Another Fall Harvest

September 22, 2025September 22, 2025David Sadowski 4 Comments

CSS&SB South Shore Line Interurban #107
Location: South Bend, Indiana (College and Orange)
Date: December 27, 1964
Photographer: Jeffrey L. Wien
The South Shore Line electrified its Interurban system to Chicago in 1926 with cars like these. The last of these cars was retired in 1983. Street running ended in East Chicago in 1956, South Bend in 1970, and in Michigan City in 2022.

We are back with an all-new Trolley Dodger blog post, our 316th. Our fifth book, The Chicago, Aurora and Elgin Railway, has arrived, to very positive reviews. Ordering information is below.

There’s much more to savor in this all-new post. We have a color photo essay covering the Lake Street “L” from 1959-64, a period of transition during which the ground level portion west of Laramie Avenue (5200 W.) was replaced by an elevated section on a solid fill embankment. Nearly all the pictures are by Charles L. Tauscher and Jeffrey L. Wien.

Today’s post also features previously unpublished CA&E pictures we recently acquired. Two were taken on September 19, 1953, the final day the interurban ran into Chicago over CTA trackage.

Add to this our usual new recent photo finds, and you have a complete traction meal, gluten free, with all the various food groups represented! It’s yet another Fall Harvest of traction photos from the Trolley Dodger!

Enjoy, and keep those cards and letters coming in, folks.

-David Sadowski

PS- You might also like our Trolley Dodger Facebook auxiliary, a private group that now has 2,242 members.

Our friend Kenneth Gear has a Facebook group for the Railroad Record Club. If you enjoy listening to audio recordings of classic railroad trains, whether steam, electric, or diesel, you might consider joining.

FYI, the Hoosier Traction Facebook Group celebrates electric transit in Indiana and the Midwest. It also supports the activities of the annual Hoosier Traction Meet (although not affiliated with the North American Transit Historical Society, which organizes that event).

Upcoming Presentation

FYI, I will give a presentation about my new book The Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railway at 6:30 pm on Wednesday, October 8 at the Schaumburg Township Public Library.

You can attend in person, or watch on Zoom.

Admission is free, but registration is recommended, as we had a full house for the last one I did a few years ago. Copies of all my books will be available at the event at special prices. More info here.

Our Latest Book, Now Available for Immediate Shipment:

The Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railway

FYI, my latest book from Arcadia Publishing is now available for and in stock for immediate shipment.

The Chicago, Aurora & Elgin Railway (CA&E) ran electric passenger and freight service from 1902 until 1959. Although classed as an interurban, it was a hybrid of rapid transit and commuter rail. CA&E trains ran to downtown Chicago via the Metropolitan West Side “L,” ending at the Well Street Terminal. This was a high-tech endeavor funded by industrialists from Cleveland, Ohio, who wanted to open Chicago’s western suburbs for development. The result was a high-speed operation, built to steam road standards, with an electrified third rail powering the trains. It thrived until World War I, was modernized in the Roaring Twenties, weathered the Great Depression, and did its duty during World War II. A privately owned railroad, without subsidies, the CA&E began losing money in the 1950s due to highway construction that stopped it from running into Chicago. Efforts to save the railroad failed, and passenger service ended in 1957, with freight following two years later.

David Sadowski is the author of Chicago Trolleys, Building Chicago’s Subways, Chicago’s Lost “L”s, and The North Shore Line and runs the online Trolley Dodger blog. Photographs shown are from the author’s extensive collections and archival sources such as the Chicago History Museum, Forest Park Historical Society, and Lake States Railway Historical Association.

Each copy purchased here will be signed by the author, and you will also receive a bonus Chicago Aurora and Elgin track map. Books will ship by USPS Media Mail.

Chapters:
01. The Fox River Line
02. The Third Rail Line
03. On the “L”
04. Main Line to Wheaton
05. Aurora and Batavia
06. Elgin and Geneva
07. Electric Freight
08. Forest Park
09. Into the Sunset
10. The Legacy

Title The Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railway
Images of Rail
Author David Sadowski
Edition illustrated
Publisher Arcadia Publishing (SC), 2025
ISBN-10: 146716254X
ISBN-13: ‎978-1467162548
Length 128 pages
The price of $24.99 includes shipping within the United States via USPS Media Mail.

For Shipping to US Addresses:

Our First Review

David Peterson writes:

Received my books today from Mr. David Sadowski. Images of Rail-The Chicago Aurora & Elgin Railway– Absolutely incredible book. Layout is executed perfectly. The pictures are rare and outstanding with very high resolution.

Photographs include detailed descriptions allowing the reader to know precisely when and where the pictures were taken.

Brief history of the creation and demise of the railroad is an easy read with pertinent details. Photos showing various views along today’s Illinois Prairie Path really bring the history of this once great railroad into context.

Photographs depicting the scrapping of the railroad and its rolling stock invoke a bit of sadness, but they are an important detail in the CA&E saga.

This book is a must read for CA&E fans, and fans of railroads in general.
It’s a fascinating story.

Thank you David for your work and dedication in writing this book. I highly recommend it.

And I thank Mr. Peterson and everyone who has purchased the book. Each of my five books has sold more than the previous one did, and given time, this one is going to be my most popular one yet.

The Chicago Aurora and Elgin

At 12:30 p.m. on July 2, 1943, CA&E cars 412-421-405 make up a westbound three-car train at Laramie Avenue (5200 W.) on the Garfield Park “L” in Chicago. The interurban owned the tracks west of here. This is certainly one of the better pictures I have seen taken here. At left, you can see Loretto Hospital (645 S. Central Avenue) in the distance. The negative for this image was improperly developed, and I spent a few hours doing restoration work on it.

The negative for this, and the image that follows, do show some damage, but they also show wood car #314 picking up passengers at Laramie on July 2, 1943. At right in this picture, you can see a scale, where you could weigh yourself for a penny. Many “L” stations had them.

CA&E 408 has stopped at Laramie Avenue on July 2, 1943 to pick up passengers on its way west. The red flags show that’s the rear of the train at right. Again, this negative was improperly developed– hence the plethora of tiny white dots on the lower left side of the picture.

CA&E 424 heads up a westbound train at Austin Boulevard on September 19, 1953, the final day of service into Chicago. Columbus Park is at left. When the Congress (now Eisenhower) expressway was built in this area, a small part of the park got shaved off.

CA&E 431, at right, is heading outbound at Forest Park on September 19, 1953, while a CTA Met car is going inbound. This station was located just east of DesPlaines Avenue. The following day, two new platforms opened on the west side of the street, as the interurban cut back service to here and had to transfer passengers with the CTA. Car 431, a 1927 product of the Cincinnati Car Company, is now at the Illinois Railway Museum.

The Lake Street “L” in Transition, 1959-1964

CTA car 4424 is the leader of this two-car Lake Street “L” “A” train in May 1959 at the Clinton Street station. (Jeffrey L. Wien Photo)

A CTA Lake Street “L” B train is westbound on ground-level trackage on South Boulevard in Oak Park in January 1960. The cross street to the right is Home Avenue. To the left, north of here, it’s called Forest Avenue. The house at right is still there. East of here, the street narrows, and this continues to Oak Park Avenue. (Jeffrey L. Wien Photo)

The same location today.

An inbound all-stops Lake Street “L” train is at the Marion Street station on an April 1960 night. This station functioned, more or less, as the western terminal for the line, but there was actually one more stop west of here in Forest Park. (Jeffrey L. Wien Photo)

CTA #4425 is at the head of an inbound two-car Lake Street “L” “A” train at Lake and Central on May 19, 1961. Note the trolley bus wires on Central, used by the #85 bus. (Jeffrey L. Wien Photo)

We are looking northeast from Lake Street and Lockwood Avenue on May 19, 1961. An outbound six-car Lake Street “B” train descends the ramp towards ground-level trackage on the western end of this line. (Jeffrey L. Wien Photo)

CTA #4409 is (apparently) the end car on an inbound six-car train going up the ramp on the Lake Street “L” on May 19, 1961. In the distance, you can see an outbound train at the Laramie Avenue station, where the steel structure starts. The north-south cross street here is Lorel Avenue, at about 5329 West. (Jeffrey L. Wien Photo)

On May 19, 1961, CTA #4429 is at the front of an inbound two-car train, pausing while heading up the Lake Street “L” ramp just east of Long Avenue (5400 W.). It looks like some work is being done on the overhead wire. (Jeffrey L. Wien Photo)

Here’s how the underpass at Long Avenue looks today. The ramp going up to the “L” structure at Laramie Avenue started just east of this viaduct.

An inbound CTA Lake Street “A” train, with car 4413 at the helm, heads up the ramp leading to Laramie Avenue while an outbound train passes on May 19, 1961. The cross street (behind the photographer) is Lockwood Avenue (5300 W.). The one-way street in the photo is Lorel Avenue (5327 W.). (Jeffrey L. Wien Photo)

CTA 4409 is at the head of an inbound six-car Lake Street “L” train going up the ramp towards the Laramie Avenue station on May 19, 1961. At this point, Laramie was still the changeover point to third rail. Later, as construction continued on a new connection to the C&NW embankment, the changeover point was moved to Central Avenue. (Jeffrey L. Wien Photo)

By May 19, 1961, work was already underway on creating a new connection between the Lake Street “L” and the nearby Chicago and North Western embankment. The existing ramp was, to some extent, in the way of the new connection, which necessitated creating a temporary wooden ramp. Meanwhile, a six-car train prepares to stop at the Laramie Avenue station on the steel structure. (Jeffrey L. Wien Photo)

While not the greatest quality image, this does show the ground-level Lake Street “L” station at Central Avenue in the 1930s. There is a trolley bus heading north on Central, just about to cross the railroad tracks. This view looks east, with the Chicago and North Western embankment to the left.

CTA #4421 is at the front of a two-car Lake Street “B” train at Madison and Wells on the Loop “L” on December 15, 1961. From 1913 until 1969, trains on the Loop ran unidirectionally, counterclockwise, so this train is heading south. Lake Street trains ran around the Loop until September 28, 1969, when the line was paired with the new Dan Ryan service, and through-routed. That’s also when the Loop was changed to bidirectional as it has remained since. (Jeffrey L. Wien Photo)

CTA #4436 fronts a two-car “B” train at the Oak Park Avenue station on the Lake Street “L” on June 20, 1962. Four months later, the “L” was elevated, and the street running between Forest Park and Laramie Avenue came to an end. Notice how South Boulevard narrows just west of here. (Jeffrey L. Wien Photo)

CTA #4436 is part of a two-car train heading outbound (west) at South Boulevard and Forest Avenue in Oak Park on June 20, 1962. The Chicago and North Western station on the embankment would soon be relocated, and its tracks moved, to create space for the Lake Street “L”, which was moved there on October 28, 1962. This view looks to the northwest, and you can see the CTA’s Marion Street station in the distance. (Jeffrey L. Wien Photo)

In September 1962, a two-car Lake Street train heads west along the Loop “L” tracks, having just turned from Wabash onto Lake. At this time, trains operated in the same direction (counterclockwise) on both tracks. (Charles L. Tauscher Photo)

In a slide processed in September 1962, a westbound Lake Street “L” train boards at Clinton Street, just west of the Chicago River. A “Baldy” 4000 is at the head of the train, even though it is not fitted with the trolley poles used on the outer portion of the line at that time. These earlier 4000s (built circa 1913-15) had center doors, nearly always unused, that were often covered up with the addition of another seat. The also had “bowling alley” (sideways) seating, another difference from the later “Plushies” from the early 1920s. (Charles L. Tauscher Photo)

A westbound Lake Street “L” “B” train of CTA 4000-series cars approaches the Cicero Avenue station in September 1962. (Charles L. Tauscher Photo)

In a slide processed in August 1962, we are looking to the northeast along that portion of the Lake Street “L’ that ran west of Harlem Avenue in Forest Park. To the left, we see the Chicago and North Western embankment; to the right, that embankment was being expanded, and this new portion would eventually provide space for a new yard for Lake Street trains. (Charles L. Tauscher Photo)

CTA Lake Street “L” car 4413 heads up an inbound “B” train in Forest Park on October 11, 1962. This was just 17 days prior to the outer portion of Lake being relocated onto the Chicago and North Western embankment at right. Here, you can also see how that embankment was getting expanded to create space for a new Lake Street “L” yard. (Jeffrey L. Wien Photo)

A two-car train of 4000-series “L” cars heads east on the Lake Street line, crossing Western Avenue (2400 W.) in a slide processed in March 1963. As this was a few months after the outer end of the line had been relocated onto the Chicago and North Western embankment, the trolley poles have been removed from these cars. (Charles L. Tauscher Photo)

Scott Greig: “Lake and Central Park, with the Garfield Park Conservatory visible under the “L” structure.” This slide was processed in March 1963. The 4000-series “L” cars shown here were parked on a center track, since removed, that originally gave Lake a short express track but also provided some badly needed mid-day storage for the line, which did not have a proper yard until 1964. The Homan station was moved here after the line was renovated in the 1990s, as this served the conservatory, whereas the old location was just two blocks from another station. (Charles L. Tauscher Photo)

By July 28, 1964, when Jeff Wien took this picture, the 4000s were still running on the Lake Street “L”, but minus their trolley poles, now that the outer portion of the line was now running on the C&NW embankment. Soon these cars would be replaced by the new 2000-series, the CTA’s first with air conditioning. 4000s would continue in service on Ravenswood and Evanston until November 1973. The view here looks northwest from South Boulevard and Scoville in Oak Park, a short distance west of Ridgeland Avenue. You can see the Oak Park Avenue “L” station in the distance.

Recent Finds

CTA red Pullman #144 is turning from Clark onto Archer on one of those late fantrips, held after red cars were taken out of regular service in 1954. As to the date, I would guess it’s towards the end of 1957, as there is a billboard advertising the new 1958 Edsel. The photographer climbed onto a railroad embankment to get this shot, during a photo stop.

Here, we see Chicago Surface Lines “Matchbox” 1320 at Roosevelt and Michigan at 6:50 p.m. on July 2, 1943, running on the 14th-16th Street line. Horsecar service on Route 14 began in 1892 from Canal to Damen. Electric streetcars replaced horsecars in 1896. The route was extended west via 16th Street to Kenton (city limits) on January 27, 1913. Buses replaced streetcars on July 25, 1948, and bus service was discontinued on March 9, 1955. The 1300-series streetcars are known as Small St. Louis cars. Don’s Rail Photos: “1320 was built by St Louis Car Co in 1906 as CUT (Chicago Union Traction) 4849. It was renumbered (to) 1320 in 1913 and became CSL 1320 in 1914. It was retired on June 13, 1946.” These older streetcars were retired as the new PCCs were delivered starting in 1946. Sister car 1374 has been restored at the Illinois Railway Museum and is in operable condition. From the photograph, you would expect this was the east end of the line. This negative was somehow damaged during development, which explains why there are so many tiny white dots in certain sections of the image.

CTA Chicago Transit Authority “L” #4271-4272-4020-4447
Location: Chicago, Illinois (Wilson Avenue – North-South “L”)
Date: May 31, 1962
Photographer: Charles L. Tauscher
When the last 4000s were taken out of service in November 1973, the CTA chose 4271 and 4272 as the cars retained for the Historical Fleet. Now over a century old, they are still occasionally used on special occasions. The area seen here has been completely changed. Soon after the Wilson Shops and Yard were phased out, a fire destroyed the structure. Later, the Wilson Avenue station and trackage was completely rebuilt, a project costing about $250m.

CTA Chicago Transit Authority “L” #4437
Location: Chicago, Illinois (Belmont Avenue – North-South “L”)
Date: October 14, 1957
Photographer: Charles L. Tauscher
(Note- that’s the North Shore Line only platform at left for southbound trains.)

CTA Chicago Transit Authority “L” #4166
Location: Chicago, Illinois (Damen Avenue – Logan Square “L”)
Date: April 14, 1958
Photographer: Charles L. Tauscher

After the Chicago Transit Authority took the last of the wooden “L” cars out of service in November 1957, several remained in use as work cars until around 1965. But there were also a few fantrips. We have previously posted pictures from an April 20, 1958 excursion, using cars 1024 and work car S-340 (a former 1700-series), a fundraiser for the Illinois Electric Railway Museum. Here, we see cars 1786 and 1799 at the Merchandise Mart station on a July 15, 1958 trip. 1786 was built by Pullman in 1908. 1799 was originally a trailer, built by American Car and Foundry in 1907. It was originally Northwestern Elevated Railway #290, but was later motorized and renumbered to 1799. Sister car 1797 is at the Illinois Railway Museum.

Two trains (made up of 4000s and 6000s) pass each other just south of Montrose Avenue on the North-South “L” in July 1967. At right, the tracks led to Buena Yard, where there was an interchange with the Milwaukee Road until 1973. Behind the photographer, there was a ramp leading up to the “L”. (Charles L. Tauscher Photo)

A fantrip train, with CTA car #4269 in the lead, is parked at Buena Yard in a slide processed in November 1966 (but was likely shot some months earlier). Until 1973, the Milwaukee Road interchanged freight with the CTA– mainly coal, for delivery further north along the North-South “L”. This was a vestige of the original service the Milwaukee Road offered here, before the Northwestern Elevated Railway took over the former commuter service to the north side, and turned it into the “L”. There were two electric locomotives used to haul freight cars. They were purchased by the Rapid Transit in 1920 and were still in use when freight ended 53 years later. This view looks north by northwest– the “L” structure is just to our right, out of view. (Charles M. Tauscher Photo)

CTA #4439 heads up a northbound four-car Evanston Express train at the Sheridan Road curve during August 1973. The last of the venerable 4000-series “L” cars would be retired on November 8th that year, after 50 years of faithful service. (Jeffrey L. Wien Photo)

In January 1965, a northbound eight-car train of 4000s is running wrong way on what would normally be the southbound track on the North-South “L” at Granville. The best explanation is probably the weather– no route sign is in evidence, and eight cars was then too many to run on Evanston or Ravenswood, the two lines still using 4000s at this time. Verdict– sleet scraping, preventing the third rail from getting coated with ice, at a time when there wasn’t regular service on this track, generally used only on weekdays. (Jeffrey L. Wien Photo)

A Douglas-Milwaukee “B” train is about to pull into the Logan Square Terminal in a slide processed in March 1965. (Charles L. Tauscher Photo)

Chicago Rapid Transit Company gate cars 389 and 388 make up a two-car train at the Canal Street station of the Metropolitan main line on July 2, 1943. The two cars will be split at the Damen, North, and Milwaukee station, with one car going to Logan Square, and the other to Humboldt Park. Canal was adjacent to Union Station and there was a walkway connecting it to the “L”.

Although the negative for this image has signs of faulty home development, in general, this is a very nice picture of Met car #2905 in Douglas Park service (to Lawndale only) at the Canal Street station on the Met main line on July 2, 1943.

ICG Illinois Central Electric South Chicago Branch
Location: Chicago, Illinois (71st and Exchange)
Date: July 1966 (processing date)
Photographer: Jeffrey L. Wien
The Illinois Central Suburban commuter service electrified in 1926. The original Pullman suburban electric cars were retired in the late 1970s and replaced by bilevels built by the St. Louis Car Company in 1971. The service is now called the Metra Electric and has a number of branches. South Shore Line trains share trackage with the Metra Electric in Illinois. The IC Pullmans were similar to the contemporary cars used on the Erie-Lackawanna in New Jersey.

CTA Chicago Transit Authority “L” #6187
Location: Chicago, Illinois (43rd Street – North-South “L”)
Date: June 6, 1954
Photographer: William C. Hoffman

CTA Chicago Transit Authority “L” #6281
Location: Chicago, Illinois (47th Street – North-South “L”)
Date: June 6, 1954
Photographer: William C. Hoffman

CTA Chicago Transit Authority “L” Loop
Location: Chicago, Illinois (Wabash and Washington looking north)
Date: July 29, 1956
Photographer: William C. Hoffman

CTA Chicago Transit Authority “L” Loop
Location: Chicago, Illinois (Lake and LaSalle looking west)
Date: August 31, 1956
Photographer: William C. Hoffman
From 1913 to 1969, trains on the Loop “L” went uni-directional, counter-clockwise, so both trains shown here are going west along Lake Street towards the junction at Tower 18, visible in the distance. The trains of 6000-series “L” cars at right is a Ravenswood “A” train, while the 4000s at left could be a variety of things, including the Garfield Park “L”. Discount Records, seen at right, was a local chain that went out of business around 1972. The original Tower 18 was replaced in 1969, as it was in the way of new tracks that allowed the through-routing of the Lake line with the new Dan Ryan service.

CTA Chicago Transit Authority “L” Loop
Location: Chicago, Illinois (Randolph and Wabash “L” Station looking east)
Date: May 5, 1957
Photographer: William C. Hoffman
This picture shows the newly modernized Loop “L” station at Randolph and Wabash, with a huge CTA logo. This station and Madison and Wabash have since been replaced in the 2000s by a new one located between them at Washington and Wabash. My understanding is the CTA logo was saved, but I am not aware of any of the details on what will happen to it.
The Stouffers’ restaurant was kind of like a tea room and closed in 1981. The Stouffer’s brand was sold to Nestle, who were really only interested in their frozen foods.

CTA Chicago Transit Authority “L” #41-42
Location: Chicago, Illinois (Isabella – Evanston “L” – fantrip)
Date: June 26, 1960
Photographer: William C. Hoffman

CTA Chicago Transit Authority “L” #41-42
Location: Chicago, Illinois (Randolph and Wells looking north – Loop “L” – fantrip)
Date: June 26, 1960
Photographer: William C. Hoffman
June 26, 1960 was a Sunday and CTA Single Car Units #41 and 42 are parked at Randolph and Wells during a lunch stop on a fantrip. Since the Ravenswood “L” did not go into the Loop at this time, these cars weren’t in the way of regular service cars. The Ravenswood was cut back to Armitage on Sundays and for Owl Service as of May 18, 1952. This made it convenient to have numerous photo stops at stations south of there on sunday fantrips. The shuttle was further cut back to Belmont in 1963, following the abandonment of the North Shore Line. Starting in 2000, Ravenswood service was restored to make all stops south of Belmont at night and on Sundays, due to the increase in ridership on this line (now called the CTA Brown Line).

CTA Chicago Transit Authority “L” #41-42
Location: Chicago, Illinois (Main Street – Evanston “L” – fantrip)
Date: June 26, 1960
Photographer: William C. Hoffman

CTA Chicago Transit Authority “L” #6435 (and a North Shore Line Electroliner just barely visible at right)
Location: Chicago, Illinois (Belmont – North-South “L”)
Date: June 4, 1961
Photographer: Gordon E. Lloyd
This was a Sunday and the New York Yankees defeated the Chicago White Sox, 10-1. “L” ridership was very light on Sundays back then, which explains why a two-car train was running on Jackson Park-Howard.

CTA Chicago Transit Authority “L” #45
Location: Chicago, Illinois (Main Street – Evanston “L”)
Date: July 8, 1961
Photographer: Gordon E. Lloyd

CTA Chicago Transit Authority “L” Loop
Location: Chicago, Illinois (Randolph and Wells Station looking east along Washington – Loop “L”)
Date: November 26, 1962
Photographer: William C. Hoffman
Graham Garfield writes: “It’s actually Washington and Wells, looking east. Washington had platform-level station houses just like Randolph’s, back when Wells had a continuous platform the whole length of the Loop. There wasn’t a Washington “stop”; the Washington station houses were basically additional entrances from which riders would either walk north on the platform to the Randolph berthing area or south to the Madison stop.
Randolph’s station houses were built around 1913 or so (replacing the original little Randolph & Wells station houses over Couch Place) and Washington’s weren’t added until around 1925 or so, but the design was basically the same.”
In 1995, this station and Madison and Wells were replaced by a new station at Washington and Wells. A portion of the north end of the platforms still exists from Randolph and Wells.

CTA Chicago Transit Authority “L” #4347 on Transfer Table
Location: Skokie, Illinois (Skokie Shops)
Date: May 26, 1963
Photographer: William C. Hoffman

CTA Chicago Transit Authority “L” Single Car Units
Location: Chicago, Illinois (South Boulevard – Evanston “L”)
Date: June 20, 1966
Photographer: Jeffrey L. Wien

There aren't a lot of pictures showing the original tower at Clark Junction, as you had to be riding on a northbound train in order to get close to it. The Clark station seen here opened in 1900 along with the North Side "L" as far as Wilson Avenue. The Ravenswood branch was built in 1906 and veered off from the main line just south of the station. Clark was closed, along with numerous other lightly used stations, in 1949, as the Chicago Transit Authority rationalized North-south service, with the goal of speeding things up. Thereafter, the tower remained in use until it was replaced by a new one in 1976. More recently, this second tower was replaced when a flyover was built, allowing northbound Brown Line trains (successor to the Ravenswood) to cross over the other "L" tracks, replacing a flat junction.

