this blog, even though it’s just another WordPress blog. I’ll have to find out if there is a way to get around this issue, at least until more funds are available and we can purchase additional storage space from WordPress, thanks. Your contributions will help solve this issue, and we appreciate them.

2015 In Review

This blog started on January 21, 2015. During the year, we made 108 posts, which included a few thousand high quality images. For our first 107 posts, we have reached more than 107,000 page views, and average of more than 1000 per post, and this figure is gradually increasing.

This means that over time, we are building up a following. More people are looking at the new posts, and more people are in turn looking at the old posts. We welcome all of our visitors as guests to our virtual home and thank you for stopping by.

We also released nearly 30 new products, three important Ebook collections, and more than two dozen CD collections featuring the sounds of vintage streetcars, interurbans, and steam engines.

For 2016, we hope to finally complete our efforts to make the entire Railroad Record Club catalog available once again. We also hope to issue new recordings in the spirit of the RRC. Watch this space for further details.

1957 SF Muni PCC Leasing

FYI, we recently came across an interesting 1957 document from San Francisco’s Municipal Railway (Muni). The last new PCC streetcar built in America was made for Muni in 1952 (car #1040, and they still have it).

Anyhow, five years later they wanted to lease PCCs from other cities that still had them and no longer wanted them. While I know they eventually bought PCCs from other cities, I do not know whether they did on fact lease any.

However, the document is interesting because it specifies what Muni wanted in a standard PCC car. They had to be postwar cars and meet certain specifications made by the Transit Research Corporation. (TRC was the successor to the ERPCC, the Electric Railway Presidents’ Conference Committee, holder of the various PCC patents.)

This was the period where the CTA was finishing up dismantling the Chicago streetcar system. While 570 of the 600 postwar Chicago PCCs were scrapped for parts recycling, there were about two dozen cars that CTA tried to sell at the end of service.

A middleman purchased nearly all of them, with the idea of selling them to another city, such as Mexico City. Ultimately, no other city could be found that could use them, because they had non-standard dimensions.

Chicago had what you might call “Super PCCs.” These were longer than standard cars, had a unique third set of rear doors, and were designed for two-man operation, although some were eventually converted to one-man operation.

Although in the short run, this made it harder to sell the cars to another city, it was a prescient design. Since the 1950s, there has been a trend towards longer and longer streetcars, and the Flexitys now being delivered to Toronto dwarf even the Super PCCs that Chicago had.

We have added this 1957 document to our E-book collection Chicago’s PCC Streetcars: The Rest of the Story, available through our Online Store.

You can read it here.

Happy New Year! See you in 2016.

-David Sadowski

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CTA found creative ways for recycling many of the wooden “L” cars that were retired in the 1950s. A few dozen of such cars were lined up at Skokie Shops and used for storage, until a new building was built on the property.

This Transit News article offers a logical explanation of why the 51st-55th trolley bus route was converted to motor buses in 1959, almost exactly one year after the last streetcar ran in Chicago. The City turned part of a street over to developers, and rather than reroute the trolley bus line, which would have involved an expense, CTA at first wanted to cut service back. They soon decided it would be better to separate 51st and 55th into two separate motor bus routes instead.
Similar considerations were involved previously when route 4 Cottage Grove streetcar line was converted to bus in 1955. For a while, Cottage Grove PCCs ran through a no man’s land of a street closed off to car traffic, where all nearby buildings had been torn down. The City Council granted this operation reprieves six months at a time until abandonment.
Similarly, the timing of bus conversion on route 49 – Western was influenced by the City’s desire to build a flyover on Western at Belmont, near Riverview.
If the CTA had been committed to electric surface transit, of course, they would have found a way to make these investments. Instead, all three examples were part of a gradual phase-out.

It’s unthinkable today, of course, to simply burn rail vehicles as a means of disposing of them, but air pollution was not such a concern in 1959 when this picture was taken. Neither was historic preservation—on some occasions railfans threw the matches and started the fires.

To this day, CTA trains on the Forest Park branch of the Blue Line use this bridge to cross over DesPlaines Avenue. But when the bridge was built, there was a crossing at grade behind the bridge. Typically, expressway bridges were dug out and built first, and the rest of the highway followed.

In 1959, CTA had fanciful ideas of operating a multiple unit bus train, and in fact there were other experiments with these concepts on the east coast that did not pan out. The Red Arrow Lines hoped such a vehicle would allow them to operate buses over tracks where their franchise required rail. Perhaps CTA hoped to operate such a service in the median of the Stevenson expressway, which never did receive a transit line.

Another view of that 1959 wooden “L” car bonfire.

These terminal facilities, primitive by today’s standards, remained in use until the present DesPlaines Blue Line terminal was built in the 1980s.

Throughout 1959, the old Garfield Park “L” structure was gradually being dismantled. This picture dates to around October. Meanwhile, the CTA finished working on the Congress line as far west as Central. This means that any connections that still remained with the old Laramie Yard were cut, which was necessary for the extension of the expressway at this point. Such tracks would have crossed the highway. If not for the DesPlaines terminal, an expensive permanent track connection, either via a subway or flyover, would have been needed between the Congress line and Laramie Yard.

The view looking east from about 612 S. Kilpatrick today. If the location in the previous picture is correct, it looks like the old Garfield Park “L” structure occupied the space just to the right of the alley.

Use of concrete support columns here foreshadowed their later use for other latter-day CTA “L”s.

Work on elevating the outer portion of Lake, planned for several years, got underway early in 1960.

These experimental high-speed rapid transit cars were termed “circus wagons” by the fans, but they eventually formed the backbone of service on the Skokie Swift for many years and paved the way for the various series of cars that have followed.

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.

The temporary tracks veered off to the left at this point and seem to have continued at ground level. Meanwhile, the structures that carry the B&OCT over the CTA are at rear. Previously the two lines crossed at grade.

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Removing the old temporary CTA tracks.

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The CTA completed its project to have four tracks through the Wilson area around April, 1961.

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What this blurb does not answer is why a two-block section of the old Humboldt Park “L” was even kept at all after the branch line was abandoned in the early 1950s. Rumor has it that a portion was kept in case it could be used for mid-day storage of trains from the Chicago, Aurora & Elgin in case it had resumed service. In that event, CA&E steel cars would have operated through the subway and deadheaded to North Avenue and storage tracks on this small portion of Humboldt. Alas, it was not to be. This picture was taken around September 1961, by which time the interurban was liquidating. By the following month, the Humboldt remnant was gone too.

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During the 1960-62 work to put the west end of Lake onto the C&NW embankment, we have a transitional view, showing the new ramp onto the embankment at right, and the reworked ramp down to street level at left.

Highlights from The “New Look,” Part 1

December 30, 2015December 31, 2015David Sadowski 8 Comments

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.