CTA Chicago Transit Authority “L” Clark Junction (and some #4000s)
Location: Chicago, Illinois (Clark Junction – North-South “L”)
Date: June 20, 1966
Photographer: Jeffrey L. Wien
There aren’t a lot of pictures showing the original tower at Clark Junction, as you had to be riding on a northbound train in order to get close to it.
The Clark station seen here opened in 1900 along with the North Side “L” as far as Wilson Avenue. The Ravenswood branch was built in 1906 and veered off from the main line just south of the station.
Clark was closed, along with numerous other lightly used stations, in 1949, as the Chicago Transit Authority rationalized North-south service, with the goal of speeding things up. Thereafter, the tower remained in use until it was replaced by a new one in 1976. More recently, this second tower was replaced when a flyover was built, allowing northbound Brown Line trains (successor to the Ravenswood) to cross over the other “L” tracks, replacing a flat junction.

CTA Chicago Transit Authority “L” #4000s 1974
Location: Skokie, Illinois (Wilson Yard and Shops, looking east)
Date: February 1974 (processing date)
Photographer: John Alvar Ruhl
The Wilson Avenue Yard and Shops no longer exists. In 1996, not long after the shops closed, the building caught fire. The building was demolished along with the yard, which was damaged beyond repair. Later, the station and trackage was completely rebuilt in this area.

CTA Chicago Transit Authority “L” Clark and Lake
Location: Chicago, Illinois (Clark and Lake – Loop “L”)
Date: March 1978
Photographer: Jeffrey L. Wien
This (and the next picture) shows how the original Clark and Lake station on the Loop “L” looked in 1978, prior to being replaced by a new station that has entrances inside nearby buildings, and a direct connection to the Dearborn Subway.

Lest we forget, September 2nd this year marks the 75th anniversary of a horrific head-on collision on Milwaukee’s Speedrail system, the short-lived successor to the Milwaukee Electric interurban. While the causes of the crash are still being debated, whether due to human error or a faulty signal, the result was a head-on collision between a heavyweight car and a lightweight one. Lightweight car #39, full of attendees to a model railroad convention, was a fantrip car, and was split apart by the regular service car 1192-1193. Ten people were killed, and more than forty injured. The accident was instrumental in the abandonment of Speedrail less than one year later. We recently purchased two original 35mm Kodachrome slides showing the aftermath of the wreck, and I assume they were taken the following day (September 3, 1950), before the area was cleared. It is remarkable that the colors on these slides are still vivid after 75 years, although they are also vivid reminders of a terrible tragedy that we hope will never be repeated.

Help Support The Trolley Dodger

This is our 316th 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 1,185,000 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.

Our Latest Book – The Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railway

June 23, 2025June 24, 2025David Sadowski 5 Comments

Two Chicago Aurora and Elgin cars (both from the 450-series) cross the Chicago River on the Metropolitan West Side Elevated in 1949.

We are back with an all-new Trolley Dodger blog post, our 315th. We are heralding the impending arrival of our fifth book, The Chicago, Aurora and Elgin Railway. Ordering information is below.

Arcadia Publishing shipped my initial book order on June 21st. I expect to receive them by Wednesday, the 25th, and will begin sending out all the books in our pre-order immediately.

I believe this is my best book, out of the five I have written. It’s an important and still a somewhat controversial subject. It was the most difficult to write, and required the most work, but I am very pleased with the results. I hope it will find favor with you as well.

Author William S. Burroughs once remarked, “Excuse me, there is no accurate description of the creation of a book, or an event.” That being the case, I will try anyway.

I have been fascinated with the Chicago, Aurora and Elgin interurban since I was a kid. We lived on the west side of Chicago, and among my earliest memories, I recall seeing a few CA&E trains crossing First Avenue in Maywood prior to the July 3, 1957 abandonment of passenger service.

After reading in the newspaper that the line was not coming back in 1961, I persuaded my family to take a Sunday drive to Wheaton Yards to look at the old cars. I noticed they did not have broken windows, unlike many of the wooden “L” cars that had been stored by the Chicago Transit Authority at Lockwood Yard on the Garfield Park line.

Once my last book (The North Shore Line) was published in 2023, the CA&E was a natural follow-up subject. As with my other books, I started out having some of the photos I needed, and had to hunt up and find the rest. The entire process took well over two years.

Researching these books is quite expensive, and the costs far exceed any potential future revenue from book sales. But there are other reasons for doing this. Books are our gift to the future. It’s as if we are leaving bread crumbs for future generations to follow, in tracing back our past.

Once my research was far enough along, I made a pitch for the book to Arcadia Publishing. They approved it, and that set the deadlines in motion that have now resulted in a finished book.

Determining how to organize the material is one of the most difficult aspects of book writing. There are three different considerations for a book like this– chronological, geographic, and thematic. Ultimately, the method that works for me is a combination of all three. It can take some time even to figure out the chapter titles for a book.

A lot of hard work was put into this book, in terms of research. But it was also hard work paying for all of it. I am very appreciative for the donations made by our readers, and for your purchases of the items we sell that help make all this possible. None of this would be possible without your help and support, for which I am grateful.

When starting a book project, it is impossible to determine everything that is needed to complete it. It’s like putting together a giant jigsaw puzzle, without first knowing what the pieces look like.

Each book finds its own path towards completion. Fortunately, for this book, I was gradually able to find many excellent, rare images. And by taking a “deep dive” into the history of my subject, I also reached conclusions that help make this book different than the ones that have come before it.

This is a book from the perspective of 2025, which makes it different from one written say, in 1965. The world has changed a lot in these many decades, perhaps not always for the better, but we have access to many photos and more information than it was possible to have then.

Now that my book is finished, you, the reader, will have the final say on its merits and ultimate value.

But wait, there’s more in this, our 315th post. We have continued to collect rare and interesting traction photos all this time, some of which are featured here. In addition, we have some South Shore Line news to share. Exciting things are happening there now.

Finally, on May 15th, WTTW, Chicago’s Public Television station, interviewed me in Kenosha, Wisconsin for a documentary they are working on, covering the history of railroads in Chicago. More information follows towards the end of this post.

Enjoy, and keep those cards and letters coming in, folks.

-David Sadowski

PS- You might also like our Trolley Dodger Facebook auxiliary, a private group that now has 2,200 members.

Our Latest Book, Now Available for Pre-Order:

The Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railway

FYI, my latest book will be released by Arcadia Publishing on July 8, 2025 and is now available for pre-order. I expect to have books prior to that date, and they will be shipped out as soon as I get them.

Each copy purchased here will be signed by the author, and you will also receive a bonus Chicago Aurora and Elgin track map. Books will ship by USPS Media Mail.

For Shipping to US Addresses:

Recent Finds

CA&E 432, seen here in Wheaton, was built by the Cincinnati Car Company in 1927, part of an order for 15 cars. 431 and 434 were the only cars saved by museums. (William C. Janssen Photo)

CA&E car 404 seems a bit lonely in this picture taken on June 13, 1957 at St. Andrews, on the line between Wheaton and Elgin. You can see how much of this branch did not have (and in many places, still do not have) large population centers. This was only about three weeks before the end of passenger service.

This picture, looking west at the CTA’s Forest Park Terminal, was taken on July 5, 1957, just two days after the interurban abruptly stopped running passenger service in mid-day, stranding thousands of commuters. Note the neon CA&E sign still hanging at right, which had once been downtown in front of the Wells Street Terminal. An inbound Garfield Park “L” train, made up of 4000-series cars, is at left. This terminal was reconfigured in 1959, while the Congress (now Eisenhower) expressway was under construction just south of here.

The Chicago Great Western Railway ran parallel to the Chicago Aurora and Elgin for several miles west of First Avenue in Maywood. Here, we see an eastbound freight train in Maywood (possibly near 11th or 9th Avenue) on March 14, 1957, when the CA&E still ran passenger service. Locomotive 111C was an F3 diesel, built by the Electro-Motive Division in March 1948. The Chicago and North Wesern, a CGW competitor, purchased the railroad in 1968. C&NW retained any long-haul lines CGW had, and abandoned all the short-haul ones such as this, as they were not profitable. Parts of the CGW right-of-way have become the Great Western Trail, much as the CA&E is now the Illinois Prairie Path.

CA&E steel cars 415 and 407 make up part of a five-car train at Wheaton.

After the CA&E officially went defunct as a railroad in 1961, its fleet of cars were put up for sale. The ten 450-series cars almost went to Cleveland for use on a planned rapid transit extension to an airport. But the project was delayed for several years, and the line finally opened in 1969 with the new Airporter cars seen here. Ultimately, only four of the ten cars were saved.

From 1908 until 1922, the Forest Park Amusement Park operated between the Aurora Elgin and Chicago (predecessor of the CA&E) tracks and the Waldheim cemetery. This real photo postcard view looks to the southwest. This was a major operation, with what was said to be the largest roller coaster in the US at that time, plus other rides including a Chute-the-Chutes. It was a major traffic generator for the interurban and the Garfield Park “L”, which also ran here. After Prohibition went into effect in 1920, the park could not make money and soon closed. The Eisenhower expressway runs through here now.

This advertisement, which appeared in the August 17, 1910 edition of the Chicago Evening American, shows how the AE&C used promotions to try and drum up business on the interurban. People worked a six day week then, and there was a need for more ridership on Sundays.

By 1906, the Aurora, Elgin and Chicago (predecessor of the CA&E) operated local service in Aurora and Elgin as well as an interurban along the Fox River connecting the two cities. Here, we see some local streetcars at Fountain Square in Elgin, circa 1907.

The AE&C station in Elgin was adjacent to a theater. Cars were boarded behind the building, as the interurban to Chicago did not have any street running in Elgin.

The CA&E’s end of the line in Elgin ran along the Fox River, rather than the street running it had in Aurora until 1939. The tracks here were directly behind the buildings seen in the previous picture.

AE&C car 202, built in 1906 by the Niles Car Company, is running in Elgin, on the interurban that connected Carpentersville on the north and Yorkville on the south. Following the AE&C bankruptcy in 1919, the Fox River line was reorganized into the Aurora Elgin and Fox River Electric. Passenger service ended in 1935.

The AE&C station in Aurora was located in this building, from 1915 to 1935. The Traction Terminal building, now the Hotel Arthur, still stands. Until the end of 1939, riders boarded in the street in Aurora.

A street scene in Aurora in the early 1900s.

Fox River Park, originally called Riverview, was located south of Aurora and was a major generator of traffic for the Aurora Elgin and Fox River Electric until it closed in 1925. It had to change its name after Riverview Park in Chicago became popular.

The AE&FRE interurban ran right to the entrance of Fox River Park.

After the AE&FRE ended passenger service in 1935, freight continued on a small portion of trackage in South Elgin, serving the State Hospital there.

The AE&FRE ran electric freight until 1946, when it purchased this small General Electric diesel engine #5. Here, it is seen running freight at the State Hospital in South Elgin in November 1972, shortly before that location stopped using coal, which ended the need for freight. The freight operation had shared trackage for a few years, starting in the mid-1960s with a trolley museum, originally called RELIC. That is now the Fox River Trolley Museum. Diesel engine #5 remains in their collection. The AE&FRE may still exist as a corporate entity. (Mike Schafer Photo)

Railroads typically gave passes to certain employees of other railroads, as seen here.

After the Chicago Aurora and Elgin quit operating freight service in June 1959, there were a few places where other railroads wanted to continue it. Elgin was one such place. This map shows how the Milwaukee Road purchased a short stretch of former CA&E trackage, already connected to it via an interchange, for access to the McGraw Edison plant there. As you can see in this map dated September 28, 1962, they purchased just enough track to service the plant.

In August 1957, an inbound Lake Street “B” train departs from the Marion Street station at South Boulevard. The outer portion of Lake (between Laramie Avenue and Forest Park) ran on the ground until October 28, 1962. Crossing gates were manually operated, and you can see the gateman’s shanty in the foreground (and who is that holding a stop sign?). The area has become much more built up in recent years, as there is nowhere to go but up.

This C. R. Childs real photo postcard, postmarked in 1907, shows the Lake Street “L” running left-handed at ground level. The view looks west along Lake at Central Avenue. The postcard says this is South Boulevard, but that name is used west of Austin (6000 W.) in Oak Park. This picture was taken prior to the construction of the Chicago and North Western’s embankment, located just to the right (north) of the “L”. The Lake and Northwestern elevated lines ran left-handed until the Loop was reconfigured to operated unidirectional (counter-clockwise) in 1913, when the north and south lines were through-routed to increase capacity. This section of Lake Street was renamed to Corcoran Place in the mid-1960s after the local alderman, a close friend of Mayor Richard J. Daley, died suddenly from a heart attack. We ran a colorized version of this photo in a previous blog post.

We are used to seeing pictures of Route 22 – Clark-Wentworth streetcars here at 81st and Halsted taken in the 1950s, when the line was operated with PCC cars. But prior to the arrival of the postwar cars, Clark used 1929-era Peter Witt cars (some call them “Sedans”) such as the 6286 you see here. This picture was taken in either 1940 or 1941, as that’s Chicago Surface Lines car 2802 right behind it. That would date the picture to either June 12, 1940 or July 13, 1941, as the same car was used on both CERA trips. Single-ended streetcars like the Witts and the PCCs had to make a backup move into traffic to proceed north from here, as there never was a turning loop at this location.

John Hallman generously donated this real photo postcard to us, which shows extension of the Grand Avenue streetcar line through the Mont Clare neighborhood in 1911. One of the men in the picture may be Thomas A. Rutherford, who donated land in 1915 that now makes up part of Rutherford Sayre Park. Extension of streetcar service to Grand and Harlem spurred the rapid development of the area. Streetcars were replaced by buses in 1951.

An early view of 43rd Street in Chicago, looking west from Langley Avenue (700 E.). Streetcar 5317 was built by Brill in 1907 for the Chicago City Railway.

This view, probably circa 1907, looks west along 43rd Street at Forrestville Avenue (528 E.). Streetcar 5370 was built by Brill-Kuhlman in 1907 for the Chicago City Railway.

This C. R. Childs real photo postcard view of the back of the Chicago and Milwaukee Electric (later the North Shore Line) station in Lake Forest indicates that this was taken prior to its 1910 completion.

An early view of the Chicago and Milwaukee Electric (later the North Shore Line) station in Zion, Illinois, apparently taken from the back of a moving train.

Chicago and Milwaukee Electric car #25 has stopped at the Chicago and North Western station in Highland Park in this early view. While the interurban (later known as the North Shore Line) attempted to eliminate as much street running as possible on what was eventually known as the Shore Line Route, a few sections remained– including this one.

Chicago Lake Shore and South Bend Railway car #74 was built by the Niles Car Company in 1908. Cars like these were replaced by new all-metal ones when successor company the South Shore Line began operating directly into Chicago in 1926 over the Illinois Central’s tracks. Prior to that, these coaches were hauled partway by steam. Sister car #73 is now owned by Bob Harris, who has already spent $1m of his own money to restore it back as close as possible to original condition.

Perhaps the timetable information from the back of this postcard can help date the photo.

Chicago Railways car #4352 presents a bit of a puzzle, as streetcar rosters only list numbers like this as having been used decades later by PCC cars. But it may be that car #4352 was originally bought by the Chicago Union Traction Company, which Chicago Railways took over in 1908. Some CUT cars were renumbered by CR in 1909, which probably helps date this photo. Chicago Railways became one of the underlying constituent companies of the Chicago Surface Lines in 1914. This car is shown operating on the Blue Island line.

South Chicago City Railway car #321 is parked by the South Side “L” at 63rd Street in the early 1900s. Don’s Rail Photos: “2841 was built by Jewett in 1903, (order) #148, as South Chicago City Ry 321. It became Calumet & South Chicago Ry 826 in 1908 and renumbered 2841 in 1913. It became CSL 2841 in 1914 and rebuilt as one man service in 1926. It was later converted as a salt car. It was renumbered AA93 in 1948 and retired on May 17, 1958.” So, this picture was taken between 1903 and 1908. If that’s the Englewood branch of the “L”, at Halsted, that station opened on December 24, 1906. That would suggest this picture dates to around 1907. See additional comments by Frank Hicks below.

After I obtained this image, I wrote to Frank Hicks:

FYI, this is a scan of a real photo postcard I recently purchased. As you have written about these cars on your Hicks Car Works blog, I thought it might interest you. I already did some restoration work on this one, but am not finished by any means.

This picture must have been taken somewhere along 63rd Street (Englewood “L” at Halsted?). Interesting that it survived until 1958.

His reply:

Thanks for sending this! That’s a great photo showing these cars as they appeared when new. This is the “front” of the car, as they were considered single-ended even though they had poles and controls at both ends. The coal-fired water heater was located on the front platform and that’s its smoke jack over the motorman’s head. Other neat details that were changed or removed later in the car’s career include the bracket for a hang-on headlight; unusual rope guard on the roof; the fender; peanut whistle; spikes on the roof to hold a removable sign board; and truss rods.

One thing I’ve never noticed before is the trucks: unfortunately it’s hard to see much detail, but they definitely aren’t the Taylor HSB2 trucks these cars had for nearly their entire service lives. I’ve even seen a different photo of car 321 in this paint scheme and it has HSB2 trucks, so what’s under it in this photo must not have lasted very long. Looking through my truck book, this design closely resembles a Peckham 18CX truck, though there are a few differences. Peckham was notorious for a wide variety of oddball designs, many rather similar to each other, so my guess is that the trucks under the car in this photo are Peckham 18’s of some description. Very cool!

Best regards,

Frank Hicks

There aren’t a lot of pictures from Evanston Railways, as streetcar service ended in 1935. Hence, this real photo postcard view of the car barn must also be considered rare.

This early real photo postcard view shows Chicago streetcar #1293, running on the Ashland Avenue route. This would be a sister car to “Matchbox” car #1374, which has been restored to operating condition at the Illinois Railway Museum. Don’s Rail Photos says that the cars in series 1101-1423 were “built by St. Louis Car in 1903 and 1906 for Chicago Union Traction Co. They are similar to the Robertson design without the small windows. Cars of this series were converted to one man operation in later years and have a wide horizontal stripe on the front to denote this. Two were used for an experimental articulated train. A number of these cars were converted to sand and salt service and as flangers.”

Chicago Union Traction car #4911 is on Clark Street in this early real photo postcard. The address here, 4362 North Clark, threw me off for a bit until I recalled that Chicago’s street numbers were changed at some point. The Chicago History Museum notes, “In 1909, street numbers changed, with a general rule of thumb that odd numbers became even and vice-versa. Madison was used as the baseline for numbering north and south while State was used as the baseline for numbering east and west.” So, 4362 N. Clark became 6335 N. Clark in 1909, some time after this picture was taken. That makes more sense, as the Devon Car House was located just north of 6400 N. Clark. Another version of this image appeared in one of our earlier posts in 2021, courtesy of Jeff Marinoff, but now we have an original in our collection. This car was later renumbered to 1382, making it a sister car to the Matchbox at IRM (if my math is correct).

This picture was labelled Baltimore, since there is a sign for the Baltimore and Ohio railroad. But it’s actually Chicago, and that’s the Travel and Transportation building at the 1933-34 Chicago World’s Fair (A Century of Progress).

This view of a CTA Stock Yards shuttle looks east from the Exchange Avenue station, and was taken between 1955 and 1957. This type of wooden “L” car was originally used on the Metropolitan West Side Elevated. A similar, although not identical, picture appears in my book Chicago’s Lost “L”s.

Chicago street railway RPO (railway post office) car #8 is shown in 1908. There is a similar car, now numbered 6, at the Fox River Trolley Museum, but that car may have been renumbered when it was rebuilt in 1942, so there is some possibility this may actually be the same car. Below the caption, you can read what the Fox River Trolley Museum has to say about car #6.

General
At least eight or more US cities had street railway post office cars in service on their streetcar systems with Chicago being one of them. Mail was moved between the central post office and branch stations and mail was actually sorted on the cars which had mail slots in the sides where a person could actually deposit a stamped letter. There were at least five different routes in Chicago, each with its own distinct post mark. On board sorting stopped in 1911 and use of the SRPO’s to transport bagged mail finally ended on November 22nd, 1915, as motor trucks and pneumatic tube systems took over the task.

History
The mail car has a murky history, but the best guess is that it was built as a double truck streetcar for the Cicero & Proviso Street Railway and that about 1900 through the consolidation of Chicago streetcar companies, it was converted to a Street Railway Post Office car at that time and was placed on a four-wheel Brill truck. When its use as street railway post office ended in 1915 the car was converted to work service and painted dark green like all service cars to distinguish it from the red and cream passenger cars. In 1942 our car was selected to be restored back to its Street Railway Post Office configuration. Its two traction motors were removed for use as spares for the system’s snow sweepers, so the car had to be towed by another streetcar. Its first known outing was in a street parade on October 16th, 1943, celebrating the opening of the Rapid Transit’s State Street Subway which had been constructed by the City of Chicago. Its next known event was on August 22nd , 1946 for the American Philatelic Society’s 60th annual convention where it was towed around the loop and once again special postcards and mail were cancelled on the car. Subsequentially it was brought out for special events and even after the conversion of the last streetcar line in 1958 it was occasionally trucked to special events. It was stored at the old Lawndale car house with other historic transit equipment for many years. When CTA decided to disburse this equipment, it was held for the Smithsonian’s then being planned Post Office Museum in Washington DC. When the Smithsonian declined to use it, the car was deeded over to the Fox River Trolley Museum where in the 1980’s and 90’s it would annually be used by the South Elgin Post Office to cancel mail during what was known as “Trolleyfest”. As USPS budgets tightened this finally ended and the car has been in storage ever since.

Photo Restoration

This Ektachrome slide was taken by William C. Hoffman on March 30, 1958, looking north along Wabash Avenue just south of Adams Street in Chicago. The North Shore Line had a station inside a building, with a direct connection to the Adams and Wabash “L” station. Unfortunately, the first version of Ektachrome had unstable dyes, and the dye layers other than red have faded badly. This problem was corrected in 1963 when the film was replaced by a new version. Using modern computer technology, it is sometimes possible to restore the color to a scan of such an image, sometimes not. The next photo shows how I was able to somewhat improve the picture. The only other option is to make a black-and-white version, which follows.

As you can see, parts of the image are too red, and other parts are too cyan. Since those are opposite colors, this is as far as the restoration train will go.

1955 Red Car Fantrip

There was a Farewell to the Red Cars fantrip in May 1954, sponsored by the Central Electric Railfans’ Association, held two weeks before buses replaced the older streetcars on several lines. After this, the CTA kept ten such cars for emergency use, and the rest were scrapped. Even so, it was found that ten were too many, and ultimately only 144, 225, and 460 were retained for a time, the latter becoming part of the CTA historical fleet of old equipment. That left but two cars for other uses, and this December 18, 1955 fantrip appears to have been the first in a series of excursions that continued up until the end of PCC service in June 1958. On this particular trip in 1955, I believe that was the one where it was promised it would use 144, and car 225 was used instead, with a piece of cloth that had the number 144 over the actual number. The pictures below are snapshots from that trip that I recently purchased. They are not very good pictures, but they do give a bit of the flavor of the event. A PCC car was typically sent along with in case of a breakdown, and such trips were usually held on a Sunday, when buses were substituted for streetcars on some of the remaining lines.

The South Shore Line Today

A westbound train at the 11th Street station in Michigan City.

I spent the weekend of May 18-19 in Michigan, and on the way back to Chicago, stopped off in Michigan City and Beverly Shores to take a few pictures of the South Shore Line. The street running in Michigan City has been replaced by a double-tracked private right-of-way. The facade from the old station has been incorporated into a parking garage. The new station is very nice.

There are now two sets of tracks at Beverly Shores as well. The historic Insull Spanish station, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, now hosts a gift shop and an art gallery. There are machines to purchase fares on the interurban. It is still a flag stop– one of only three left on the line, the others being Hudson Lake and Gary/Chicago International Airport.

Lots of good things are happening on the South Shore Line. The new branch line, which runs just on the Indiana side of the border with Illinois, is expected to begin service later this year. Since my visit, the 11th Street station has been dedicated.

The facade of the old station (designed by Insull staff architect Arthur U. Gerber) has been incorporated into the new one.

Looking west from the 11th Street station in Michigan City.

The view looking west along the right-of-way.

The Beverly Shores station was designed by Insull staff architect Arthur U. Gerber, and was built in 1929. There was originally one other such station on the South Shore Line (Lake Shore, built in 1927). It was demolished in the 1980s.

Originally, a ticket window would have been here. The rest of the building had living quarters for the station agent.

The current art exhibit.

The waiting room.

Carol Ruzic, the woman pictured here, spearheaded the effort to save the station in the 1980s, when it was threatened with demolition. She died earlier this year at the age of 96.

The nearby Beverly Shores Administration building has a tiled roof, just like the station.

This is how the Lake Shore station looked in November 1966. Unfortunately, it was not saved.

North Shore Line electric loco #455 is about to pass the Northbrook station on March 11, 1960. This was one of nine such “Insull Spanish” station on the Skokie Valley Route, all built in 1926. Briergate is the sole survivor.

Rails in Chicago Documentary

Geoffrey Baer with retired Kenosha master mechanic Brad Preston.

Here are some pictures from my WTTW taping session from May 15th. Our PBS station has begun filming a documentary about Chicago railroads. This was the first of twelve weeks of filming. Host Geoffrey Baer says we probably won’t see the finished product for another year.

After the crew finished their lunch break at the nearby historic Franks Diner, Kenosha’s Chicago tribute streetcar #4606 (originally from Toronto, although it has wheels and motors from an actual Chicago streetcar) became our set.

Once the lighting and cameras were set up, and our microphones were attached, the WTTW crew filmed Geoffrey Baer and yours truly while we talked, as the trolley went around the two-mile long loop a few times.

He has lots of experience doing this sort of thing. His method is to not talk much about the questions he has prepared before the cameras are recording, because your first answers are usually best. But sometimes he would ask me the same question again, in hopes of getting a bit more in the answer.

He’s an excellent interviewer, and his excitement about finding things out rubs off on the audience when you are viewing at home.

When we weren’t talking, they were still recording so they could have background audio they can use if needed. And before I even got there, they were out on the line filming exterior shots that they call “B roll footage.”

Even if fifteen minutes of fame gets distilled down to a fifteen seconds, it was a very interesting experience, and I hope they got what they were looking for. And it was nice to meet Geoffrey Baer, after seeing him host so many wonderful shows on WTTW.

The Franks Diner started out as a prefabricated structure in 1926, brought here by horsepower. It was later expanded and enclosed in brick.

Here, you can see the original exterior of the diner. This predated the more modern looking streamlined diners that are often seen in the East.

Help Support The Trolley Dodger

This is our 315th 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 1,170,000 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

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

Our 10th Anniversary

February 3, 2025April 28, 2025David Sadowski 16 Comments

An westbound two-car CTA “L” train crosses over the Baltimore and Ohio Chicago Terminal tracks circa November 1959. We are by Kenilworth Avenue in Oak Park during construction of the Congress (now Eisenhower) expressway. The highway is depressed below grade in this area, and the two railroads are in the south portion of the expressway footprint. All the buildings seen here are still extant. (Jeffrey L. Wien Photo)

As of this January 21st, the Trolley Dodger blog is now ten years old. Each year since 1963, this date has commemorated the end of service on the North Shore Line interurban. I thought it would be a good date to associate with beginnings as well as endings.

It has been some months since our last post. We only had a few last year. This has led some people to ask about my health, or if I am still continuing with this.

Fact is, I am fine and have been busier than ever. In early December, we turned in our first draft of our next book, and this was accepted by our publisher. We have been scanning lots of images, and have added many important ones to our collection, some of which are featured here.

Acquiring new images costs money, and the research involved with our books is very expensive. Much of my work this past year has involved raising the funds to pay for all this. If you would like to help out, there is information further down in this post about our annual fundraiser.

We have been quite active on our Trolley Dodger Facebook group, which has added about 250 members since our last blog post. I realize that many of you are not on Facebook and therefore wouldn’t see any of that.

The Facebook group has been very useful as our members are very knowledgeable and are an aid to research. If I post something there that I am not sure about, I can often get locations identified quickly by someone on the group, along with finding out additional useful information.

My longtime friend Raymond DeGroote, Jr., who is 94, fell and broke his hip last November 1st. He needed partial hip replacement surgery, and contracted pneumonia while in the hospital. Ray went into a rehab facility, where he remained until January 22nd. Now he is back home once again, and is temporarily receiving round-the-clock care while he builds up his strength so he can negotiate those stairs. We wish him the best and hope he makes a full recovery.

I wanted this anniversary post to be extra special, and we have lots of exceptional, very rare images here for your consideration. Now that work on our new book is a lot further along, our hope is to have at least one new post every month for the rest of the year.

I have been interested in how the CTA transitioned the Garfield Park “L” into the Congress rapid transit line west of Laramie Avenue (5200 W.) for a long time. I was a small child when this construction was going on, and we lived in the area. Back in the 1980s, I wrote to the legendary George Krambles himself, asking how this was done. He replied there were at least three temporary rights-of-way, but that he was not clear on the details.

Since then, I have learned quite a bit about this, and some of that information (and many pictures) can be found in my 2018 Arcadia book Building Chicago’s Subways. Many more pictures have appeared on this blog.

Still, there were two remaining questions that needed answering. First, exactly where did the old Garfield Park alignment join up with the new Congress “L”? There was such a junction, we know, because service was offered on both lines simultaneously on June 21, 1958, and some maintenance work continued at the old Laramie Yard until around April 1959.

Second, where was the crossing between the Baltimore and Ohio Chicago Terminal tracks and the CTA moved to, while the new flyover was being built? They originally crossed each other at grade just east of DesPlaines Avenue in Forest Park. Now, there is a flyover that takes the freight line north of the CTA, and also carries both sets of tracks over the expressway (now I-290).

I recently discovered several photos by the late Jeffrey L. Wien that answer both questions. You will find them later in this post.

As I look back on our first ten years, I can honestly say that I have learned a lot. I thought I knew a few things when we started this journey, but it has been an educational experience for me. That is, in large part, due to our readers being so knowledgeable. So I have to thank all of you for that.

Another difference between now and then is our standards and capabilities for photo restoration have greatly improved. Experience is a great teacher, and we have worked on thousands and thousands of images since then.

My goal has always been to create a resource where people can find useful information about the history of electric railways. With over 1.1 million page views, I believe we have achieved that goal. When I do Google searches, doing my own research, the hits that come up often include things I have posted. Trolley Dodger pictures show up all the time on Facebook too.

I’m excited about the future as I look forward to the next ten years of the Trolley Dodger. And the best thing about this continued journey is we will do it together.

Enjoy!
-David Sadowski

PS- You might also like our Trolley Dodger Facebook auxiliary, a private group that now has 2,038 members.

Department of Corrections

This real photo postcard shows a crash between two Metropolitan “L” cars on the Humboldt Park branch. There is a different picture of the same wreck (again, from a RPP) on page 60 of my 2021 book Chicago’s Lost “L”s. The question was always, where was this taken? The best guess at the time was looking west from Kedzie Avenue (3200 W.) so that’s what I put in the book. On the other hand, Andre Kristopans thought it was near the west end of the line (Lawndale Avenue, 3700 W.). Turns out it was near Ballou station. This was later renamed to St. Louis Avenue (3500 W.) meaning it’s between where the two guesses were. Further research by Ron Tee turned up a March 15, 1909 article about the accident in the Herald News.

Our Annual Fundraiser

Since we started this blog in 2015, we have posted more than 16,000 images. This is our 314th post.

In the near future, we will need to renew our WordPress subscription, our domain registration, and pay other bills associated with maintaining this site, so it is time for our Annual Fundraiser.

The Trolley Dodger blog can only be kept going with the help of our devoted readers. Perhaps you count yourself among them.

If you have already contributed in the past, we thank you very much for your help. Meanwhile, our goal for this fundraiser is just $700, which is only a fraction of what it costs us each year. The rest is made up from either the profits from the items we sell, or out of our own pocket.

There are links at the top and bottom of this page, where you can click and make a donation that will help us meet our goal again for this coming year, so we can continue to offer you more classic images in the future, and keep this good thing we have going.

We thank you in advance for your time and consideration.

Our Next Book Project

On December 7, 1958, CA&E wood cars 319 and 320 ran on a charter that became the last passenger movement on the railroad. Here, the fantrip train has reached the off-street Aurora terminal on a very wintry day. (Don Swanson Photo)

FYI, we are hard at work on our next book about the Chicago Aurora and Elgin interurban. Although we already have thousands of images, we start out on these book projects with some of what we need, and then have to find the rest. Some have generously shared their images with us, and some we have to pay real money for. In case you would like to help contribute to this effort, either by sharing images or making a donation, we would like to hear from you. All contributors will be mentioned in the book, which will be dedicated to the memory of the late Robert D. Heinlein. The most difficult images to find are always the earliest ones. You can contact me via Facebook messenger, at thetrolleydodger@gmail.com or via my blog. I thank you for your time and consideration.

CA&E locos 4005 and 4006 head up a freight train at Lakewood siding in June 1956. (Don Swanson Photo)

James P. Shulman took this picture of Chicago Aurora and Elgin #456 on January 12, 1947 at Wheaton, when this car was just about one year old. It was still lettered in Futura type.

Here is a picture of Chicago Aurora and Elgin #401 at the Wheaton station on March 18, 1956. (Raymond DeGroote, Jr. Photo)

Here is another picture of Chicago Aurora and Elgin #401 at the Wheaton station on March 18, 1956. We are looking to the east. (Raymond DeGroote, Jr. Photo)

This is how the abandoned Chicago Aurora and Elgin right-of-way looked in June 1960, nearly three years after the end of passenger service and one year after the last freight train. We are looking west from Fifth Avenue in Maywood. The gates have been removed but the tracks are still in place. Formal abandonment of the railroad was approved the following year.

Recent Finds

North Shore Line electric loco 456 is moving freight in North Chicago on the last full day of service, January 20, 1963. The weather was bitterly cold. There was no slacking off for the NSL’s employees, even though everyone knew the storied interurban had come to the end of the line. The photographer is not known, but I do think it’s very possible Jeffrey L. Wien is one of the three guys on the right… carrying a case that most likely has his movie camera in it. I think he’s the guy in the middle, grinning, because he’s in his element.

North Shore Line car #159 and an Electroliner are at the Mundelein Terminal in June 1961. The Liner was there on a fantrip, as they did not operate on this branch line in regular service. We are looking west.

North Shore Line express motors 238 and 231 are at Pettibone Yard in the 1950s. 238 has been converted to a snow plow, as the interurban had ended less-than-carload freight in 1947. This image was scanned from an 838 Kodachrome slide– which at 28x40mm is somewhat larger than 35mm’s 24x36mm. Kodak had a series of Bantam cameras that took this size, but it did not catch on.

North Shore Line car #703 is parked at Roosevelt Road in Chicago on a very snowy February 11, 1960.

The photographer must have been riding on a North Shore Line train to capture this picture on August 23, 1959. We are looking west towards the former Niles Center “L” station at Asbury Street in Evanston, last used in 1948. After being rented out to local businesses, the station building was torn down in the 1970s. The Skokie Swift began using these tracks in 1964, just over a year after the North Shore Line quit. (William C. Hoffman Photo)

CTA trolley bus 9361 was built by Pullman-Standard in 1948, and was retired on December 15, 1966. On February 26, 1965, it is heading west on Route 80 – Irving Park Road. The bus has just gone under the four-track North Side “L”. and is about to traverse the Milwaukee Road’s freight track just west of there. Until 1973, this track brought interchange freight to the CTA via the ground-level Buena Yard. Further north from here, there was a ramp connecting with the “L”. This was once a Milwaukee Road commuter line, but the Northwestern Elevated Railroad Company took over service north of Wilson Avenue in 1908. By 1912, this “Evanston Extension” of the “L” went as far north as Linden Avenue in Wilmette. (Jeffrey L. Wien Photo)

On July 3, 1967, CTA trolley bus 9527 is eastbound on Irving Park Road, having just passed under the North-South “L”. This bus was built by Marmon-Herrington in 1951-52. The last Chicago trolley bus ran in 1973. (Jeffrey L. Wien Photo)

This looks north from the 35th Street station on the South Side “L” on November 6, 1950. The walkway led to the former 33rd Street station, which had been closed the year before. The photographer noted that this walkway was used by students at the Illinois Institute of Technology. The walkway was closed on September 25, 1961. (William C. Hoffman Photo) M.E. writes, “This photo shows the three tracks that ran from south of Indiana Ave. north to Roosevelt Rd. The middle track was used by express trains (obviously not going in both directions simultaneously), and probably by North Shore Line trains that ran as far south as 63rd and Dorchester on the Jackson Park line for a time.
Your caption mentions the 33rd St. station. This trackage was the original South Side L from 1892, when the city was a lot smaller than today. So this trackage had a lot more stations, which (if I remember correctly) were at Congress, 12th St. (a.k.a. Roosevelt Rd.), 16th St., 18th St., 22nd St. (a.k.a. Cermak Rd.), 26th St., 29th St., 31st St., 33rd St., 35th St. and 39th St. (a.k.a. Pershing Rd.). Trains (other than express trains) on this structure stopped at all these stations (although after the State St. subway opened in 1943, mainline trains could serve L stations only as far north as 18th St.). This was before 1949, when the Kenwood line still used this trackage and before A/B skip-stop service began on the north/south mainline. After 1949, stations other than Cermak and 35th were closed to speed up service on this section. Cermak became a B (Jackson Park mainline) station and 35th an A (Englewood mainline) station.
By the way, until the 1949 major change, Englewood trains went not to Howard St. but to Ravenswood. Only Jackson Park, Evanston Express, and North Shore Line trains went to Howard. Before the 1949 cutback, Kenwood trains went into the Loop and some went as far north as Wilson Ave. After 1949, the Ravenswood line got its own trains between Kimball and the Loop.”

When Jeff Wien took this picture looking north along Pulaski Road at Irving Park Road in March 1973, CTA trolley buses were in their very last days. Here, we see 9624, a Marmon-Herrington, built in 1951-52. The Buffalo ice cream parlor was a local landmark for decades. Established in 1902, they moved to this location in 1918. It closed in 1978 and a gas station replaced it.

CTA prewar PCC car 7019 is heading north on Cottage Grove at 93rd on September 23, 1954. Route 4 streetcar service ended the following year. Our resident south side expert M.E. adds, “This intersection had a lot of trackage, for two reasons: (1) The 93rd-95th St. car line used Cottage Grove Ave. to move between 95th St. and 93rd St.; (2) A car barn was situated a block east on 93rd St. at Drexel. Notice all the trolley wire, which also indicates how much trackage existed at this intersection.”

Here’s the same location in October 2022.

On June 29, 1966, CTA single car unit 44 heads south from the Linden Avenue terminal, working an Evanston branch local. For a time, there was an automatic gate installed here to keep people and animals out of the yard. (Jeffrey L. Wien Photo)

On July 14, 1963, this is the view looking south at South Boulevard on the Evanston branch of the “L”. As the sign at right notes, this was the changeover point from overhead wire to third rail. Evanston would not allow the “L” to use third rail north of here until 1973. (William C. Hoffman Photo)

Chicago Surface Lines Nearside streetcar #5773 is on Through Route 5: Cottage Grove – South Chicago in the late 1930s. Don’s Rail Photos: “5773 was built by Brill Car Co in 1912, #18322. It was retired on February 8, 1946.”

On May 11, 1958, William C. Hoffman captured this view, looking northwest towards the 43rd Street station on the Illinois Central Electric suburban service. You can see the former Kenwood “L” Terminal and Yard in the distance at 42nd and Oakenwald. That branch had closed on November 30, 1957, when its 50 year lease ran out with the Chicago Junction Railway, which owned it. This date also marked the end of wood cars on the “L”. The Kenwood “L” was demolished within a few years, although remnants still exist.

I was recently contacted by someone working on the effort to turn the old Kenwood “L” right-of-way into a south side version of the 606 Trail. They were wondering when the bridges over various streets were removed after the line was abandoned in November 1957. They were certainly gone by September 5, 1960, when this picture was taken at Vincennes Avenue.
(William C. Hoffman Photo)

Here is the former Kenwood “L” embankment at Cottage Grove Avenue on September 5, 1960. The Chicago Junction Railway was still active at this point, adjacent to the former “L”. (William C. Hoffman Photo)

A view of the old Kenwood “L” at Drexel Boulevard on September 5, 1960. (William C. Hoffman Photo)

This is where the old Ellis Avenue station was on the Kenwood “L”, as of September 5, 1960. (William C. Hoffman Photo)

We are looking north along Stony Island at 63rd Street on May 19, 1961. The eastern end of the Jackson Park “L” is at left. During the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, the “L” went further east of here. The Jackson Park branch has since been cut back to Cottage Grove. This image was restored from an early Ektachrome slide that had shifted to red. (William C. Hoffman Photo) M.E. writes, “In my early lifetime, the L structure over Stony Island Ave. was not there. The structure ended abutting Stony Island, but not spanning it. The streets here were a mini business district, there was a Greyhound bus station on Stony Island south of 63rd St., and Hyde Park High School was on Stony Island south of 62nd St. The 63rd St. streetcars traveled east to Stony Island, then turned right (south) to 64th St. to their terminal on 64th. To start their westbound trips, they went a block farther west on 64th St. to Harper, then north to 63rd St., then west. And of course Stony Island had its own streetcar line (and traffic ran in both directions).”

Chicago Transit Authority streetcar 3137 is at Root and Halsted (end of the 43rd Street car line) in 1952. The bridge belonged to the Stock Yard branch of the “L”. This was one of a few older trolleys that the CTA had painted in green and creme in the early 1950s. The sign at rear advertises the Chicago Daily Drovers Journal, founded in 1873 to report on the Union Stockyards. It is still in business today at: http://www.drovers.com (E. Rinke Photo)

Here’s how the Stock Yards “L” looked on Exchange Avenue near Racine Avenue on September 1, 1954. This “L” branchy was abandoned in 1957. (William C. Hoffman Photo)

We are looking west from the transfer bridge at the Indiana Avenue “L” station in the south side on November 6, 1950. By then, the Kenwood branch had become a shuttle. The CTA widened the platform so it could berth here, and northbound main line trains were relocated onto what had formerly been the express track (no longer in use, as the CTA had instituted A/B skip stop service). The Stock Yards branch always ran as a shuttle from the opposite platform. (William C. Hoffman Photo) M.E. notes: “This photo shows people on a wide platform. The space occupied by that platform was initially the third track that northbound mainline trains and northbound Kenwood trains used, before the Kenwood line was cut back to a shuttle from Indiana Ave. east. That change took place in 1949. This transfer bridge enabled passengers on:
(1) northbound mainline and Kenwood trains to reach southbound mainline trains and Stock Yards trains, and
(2) southbound mainline and Stock Yards trains to reach northbound mainline trains and Kenwood trains.”

On August 30, 1960, a southbound eight-car train is at 35th Street on the South Side “L”.
Construction of a new center-island platform has started. This turned out to be ill-fated, as the station was destroyed by fire not long after it opened. (William C. Hoffman Photo)

The picture was taken on October 18, 1962, the day after the station fire at 35th Street. It shows the train with the burned up car and a crowd of people nearby, including the fire department. (Jeffrey L. Wien Photo)

Subject: CSS&SB South Shore Line Hegewisch Station 1970s
Location: Chicago, Illinois (Hegewisch neighborhood)
Date: Circa 1970s
Photographer: Unknown
This picture shows the old South Shore Line station at Hegewisch, near the Illinois-Indiana border. It was replaced by a newer station in 1992, and as this slide has square corners, it probably predates 1981.

Subject: CSS&SB South Shore Line Interurban #104
Location: Michigan City, Indiana
Date: April 1963 (processing date)
Photographer: Emery J. Gulash
Emery J. Gulash (1918-2006) was a very well known railfan photographer.
CSS&SB #104 was built by Pullman in 1926, job #4936. It was lengthened in 1943. Air conditioning and picture windows came in 1950. All cars in this series were retired by 1983, and many went to museums. The facade from the historic Michigan City station has been saved and is planned to be reused with a new building behind it. The South Shore Line street running has been replaced by new double track on private right-of-way.

Subject: CSS&SB South Shore Line Electric Loco #901 (and presumably #900)
Location: Unknown
Date: Circa 1950-55 (based on the style of slide mount
Photographer: Unknown
CSS&SB electric steeplecab #901 was built by Baldwin/Westinghouse in 1929 as IC #10001. The CSS acquired it in 1941. It appears to have been retired sometime in the 1960s.

Whenever a movie theatre pops up in one of these photos, I post it to Cinema Treasures. Pittsburgh Railways PCC streetcar #1724 passes the Art Cinema at 809 Liberty Avenue on March 23, 1968. The adult theatre was offering a double feature of Fanny Hill Meets Dr. Erotica and Unholy Matrimony. It opened in 1931 as the Avenue Cinema and was renamed the Art Cinema in 1935. Redeveloped in 1995, it is now the Harris Theatre. (Jeffrey L. Wien Photo)

On February 23, 1957, Queensboro Bridge streetcar #602 is posed by a BMT “A” train. The bridge train stopped running on April 7, 1957, as the last streetcar in New York City. Car 602 was built in 1929 by Osgood-Bradley for New Bedford, Massachusetts. Although similar in appearance to Brill Master Units, these cars were called Electromobiles. Several came to the bridge operation in 1948.

This circa 1948 picture of CTA “Jitterbug” 5002 caused a lot of discussion on our Facebook group, namely, where is this? But the consensus is, this is the original turnaround loop at DesPlaines Avenue on the Garfield Park “L”, looking east. William Shapotkin says the Chicago Great Western’s control tower is just barely visible at left. The yard here, and the turnback loop, were reconfigured in 1953 when the Chicago Aurora and Elgin cut back service to here. It was rebuilt again in 1959 during construction of the adjacent expressway.

From 1940 to 1952, the Pacific Electric ran in the median of the Hollywood Freeway (now U.S. Route 101) through Cahuenga Pass in Los Angeles. Here we see it during a 1948 fantrip. I can’t quite make out the car number. The Chicago Transit Authority opened its Congress rapid transit line in an expressway median in 1958, but by then, this one was already gone, and the space is now occupied by additional highway lanes.

CTA #4410, built in the early 1920s, is part of a fantrip train at Lake and Homan on October 21, 1973. This was about a month before the 4000s were taken out of service. (Arthur H. Peterson Photo)

We are looking northwest from Marshfield Avenue towards the Lake and Paulina “L” junction on August 15, 1963. The Paulina “L” still crossed over the Lake Street “L”, but the tracks north of here were only being used for shop moves, work trains, and charters by this point. A new connection to the Lake Street “L” was used by Douglas Park trains from 1954 to 1958, and is used by Pink Line trains today. The white structure was added during construction of this connection for use by the work crews. The upper level tracks here, along with the Lake Transfer station and trackage all the way north to the Milwaukee Subway was removed in 1964. (William C. Hoffman Photo) M.E. adds, “You may want to add to your caption that, after the Dearborn St. subway opened in 1951, this segment of trackage also provided the only way to move L cars between the Logan Square – Dearborn St. subway – Congress and LaSalle St. line and the rest of the system.”

The view looking north from around Chicago Avenue along the old Paulina “L” on June 26, 1960 during a fantrip. New CTA single car units 41 and 42 were used. (William C. Hoffman Photo)

This is the old Paulina “L” bridge over what are now Metra tracks. On June 26, 1960, the “L” structure was still intact all the way between Lake Street and the Milwaukee Avenue Subway, but only the southbound track was in use for shop moves, equipment transfers, work cars, and fantrips like this. The bridge is still there, used for signals. (William C. Hoffman Photo) (William C. Hoffman Photo)

To capture this view today, showing the north portal of the Milwaukee Avenue Subway, you would need a drone. But on June 26, 1960, you could take this picture while looking out the window of a fantrip train, turning sharply south onto the old Paulina “L”. That structure was demolished in 1964. (William C. Hoffman Photo)

To get this shot, the photographer must have been on a boat in the Chicago River, passing under the Van Buren Street bridge. We see the two side-by-side bridges used by the Metropolitan “L”. They were still in service for Garfield Park “L” trains when this picture was taken on May 12, 1957. (William C. Hoffman Photo)

By July 26, 1959, when this picture was taken, the Garfield Park “L” was no longer running, so the twin Met “L” bridges had been permanently raised. They were torn down around 1961. (William C. Hoffman Photo)

Another view of the Met “L” bridges, also from July 26, 1959. It was taken from the east side of the Chicago River, as you can see the 547 W. Jackson building in the distance.(William C. Hoffman Photo)

On July 28, 1958, the old Metropolitan “L” structure, last used by the Garfield Park “L” the month before was being demolished in this view looking east from Morgan Street. The new Congress line, which replaced it, is at right. (William C. Hoffman Photo)

By November 18, 1962, when this picture was taken, there were still a few remnants of the old Metropolitan “L”. This is what’s left of the old Canal Street “L” station after the structure here was torn down in 1961.
(William C. Hoffman Photo)

This is the view looking east along Van Buren Street at Ogden Avenue on June 17, 1958. We see the temporary Garfield Park “L” right-of-way, and the new Congress “L” at right, which would replace it five days later. Meanwhile, a Douglas Park “L” train rides along on the Paulina “L”. (William C. Hoffman Photo)

The same location, looking the same way, but on July 9, 1957. (William C. Hoffman Photo)

On October 19, 1953, demolition of the Garfield Park “L” structure was well underway in this view looking northwest from Claremont (2332 W.) and the construction site of the Congress expressway. The portion crossing Western Avenue has been removed.
(William C. Hoffman Photo)

This is all that was left of the Western Avenue “L” station on the Garfield Park “L” on November 1, 1953. This station was last used on September 27, 1953. For nearly five years, Garfield Park trains ran on a ground-level temporary right-of-way on Van Buren Street, just north of the expressway footprint to the left. (William C. Hoffman Photo)

As of July 27, 1958, when this picture was taken, the new CTA Congress “L” had been running for a month, and the old Garfield Park structure was still there. This was near Kilbourn Avenue (4500 W.), one of two places where it crossed the highway. The “L” was finally removed by November 1959. (William C. Hoffman Photo)

The solid gray line shows how the old Garfield Park “L” cut across the Congress (now Eisenhower) expressway just west of Kostner (4400 W.). Disregard the purple line, that’s just marking different sections of the map.

Here is the partially demolished Garfield Park “L” structure. looking east at Kostner Avenue (4400 W.) from a slide processed in November 1959. (Jeffrey L. Wien Photo)

The Congress (now Eisenhower) expressway was completely shut down during removal of the Garfield Park “L” structure, where it crossed the highway just west of Kostner (4400 W.). This slide was processed in November 1959. (Jeffrey L. Wien Photo)

When the Congress expressway was built, the Garfield Park “L” crossed its footprint at two locations– here (4500 W.) and at Sacramento Boulevard (3000 W.). The existing “L” structures were retained, supported by additional steel called an “interlining.” That is how the Englewood “L” is supported now, where it crosses the Dan Ryan expressway. I do not know if any of the steel supports there came from here. (Jeffrey L. Wien Photo)

Since the Congress expressway was shut down temporarily for removal of the old Garfield Park “L”, it looks like photographer Jeffrey L. Wien walked over to the fence near the Congress “L” to get this shot near Kilbourn Avenue (4500 W.).

We are looking east from Cicero Avenue, as the Garfield Park “L” was being dismantled circa November 1959. (Jeffrey L. Wien Photo)

A contemporary view of the same location.

After taking the previous picture, it appears that photographer Jeffrey L. Wien walked west along the temporarily closed Congress expressway for this shot of a two-car westbound Congress train near Cicero Avenue. This slide was processed in November 1959.

This pair of CTA flat-door 6000s is signed for Garfield Park in this circa 1955-58 photograph. But it’s not entirely clear where the location is. My guess is this at Central Avenue, by comparison with the next picture, where the location was identified. This was scanned from an original Ektachrome slide that had faded to red. I had attempted to color-correct this same slide (or one just like it) ten years ago, without success, but now this one doesn’t look too bad. It was a lot of work, though.

Here’s how the slide looked before I started working on it.

CTA 6039-6040 are at Central Avenue on the Garfield Park “L” on March 25, 1958. This was another early Ektachrome slide that had faded to red. On June 22, 1958, the CTA opened the new Congress rapid transit line as far west as the Cicero Avenue station. The Congress expressway was only open as far as Laramie Avenue, and construction gradually headed west. The “L” used a variety of temporary rights-of-way until everything was finished in 1960. Presumably, the tracks at right connected to the new Congress median right-of-way, while the ones at left went to the old Garfield alignment (which included Laramie Yard).

If this map, made by a Google user, is accurate, it shows where the Garfield Park “L” ran at ground level in the area by Central Avenue (5600 W.). The Lotus Tunnel is not shown, but would be in approximately the same location as where the Garfield “L” ran, east of Central, bringing the current “L” into the expressway median. If true, this would suggest the Garfield tracks were temporarily relocated to the north of where the tunnel is, but I am not sure if that is what really happened.

This picture was taken at the same time as the previous one at Central Avenue. The crossing gate at left has been removed, which supports my theory that Central Avenue was closed for traffic. In earlier photos at this location, Garfield Park trains were using tracks that veered off to the left. Now, Congress trains headed off to the right. The two-car train of flat-door 6000s has a run number and is on the westbound track. In the next picture, the train has its headlight on and also seems to be heading west. This slide was processed in November 1959. (Jeffrey L. Wien Photo)

While the Congress median line opened as far west as Cicero Avenue on June 22, 1958, service west of there remained on various temporary rights of way until 1960. Here, we are looking east at the temporary “L” station at Central Avenue, circa November 1959. Generally speaking, there were perhaps three different temporary alignments, and the progression was to keep moving the “L” farther north, until the permanent alignment was ready. Here, what had been an island platform was, by the time this photo was taken, only being used by one set of tracks. You can see where some of the rails on the south end of the platform have been removed. Central Avenue appears closed to traffic, as an underpass was being built, going underneath the highway. There is a control tower at Central Avenue, to switch trains to either the old Garfield alignment at left, or the Congress route at right. By November 1959, this tower probably wasn’t in use. It was necessary to have continued access to Laramie Yard until about May 1959, as the new facilities in Forest Park were not ready yet. Graham Garfield’s excellent chicago-l.org web site explains: “On October 16, 1959, the permanent eastbound Congress Line track was placed in service between Parkside and Pine avenues thru Lotus Tunnel. A temporary side platform was placed in service. Three days later, on October 19, the permanent westbound track and a temporary westbound side platform was placed in service, closing the previous temporary platform. Meanwhile, between the permanent tracks, the new, permanent island platform was constructed. The new Central station platform (with temporary fare controls) was placed in service on October 10, 1960, with westbound trains first using it, followed by eastbound trains the next day. On October 11, 1960, the third and final temporary Central station was closed.” It’s not clear how this photo fits into the sequence of events, unless the temporary island platform became a side platform as seen here. (Jeffrey L. Wien Photo)

This January 1960 view, looking northeast, shows the temporary Central Avenue side platform station during construction of the Congress expressway. The CTA Congress median line had opened as far west as Cicero Avenue in June 1958, but farther west, used a series of temporary ground level alignments while highway work continue. The temporary station here was in use from October 1959 until October 1960, when the permanent center platform station opened. You can see a stairway for the new platform, built into the concrete wall of the Central Avenue underpass. The side platforms allowed for simultaneous construction of the new station. The expressway originally ended at Laramie Avenue (5200 W.), but was extended to Central (5600 W.) in early 1960, and finally opened to Oak Park, Forest Park, and Maywood in October 1960. Newly delivered single car unit 22 heads up this westbound Congress-Milwaukee “A” train. East of here, the tracks curve off to go into the Lotus Tunnel, taking the line into the expressway median. Ultimately, this station did not develop much ridership, and closed in 1973, although it is still extant. (Jeffrey L. Wien Photo)

CTA Congress (now Blue Line) “L” trains switch from the expressway median to an alignment at the south end of the highway via the Lotus Tunnel, seen here in March 1971 with a pair of westbound 6000s. We are just east of Central Avenue. (Jeffrey L. Wien Photo)

This slide, processed in November 1959, shows an eastbound Congress-Milwaukee “L” train, made up of single-car units 39-40, at Austin on Chicago’s west side. The Congress expressway was under construction, but hadn’t reached this point quite yet. The train is running on temporary trackage at ground level.
At left, that’s Columbus Park. When the highway was built, a bit of the south end of the park got shaved off.
In the distance you can see Loretta hospital and also the temporary station at Central Avenue. The B&OCT tracks are to the south of the CTA, and the crossover point was west of here. The temporary Central station was in the same location as the permanent one, but the temp station had two platforms on the outside of the tracks, while the permanent station has a central platform.
When the Garfield Park “L” became the Congress line, the new portion only ran as far west as Cicero Avenue. Everything west of there was the same as before. There were a few different alignments of temporary tracks leading to DesPlaines Avenue, with the CTA and B&OCT leapfrogging each other at times. The current alignment was finished in 1960, which is also when this part of the highway opened. (Jeffrey L. Wien Photo)

We are looking mainly to the east from Austin Avenue, the borderline between Chicago and suburban Oak Park, in March 1971. This shows where the permanent alignment of the Congress (now Blue Line) “L” goes, compared to the previous picture. (Jeffrey L. Wien Photo)

We are looking east from Austin Avenue along the future site of the Congress expressway circa November 1959. The highway would slice off a small part of Columbus Park at left. The Baltimore and Ohio Chicago Terminal tracks are at right. Far in the distance, bulldozers are clearing the way for the expressway. (Jeffrey L. Wien Photo)

In this slide, processed in November 1959 but possibly taken earlier, we see an eastbound Congress A train approaching the Austin Avenue station in the distance. A bridge is under construction that spans the portion of the highway footprint that has already been dug out. (Jeffrey L. Wien Photo)

The same location as the previous slide, but this time, with a westbound train. (Jeffrey L. Wien Photo)

This circa November 1959 view looks east just west of Lombard Avenue in Oak Park. A westbound train approaches. In the distance, you can just make out the “L” station at Austin Avenue. The orange bridge under construction is Lombard Avenue. (Jeffrey L. Wien Photo)

The same location today. We are looking east along Flournoy Street at Lombard Avenue in Oak Park, In the distance, we see the same house as in the 1959 photo.

This is the same location as the previous picture, with an eastbound train. (Jeffrey L. Wien Photo)

Oak Park residents may be surprised to know there was once an “L” station at Ridgeland Avenue on what is today the CTA Blue Line. But it was short-lived, only open from September 1957 until March 1960. This slide was processed in November 1959. The Garfield Park “L” previously had a station at Gunderson Avenue, a side street a few blocks west of here. It was on a side street because that’s where some new homes were built by a developer named Gunderson at the turn of the century. The CTA originally planned a permanent station here, but opted for secondary entrances to the stations at Austin (Lombard) and Oak Park Avenue (East Avenue) instead. You can see the bridge that crosses the highway at Austin Avenue under construction in the distance. (Jeffrey L. Wien Photo)

CTA 6123-6124 are heading eastbound at the temporary Oak Park Avenue station in Oak Park in March 1960. These cars formerly were used on the Evanston branch “L” and had trolley poles for use there (third rail was not permitted). These have been removed, as the Congress line was all third rail, but you can see remnants. (Jeffrey L. Wien Photo)

A westbound CTA two-car train is about to take the crossover at Kenilworth Avenue in Oak Park during a snowy March 1960. (Jeffrey L. Wien Photo)

An eastbound CTA train has just crossed over the B&OCT tracks near Kenilworth Avenue in Oak Park in this circa November 1959 view. (Jeffrey L. Wien Photo)

An eastbound two-car CTA train of flat-door 6000s has just crossed the B&OCT tracks at Kenilworth Avenue, a short distance west of Oak Park Avenue in March 1960. Near Central Avenue, the B&OCT tracks are south of the CTA. By the time they reach the Forest Park terminal, they are north of the CTA. Before the start of the highway project, the crossover point was just east of DesPlaines Avenue. While a new flyover was under construction near that location, the crossover was temporarily moved further east, as seen here. (Jeffrey L. Wien Photo)

The bank building in the distance is still there today. It looks as though the bridge over the future highway may be under construction already, in this circa November 1959 view looking east towards Oak Park Avenue. (Jeffrey L. Wien Photo)

CTA 4235 (at left) is at the head of a westbound two-car CERA fantrip train in Oak Park, on temporary trackage during construction of the adjacent Congress (now Eisenhower) expressway. The date is September 14, 1958. By 1955, the new highway was already open as far west as Laramie Avenue. There were two parallel sets of tracks west of there, through Oak Park and Forest Park, the CTA and the Baltimore and Ohio Chicago Terminal. The tracks were moved in stages to the north end of the expressway footprint. Then, the area to the south was dug out and by 1960, the tracks were relocated to their present location just south of the highway, which opened the same year. The location was identified as Ridgeland but I believe it is actually west of Oak Park Avenue. You will note how the B&OCT tracks are north of the CTA in this 1958 photo. That would imply the temporary crossover that brought them there was located east of here at the time. Photos from November 1959 show this crossover was at Kenilworth Avenue, just west of Oak Park Avenue. (Robert Heinlein Photo)

In March 1960, we are looking east along the expressway footprint from just east of Harlem Avenue. In the far distance, you can just make out where the CTA tracks curve to the north and cross the B&OCT at grade. A Chicago and West Towns bus is also just barely visible on Oak Park Avenue. The CTA train is heading westbound and is just about to stop at the temporary Harlem Avenue station. (Jeffrey L. Wien Photo)

A pair of CTA single-car units heads east on temporary trackage at Harlem Avenue in March 1960. This was during construction of the Congress (now Eisenhower) expressway, which opened in this area later in the year. Notice how the CTA tracks veer off to the left in the distance, while the B&OCT tracks are already north of the “L”. While the current flyover arrangement was being built west of here, the location of where the two railroads crossed was moved somewhere further east. Originally, they crossed at grade a short distance east of today’s flyover. The single-car units were brand new and were first assigned to Congress-Milwaukee before some began being used on Evanston in 1961. (Jeffrey L. Wien Photo)

An eastbound Congress “L” train has just passed Harlem Avenue in March 1960. The two railroads here are on ground-level temporary tracks, while their eventual home is at right, below grade. Harlem Avenue is the dividing line here between Forest Park and Oak Park. There are below-grade traffic lanes where the railroads were. The Baltimore and Ohio Chicago Terminal tracks are, at this point, north of the CTA’s. They crossed each other at a point further east of here while construction of a new flyover was underway a short distance west of Harlem. (Jeffrey L. Wien Photo)

It’s March 1960, and CTA single car units #25 and 26 are heading westbound on the Congress route temporary trackage at Harlem Avenue. The expressway was still under construction here at this time, and would open later in the year. Here, the B&OCT tracks are north of the CTA. The crossing point between them appears to be off in the distance, where you can see the CTA veer off. Now there is a flyover west of Harlem Avenue that takes the B&O over the CTA. (Jeffrey L. Wien Photo)

CTA 6041-6042 head east at the temporary Harlem Avenue station in March 1960. (Jeffrey L. Wien Photo)

This March 1960 view looks northwest from Harlem Avenue, along the future site of the Congress expressway. The retaining wall at left may be for the eventual ramp used today by westbound traffic, which enters via the left lane. The CTA and B&OCT temporary tracks are at grade level, but were relocated later in the year into a cut at left of this picture, just out of view. In the distance, at left, you can see a large gas holder, then a local landmark, but which has since been removed. As this is west of Harlem, everything you see is in suburban Forest Park. DesPlaines Avenue is a half-mile west of here. (Jeffrey L. Wien Photo)

At noon on Sunday, October 12, 1958, a two-car CTA train made up of flat-door 6000s heads east from the DesPlaines Avenue terminal in Forest Park. There were three sets of tracks for motorists to cross on DesPlaines Avenue. From the looks of the tower at left, the CTA’s may have been manually operated. After the highway project was completed, an underpass took traffic underneath all three. The concrete slab at left is probably where a temporary bypass road took DesPlaines Avenue traffic around the construction site, while the underpass was being built. The view looks northwest. (Robert A. Selle Photo)

CTA 6191-6192 approach the DesPlaines Avenue Terminal in Forest Park circa 1959, when the Congress expressway was being built nearby.

Recent Correspondence

A Garfield/Westchester “L” train crosses the B&OCT tracks in Forest Park, circa 1948. This area has changed so much as to be virtually unrecognizable, but we are looking to the east. The freight tracks are turning to the north, while the “L” turns south towards DesPlaines Avenue. Behind the “L” train, out of view, is the Hannah Avenue station. East of here, the two trains ran parallel to each other to about Central Avenue, a distance of about two-and-a-half miles. The Eisenhower expressway runs through here today, with a flyover keeping the CTA Blue Line apart from the B&OCT as they cross each other (and the highway).

The Hannah Avenue “L” station (7400 W/700 S) in Forest Park, circa 1948.

Jack Franklin writes:

This edition was especially meaningful to me. I was in middle and high schools on the west side of Chicago Austin area, when the Congress X-way was being built. I rode on the Garfield Park L all the time during the transition. From ground level to to elevated to street running and other modes. When I would go to the Forest Park pool (Now the Forest Park Aquatic Center) with my cousin Bob who lived down the street from it, I would watch the Garfield Park L cross the B&O tracks just north of the pool.

One day while we were hanging out at the pool and looking for girls, I saw an L train derail heading westbound toward the crossing. There were derails in place on the L tracks, so the train must have tried to go through an open one. Some scurrying around by wreck crews and the L train was quickly back on the rails again. Lots of excitement.

In 1959, I was working in the Horder’s Warehouse at Clinton and Jackson across from Union Station. From our office windows we could see the elevated structure being taken down and the bridges being dismantled. Your pictures brought back some memories for me.

Jon Roma writes:

David, this is apropos of my comment to your 10th anniversary post, regarding the Metropolitan “L” station labeled as Clinton St., but actually named Canal St. (see comments section)

It turns out that I have an image showing the actual front façade of that station, albeit from a bit more distance than I would have preferred. This is one of my favorite bought slides, and I think the CPD officer on foot patrol in the foreground adds a bit of color to this fascinating street scene that includes the Metropolitan “L” and Chicago Union Station.

The slide does not carry any identifying information, so, alas, there is no photographer to credit. Feel free to use this as you see fit.

Some of my recent replies are long-winded, but that’s a reflection of how thought-provoking the shared images are to me.

Great photo, thanks for sharing! I have updated the caption to the photo you refer to, changing it to Canal Street.

Again, Jon Roma:

Hi, David.

I just tried to post a reply to the comment about the street crossing just south of the Linden Ave. yard in Wilmette, but I think it may have gotten eaten by WordPress. I can try reposting if it is truly lost.

https://i0.wp.com/thetrolleydodger.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/ebf059a.jpg

My comment expressed doubt that the middle rail has anything to do with the crossing warning devices, but its purpose is a mystery. Incidentally, I also tried to share the morsel that the crossing still exists.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/XBSqEAJHiaoLNHuU6

The pictures of the various track alignments along the Congress Expressway in Oak Park and River Forest are fascinating, but they open up several cans of worms because we are forced to try to piece together the construction staging in the absence of factual details. Because public funds were used for the highway and subway work, the documents probably exist – albeit in some yet-to-be-uncovered location buried deep in a library – perhaps in Springfield, or even here in Urbana-Champaign.

It is revealing that the B&OCT/CTA crossing appears to have moved at least once before the permanent alignment and grade separation were put into service. To a signal historian like me, this begs the question about what they did with the interlocking in the interim. The old interlocking governed the crossings of CRT/CTA and the B&OCT in addition to the split where B&OCT became two separate main lines belonging to the Soo Line and CGW. Of course, once the CTA construction was complete, the interlocking devolved into just the split, as the CTA was by then no longer part of the plant.

It’s conceivable that there was a temporary interlocking when the tracks were relocated, though that would have been a somewhat expensive proposition. If the interim situation persisted for more than a few months, it would likely be documented in at least one B&OCT operating timetable.

As I mentioned in my public comment a few days ago, I am very happy that the Trolley Dodger is back. I will reiterate how happy I am to hear that you are hoping for shorter and more frequent posts, because I think they’re easier to follow and digest.

Regards.

Keep those cards and letters coming in, folks.

-David Sadowski

Our Latest Book, Now Available:

The North Shore Line

FYI, my new Arcadia Publishing book The North Shore Line is now available for immediate shipment. My publisher decided to expand it to 160 pages, instead of the usual 128. That’s a 25% increase, without any change to the $23.99 price. I am quite pleased with how this turned out.

From the back cover:

As late as 1963, it was possible to board high-speed electric trains on Chicago’s famous Loop “L” that ran 90 miles north to Milwaukee. This was the Chicago North Shore & Milwaukee Railroad, commonly known as the North Shore Line. It rose from humble origins in the 1890s as a local streetcar line in Waukegan to eventually become America’s fastest interurban under the visionary management of Midwest utilities tycoon Samuel Insull. The North Shore Line, under Insull, became a worthy competitor to the established steam railroads. Hobbled by the Great Depression, the road fought back in 1941 with two streamlined, air-conditioned, articulated trains called Electroliners, which included dining service. It regained its popularity during World War II, when gasoline and tires were rationed, but eventually, it fell victim to highways and the automobile. The North Shore Line had intercity rail, commuter rail, electric freight, city streetcars, and even buses. It has been gone for nearly 60 years, but it will always remain the Road of Service.

Each copy purchased here will be signed by the author, and you will also receive a bonus North Shore Line map. Books will ship by USPS Media Mail.

Chapters:
01. Beginnings
02. The Milwaukee Division
03. The Shore Line Route
04. The Skokie Valley Route
05. The Mundelein Branch
06. On the “L”
07. City Streetcars
08. Trolley Freight
09. The Long Goodbye
10. The Legacy

Title The North Shore Line
Images of America
Author David Sadowski
Edition illustrated
Publisher Arcadia Publishing (SC), 2023
ISBN 1467108960, 978-1467108966
Length 160 pages

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

For Shipping to US Addresses:

New Compact Disc Titles, Now Available:

HFIH
Hi-Fi Iron Horse
Price: $15.99

Hi-Fi Iron Horse is a unique collection of early steam recordings, made between 1949 and 1954. Portable tape recorders were not yet available when the earliest of these was made, but there was still another source for making high-quality audio– the optical sound track of motion picture film.

Featuring in-service steam of the Baltimore & Ohio, Bessemer & Lake Erie, Burlington, Canadian National, Delaware & Hudson, East Broad Top, Erie, Grand Trunk Western, Huntingdon & Broad Top Mountain, Western Maryland, and Rutland Railway.

Total time – 50:49

TSOS
The Sound of Steam
Reading 2124
Price: $19.99

Three very rare, out of print North Jersey Recordings LPs, now digitally remastered on two CDs at a special price.

The Sound of Steam offers a comprehensive overview of the twilight days of steam railroading in North America, with sounds recorded between 1957 and 1964. Railroads featured include the Denver & Rio Grande Western, Union Pacific, Canadian Pacific, Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range Railway, Gainesville Midland Railroad, Pennsylvania Railroad, Reading Railroad, Canadian National, Twin Seams Mining Company, Nickel Plate, Colorado & Southern, Norfolk & Western, Buffalo Creek & Gauley, Monadnock, Steamtown & Northern, Rockton & Rion Railway, and the National Railways of Mexico.

Reading 2124 features recordings made in 1959 and 1960 on a series of “Iron Horse Rambles,” excursion trips through eastern Pennsylvania. The Reading Company had retained this class T-1 4-8-4 for emergency use after steam was retired on the railroad. Seven years after the last Reading steam loco had hauled a passenger train, a series of 51 special excursion trips were held, ending in 1964. These have since been revived, and the Rambles continue.

Total time – 69:54 (Disc 1) and 61:20 (Disc 2)

RWW-V103
Rods, Wheels, and Whistles
Voice of the 103
Price: $19.99

Two very rare, out of print North Jersey Recordings LPs, now digitally remastered on two CDs at a special price.

Rods, Wheels, and Whistles features the sounds of the Pennsylvania Railroad and the Norfolk and Western Railway, recorded in the twilight years of steam. This LP was originally issued in 1958, but our version is taken from the revised and expanded edition, which includes additional recordings from 1959.

Voice of the 103 documents the former Sumter and Choctaw Railroad #103, a 2-6-2 locomotive built in 1925 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works, after it was refurbished in 1962 to operate on the Middletown and New Jersey. This was an excursion service of the Empire State Railway Museum, which has since moved to a new location and no longer operates trains. The 103 is now on static display.

Our collection is rounded out with three bonus tracks from the Strasbourg Railroad, when old number 31 ran excursion trains on the oldest short line railroad in the United States (chartered in June 1832), joining the Pennsylvania Dutch towns of Strasbourg and Paradise in the early 1960s.

Total time – 46:15 (RWW) and 49:26 (V103)

Help Support The Trolley Dodger

This is our 314th 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 1,142,000 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

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

Our 9th Anniversary

April 4, 2024April 7, 2024David Sadowski 7 Comments

A six-car “L” train, made up of 6000-series rapid transit cars, is at the Kedzie station on June 21, 1958. The CTA was offering free rides on a portion of the new Congress line that day. Regular service began on June 22nd. (William C. Hoffman Photo) M. E. adds, “As for all your pictures dated June 21, 1958, that date also is infamous as the last day of Chicago streetcar service. That was truly a day when one era of Chicago transportation died and another era began.”

This is our first post since early January, and a lot has happened since then. The Trolley Dodger blog turned nine years old on January 21st. We have a tradition of making our anniversary posts extra special. A lot of hard work has gone into this one, and I hope you will agree that we have found some excellent historical images for your consideration.

As we are in the Chicago area, and we made sure this post has a lot of exceptional local content. Enjoy!

Keep those cards and letters coming in, folks.

-David Sadowski

PS- You might also like our Trolley Dodger Facebook auxiliary, a private group that now has 1,606 members.

Our Next Book Project

FYI, we are hard at work researching our next book about the Chicago Aurora and Elgin interurban. Although we already have thousands of images, we start out on these book projects with some of what we need, and then have to find the rest. Some have generously shared their images with us, and some we have to pay real money for. In case you would like to help contribute to this effort, either by sharing images or making a donation, we would like to hear from you. All contributors will be mentioned in the book, which will be dedicated to the memory of the late Robert D. Heinlein. The most difficult images to find are always the earliest ones. You can contact me via Facebook messenger, at thetrolleydodger@gmail.com or via my blog. I thank you for your time and consideration.

William D. Volkmer (1936-2024)

CTA trolley bus #9680 is at Chicago and Fairbanks on July 9, 1963. (William D. Volkmer Photo)

Sad news via Eric Bronsky. William D. Volkmer was an exceptional photographer whose work goes back to the late 1950s. Several of his pictures have been featured here. I did correspond with him a bit from time to time:

I am sad to inform our community of the passing of William D. Volkmer, railroad expert, enthusiast and historian par excellence. Bill had been struggling with cancer over the past 2 years. He lost the battle on the morning of Tuesday, March 5.
Bill was a longtime friend to many of us. Through his multifaceted career, he acquired a formidable knowledge together with hands-on experience in several areas of railroad design, planning, technology and operation. His life’s work is summed up in the following resume, which he shared with his friends back in 2013:
Bill Volkmer – Plantation, FL b. 1936
Born and raised – Pittsfield, MA. (to age 17 then moved to Rome, GA)
Educated – Georgia Tech 1958 BME (Ramblin Wreck Parade photos available on request)
Working Career (Note: Carried 35mm camera in pocket at all times. Retina IIIc folding camera)
PRR- Mechanical Dept. Altoona, Penn Coach Yard, Philadelphia, Enola, Chicago, Canton, Northumberland, & Renovo 1958-68 (worked with and for Watson and Goehring)
General Electric Co.- Diesel Engine Dept. Quality Assurance, Erie, PA1968-72
General Electric Co. MU Car Dept. Erie, PA Customer Service Rep to MN and LIRR 1972-75
Kaiser Engineers – Philadelphia Boeing Plant Resident Engineer LRT – Client MBTA LRV Proj. 1975-77
Kaiser Engineers – Miami, Metrorail Designed Yard and Shops and Fare Collection Specs. 1977-1985
Kaiser Engineers – LA Long Beach design work LRT 1986-91
LACMTA – Various transit projects 1991-94
Florida Tri-Rail – CMO 1994-97
Herzog Transit Services – Tri-Rail Contract Operator 1997-2007.
Retired 6-30-2007
Married for 51+ years, four children (3 gulls + 1 buoy), 3 grandchildren + 2 pure-bred dogs rescued from Hialeah Yard!
Authored 9 Morning Sun books on railroad and trolley subjects.
Editor Keystone Chronicles Magazine for PRRT&HS Philadelphia Chapter.
Following retirement, Bill was active with Electric Railway Clubs of Florida and for a time served as editor of their newsletter, The Live Overhead. Eager to share his knowledge and experience, he churned out an almost-daily email blog, often under the fictitious name of his alter ego, “Art Wheeler.” Bill’s emails were chock-full of interesting historic information and photos from his vast collection. Many of these were in the form of elaborate PowerPoint slide shows. And, yes, he had a terrific sense of humor.
A memorial service was held on Saturday, March 23rd 2024 from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM at the Woodlawn Memorial Park & Funeral Home (400 Woodlawn Cemetery Rd, Gotha, FL 34734). Disposition of Bill’s collection is pending.

This is how the Congress expressway construction site looked on September 26, 1954, looking west from the ramp leading down to the temporary ground-level Garfield Park “L” alignment. (William C. Hoffman Photo)

And here is the same view taken by William C. Hoffman on July 28, 1957. Parts of the expressway opened in 1955, going as far west as Laramie Avenue (5200 W.), and the Congress median rapid transit line was under construction and would open the following year.

Here’s how the Congress expressway construction site looked on February 7, 1954, looking east from Halsted. (William C. Hoffman Photo)

William C. Hoffman took this picture looking east from Green Street along the Congress expressway construction area on October 3, 1954. The two portals at right are where the Congress rapid transit line eventually connected with the Congress-Dearborn-Milwaukee subway. The bridges over the new highway were usually built first.

This gadget was used to build the concrete walls of the subway along Congress Street. We are looking down from the bridge on Halsted Street on October 3, 1954. (William C. Hoffman Photo)

This is the view looking east towards Halsted along the Congress expressway construction site on July 22, 1956. The highway was not yet open at this point, but parts of it west of here had opened in late 1955. The tracks have not yet been laid for the Congress rapid transit line, going into the two subway portals on the right. The ones on the left were intended for a Clinton Street subway that was never built. The CTA Halsted Street “L” station at left remained in use until the new median line opened in 1958. Note there is no Circle Interchange yet as the Kennedy and Dan Ryan expressways had not yet been built. (William C. Hoffman Photo)

William C. Hoffman took this picture showing a two-car CTA train of 4000-series “L” cars passing by the former Kilbourn station on April 21, 1957. That station had been closed in order to speed up service on the Garfield Park “L” during Congress expressway construction. Meanwhile, a crane on flanged wheels works on the new median right of way that went into service in 1958.

This is the view looking east from Racine (1200 W.) on June 21, 1958. According to photographer William C. Hoffman, this is a westbound “free ride” train on what is now usually referred to as the Morgan Middle track in what was then the Congress expressway. The CTA offered free rides between Halsted and Cicero Avenue that day, and regular service on this new line officially began at 4:00 am on June 22nd. Meanwhile, this was also the final day of service via the Garfield Park “L” routing.

The CTA offered service on both the old Garfield Park and new Congress “L” lines for just one day, June 21, 1958. You could ride the new median line for free that day between Halsted Street and Cicero Avenue. This picture was taken at Racine and Congress. (William C. Hoffman Photo)

On June 21, 1958, a six-car CTA Congress train heads west from the new Cicero Avenue station. We see the secondary station entrance on Lavergne Avenue (5000 W.). For a time, the CTA operated a park and ride lot just to the north, on a portion of the former site of the Laramie Yard. This closed sometime between 1965 and 1967. The secondary entrance was severely damaged by fire in 1972 and became an exit-only until it was finally closed in 1977. As the CTA was offering free rides between Halsted and Cicero on this day, the train is probably just going a short distance west, so it can head back east via the crossover. (William C. Hoffman Photo)

We are looking northeast from Loomis on June 21, 1958. The six-car train on the new Congress line offered free rides between Halsted and Cicero, while regular service continued on the nearby Garfield Park “L” alignment on its last day. We see a two-car train there. (William C. Hoffman Photo)

The view looking east along the Congress expressway from Racine Avenue (1200 W.) on June 21, 1958. At left, we see a regular service Garfield Park “L” train, while a Congress train offers free rides on the new line. The ramp at left connected temporary trackage on Van Buren Street with the old Metropolitan main line “L” structure. (William C. Hoffman Photo)

On July 8, 1958, a flagman is waving a two-car CTA Congress train through switches at Loomis. Note how wide the right-of-way is here, as it was designed to have four tracks– two for the Lake Street “L”, which was originally planned to be rerouted here into a Clinton Subway. (William C. Hoffman Photo)

A CTA two-car “L” train crosses DesPlaines Avenue in Forest Park over a new bridge on August 30, 1959. (William C. Hoffman Photo)

A CTA two-car rapid transit train, made up of flat-door 6000s, heads east from California Avenue on April 10, 1960, with the tracks of the Chicago and North Western/Belt Line of Chicago in the distance. (William C. Hoffman Photo)

William C. Hoffman captured this image looking west along the Congress expressway at Western Avenue on March 30, 1961. He noted that the translucent fiberglass on the ramp at right was soon going to be replaced. The lack of visibility on these ramps led to an increase in robberies. As it turned out, the CTA simply removed the upper halves of some of the panels.

A six-car CTA train heads west on the Congress line on March 30, 1961, in this view from the end of the Western Avenue station. (William C. Hoffman Photo)

By the time William C. Hoffman snapped this image on November 19, 1963, the CTA Congress line had been in service for more than five years, and all traces of the former Garfield Park “L” here had been removed. The Dan Ryan and Northwest (later Kennedy) expressways had both opened. The view looks north by northwest.

One of the North Shore Line Electroliners at the Milwaukee Terminal.

I had to do a lot of work on this image to make it look like this, as the slide was somewhat overexposed and had more than 70 years of crud on it. We are looking to the southwest along the Chicago Aurora and Elgin right-of-way in Wheaton on June 9, 1952. Car 456, at left, is on a siding, while an eastbound train approaches, made up of vintage wood cars formerly from the North Shore Line. You can see the large CA&E station in the distance at Main Street and Liberty Drive, while the Chicago and North Western’s tracks are at right. (Elwood C. McEllroy Photo)

Chicago Surface Lines car 3268 is at the Navy Pier terminal, running on Route 38 – Indiana Avenue.

Chicago and Milwaukee Electric construction car #2. The C&ME was the predecessor of the North Shore Line (technically, the Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee). The railroad changed its name in 1916, so this must predate that.

Nolan Mason, head of the Illini Railroad Club, writes:
I was looking at a few older posts on your blog, and found a slide in my collection that matches one on the site. In a post about the Jewett Car Company, you posted a photo of CA&E cars headed to the Fox River Trolley Museum, it’s near the top of the page: https://thetrolleydodger.com/tag/jewett-car-company/
(this image specifically: https://i0.wp.com/…/wp…/uploads/2023/07/aae396a.jpg…)
I have a slide showing the car immediately to the left, I attached a scan to this email. Your blog does not list a photographer. I can’t confirm a photographer either, but I purchased mine from Albert Reinschmidt’s son. Albert was a volunteer at IRM, I’m not sure if you knew him.
Normally my collection is limited to IRC subjects, but this slide was interesting. I got it on the off-chance I could research it later. I haven’t been able to locate any records showing an IRC fan trip during that month, so it may not be IRC related.
I’m not sure how copyright works for images like this, but if you want to use it in a future post, feel free. Better to share it with enthusiasts rather than keep it stored away.
Anyways, just thought it was crazy how we have two adjacent slides. Small world

At one time, there was a freight connection to the CTA’s South Shops for perhaps half a mile or so to the south, where there was an interchange. The CTA (and CSL before it) had a few small electric locomotives which moved things (freight cars, streetcars) around the property. This is all long gone, but I recently got a request from someone for a picture, and I actually found one. Here is a view of the freight connection, looking south from 79th Street along what would now be the median of Wentworth Avenue, taken by William C. Hoffman on October 4, 1953. As you can see in the contemporary view, the neighborhood has changed quite a bit in 70 years.

Looking north in Emerald Avenue from 39th Place on July 9, 1950. (William C. Hoffman Photo)

(July 9, 1950) “Looking north in Emerald to 39th Street. Steam tracks connected with streetcar track.” (William C. Hoffman Photo)

(July 15, 1951) “View (looking) north in Emerald Avenue to 39th Street. Chicago Junction Railway track leads into CTA yards at 39th and Halsted.” (William C. Hoffman Photo)

A contemporary view of the same location.

Chicago Surface Lines electric loco #201 is at the 39th and Halsted materials handling yard in this photo, which could date to the 1930s or 40s. Bohnett Tire, seen nearby, was located at 3843 S. Halsted. Andre Kristopans thinks this could be a lot older, maybe even the 1910s.

Chicago Surface Lines work car S53 at West Shops in the 1940s.

A Chicago Surface Lines work car at South Shops, possibly in the 1940s.

Chicago Surface Lines work car X-1. I presume this is at the materials handling yard at 39th and Halsted.

Chicago Surface Lines work car W-13.

William C. Hoffman captured this picture of a four wheel revolving electric crane at the CTA South Shops on May 16, 1954.

Chicago Transit Authority single-car unit #2 and one other are at the Merchandise Mart station in May 1963. These cars had experimental high-speed motors and are seen here in what the fans termed the “circus wagon” paint scheme. Since 1964, all Chicago rapid transit cars have been capable of high speeds. CTA cars #1-4 were assigned to the new Skokie Swift route (today’s Yellow Line) when that opened in April 1964.

Here are four pictures of Chicago Surface Lines prewar PCCs in the downtown area in August 1947. This was about a month prior to when the Chicago Transit Authority took over both CSL and the “L”. All were running on Route 20 – Madison or the Madison-Fifth branch line. (Tony Kozla Photos)

CSL 4014 is eastbound on Madison, about to pass by the Civic Opera House, with the Chicago Daily News background on the other side of the Chicago River. (Tony Kozla Photo)

According to Mike Franklin, we are “looking northeast across Canal and Monroe.” Westbound Madison PCCs had to use Monroe for a portion of their trip, since Madison was a one-way street downtown. (Tony Kozla Photo)

The unsuccessful bidder on this slide wrote to me and says he lives in the building behind the Gulf station. I sent him a cleaned-up scan and he intends to display a print in the lobby of his building.
Subject: DCT DC Transit PCC Streetcar Trolley #1491
Location: Washington, DC (Route 92 – U Street and Columbia Road)
Date: September 1961
Photographer: Jeffrey L. Wien

CSS&SB South Shore Line Interurban Car #109
Location: Gary, Indiana
Date: April 8, 1977
Photographer: Bob Schmidt

This negative is dated October 1936. Chicago Surface Lines car 7002 might have been the very first one to arrive, and this charter trip may have predated when it was put into service. The location is the intersection of Harrison Street and Fifth Avenue, meaning this PCC is operating on the Madison-Fifth line. The buildings visible here are all gone, as this is where I-290 runs today.

Chicago Surface Lines Route 20 – Madison had a branch line heading southwest along Fifth Avenue, an angle street that has lost much of its importance in recent decades. Starting in 1936, PCC streetcars went from Madison along Fifth to Pulaski and Harrison, where they looped near the Garfield Park “L” station. After buses replaced streetcars on Madison in 1953, Fifth was operated as a shuttle before being abandoned in early 1954. Construction of the Congress expressway truncated Fifth, as no bridge was built spanning the highway. Now, Fifth doesn’t even connect with Madison– there is a cul de sac.

The border between Chicago and Cicero is at Cermak and Kenton, which became an important transfer point between Chicago Surface Lines streetcars and the buses and trolleys of the Chicago and West Towns Railway, as seen in this 1940s view. Here, we see C&WT #111 with CSL Pullman #117 behind it. Presumably that is a C&WT bus as well.
Even today, this is the eastern terminus of some Pace bus routes, which lay over here before heading west. CSL was limited to operating within the City of Chicago, but the Chiago Transit Authority’s Route 21 – Cermak bus extends from here to the North Riverside Mall, a short distance west of Harlem Avenue.

CTA PCC #7207 is on 81st at Normal on June 18, 1958, a few days before the end of streetcar service in Chicago. (Robert D. Heinlein Photo)

CTA red Pullman #674 is at the south end of Route 8 – Halsted, just south of 79th Street, on May 26, 1954. (John D. Koschwanez Photo) M. E. adds, “Toward the end of service on the 8 Halsted line, the old red cars supplanted the Green Hornets, which were probably being converted to L cars at the time. This terminal property was about a half dozen stores south of 79th St. on the east side of Halsted. Southbound 8 Halsted cars (as well as 42 Halsted-Archer-Clark cars) turned east on 79th to Emerald, south to the terminal, and west through the terminal. Judging by the grubby look of this car, it seems the CTA strove to discourage streetcar riders in favor of (shudder) buses.”

CTA streetcar #1733 was one of a small number that got repainted into green and cream in the early 1950s. Here, we see it on Cermak Road near Canal Street on May 11, 1954. (John D. Koschwanez Photo)

CTA one-man red car #1752 is on Route 21 – Cermak on May 11, 1954. (John D. Koschwanez Photo)

We are looking north along Halsted at 63rd Street on May 26, 1954, just a few days before the end of red streetcar service in Chicago. CTA Pullman 324 heads south through what was then a busy shopping district in the Englewood neighborhood. (John D. Koschwanez Photo)

Our resident south side expert M. E. writes, about the photo above:

63rd and Halsted L station was my “home” station. From there, I rode all over the L system.

The caption says “looking north along Halsted at 63rd St.” Not quite: This view was probably shot from halfway between 63rd and 64th Streets. The ugly CTA bus in the background ran on 63rd St. post-conversion.

The L station itself, where fares were collected at a manned booth, and where there was a news-and-sundries shop, was situated on the northeast corner of 63rd Place and Halsted. There were only stairs leading up to the platforms. A bell would ring when an eastbound L train was approaching the station. The pattern of the ring was actually the train wheels running over the contact. When people heard the bell, they hustled faster up to the eastbound platform.

63rd Place next to the L station had streetcar tracks used occasionally by streetcars not going all the way south to 79th St. Using the same track pattern as at 79th and Halsted, southbound 8 and 42 cars turned east on 63rd St. to Union Ave., south on Union to 63rd Place, west on 63rd Place to Halsted, then north.

The photo also shows a streetcar track from 63rd Place to the southbound track on Halsted St. That track was probably used only by the Kankakee interurban cars that began on 63rd Place, turned south on Halsted, to Summit Ave. (around 85th St.), northwest to Vincennes Ave. (just north of 87th St.), and out Vincennes into the town of Blue Island. That service ran a century ago.

Also, 63rd Place was the north terminal for the South Suburban Safeway Lines red-and-white buses that ran to Harvey and Chicago Heights, and the Suburban Transit System green-and-white buses that ran to Oak Lawn.

The Englewood business district was at one time the busiest outside the Loop. The shopping district ran along Halsted from 59th St to 67th St., and along 63rd St. from about Lowe St. (632 West) to Peoria St. (900 West). At the main corner of 63rd and Halsted, the principal stores were S. S. Kresge (forerunner of K-Mart) on the southwest corner; the Ace Department Store (which had huge fans to circulate the air) on the northwest corner; and a big Sears store on the northeast corner, which also housed a Hillman’s grocery store in its basement. Another big store, Wieboldt’s, was on the southwest corner of 63rd and Green (832 W.) Streets. The southeast corner of 63rd and Halsted consisted of several small stores, but at one time the corner store was a Stineway drug store.

Also surrounding 63rd and Halsted were many movie houses, primarily to the north and east. I actually remember seeing vaudeville acts at the Stratford Theater, on 63rd St. just west of Union. The most opulent movie house was the Southtown Theater at 63rd and Lowe, which was built in art-deco style and had a pond in the lobby with real swans. Unlike the other theaters, the Southtown even had a parking lot.

This photo brings back a lot of fond memories for me, but it especially shows everyone that Englewood was once a thriving, exciting place.

One of the ten Milwaukee Road Skytop Lounge observation cars in Columbus, Wisconsin in October 1967. M. E. adds, “Great photo of a Milwaukee Road Olympian observation car. Those cars ran mainly between Chicago and Minneapolis, but they also ran all the way to Seattle on the Olympian Hiawatha.”

On May 25, 1958, we see Chicago Transit Authority PCC #7142 mounted on a flatcar at South Shops for transport to the St. Louis Car Company. This was less than a month before the end of streetcar service in Chicago. Approximately 570 of the 600 postwar Chicago streetcars retired early and shipped to St. Louis as part of the so-called PCC Conversion Program, where they were scrapped and some of their parts (seats, motors, windows, etc.) were recycled for use in new rapid transit cars. The final two dozen PCCs were simply scrapped. (Robert D. Heinlein Photo)

Subject: Illinois Central Station Demolition Chicago 1974
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Date: November 1974 (processing date)
Photographer: Unknown
From the Wikipedia:
Central Station was an intercity passenger terminal in downtown Chicago, Illinois, at the southern end of Grant Park near Roosevelt Road and Michigan Avenue. Owned by the Illinois Central Railroad, it also served other companies via trackage rights. It opened in 1893, replacing Great Central Station (on the site of the current Millennium Station), and closed in 1972 when Amtrak rerouted services to Union Station. The station building was demolished in 1974. It is now the site of a redevelopment called Central Station, Chicago.
Adjoining platforms at Roosevelt served the Illinois Central’s suburban trains for both the Electric and West lines, in addition to the South Shore Line interurban railroad. All three lines continued north to Randolph Street.

Grand Central Station

Chicago’s Central Station and Grand Central Station were two different things.

From the Wikipedia:

Grand Central Station was a passenger railroad terminal in downtown Chicago, Illinois, from 1890 to 1969. It was located at 201 West Harrison Street on a block bounded by Harrison, Wells and Polk Streets and the Chicago River in the southwestern portion of the Chicago Loop. Grand Central Station was designed by architect Solon Spencer Beman for the Wisconsin Central Railroad (WC), and was completed by the Chicago and Northern Pacific Railroad.

The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad purchased the station in 1910 and used it as the Chicago terminus for its passenger rail service, including its Capitol Limited service to Washington, D.C. Major tenant railroads included the Soo Line Railroad, successor to the Wisconsin Central, the Chicago Great Western Railway, and the Pere Marquette Railway. The station opened December 8, 1890, closed November 8, 1969, and was demolished in 1971.

Subject: B&O/C&O Grand Central Station
Location: Chicago, Illinois (Harrison and Wells)
Photographer: Unknown
Date: June 15, 1967

Subject: C&O Chesapeake and Ohio Diesel Locomotive EMD E7(A) #4514
Location: Chicago, Illinois (Grand Central Station)
Photographer: R. P. Olmstead
Date: May 31, 1964 (4:45 pm)

Subject: C&O Chesapeake and Ohio Diesel Locomotive EMD E8(A) #4022
Location: Chicago, Illinois (Grand Central Station)
Photographer: R. P. Olmstead
Date: May 8, 1966 (5:08 pm)

Now here’s something you don’t see every day… an honest to goodness 1939 Kodachrome slide. That makes this image about 85 years old. This must have been taken when Lehigh Valley Transit put these renovated lightweight high-speed cars into service. They were originally built for the Cincinnati and Lake Erie in 1931. That interurban went out of business in 1938, and LVT purchased several cars, which were freshened up with the help of J. G. Brill’s art department. The Liberty Bell interurban ran between Philadelphia and Allentown, Pennsylvania. These cars replaced some much older ones and helped keep things going through the war years and up until the 1951 abandonment. There was a very active NRHS (National Railway Historical Society) chapter in the area, and this is probably a fantrip they sponsored. Looks like the lead car is 1002.

Subject: ICG Illinois Central Electric #1194 (Fantrip)
Location: Chicago, Illinois (southbound on Exchange Avenue at 78th Street – South Chicago Branch)
Date: February 1976
Photographer: Jeffrey L. Wien
Illinois Central Electric car #1194 was built by Pullman in 1926. These cars were similar to those used on the Erie-Lackawanna in New Jersey. All the cars in the class were replaced by “Highliners” in the 1970s. The train we see here may have been on its final trip prior to retirement. Paul Jevert: “I.C. Railfans “Snowflake Special Feb. 1976″ Extra class lights displayed at location 77th and Exchange between Windsor Park and Cheltenham Stations doing a photo run-by with Engineer Jim McCorkle leaning out of cab door and talking to fans at Muskegon Ave. corner advising them that they will be picked up in that area after the reverse move under flag. No snowflakes for this particular annual charter. Curt Seeliger was the Conductor on the 8 car train, Collector Joe Szabo, with Suburban Trainmaster escort of the annual Event.” M. E. writes, “This view along Exchange Ave. shows a mainly residential area with some small stores. But further north, this branch ran east and west, in the middle of 71st St. for about 1.5 miles from Yates Ave. (2400 E.) to about Harper Ave. (1500 E.), where the branch joined the main Illinois Central line. That 1.5-mile stretch was another booming business area, called South Shore, centering at 71st and Jeffery Ave. (2000 E.) The residential area northeast of 71st and Jeffery, Jackson Park Highlands, is a beautiful area along the lines of Hyde Park and especially Kenwood, where some mansions dominate.”

Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee #411 in New York City in May 1969. Don’s Rail Photos (via Archive.org): “411 was built as a trailer observation car by Cincinnati Car in June 1923 (order) #2640. It was out of service in 1932. 411 (was converted to a coach) on February 25, 1943, and (was) sold to Trolley Museum of New York in 1963. It was sold to Wisconsin Electric Railway & Historical Society in 1973 and sold to Escanaba & Lake Superior in 1989.”

I did some restoration work on this medium format Ektachrome slide from April 1962, showing four Chicago Aurora and Elgin cars being moved off the property in Wheaton after the abandonment. Like some other early Ektachromes, this had unstable dyes and has shifted to red (due to fading of the other dye layers). We are looking to the northeast. (Robert D. Heinlein Photo) Bill Shapotkin adds, “It appears that this photo is of CA&E #11, 20, 316 and 317 enroute to what was then known as “RELIC” (now Fox River Trolley Museum) in South Elgin, IL.”

I restored a couple more of these medium format Ektachromes, taken by the late Robert D. Heinlein at the Chicago Aurora and Elgin yards in Wheaton after the abandonment. I just noticed these are date stamped January 1962. Don’s Rail Photos (via Archive.org): “315 was built by Kuhlman Car Co in 1909, (job) #404. It was modernized at an unknown date and sold to Rockhill Trolley Museum in 1962.” Here, we see it boarded up for its journey to the east coast a few months later.

Here’s how they looked originally. Early Ektachrome film had unstable dyes. Apparently, only the red dye layer is stable, while the others have faded badly.
Fortunately, modern technology can often correct for this.

CTA “Baldie” 4220 is part of a Ravenswood “A” train leaving the LaSalle and Van Buren station on August 14, 1964. We are looking west. (Douglas N. Grotjahn Photo)

A four-car train of CTA “Plushies” 4000-series “L” cars is at Main Street in Evanston on October 21, 1968. Note only two trolley poles are used, one for each pair of cars. 4253 is the rear car here. (Douglas N. Grotjahn Photo)

On December 14, 1921, Chicago and West Towns Railways car #100 crashed through this barrier at 52nd Street (Laramie Avenue) and Ogden Avenue in suburban Cicero. This press photo was printed backwards, but I fixed that.

This picture of Philadelphia PCC streetcar #2565 was taken on June 27, 1973. Here’s what Cinema Treasures has to say about the Crest Theatre: The Crest Theatre opened November 23, 1937 on Rising Sun Avenue at Cheltenham Avenue to accommodate the late-1930’s housing expansion in the Lawncrest neighborhood of Philadelphia. The theatre was designed by Philadelphia architect David Supowitz in an Art Moderne style with an exterior of plastic and white glass (such as Vitrolite). The theatre seated 900. It opened for second and third run movies. By 1950 it was operated by the A.M. Ellis Theaters Co. chain.
Until closing, a big sign rhymed ‘Welcome. See the BEST at the CREST’. The Crest closed the week before Christmas in 1986 with “Star Trek IV” as its last feature film. The marquee said ‘FAREWELL’. By the time it closed, a new owner of the building planned to demolish it to construct retail. The Crest has been demolished, and a convenience store was constructed on the site.

The Fineview Line in Pittsburgh

Here are seven views of the Pittsburgh Railways Route 21 – Fineview line, taken by the late Jeffrey L. Wien shortly before it was abandoned. I found an excellent description of Fineview on trainorders.com:

Arguably the most unique streetcar line in North America was found in Pittsburgh, PA. Route 21-Fineview lasted until May 1, 1966. With a maximum 12 1/2% grade, Fineview also featured the steepest grade in Pittsburgh Railways’ system, if not the steepest in North America, as well.

21 Fineview originated in Downtown Pittsburgh. After traversing the 7th Street Bridge (in the latter years), and some shared track on the North Side, it became a very intimate, neighborly streetcar line, where passengers even had direct access to the streetcars from their front porches, driveways or private staircases. The summit was 455 feet above the downtown loop.

The last streetcar on the line was Interurban 1646, which followed the last scheduled car in the wee hours of May 1st, 1966. 1646 made the trip with its air horn blaring full blast, which even brought residents out to their front porches in their bathrobes to wave goodbye.

Due to its unique flavor, many streetcar charters found their way to this line during their trips.

Subject: Pittsburgh PAT PCC Streetcar Trolley #1624
Location: Pittsburgh, PA (Route 21 Fineview – Carrie and Warren)
Date: April 30, 1966
Photographer: Jeffrey L. Wien

Subject: Pittsburgh PAT PCC Streetcar Trolley #1624
Location: Pittsburgh, PA (Route 21 Fineview – Carrie and Waldren)
Date: April 30, 1966
Photographer: Jeffrey L. Wien

Subject: Pittsburgh PAT PCC Streetcar Trolley #1624
Location: Pittsburgh, PA (Route 21 Fineview – Lanark and Catoma)
Date: April 30, 1966
Photographer: Jeffrey L. Wien

Subject: Pittsburgh PAT PCC Streetcar Trolley #1624
Location: Pittsburgh, PA (Route 21 Fineview – Lanark and Cemetery)
Date: April 30, 1966
Photographer: Jeffrey L. Wien

Our Latest Book, Now Available:

The North Shore Line

From the back cover:

As late as 1963, it was possible to board high-speed electric trains on Chicago’s famous Loop “L” that ran 90 miles north to Milwaukee. This was the Chicago North Shore & Milwaukee Railroad, commonly known as the North Shore Line. It rose from humble origins in the 1890s as a local streetcar line in Waukegan to eventually become America’s fastest interurban under the visionary management of Midwest utilities tycoon Samuel Insull. The North Shore Line, under Insull, became a worthy competitor to the established steam railroads. Hobbled by the Great Depression, the road fought back in 1941 with two streamlined, air-conditioned, articulated trains called Electroliners, which included dining service. It regained its popularity during World War II, when gasoline and tires were rationed, but eventually, it fell victim to highways and the automobile. The North Shore Line had intercity rail, commuter rail, electric freight, city streetcars, and even buses. It has been gone for nearly 60 years, but it will always remain the Road of Service.

Each copy purchased here will be signed by the author, and you will also receive a bonus North Shore Line map. Books will ship by USPS Media Mail.

Title The North Shore Line
Images of America
Author David Sadowski
Edition illustrated
Publisher Arcadia Publishing (SC), 2023
ISBN 1467108960, 978-1467108966
Length 160 pages

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

For Shipping to US Addresses:

New Compact Disc Titles, Now Available:

HFIH
Hi-Fi Iron Horse
Price: $15.99

Total time – 50:49

TSOS
The Sound of Steam
Reading 2124
Price: $19.99

Three very rare, out of print North Jersey Recordings LPs, now digitally remastered on two CDs at a special price.

Total time – 69:54 (Disc 1) and 61:20 (Disc 2)

RWW-V103
Rods, Wheels, and Whistles
Voice of the 103
Price: $19.99

Two very rare, out of print North Jersey Recordings LPs, now digitally remastered on two CDs at a special price.

Total time – 46:15 (RWW) and 49:26 (V103)

Help Support The Trolley Dodger

This is our 312th 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 1,066,000 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

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

Welcome 2024

January 8, 2024January 19, 2024David Sadowski 16 Comments

PRC Pittsburgh Railways PCC Route 28
Location: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Date: July 1958
Photographer: Unknown
Pittsburgh PCC #1562 was built in 1944 by the St. Louis Car Company. The Roxian Theatre is located at 501 Chartiers Avenue, McKees Rocks, PA 15136. It was built in 1928 and had 1,200 seats. It closed in 1979 and was converted into a concert venue for a time. In 2019, it reopened as a film and performing arts theatre. Stuart B. Slaymaker adds, “Route 26 was a West End Line, (and) died with the others, in June, 1959. 30 years later, most of the trackage up in West Park, was in perfect condition. We drove and photographed it. Looked like it was waiting for the PCCs to come back…” Larry Lovejoy adds, “Photo eba839 technically isn’t in Pittsburgh but rather the independent Borough of McKees Rocks. The car and the bus are both running inbound to downtown Pittsburgh. The bus was operated by Shafer Coach Lines, one of the 30-plus independent bus companies that was absorbed into the Port Authority of Allegheny County in 1964. Shafer and Pittsburgh Railways were fiercely competitive in the corridor running along the south bank of the Ohio River.” https://www.amcap.org/history/pghhistory/shafer.shtml

As we welcome the new year, this is also the third anniversary of our friend Jeff Wien‘s passing. We offer herein a special selection of some of the fantastic images from his vast and exceptional collection, as a tribute to him. He deserves to be remembered for all his contributions to historic preservation.

Jeff’s extensive collection covers steam and diesel trains, in addition to streetcars, rapid transit, and interurbans.

We also have some recent finds of our own.

-David Sadowski

Our Next Live Program

FYI, my next presentation will take place at the Edgewater Branch of the Chicago Public Library from 10-11am on Saturday, January 13, 2024. Admission is free, and copies of my four Arcadia books will be available for purchase at special prices.

The library is located at 6000 N. Broadway, Chicago 60660.

I will be covering the History of the Chicago “L”. This program is being done in partnership with the Edgewater Historical Society.

I look forward to seeing you there. As far as I am aware, this program is not being streamed.

More information here: CPL Event Page

Our Annual Fundraiser

Since we started this blog in 2015, we have posted more than 16,000 images. This is our 311th post.

The Trolley Dodger blog can only be kept going with the help of our devoted readers. Perhaps you count yourself among them.

To date, we have raised $473.22 towards our goal.

We thank you in advance for your time and consideration.

-David Sadowski

PS- You might also like our Trolley Dodger Facebook auxiliary, a private group that now has 1,487 members.

Our Next Book Project

FYI, we are hard at work researching our next book about the Chicago Aurora and Elgin interurban. Although we already have thousands of images, we start out on these book projects with some of what we need, and then have to find the rest. Some have generously shared their images with us, and some we have to pay real money for. In case you would like to help contribute to this effort, either by sharing images or making a donation, we would like to hear from you. All contributors will be mentioned in the book, which will be dedicated to the memory of the late Robert D. Heinlein. The most difficult images to find are always the earliest ones. You can contact me via messenger, at thetrolleydodger@gmail.com or via my blog. I thank you for your time and consideration.

Chicago Aurora and Elgin wood car 317 is at the head of a westbound train at DesPlaines Avenue in Forest Park on September 9, 1953. This was about ten days before the CA&E stopped running downtown via the CTA and cut back service to here. The old station you see here was replaced with a hastily built one just a bit to the north, with a loop for interurban trains to turn back, and cross platform connections with CTA Garfield Park “L” trains. The old station was on the east side of DesPlaines Avenue, with the new station to the west.
The terminal was once again reconfigured in 1959, during construction of the adjacent expressway, but by then the CA&E had stopped running (although new tracks were put in place in case it had been able to continue). I am sure I will include this picture in my upcoming book. (Lawson K. Hill Photo) Lawson Kingsbury Hill (1910-1998) lived in Massachusetts, where he worked as a rate clerk.

Chicago’s Union Depot was built in 1881 and was on Canal Street between Madison and Adams streets. Stations that served more than one railroad were known as union stations. Construction of the current Union Station, a massive project, began in 1913. It opened in 1925.

South Shore Line car 26 is at the Randolph Street Terminal in downtown Chicago in December 1981. These venerable cars, built in 1926, were retired in 1983– a remarkable 57 years of service. You can’t get a picture like this any longer, as Millennium Park has since been built above this station. We are looking north.

Pittsburgh Railways PC car 1640 is at South Hills Junction in June 1965 (processing date). This car, looking a bit worse for wear here, was built in 1945 by the St. Louis Car Company. It was rebuilt as car 1799 in 1979, and in 1990 it went to the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum in Washington, Pennsylvania. (Rick Burn Photo)

Chicago Aurora and Elgin express car 9 was built by Niles Car in 1907, and was scrapped in 1959. Here it is on September 1, 1948 at Wheaton.

Chicago Aurora and Elgin express car 11 heads up a fantrip train in 1949. Don’s Rail Photos: “11 was built by Brill in 1910, #16483. It was rebuilt to a line car in 1947 and replaced 45. It was acquired by Railway Equipment Leasing & Investment Co in 1962 and became Fox River Trolley Museum in 1984. It was lettered as Fox River & Eastern.”

From the Collections of Jeffrey L. Wien

Philadelphia SEPTA PCC #2245
Location: Philadelphia (Route 60, Allegheny-Collins)
Date: September 8, 1976
Photographer: James J. Buckley
This was the second Philadelphia PCC numbered 2245. It was originally Toronto Transportation Commission car 4762. It came to Philadelphia in 1976 and was scrapped in 1982.

Pittsburgh PAT PCC Streetcar Trolley #1468
Location: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (Route 73 – Highland)
Date: January 20, 1967
Photographer: Unknown
Pittsburgh Railways PCC streetcar 1468 was built in 1942 by the St. Louis Car Company.

Pittsburgh Railways PCC Streetcar #1520 (and 1549)
Location: Pittsburgh, PA (North St. Clair and Bowden, Routes 71 and 73)
Date: July 3, 1964
Photographer: Unknown
Pittsburgh Railways PCC streetcar 1520 was built in 1945 by the St. Louis Car Company. It was later renumbered to 1795.

Pittsburgh Railways PCC Streetcar #1662
Location: Pittsburgh, PA (Glenwood Bridge)
Date: October 7, 1962
Photographer: Unknown

Pittsburgh PAT PCC Streetcar Trolley #1646
Location: Pittsburgh, PA (Route 10 – Perrysville at Towers Terrace, Ross Township)
Date: May 23, 1965
Photographer: Unknown

Pittsburgh Railways PCC Streetcar #1478
Location: Pittsburgh, PA (Route 28 – Heidelberg, 1st and Railroad Avenue)
Date: July 1958
Photographer: Unknown

Pittsburgh PAT PCC Streetcar Trolley #1626
Location: Pittsburgh, PA (Route 39 – Brookline at Jillson Street)
Date: April 22, 1966
Photographer: Joseph P. Saitta

Pittsburgh Railways PCC Trolley #1623
Location: Pittsburgh, PA (Route 88 – Tioga Loop)
Date: September 13, 1964
Photographer: Unknown

Pittsburgh PAT PCC Streetcar Trolley #1619
Location: Pittsburgh, PA (Fort Pitt-Smithfield)
Date: October 23, 1973
Photographer: Joseph P. Saitta

Pittsburgh PAT Streetcar Trolley #3756
Location: Pittsburgh, PA (Grant and Fifth)
Date: July 3, 1976 (processing date)
Photographer: Joseph P. Saitta

Pittsburgh Railways PCC Trolley #1674
Location: Pittsburgh, PA (signed for Route 49 – Arlington)
Date: January 1, 1964
Photographer: Unknown

Pittsburgh Railways PCC Trolley #1685
Location: Pittsburgh, PA (Route 10 – West View)
Date: July 21, 1963
Photographer: Unknown

Pittsburgh Railways PCC Trolley #1627
Location: Pittsburgh, PA (Route 44 – Knoxville PA Station)
Date: May 1958 (processing date)
Photographer: Unknown

CTUSV Vera Cruz Mexico Tram Streetcar #212 (Operator: Sociedad Cooperativa de Transportes Urbanos y Sub-Urbanos de Veracruz)
Location: Vera Cruz, Mexico (Pages-Uribe)
Date: April 17, 1971
Photographer: Joseph P. Saitta

CMTC São Paulo Streetcar Tram #1813
Location: São Paulo, Brazil
Date: March 11, 1965
Photographer: James J. Buckley
Ex-Third Avenue Railway, New York City, built 1936-37.

Mexico City Streetcar #826
Location: Mexico City (Zocalo)
Date: September 30, 1950
Photographer: Unknown

TESCL Tampico Mexico Tram Streetcar #21 (Transportes Eléctricos Tampico Sociedad Cooperativa Limitada)
Location: Tampico, Mexico
Date: July 1972 (processing date)
Photographer: Unknown

South Shore Line Interurban Car #100
Location: Indiana (either Michigan City or South Bend)
Date: July 4, 1966
Photographer: Unknown
The South Shore Line, running between Chicago and South Bend, Indiana, is the one classic major interurban that has survived into the 21st Century. It is currently being upgraded and expanded. From Don’s Rail Photos (via Archive.org): “100 was built by Pullman in 1926, (order) #4936. It was lengthened in 1943, and received air conditioning and picture windows in 1949. It was sold to a shopping center at Chesterton, IN, in 1983.” Spence Ziegler adds, “The picture of CSS&SB combine #100 was taken at Michigan City.”

Philadelphia Market Frankford El 6-car arched roof elevated train
Location: Philadelphia (Market Street at 46th Street)
Date: September 12, 1955
Photographer: William C. Hoffman

Philadelphia Market Frankford El 6-car railroad roof elevated train
Location: Philadelphia (Entering 69th Street Terminal)
Date: September 12, 1955
Photographer: William C. Hoffman

PTC Peter Witt #8500
Location: Philadelphia (Market Street near 15th)
Date: September 12, 1955
Photographer: William C. Hoffman
Here is a classic view of a Philadelphia Transportation Company Peter Witt car. Philadelphia had 535 Peter Witt streetcars in all, built by Brill between 1923 and 1926. They were all retired from regular service by 1957.

PTC Peter Witt #8500
Location: Philadelphia (Route 32 – 17th Street at Market Street)
Date: September 12, 1955
Photographer: William C. Hoffman

Philadelphia Market Frankford El and PCC car
Location: Philadelphia (30th Street Station)
Date: September 12, 1955
Photographer: William C. Hoffman

NYCTA Manhattan Elevated
Location: IRT West Side Line at 125th Street
Date: 1953
Photographer: Unknown

Atlantic City Streetcar Trolley #213
Location: Atlantic City, New Jersey
Date: December 28, 1955
Photographer: Unknown
Mike Franklin: “This is the intersection of Fredericksburg and Atlantic Aves, Ventnor City, NJ.”

SF San Francisco Muni Twin Peaks Portal Reconstruction
Location: San Francisco, California
Date: May 1, 1977
Photographer: William C. Hoffman
The Twin Peaks streetcar tunnel was originally built in 1917. Here it is in 1977, while the tunnel entrance was being rebuilt. Our previous post A Colorful Harvest (October 28, 2023) included before and after pictures of the portal.

Fort Worth Tandy Subway xWashington PCC #3
Location: Fort Worth, Texas
Date: January 1975 (processing date)
Photographer: Unknown
From the Wikipedia: The Tandy Center Subway operated in Fort Worth, Texas, from February 15, 1963 to August 30, 2002. It ran a distance of 0.7 miles (1.1 km) and was, during the period of its operation, the only privately owned subway in the United States. The subway was originally built by Leonard’s Department Store in 1963, connecting the store to its large parking lots on the edge of downtown. Originally known as the Leonard’s M&O Subway, it consisted of one underground station beneath the store and four stations in the parking lots. Between 1962 and 1966, Leonard’s acquired a total of 15 PCC streetcars from DC Transit in Washington, D.C. These had been manufactured by the St. Louis Car Company in the 1930s and 1940s. The Tandy Corporation purchased the department store, its parking lots, and the subway in 1967. The corporation built its headquarters, the Tandy Center, on the site in 1974. Although it demolished the original store, Tandy retained the subway. The small subway primarily served patrons visiting the mall at the base of the Tandy Center, which also linked to the downtown location of Fort Worth Public Library. However, the anchor tenant moved out in 1995 and the mall declined. The Tandy Center Subway ceased operation on August 30, 2002. After the closure, one of the streetcars used on the subway was acquired by Dallas’s McKinney Avenue Transit Authority, which modified it to again make it suitable for in-street use, and it operated in service on the McKinney Avenue heritage streetcar line in Dallas until the mid-to late 2000s. As of 2012, it remained in storage in Dallas, out of use.

Fort Worth Tandy Subway xWashington PCC #24
Location: Fort Worth, Texas (Station #3)
Date: April 1975 (processing date)
Photographer: Philip Hom

Delaware & Hudson Baldwin RF16 Sharknose #1205
Location: Unknown
Date: May 1978
Photographer: John Swift
From the Wikipedia: “Delaware and Hudson 1205 and 1216 are two Baldwin RF-16 locomotives originally built for the New York Central Railroad in 1951 and 1952. They are the last two surviving examples of the Baldwin RF-16.” Dan Cluley adds, “The former D&H Sharks are in Cadillac MI at the former Ann Arbor RR engine house. The State of MI bought quite a bit of trackage that didn’t make it into Conrail, and then had contracts with several companies to run it. The Michigan Northern RR which operated several ex PRR & AA lines leased these sharks for a few years in the late ’70s.”

NWS&W Northwestern Steel & Wire Steam #74
Location: Sterling, Illinois
Date: May 1974 (processing date)
Photographer: Melvin Bernero

ICG Illinois Central Gulf E8A Diesel #4020 (The City of Miami)
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Date: April 25, 1971
Photographer: Unknown

C&WI Chicago & Western Indiana Diesel #256
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Date: October 1963 (processing date)
Photographer: Unknown

CB&Q Burlington Diesel EMD E8 #9948B
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Date: March 1965 (processing date)
Photographer: Unknown

PRR Pennsylvania Baldwin RF16 Sharknose #9739, 9592
Location: Ambridge, Pennsylvania
Date: September 10, 1961
Photographer: Unknown

N&W Norfolk & Western Diesel #1371
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Date: April 1975
Photographer: Unknown

N&W Norfolk & Western Diesel #507
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Date: March 27, 1970
Photographer: Richard R. Wallin
N&W #507 was an EMD GP9 built in November 1958. Here it is seen in Chicago commuter train service. This is now operated by Metra.

FEC Florida East Coast EMD E8A Diesel #1031
Location: Daytona Beach, Florida
Date: April 8, 1968
Photographer: Raymond J. Muller

Delaware & Hudson Baldwin RF16 Sharknose #1205
Location: Unknown
Date: October 1975
Photographer: Robert Malinoski

Delaware & Hudson Diesels Alco P-4s #18, 17
Location: Unknown
Date: August 1975
Photographer: Unknown
Dan Cluley: “I believe the Alco PAs are at D&H’s Colonie Shops near Albany NY.”

Delaware & Hudson Diesels Alco P-4s #18, 17
Location: Mayfield, Pennsylvania
Date: October 19, 1974
Photographer: Unknown

Delaware & Hudson Diesels Alco P-4s #18, 17
Location: Unknown
Date: October 1975 (processing date)

RI Rock Island Diesel Alco RS-3 #493
Location: Chicago, Illinois (where the Rock Island crossed the Pennsylvania Railroad)
Date: November 1963 (processing date)
Photographer: Unknown

Our resident south side expert M. E. has quite a lot to say about the Rock Island picture above:

There is a lot to talk about in this picture and about its component rail trackage.

This photo was taken, looking straight north, at the north end of the Washington Heights station platform of the Rock Island main line south of 103rd St. at Vincennes. In the foreground in the photo is the wooden walkway from Vincennes Ave. to the station. Note there were no safety setups to tell a pedestrian a train is coming.

Engine 493 is leading a main-line suburban train southbound. This train may, or probably may not, stop at Washington Heights, because main-line suburban service generally did not stop at stations along Vincennes Ave. except during rush hours. Judging by auto traffic, this is not rush hour. Also, this train has not yet cleared 103rd St., which can be seen to the east of the train’s last few cars.

Paralleling the Rock Island main line tracks is Vincennes Ave. heading north / northeast. The autos on Vincennes are waiting at the traffic signal for 103rd St. (It would appear the traffic signals did not turn green for Vincennes when a Rock Island train was near.)

Notice the space between the Rock Island tracks and Vincennes Ave. That space was once the private right-of-way for the Kankakee interurban that began at the Englewood Rapid Transit station at 63rd and Halsted, then ran south on Halsted, then Vincennes, past this spot, and on to Kankakee. Later in time, the Chicago Surface Lines Halsted service used this same trackage on its way to the end of line at 111th and Sacramento.

The cross tracks are a Pennsylvania freight line. This trackage started farther north in the city along Leavitt St. (2200 W.). Coming south, it eventually ran on the ground. At 91st and Hermitage (1732 W.), the Pennsy trackage crossed the Rock Island suburban line, then continued southeast to where this photo was taken, then all the way into Indiana. As a side note, the Baltimore & Ohio Capitol Limited ran along the Pennsy tracks south to 89th St., where the Capitol Limited then headed east along the Rock Island suburban line, the east-west Rock Island freight line into South Chicago, and finally on its own trackage.

The road paralleling the Pennsy tracks is Beverly Ave., which was basically an extension of Ashland Ave. south of 95th to 103rd St. There were no businesses on Beverly Ave., it was strictly residential.

Not shown in the picture, but off to the left, was the CTA bus barn, west of Vincennes and south of 103rd St.

Side note about 103rd St. bus service: As I recall calculating, the 103rd-106th bus line, which ran from Pulaski Rd. all the way east to the state line, crossed 13 railroad rights-of-way. It was a wonder that the bus could maintain a schedule with all these potential interruptions.
M E

D&RGW Rio Grande Diesel F7A #5674 (The Prospector)
Location: Salida, Colorado
Date: October 1966 (processing date)
Photographer: Unknown

RFP Richmond Fredericksburg E8A Diesel #1005
Location: Alexandria, Virginia
Date: April 22, 1971
Photographer: J. David Ingles

EL Erie Lackawanna Alco PA Diesel #853
Location: Lima, Ohio
Date: October 1967 (processing date)
Photographer: Eric Hirsimaki

GM&O Gulf Mobile & Ohio EMD F3A Diesel #882B
Location: Unknown
Date: August 1963 (processing date)
Photographer: Unknown

GM&O Gulf Mobile & Ohio “Abraham Lincoln”
Location: Unknown
Date: August 1963 (processing date)
Photographer: Unknown
Mike Franklin: “Photo of GM&O Gulf Mobile & Ohio “Abraham Lincoln” is taken looking due south from Union Station, Joliet IL across what is today New St.”

GM&O Gulf Mobile & Ohio EMD F3A Diesel #882B
Location: Unknown
Date: August 1963 (processing date)
Photographer: Unknown
Mike Franklin: “Photo of GM&O Gulf Mobile & Ohio EMD F3A Diesel #882B is taken looking SW from Joliet IL Station. Building to the right (Beutel Nash Co. Inc.) stood at 67-69 N. Scott St.”

Monon Railroad “The Thoroughbred”
Location: Mitchell, Indiana
Date: August 25, 1967
Photographer: Tom Smart
The Thoroughbred was a streamlined passenger train operated by the Chicago, Indianapolis and Louisville Railway (Monon) between Chicago, Illinois and Louisville, Kentucky via Monon, Indiana. It operated from 1948 to 1967. The Thoroughbred was the last passenger train operated by the Monon. It was named for the Thoroughbred horse breeds, a nod to the horse racing heritage of Louisville.
Following World War II new Monon president John W. Barriger III embarked on a program to renew the Monon’s passenger service, long neglected. The centerpiece of this program was a group of 28 surplus hospital cars originally built by the American Car and Foundry Company (ACF) in 1944–1945 for the U.S. Army. The Monon rebuilt these cars in their shops, creating enough lightweight coaches, parlor-observation cars, dining cars and mail/baggage cars to create three new streamliners: the Chicago-Indianapolis Hoosier and Tippecanoe, and the Chicago-Louisville Thoroughbred.
The Thoroughbred made its first run on February 15, 1948, replacing the Day Express. Monon discontinued the Thoroughbred on September 30, 1967. It was the final passenger service on the Monon, although Amtrak’s Hoosier State utilized part of Monon’s route between Indianapolis and Chicago.

Monon Railroad “The Thoroughbred” Chicago
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Date: October 1963 (processing date)
Photographer: Unknown

Subject: C&NW Chicago & North Western EMD E8A #5024A
Location: Janesville, Wisconsin
Date: June 1962 (processing date)
Photographer: Unknown

WMSRR Western Maryland Alco FPA4 Diesel #305
Location: Corriganville, Maryland
Date: July 31, 1991
Photographer: Bob Wilt

CNW Chicago & North Western Diesel Commuter
Location: Unknown
Date: November 1966 (processing date)
Photographer: Unknown
Miles Beitler: “I believe the Chicago & North Western commuter train in photo eba994 is on the C&NW Northwest Line at Edison Park (near Devon Avenue and Northwest Highway) on Chicago’s far northwest side.” Patrick J. Cunningham: “M.P. Heinze Machine Co. looks to have been at 6300 Northwest Highway, so that picture may have been taken from the Harlem Ave. grade crossing.” Matt Cajda: “I second this opinion. I grew up in this area and it looks like Harlem Ave. at Avondale. We would be looking southeast towards the Norwood Park station but it is not visible behind the train.”

CNW Chicago & North Western EMD E7 Diesel #5020A 1963 35mm Original Kodachrome Slide
Location: Unknown
Date: August 1963 (processing date)
Photographer: Unknown
Patrick J. Cunningham: “The picture of CNW 5020A is in Fond du Lac, WI.” https://fdlhistory.blogspot.com/2018/05/old-pictures.html

ATSF Santa Fe Diesel F3
Location: Leaving the Santa Fe Yard in fort Worth, Texas
Date: April 1963 (processing date)
Photographer: Unknown
From the Wikipedia: “The Texas Chief was a passenger train operated by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway between Chicago, Illinois, and Galveston, Texas. It was the first Santa Fe “Chief” outside the Chicago–Los Angeles routes. The Santa Fe conveyed the Texas Chief to Amtrak in 1971, which renamed it the Lone Star in 1974. The train was discontinued in 1979.”

N&W Norfolk & Western Steam Loco #132
Location: Roanoke, Virginia
Date: June 4, 1958
Photographer: Unknown
N&W #132, a K2a 4-8-2, was built by Baldwin in 1923 and scrapped in July 1959. Among the major railroads, the Norfolk and Western was the last to dieselize. Many of these classic scenes of late steam were captured by O. Winston Link. This photo by an unknown photographer was shot on early Ektachrome, which has shifted to red over the years due to the instability of the dyes. We have color-corrected it here. It is kind of a monochrome image anyway, although you can see some natural colors in the background.

Milwaukee Road Electrification E29B
Location: Butte, Montana
Photographer: Keith E. Ardinger
Date: October 1972
In the early 1900s, the Milwaukee Road electrified over 600 miles of freight trackage in the northwestern United States. Use of electric locos ended in 1974. This was a very picturesque, if not a profitable, operation. Large parts of it were eventually abandoned. As these were rather remote places, there are not a lot of pictures.

Milwaukee Road Electrification E50B, E35C, E47C, E50A (Avery Helper)
Location: Haugan, Montana
Photographer: R. Bruce Black
Date: October 2, 1971

PRR Pennsylvania RR Baldwin Shark #5779
Location: Columbus, Ohio
Date: August 1956
Photographer: David R. Sweetland
From Facebook: “The PRR’s Baldwin passenger shark units were PRR class BP20 (Baldwin model DR6-4-20). It’s a shame none of these remain today. There are, however, two former D&H freight sharks still around that hopefully someday will see the light of day.”

NYC New York Central Steam Loco #5256
Location: Shelbyville, Maryland
Date: May 23, 1954
Photographer: Unknown
New York Central loco #5256 was a Hudson (4-6-4) type, class J1c, built by Alco circa 1928-29.

NYC New York Central Steam Locos #3132 #3014
Location: Cincinnati, Ohio (leaving Riverside Yard with westbound freight)
Date: August 11, 1956
Photographer: Unknown
New York Central loco #3132 was a Mohawk (4-8-2) type, built by Lima circa 1943-44. NYC #3014, also a Mohawk (4-8-2) type, was built by Alco in 1940.

CNW Chicago & North Western Steam Loco #620
Location: 4 miles east of Crystal Lake, Illinois
Date: August 31, 1955
Photographer: Unknown
Here is an excellent original Kodachrome slide of a classic C&NW steam engine, in its last days of operation before being replaced by diesels. The final C&NW steam commuter run took place on May 10, 1956.

Keep those cards and letters coming in, folks.

Our Latest Book, Now Available:

The North Shore Line

From the back cover:

As late as 1963, it was possible to board high-speed electric trains on Chicago’s famous Loop “L” that ran 90 miles north to Milwaukee. This was the Chicago North Shore & Milwaukee Railroad, commonly known as the North Shore Line. It rose from humble origins in the 1890s as a local streetcar line in Waukegan to eventually become America’s fastest interurban under the visionary management of Midwest utilities tycoon Samuel Insull. The North Shore Line, under Insull, became a worthy competitor to the established steam railroads. Hobbled by the Great Depression, the road fought back in 1941 with two streamlined, air-conditioned, articulated trains called Electroliners, which included dining service. It regained its popularity during World War II, when gasoline and tires were rationed, but eventually, it fell victim to highways and the automobile. The North Shore Line had intercity rail, commuter rail, electric freight, city streetcars, and even buses. It has been gone for nearly 60 years, but it will always remain the Road of Service.

Each copy purchased here will be signed by the author, and you will also receive a bonus North Shore Line map. Books will ship by USPS Media Mail.

Title The North Shore Line
Images of America
Author David Sadowski
Edition illustrated
Publisher Arcadia Publishing (SC), 2023
ISBN 1467108960, 978-1467108966
Length 160 pages

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

For Shipping to US Addresses:

New Compact Disc Titles, Now Available:

HFIH
Hi-Fi Iron Horse
Price: $15.99

Total time – 50:49

TSOS
The Sound of Steam
Reading 2124
Price: $19.99

Three very rare, out of print North Jersey Recordings LPs, now digitally remastered on two CDs at a special price.

Total time – 69:54 (Disc 1) and 61:20 (Disc 2)

RWW-V103
Rods, Wheels, and Whistles
Voice of the 103
Price: $19.99

Two very rare, out of print North Jersey Recordings LPs, now digitally remastered on two CDs at a special price.

Total time – 46:15 (RWW) and 49:26 (V103)

Help Support The Trolley Dodger

This is our 311th 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 1,042,000 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

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

The Gift That Keeps On Giving

December 15, 2023March 7, 2025David Sadowski 12 Comments

This is a very well known shot of Chicago Aurora and Elgin wood cars 309 and 310 on a May 19, 1957 fantrip at the Glen Oak Country Club stop in Glen Ellyn. As this was a photo stop, there are lots of duplicate slides of this, although not necessarily by the same photographer. Robert D. Heinlein captured this classic picture about six weeks before the end of passenger service, and this was scanned from the original red border Kodachrome slide. We are looking mainly to the east.

The holiday season is once again upon us, and our thoughts naturally turn to gift giving. Then, it struck me. Here at the Trolley Dodger, we are engaged in historic preservation. History has a lot to teach us about our present and future. The past can shine light on many things, if we can only choose to look.

There is a lot of history in the images we present here. I have learned so much since starting this blog, nearly nine years ago. I hope my readers have too. Let’s all learn together.

It is truly a gift that keeps on giving.

Happy Holidays!

Our Annual Fundraiser

Since we started this blog in 2015, we have posted nearly 16,000 images. This is our 310th post.

In a few week’s time, we will need to renew our WordPress subscription, our domain registration, and pay other bills associated with maintaining this site, so it is time for our Annual Fundraiser.

The Trolley Dodger blog can only be kept going with the help of our devoted readers. Perhaps you count yourself among them.

We thank you in advance for your time and consideration.

-David Sadowski

PS- You might also like our Trolley Dodger Facebook auxiliary, a private group that now has 1,478 members.

Our Next Book Project

FYI, we are hard at work researching our next book about the Chicago Aurora and Elgin interurban. Although we already have thousands of images, we start out on these book projects with some of what we need, and then have to find the rest. Some have generously shared their images with us, and some we have to pay real money for. In case you would like to help contribute to this effort, either by sharing images or making a donation, we would like to hear from you. All contributors will be mentioned in the book, which will be dedicated to the memory of the late Robert D. Heinlein. The most difficult images to find are always the earliest ones. You can contact me via messenger, at thetrolleydodger@gmail.com or via my blog. I thank you for your time and consideration.

A real photo postcard (postmarked 1930) view of Front Street in Wheaton, looking east from Main Street, including the Chicago and North Western commuter station. It has since been replaced by a newer one nearby, served by Metra’s UP-West Line. The Chicago Aurora and Elgin station was just south of here, out of view.

Here’s how it looks today.

Chicago Aurora and Elgin car 418 is at the rear of a three-car train, heading east at Canal Street on the Metropolitan “L” main line. The building to the right is now known as the Old Post Office. The middle car is formerly from the Washington, Baltimore and Annapolis that CA&E bought in the late 1930s. They tapered the ends to fir the tight clearances on the “L” and made them into control trailers. This “L” stop had a walkway leading into Union Station. It was torn down after the Garfield Park line was replaced by the new Congress expressway median line in 1958– but by that time, the CA&E had stopped running passenger service. this picture probably dates to between the mid-1940s and 1953, when the interurban cut back service to Forest Park.

Here’s San Francisco cable car #507 in the early 1950s at the outer end of the Powell-Mason line (note the turntable). Here’s what streetcar.org has to say about this car: “This cable car was built in 1893 in the East Bay town of Newark by Carter Brothers. It was numbered 507 until Muni dropped the first number on Powell cable cars in the 1970s. Car 507 served the Sacramento-Clay line until the 1906 earthquake and fire, and then was moved over to Powell Street, where it has run ever since, almost exclusively on the Powell-Mason line until 1956; on both the Mason and Hyde lines since 1957.” It was overhauled in 1957 and is still in use today. This image was taken from an original red border Kodachrome.

Chicago Aurora and Elgin wood car 300 at Wheaton on April 23, 1962, shortly before it was scrapped. (K. C. Henkels Photo)

Chicago Aurora and Elgin car 457 at Wheaton on March 14, 1957. (M. Powell Photo)

North Shore Line car 300 in 1940. The interurban had stopped using its older wood cars a few years before, and had generously allowed the Central Electric Railfans’ Association to use it as their club car, for meetings and excursions. Color pictures from 1940 are rare indeed, and this red border Kodachrome has held up well. Unfortunately, none of the NSL woods have survived. This one was used as a locker room in Waukegan for the female employees the railroad hired during WWII. It was vandalized by some sailors at war’s end, and then stripped for parts when the remaining wood cars were sold to the Chicago Aurora and Elgin in 1946. The body of car 300 was used as a diner for a few years.

North Shore Line wood car 300 is on a fantrip, while it was used as the rolling clubhouse of the Central Electric Railfans’ Association circa 1940. The presence of a city streetcar (I think it is 509) would suggest this picture was taken in Waukegan.

A Chicago and Milwaukee Electric (later the North Shore Line) 300-series car at the Racine station in 1909.

Single-deck streetcar #105 is in Hobart, Tasmania, in Australia. This system had previously used doble-deck cars, but there were problems with them toppling over. As ridership on the system decreased over time, they were replaced with these home-built substitutes. The style of red border Kodachrome slide mount dates this picture to sometime between 1939 and 1949. The last Hobart tram ran in 1960.

The North Shore Line Freight Terminal in Milwaukee in 1925. This was just east of the passenger terminal. We are looking to the north-northwest. Car 401 is in the foreground. Don’s Rail Photos (via Archive.org): “401 was built by Jewett Car in 1909 as parlor-buffet car. In 1917 it was converted to straight coach and retired in 1935. It was leased to Chicago Aurora & Elgin and renumbered 142 in 1936. It came back for a short time with the CA&E number in 1945 and sold to CA&E in 1946. It was retired in 1953.” One of the cars at right is 122, a wooden coach. Again, from Don Ross: “122 was built by Jewett Car in 1906 and retired in 1937.”

A North Shore Line lunch counter menu from March 1961. There are some pictures of the lunch counter at the Milwaukee Terminal in my book The North Shore Line.

This rare photo was taken at Church Street in Evanston, where the North Shore Line had a station along the Evanston branch of the “L” (today’s CTA Purple Line). The presence of observation car 411 would date this to between 1923 (when the car was delivered) and 1926 (when the Skokie Valley Route opened).

This 1910 image is from a copy negative and shows a Chicago and Milwaukee Electric car that had derailed at Genesee and Washington Streets in downtown Waukegan. I believe this is car 121 and not 721 as the negative envelope had it. At this date, 721 had not yet been built. The C&ME was the predecessor of the North Shore Line (the name was changed in 1916).

A Brill builder’s photo (1902) of Chicago and Milwaukee Electric car 11. This is called a combine car, as it could handle both passengers and some freight. It was rebuilt into an express trailer in 1917.

Chicago and Milwaukee Electric express car #1 was built by Brill in 1902, as the interurban started to get into the freight business. It was retired prior to 1910.

Chicago Aurora and Elgin car 454 was built in 1945 by the St. Louis Car Company and ran in service until the 1957 abandonment.

Chicago Aurora and Elgin line car #11 is shown at the Fox River Trolley Museum in South Elgin, Illinois on January 17, 1976. (William C. Hoffman Photo)

Now here’s something else that’s rare– C&NW bilevels pulled by steam. Here, we see Chicago and North Western loco #566, a 4-6-2, with an outbound commuter “scoot” at Mayfair on August 12, 1955. Bilevels were just starting to be phased in and would eventually be used exclusively, while the last C&NW steam ran in 1956. The Burlington introduced bilevels in 1950, so they ran more under steam than the C&NW did. The Mayfair station is at 4737 W. Montrose in Chicago, and the tower visible here controlled the crossing of C&NW and Milwaukee Road trains. There is a Metra stop here for the Milwaukee District North Line. The former C&NW service here is now Metra’s Union Pacific Northwest line. (James J. Buckley Photo)

South Shore Line loco #704 is at the helm of a freight train in New Carlisle, Indiana on October 9, 1960. Don’s Rail Photos (via Archive.org): “704 was built by Alco-General Electric in June 1931, #68271, 11194, as NYC 1243, Class R-2. It was renumbered 343 in August 1936 and sold to CSS&SB in 1955. It was rebuilt as 704 in 1956 and scrapped in April 1976.”

South Shore Line car 28 is at Wagner Siding on the “Ideal Section” east of Gary in June 1975. Mitch Markovitz adds, “At the east end crossing County Line (Fulton) Road.”

The entrance to the South Shore Line train platforms at the Randolph Street Station on August 4, 1974. This station has since been completely redone, and the neon sign is at the Illinois Railway Museum. (Douglas N. Grotjahn Photo)

On October 24, 1954 South Shore Line car #1 is at the Smith stop in Indiana on a fantrip. This car was built by Pullman in 1926. (William C. Hoffman Photo)

South Shore Line car #111 is heading westbound in LaSalle Avenue in South Bend on October 13, 1957. Service was cut back to the outskirts of town in 1970, after there were a couple accidents where the brakes failed and there were runaway trains on South Bend streets. (William C. Hoffman Photo)

Robert D. Heinlein captured this view of a westbound Lake Street “L” B train on October 27, 1962, the last full day of ground level service here. The following day, the “L” west of Laramie Avenue was relocated onto the adjacent Chicago and North Western embankment. The two car CTA 4000-series train is passing the gateman’s shanty (these were all manually operated gates, 24/7), which shows why the newer 6000-series cars, with their curved sides, could not make these tight clearances. Not sure which cross street this is. Mike Franklin: “Smokestack above car is between Cuyler & Harvey, thus this is west of Ridgeland. West of Oak Park Ave, the concrete does not match, making this crossing between Oak Park Ave & Ridgeland. Euclid and East have brackets at the top level of the overhead girder, while Scoville does not; therefore, this is the only possible crossing. (Next gateman’s shanty is at Elmwood, which controlled a pedestrian tunnel leading to Scoville Park.)”

Bantam (Size 828) Slides

All the images in this section are scanned from 1950s red border Kodachromes on 828 size film, with an image area slightly larger than 35mm. All the Chicago ones are marked 1955, but the actual dates are not known, as Kodak did not begin date-stamping slides until 1958.

Now here’s something I don’t see very often… a red border Kodachrome slide shot on size 828 film. This has an image area of 28x40mm, as opposed to size 135 that is 24x36mm. Kodak came up with this format in the late 1930s, as their answer to 35mm, which was just starting to become popular due to Leica and Contax. Kodak thought 36 pictures on a roll was just too many for most people, so they took 35mm film stock, eliminated the sprockets, and made paper backed roll film, in similar fashion to the popular film sizes of the time (127, 620, 120, 616, 116, etc.). Their innovation was to put a small notch in the film that would actuate an automatic frame counter in some models of the new cameras, which were branded as the Bantam line. There were still numbers on the back of the paper roll for use in cheaper cameras with the familiar little red window. It was a good idea, but ultimately didn’t catch on. Kodak went on to use some of this technology in size 126, the Instamatic series, starting in 1963. 126 was nothing more than the same 828 type film stock, preloaded into a plastic cartridge. Proper loading and unloading of paper backed roll film was always a bit problematic and had resulted in lots of light leaks and fogged film up until then, and this solved the problem. Kodak went with a 26x26mm square format but unfortunately the film did not lie perfectly flat in this cartridge, and therefore overall sharpness suffered. For a time, though, 126 was all the rage, and was pretty much the death knell for amateur photographers using paper backed roll film. Toronto PCC 4441, pictured here, had a body shell built by the St. Louis Car Company, and the rest of the car was finished by the Canadian Car & Foundry Company in 1949. This picture was taken some time between then and 1955. Bill Robb adds, “Probably taken pre-1954 when the TTC was still the Toronto Transportation Commission. It has the old monogram logo and grey roof shrouds dating from the time of delivery. The TTC changed to Toronto Transit Commission on July 1, 1954 and adopted the keystone logo.”

CTA postwar PCC 4052, a product of St. Louis Car Company, is turning from St. Lawrence Avenue onto 111th Street in the Pullman neighborhood, near the Hotel Florence. The streetcar was heading northbound and was just a few blocks from the south end of Route 4 – Cottage Grove, located at 115th Street. Buses replaced streetcars on this line on June 19, 1955, and this picture was taken that year.

CTA prewar PCC streetcar 7027 is on private right-of-way at the south end of the Cottage Grove route. This ran parallel to the Illinois Central Suburban Electric.

This shows where the Cottage Grove line entered private right-of-way with open track around 96th Street. The sign warned motorists to steer clear of the open tracks.

A string of CTA red Pullmans are in the scrap line at South Shops in 1955.

A four-car South Shore Line train at 130th Street in 1955.

The interior of a CTA red Pullman in the scrap line at South Shops in 1955.

CTA postwar PCC 7238 is a southbound Route 36 – Broadway-State car, signed for 119th and Morgan, in 1955. Not sure of the exact location, but if I had to guess, I would say we are on the south side. Mike Franklin: “Photo aaf569a, car 7238 has just crossed 95th St, heading south on Michigan Ave. While the 3-story building in the middle of the photo is gone, the neighboring bungalow to the east is still there at 124 E Michigan Ave.”

CTA red Pullman streetcars 510 and 288 are on the scrap line at South Shops in 1955.

The motorman’s section of a CTA red Pullman in the scrap line at South Shops in 1955. Scott Greig writes: “That view of the motorman’s controls inside a Pullman in the South Shops scrap line was taken inside an “air door” Pullman, cars 501-600. Where the air gauge would normally be, between the controller and brake valve, there is instead a National Pneumatic door light housing. This was interlocked with the rear doors, similar to a modern “L” car, and allowed the motorman to proceed without waiting for a bell signal from the conductor. At least two air-door cars (507 and 542) lasted long enough to be among the last six red streetcars that the CTA torched for a press event in February of 1956.”

CTA D206 and D204 were sprinklers, shown here at South Shops in 1955. D206 is still sporting a Chicago Surface Lines logo. It was built by McGuire-Cummings and retired as of December 14, 1956. D204, behind it, made it to May 17, 1958.

The front of an unidentified CTA streetcar on the scrap line at South Shops in 1955. Dan Cluley writes, “I think the unidentified car in pic aaf574a is the AA92 shown in the next photo. The remnants of the roll sign, the half open window & various scuffs in the paint all seem to match.”

CTA salt spreader AA92, shown here on the scrap line at South Shops in 1955, was originally car 2826. It was scrapped on December 27, 1955.

CTA salt spreader AA86 was originally car 1498. It was scrapped on December 14, 1956.

A worker sweeps the sidewalk along 79th Street, by CTA’s South Shops. A number of old red streetcars are seen in the scrap line in 1955, along with some retired trolley buses at left.

CTA salt spreader AA50 was originally car 1260. It was scrapped on December 27, 1955.

Experimental pre-PCC cars 7001 (left) and 4001 (right) at the CTA South Shops in 1955, where they were being used as storage sheds. 7001 was scrapped in 1959, but the body of 4001 is now at the Illinois Railway Museum.

The view through the fence at CTA South Shops in 1955 shows red Pullman 518 at right, waiting to be scrapped, with salt spreader AA92 behind it.

Chicago Trolley Buses

CTA trolley bus #9742 is westbound on Montrose at Western on Sunday, October 8, 1972. (Steve Zabel Photo) Zabel (1949-1989) lived in NYC and worked as a motorman on the subway system there for 20 years. He was an excellent photographer, and some of his pictures have ended up in books. Unfortunately, he was brutally murdered during a robbery. His killer was convicted and sent to prison.

CTA trolley bus 9577 has the poles down in this June 1970 photo. Although signed for Route 72 – North Avenue, I have to wonder if the actual location is a wye located at Central Avenue and West End Avenue. This was an unusual arrangement where a bus would go head in, then back out to change direction. (Charles L. Tauscher Photo)

CTA trolley bus 9209 is eastbound on route 65 – Grand Avenue in October 1967, at Grand and Halsted and Milwaukee. The Como Inn, a well known restaurant, is partially visible at right. It was open from 1924 to 2001. (Charles L. Tauscher Photo)

CTA trolley bus 9747 is westbound on Route 81 – Lawrence in May 1963. The Peter Pan restaurant, at right, was part of a chain that featured fountain creations and catered to families with children. They had several locations, including this one on the northeast corner of Lawrence and Broadway. (Charles L. Tauscher Photo)

CTA trolley bus 9327 is heading northbound on Central Avenue at Montrose in May 1963. (Charles L. Tauscher Photo)

CTA trolley bus 9325 is at Irving Park and Neenah, the west end of Route 80, in October 1967. This turnaround loop was been eliminated after diesel buses replaced electric, and service west of here (previously Route 80A) was combined with the regular route. The buildings at rear were part of the Dunning mental health complex and have since been replaced by condos. The bus loop is now incorporated into a driveway. (Charles L. Tauscher Photo)

CTA trolley bus 9412 in July 1963. Andre Kristopans: “Lawrence and Lawler – the “incomplete wye” – wires didn’t quite come together as they didn’t go past the sidewalk. (Charles L. Tauscher Photo)

It’s July 1963 (at least, that’s the processing date), and CTA trolley bus 9412 appears to be on a fantrip. Despite being signed for Route 85, the bus stop indicates Route 52 – Kedzie-California. The Pilsen Drug Store at left would suggest which neighborhood we are in, which would make the street Kedzie at 26th Street. (Charles L. Tauscher Photo)

CTA trolley bus 9412 is signed for a short-turn on Route 85 – Central in August 1963. I am not sure if this is actually Central and Wabansia, however. (Charles L. Tauscher Photo) Mike Franklin: “In reply to: Photo aaf504a, car 9412 is facing east on Wabansia Ave immediately west of Central Ave. Building to the left is still there.”

CTA trolley bus 9745 is at the east end of Route 81 – Lawrence Avenue in January 1963. The hotel in the background is located at 1201 W. Leland Avenue. Instead of having an off-street loop, trolley buses turned around via local streets in the Uptown neighborhood. (Charles L. Tauscher Photo)

It’s July 1959, and CTA trolley bus 9597 is at the Navy Pier turnaround loop for Route 65 – Grand Avenue. The building has been wrapped for some festive occasion. (Charles L. Tauscher Photo) Kevin Doerksen adds, “Regarding the picture of CTA trolley bus 9597 at Navy Pier, in 1959, the event was the Chicago International Fair and Exposition. It was an international trade fair held in conjunction with the opening of the St Lawrence Seaway.”

On December 19, 1965, Cleveland Transit trolley bus 874 ran on a fantrip in Chicago, prior to going to the Illinois Railway Museum. It also ran on two fantrips in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Here, it is at the back end of the Kedzie bus garage. (Charles L. Tauscher Photo)

East Troy in Early Days

The excellent trolley museum in East Troy, Wisconsin is the sole remaining remnant of the Milwaukee Electric interurban network. Although passenger service to East Troy ended in 1939, the electric line between that town and Mukwonago was retained for freight service and purchased by the Village of East Troy. As those operations began to wind down, it gradually morphed into a museum operation, starting in 1972. The original group that ran the museum was at loggerheads with the village, however, and left in the early 1980s, at which time the current group took over. They do a splendid job.

Here are some early shots of East Troy, taken by the late Robert D. Heinlein.

M15 in East Troy on May 18, 1958. (Robert D. Heinlein Photo)

D13, circa 1956-58. (Robert D. Heinlein Photo)

M15 in June 1959. (Robert D. Heinlein Photo)

M15 on January 5, 1957. (Robert D. Heinlein Photo)

M15 on May 18, 1958. (Robert D. Heinlein Photo)

D13 on January 5, 1957. (Robert D. Heinlein Photo)

M15 on January 5, 1957. (Robert D. Heinlein Photo)

M15 on May 18, 1958. (Robert D. Heinlein Photo)

M15 on September 30, 1956. (Robert D. Heinlein Photo)

The right-of-way and substation in East Troy on May 18, 1958. (Robert D. Heinlein Photo)

D13, circa 1956-58. (Robert D. Heinlein Photo)

Phantom Siding on January 5, 1957. (Robert D. Heinlein Photo)

The Soo Line interchange in Mukwonago on January 5, 1957. (Robert D. Heinlein Photo)

M15 in East Troy on January 5, 1957. (Robert D. Heinlein Photo)

M15 in East Troy on May 17, 1962. (Robert D. Heinlein Photo)

D13 in East Troy on May 18, 1958. (Robert D. Heinlein Photo)

L9 in East Troy on October 14, 1991. (Robert D. Heinlein Photo)

Keep those cards and letters coming in, folks.

Our Latest Book, Now Available:

The North Shore Line

From the back cover:

As late as 1963, it was possible to board high-speed electric trains on Chicago’s famous Loop “L” that ran 90 miles north to Milwaukee. This was the Chicago North Shore & Milwaukee Railroad, commonly known as the North Shore Line. It rose from humble origins in the 1890s as a local streetcar line in Waukegan to eventually become America’s fastest interurban under the visionary management of Midwest utilities tycoon Samuel Insull. The North Shore Line, under Insull, became a worthy competitor to the established steam railroads. Hobbled by the Great Depression, the road fought back in 1941 with two streamlined, air-conditioned, articulated trains called Electroliners, which included dining service. It regained its popularity during World War II, when gasoline and tires were rationed, but eventually, it fell victim to highways and the automobile. The North Shore Line had intercity rail, commuter rail, electric freight, city streetcars, and even buses. It has been gone for nearly 60 years, but it will always remain the Road of Service.

Each copy purchased here will be signed by the author, and you will also receive a bonus North Shore Line map. Books will ship by USPS Media Mail.

Title The North Shore Line
Images of America
Author David Sadowski
Edition illustrated
Publisher Arcadia Publishing (SC), 2023
ISBN 1467108960, 978-1467108966
Length 160 pages

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

For Shipping to US Addresses:

New Compact Disc Titles, Now Available:

HFIH
Hi-Fi Iron Horse
Price: $15.99

Total time – 50:49

TSOS
The Sound of Steam
Reading 2124
Price: $19.99

Three very rare, out of print North Jersey Recordings LPs, now digitally remastered on two CDs at a special price.

Total time – 69:54 (Disc 1) and 61:20 (Disc 2)

RWW-V103
Rods, Wheels, and Whistles
Voice of the 103
Price: $19.99

Two very rare, out of print North Jersey Recordings LPs, now digitally remastered on two CDs at a special price.

Total time – 46:15 (RWW) and 49:26 (V103)

Help Support The Trolley Dodger

This is our 310th 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 1,035,000 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

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

70 for 70 at IRM (Part Two)

July 8, 2023July 8, 2023David Sadowski 8 Comments

Wooden Chicago “L” car 1754, as part of a four-car train at the Illinois Railway Museum on July 1, 2023.

Our previous post 70 for 70 at IRM (Part One) featured still pictures we took of the July 1, 2023 Trolley Pageant. This was also a rich opportunity to shoot videos, so this post features no less that 45 different ones, most lasting one minute or less. We hope that you will enjoy them.

Part One included historical information on many of these cars. Information on nearly all the cars from the Illinois Railway Museum‘s extensive collection can be found here or here.

Before the end of this month, the Trolley Dodger blog will reach one million page views. We thank all our readers for their support.

-David Sadowski

PS- You might also like our Trolley Dodger Facebook auxiliary, a private group that now has 1,328 members.

The 2023 IRM Trolley Pageant Videos

North Shore Line Electroliner 801-802:

Placing the trolley pole of 251 back on the wire, as part of the North Shore Line 5-car train:

The North Shore Line 5-car train:

North Shore Line line car 604 and Merchandise Despatch car 229:

North Shore Line city streetcar 354 and Illinois Terminal 101:

Chicago Surface Lines 1374 and 3142:

Chicago Surface Lines 144:

Chicago Transit Authority 4391 backs up:

An Illinois Terminal 3-car train, with 277, 518, and 234:

Indiana Railroad car 65 making a backup move:

Chicago Transit Authority 4391:

Chicago Surface Lines 144:

Chicago Surface Lines 3142:

Chicago Surface Lines “Matchbox” 1374:

The Illinois Terminal 3-car train:

Illinois Terminal 101:

North Shore Line city streetcar 354:

North Shore Line box motor 229 and line car 604:

Electroliner 801-802:

The five-car North Shore Line train, with 749, 757, 714, 160, and 251:

Shaker Heights Rapid Transit car 18:

Cooperativa de Transportes Urbanos y Sub-Urbanos (Veracruz, Mexico) open car 19:

Chicago and West Towns 141:

Sand Springs Railway car 68:

The four-car train of Chicago Aurora & Elgin woods included 319, 36, 309, and 308:

The four-car train of Chicago Aurora & Elgin steels included 431, 409, 460, and 451:

A four-car train of wooden Chicago “L” cars included cars 24 (aka 1024), 1797, 1268, and 1754:

A four-car train of CTA 4000s, including cars 4290, 4412, 4410, and 4146:

SEPTA Broad Street Subway car 55, operating for the first time since 2011:

A 7-car CTA “L” train, made up of cars 41, 22, 6655-6, 30, and 6125-26:

The 7-car “L” train finally gets cleared to pass:

A six car train of 1960s/70s CTA rapid transit cars, made up of 2153-4, 2243-44, and 2433-4:

Municipality of East Troy box motor/line car M15 (formerly Milwaukee Electric):

Milwaukee Electric work car D13:

The trolley freight train, led by Commonwealth Edison loco 4:

Three South Shore Line cars (34, 40, and 504), hauled by a diesel locomotive:

South Shore Line line car 1100:

Illinois Central cars 1380 and 1198:

The 7-car train of CTA 6000s and single car units:

The train of CTA 6000s and single car units moves out of the way, allowing Illinois Central Highliners 1630 and 1637 to be seen as they pass the Depot:

Electric locos South Shore Line 803, Pennsylvania Railroad GG-1 4927, and Amtrak 945 finish up the Trolley Pageant:

Our Latest Book, Now Available:

The North Shore Line

From the back cover:

As late as 1963, it was possible to board high-speed electric trains on Chicago’s famous Loop “L” that ran 90 miles north to Milwaukee. This was the Chicago North Shore & Milwaukee Railroad, commonly known as the North Shore Line. It rose from humble origins in the 1890s as a local streetcar line in Waukegan to eventually become America’s fastest interurban under the visionary management of Midwest utilities tycoon Samuel Insull. The North Shore Line, under Insull, became a worthy competitor to the established steam railroads. Hobbled by the Great Depression, the road fought back in 1941 with two streamlined, air-conditioned, articulated trains called Electroliners, which included dining service. It regained its popularity during World War II, when gasoline and tires were rationed, but eventually, it fell victim to highways and the automobile. The North Shore Line had intercity rail, commuter rail, electric freight, city streetcars, and even buses. It has been gone for nearly 60 years, but it will always remain the Road of Service.

Each copy purchased here will be signed by the author, and you will also receive a bonus North Shore Line map. Books will ship by USPS Media Mail.

Title The North Shore Line
Images of America
Author David Sadowski
Edition illustrated
Publisher Arcadia Publishing (SC), 2023
ISBN 1467108960, 978-1467108966
Length 160 pages

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

For Shipping to US Addresses:

New Compact Disc, Now Available:

CTA-1
The Last Chicago Streetcars 1958
# of Discs – 1
Price: $15.99

Until now, it seemed as though audio recordings of Chicago streetcars were practically non-existent. For whatever reason, the late William A. Steventon does not appear to have made any for his Railroad Record Club, even though he did make other recordings in the Chicago area in 1956.

Now, audio recordings of the last runs of Chicago streetcars have been found, in the collections of the late Jeffrey L. Wien (who was one of the riders on that last car). We do not know who made these recordings, but this must have been done using a portable reel-to-reel machine.

These important recordings will finally fill a gap in transit history. The last Chicago Transit Authority streetcar finished its run in the early hours of June 21, 1958. Now you can experience these events just as Chicagoans did.

As a bonus, we have included Keeping Pace, a 1939 Chicago Surface Lines employee training program. This was digitally transferred from an original 16” transcription disc. These recordings were unheard for 80 years.

Total time – 74:38

Help Support The Trolley Dodger

This is our 303rd 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 995,000 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

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

70 for 70 at IRM (Part One)

July 2, 2023July 3, 2023David Sadowski 3 Comments

The North Shore Line Electroliner has come a long way since it came to IRM in 1982. After the interurban abandoned service in 1963, it went to the Red Arrow Lines (aka the Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company), where it continued to operate for another dozen years as a “Liberty Liner.” It has certainly come a long way since its return. Here, we see it near IRM’s 50th Avenue “L” station, which came from the Douglas Park line.

This is the Illinois Railway Museum‘s 70th anniversary, and in that span, it has certainly become the largest such operation in the United States, and possibly the world. So it should be no surprise that IRM pulled out all the stops for this year’s Trolley Pageant, which featured at least 70 pieces of electric railway equipment in more than 30 consists.

There was a delay in getting started, as there had been a bit of rain in the morning, and in spite of a few hiccups (at one point the power went out, possibly because there were so many things using it), it was a remarkable and unique event that couldn’t have happened anywhere else but Union, Illinois.

We were there to document the event for all those who couldn’t be there in person. This is part one, because we took so many pictures and videos that it would simply be too much to put it all into a single post. This post will feature our still pictures, and part two will include the numerous videos we took.

Many thanks go out to all the hard working volunteers that have made the museum what it is today– a first class operation that is unrivaled, and just keeps getting better and better.

Enjoy!

-David Sadowski

PS- You might also like our Trolley Dodger Facebook auxiliary, a private group that now has 1,317 members.

The 2023 IRM Trolley Pageant

Chicago Aurora and Elgin wood car 308, at the head of a four-car train. Don’s Rail Photos (via archive.org): “308 was built by Niles Car & Mfg Co in 1906. It was modernized by unknown date and sold to Indiana Transportation Museum in 1962 and resold to Illinois Railway Museum in 1996.”

CA&E 309. Don’s Rail Photos (via archive.org): “309 was built by Hicks Locomotive Works in 1907. It was modernized in October 1941 and acquired by Illinois Railway Museum in 1962.”

CA&E 36. Don’s Rail Photos (via archive.org): 36 was built by Stephenson in 1903. It was acquired by Trolleyville in 1961 and was painted as Columbia & Southwestern 36. It was sold to Illinois Railway Museum in December 2009.”

CA&E 319. Don’s Rail Photos (via archive.org): “319 was built by Jewett Car Co in 1914. It was modernized at an unknown date and sold to Columbia Park & Southwestern in 1962. It was resold to IRM in December 2009.”

Sand Springs (Oklahoma) Railway car 68 was built by the Cincinnati Car Company in 1918. It was originally delivered to the Cincinnati Lawrenceburg & Aurora in Ohio, and came to IRM in 1967.

Chicago and West Towns Railways 141 was built by McGuire-Cummings in 1924. After streetcar service ended in 1948, the body was stored on a farm. The Electric Railway Historical Society (ERHS) rescued it in 1959, and donated it to IRM in 1973. After a lengthy restoration, it was returned to operating condition in 2014.

Open car 19 was built by the J. G. Brill company in 1914, and operated in Veracruz, Mexico until 1961. It then went to Trolleyville USA in Ohio. IRM acquired it in 2009.

Cleveland center-entrance car 18 was built by the G.C. Kuhlman Car Company in 1914, and ran on the Shaker Heights Rapid Transit line until 1961. It then went to Trolleyville USA, and IRM purchased it in 2013. Frank Hicks has worked to get this car back to operating condition, and this was the first time it ran at IRM.

Center-entrance streetcars had a brief vogue and the most successful of these were called Peter Witts. They were two-man cars, as there was a conductor who collected fares inside. Some systems used a “pay as you enter” system, and some preferred “pay as you pass.” In order to exit through the front door, you had to walk by the conductor and would then pay your fare. The idea was to speed up loading, as fares could be collected while the car was in motion.

SHRT car 18 backs up to get into position for the Trolley Pageant. The conductor is making sure the pole stays on the wire while it is reversed, while the motorman is at the controls over in the other end of the car. Although this may originally have been a double-ended car, it seems to have been converted to single-end at some point in Cleveland.

North Shore Line combine 251, at the head of a five-car train. Don’s Rail Photos (via archive.org): “251 was built by Jewett in 1917, It had its seating reduced from 40 to 24 on October 3, 1925, and it was converted to a Silverliner on June 19, 1953. It was acquired by Illinois Railway Museum in 1963.”

North Shore Line car 160 is now that interurban’s second oldest surviving car, following 162, which was delivered earlier. Don’s Rail Photos (via archive.org): “160 was built by Brill in 1915, (job) #19605. It was acquired by Illinois Railway Museum in 1963.”

North Shore Line coach 714. Don’s Rail Photos (via archive.org): “714 was built by Cincinnati Car Co in 1926, (job) #2890. It is modernized in 1939 and preserved in 1963 by the Illinois Railway Museum.”

North Shore Line car 757. Don’s Rail Photos (via archive.org): “757 was built by Standard Steel Car Co in 1930. It was modernized in 1949 and rebuilt as Silverline on March 16, 1956. It was sold to Wisconsin Electric Railway Historical Society in 1963 and resold to Illinois Railway Museum in 1988.”

North Shore Line coach 749. Don’s Rail Photos (via archive.org): “749 was built by Pullman in 1928. It was modernized in 1940 and acquired by Illinois Railway Museum in 1963.”

North Shore Line city streetcar 354. The late Don Ross, from Don’s Rail Photos (via archive.org): “354 was built by St Louis Car Co in January 1928, #1453. It became the last car on August 12, 1951. It was purchased by the president of the Chicago Hardware Foundry. It was painted into the green and red of CHF, but the motors were removed. The car was acquired by the Illinois Electric Railway Museum (now IRM). Restoration began in 1958 (I put many hours on the car), and it is now in operation in Union. When I visited the car in 1989, it brought back many happy memories.”

Illinois Terminal interurban car 101. It ran between St. Louis and Alton. Don’s Rail Photos (via archive.org): “101 was built by American Car in 1917 as AG&StL 61. In 1926 the car became StL&ARy 61 and in 1930 it became IT 101. On March 9, 1956, it was sold to the Illinois Electric Railway Museum and is now at Union, IL.”

Two Chicago streetcars for the price of one, here. “Matchbox” 1374 was built by St. Louis Car Company (order #715) in 1905. The Chicago Transit Authority turned it into a salt spreader in 1947. It was purchased by the ERHS in 1958 and donated to IRM in 1973. The 3142 was built by J.G. Brill Company (order #21686) in 1923. It too was purchased by ERHS in 1958 and came to IRM in 1973. The white stripe indicates it was used as a one-man car, letting riders know they should board at the front instead of the back.

Chicago Pullman 144 was built in 1908 and ran in regular service until 1954. Until the end of streetcar service four years later, it was only used on fantrips. IRM purchased it in 1959.

CTA PCC streetcar 4391 is using the back-up controller to make its way to the parade staging area, as it is a single-ended car. Since the pole is reversed, the operator is trying to keep it from coming off the wire.

CTA PCC 4391 was built by the St. Louis Car Company in 1948 and ran in Chicago until 1958. ERHS purchased it the following year and it came to IRM in 1973. It is the only surviving car of its type. This is a two-man streetcar– you enter at the rear, pay the conductor, then exit via the middle or front.

Indiana Railroad high-speed lightweight car 65 was built in 1931 by Pullman and ran for a decade in Indiana before making its way to the CRANDIC (Cedar Rapids and Iowa City) in Iowa. It was purchased in 1953 as the first acquisition of the Illinois Electric Railway Museum, then located in North Chicago. The original ten founders each contributed $100 towards the cost. The last survivor of the ten was Malcolm D. McCarter, who died in 2016.

Indiana Railroad car 65 is similar to cars that were built around the same time for the Cincinnati and Lake Erie. After that line quit around 1938, several of those cars went to Lehigh Valley Transit in Pennsylvania, where they ran until 1951. Others made it to Iowa and ran on CRANDIC. The only other surviving Indiana Railroad high-speed car is 55, which was built by a different manufacturer. It survives at the Seashore Trolley Museum in Maine as LVT car 1030.

Two North Shore Line work cars (line car 604 and box motor 229) head west through the depot.

It was nice to see so many families with young children out at the museum for this event.

IRM’s North Shore Line Electroliner, built in 1941 by the St. Louis Car Company, is still undergoing interior restoration, but can operate. It was certainly a welcome addition to the Trolley Pageant.

One of the trolley poles on the Electroliner got snagged and had to be repositioned. Fortunately, no damage was done to the wire.

Where else but IRM could you see not one, but TWO four-car trains, made up of Chicago Aurora and Elgin interurban coaches, side by side? Over the years, the museum has put together a unique and unrivaled collection.

Although not yet numbered, this is either Chicago Aurora and Elgin car 451 or 453, built in 1945 by the St. Louis Car Company. Don’s Rail Photos (via archive.org): “451 was built by St Louis Car Co in September 1945, #1717. It was sold to Trolleyville in 1962 and lettered as Columbia Park & Southwestern. It was transferred as Lake Shore Electric Ry in 2006. It was sold to Illinois Railway Museum in December 2009.” 453 was purchased in 1962 by Trolleyville USA in Ohio, and went to the Electric City Trolley Museum in Scranton, PA in 2009. They considered turning it into an ersatz Laurel Line car, as none of those were saved. Having decided against that, it was acquired by IRM in 2019 and is undergoing restoration. Thus, all four surviving cars of this type are back in Illinois– three at IRM (451, 453, and 460) and 460 at the Fox River Trolley Museum. We recently posted pictures of that restoration. Spence Ziegler adds: “Dave, the unnumbered CA&E car is the 451, from what I understand it’s going to get the original “Futura” font lettering, which will look nice. That’s why the grey is darker also.”

A four-car train of Chicago wooden “L” cars, with 1754 at the rear. It was built by the Jewett Car Company in 1906 for the Northwestern Elevated. After the CTA stopped using wood cars in regular service in 1957, it was converted to a work car. IRM acquired it in 1971.

Broad Street Subway (Philadelphia) car 55 was built by the J.G. Brill Company (order #22488) in 1927. IRM purchased it in 1985, and this was the first time it operated at the museum in 20 years. Notice how it is both wider and longer than a Chicago “L” car, and has three sets of doors for faster service.

I don’t think any other museum besides IRM could field a seven-car Chicago “L” car train. This one consisted of two sets of married pairs and three single car units.

The “L” train makes its run-by, with car 41 in the lead. It was built in 1959 by the St. Louis Car Company and was designed to be operated as a single car for the Evanston line, where the CTA wanted to reduce operating expenses. For several years, riders would pay on the train at off-peak hours, and the train operator had a fare collection box. There was no conductor. Unfortunately, this really slowed down service, as the train could no proceed until everyone boarding had paid. Eventually, 41 was paired with car 28 but that car was eventually damaged and was not saved. 41 came to IRM in 1998.

A Commonwealth Edison diesel switcher came out at one point, probably to help move a disable railcar.

This rare Lake Shore Electric freight trailer was part of a train which included three electric locos, led by Commonwealth Edison 4, built in 1912 by Alco/General Electric (order #3514), which came to IRM in 1962.

North Shore Line box motor 213 (aka a “Merchandise Despatch” car) was built in 1920 by the Cincinnati Car Company (order #2445), and was sold to the Chicago Hardware Foundry in 1955. That was also the original location of the Illinois Electric Railway Museum. When IRM moved to its current location in 1964, 213 went with it.

A Milwaukee Electric logo on a piece of freight equipment in the parade.

For a rather nondescript car, South Shore Line 504 has had an interesting life. It started out in 1925 on the Indiana Public Service as a baggage/coach car. This turned into the Indiana Railroad in 1931, and it became coach/RPO (railway post office) 377 for another decade before that interurban was abandoned. The South Shore Line purchased it, and used it until 1975 to haul newspapers and small packages. (It still has a sign on it advertising their “emergency package service.” IRM bought it in 1975.

South Shore Line line car 1100 was built in 1925 by the St. Louis Car Company for the Indiana Service Corporation, which became the Indiana Railroad in 1931. It began as baggage/coach car 376, and became a coach/RPO in 1935. After the Indiana Railroad abandonment in 1941, the South Shore Line purchased it, and it was converted to a line car in 1947. I actually rode on this car in 1988 on a fantrip for the George Krambles scholorship fund. GK had begun his storied career working for the Indiana Railroad in 1936. IRM acquired it in 2010.

Illinois Central cars 1198 (powered) and 1380 (unpowered) were built by Pullman in 1926 and were used in service until 1972 on the electric suburban service, which later became the Metra Electric. After their retirement, the pair came to IRM. These cars are somewhat similar to the Erie Lackawanna cars that were used in New Jersey.

The seven-car CTA “L” train stops briefly at the depot, before heading west to get into position for its run-by.

CTA “L” cars 30 (left) and 6655 (right). With the two paired, you can see how the position of the doors differed.

And there are still plenty of other cars that hopefully will run in future Trolley Pageants at IRM.

Our Latest Book, Now Available:

The North Shore Line

From the back cover:

As late as 1963, it was possible to board high-speed electric trains on Chicago’s famous Loop “L” that ran 90 miles north to Milwaukee. This was the Chicago North Shore & Milwaukee Railroad, commonly known as the North Shore Line. It rose from humble origins in the 1890s as a local streetcar line in Waukegan to eventually become America’s fastest interurban under the visionary management of Midwest utilities tycoon Samuel Insull. The North Shore Line, under Insull, became a worthy competitor to the established steam railroads. Hobbled by the Great Depression, the road fought back in 1941 with two streamlined, air-conditioned, articulated trains called Electroliners, which included dining service. It regained its popularity during World War II, when gasoline and tires were rationed, but eventually, it fell victim to highways and the automobile. The North Shore Line had intercity rail, commuter rail, electric freight, city streetcars, and even buses. It has been gone for nearly 60 years, but it will always remain the Road of Service.

Each copy purchased here will be signed by the author, and you will also receive a bonus North Shore Line map. Books will ship by USPS Media Mail.

Title The North Shore Line
Images of America
Author David Sadowski
Edition illustrated
Publisher Arcadia Publishing (SC), 2023
ISBN 1467108960, 978-1467108966
Length 160 pages

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

For Shipping to US Addresses:

New Compact Disc, Now Available:

CTA-1
The Last Chicago Streetcars 1958
# of Discs – 1
Price: $15.99

Total time – 74:38

Help Support The Trolley Dodger

This is our 302nd 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 993,000 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

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

Postcards From the Bridge

May 14, 2023May 21, 2023David Sadowski 15 Comments

This real photo postcard image shows the four-track Metropolitan “L” bridge (actually two separate bridges, side by side), but it also shows a small experimental lifeboat moored at left. One author’s research into the history of this boat is featured in this post, and also sheds some further light on when this photo was taken.

From the start of the Trolley Dodger in 2015, I hoped this blog would become a resource for others, and I am pleased that this has happened. Sometimes these inquiries take strange and unexpected turns, and that is certainly the case regarding the early real photo postcard shown above. This interesting tangent of Chicago history is covered in detail further down in this post. Research can raise just as many questions as it answers, and that is definitely what happened here regarding the small experimental boat visible in the lower left-hand corner of this and other postcards of the Met bridge.

We also have a goodly number of excellent images for your perusal, from some of the great traction photographers.

We regret the passing on April 30th of Robert Heinlein, aged 84. He was one of the giants in his field, and our next post will be a tribute to him. Some of Mr. Heinlein’s photos are in my recent book The North Shore Line, and I am glad he was able to see the finished product. He spent his entire career sharing his knowledge and helping others, and he will be sorely missed. You can read his obituary here.

Keep those cards and letters coming in, folks.

-David Sadowski

PS- You might also like our Trolley Dodger Facebook auxiliary, a private group that now has 1,162 members.

I will be giving a program on my new North Shore Line book on 7:30 pm on Friday evening, May 19th, at Chicago Union Station for the Railroad & Shortlines Club of Chicago. There is no charge. Please do not arrive before 7:15 pm.

Chicago Union Station
Room 107A
500 W. Jackson Blvd.
Chicago, Illinois

Please enter at 500 W. Jackson Boulevard, between Clinton and Canal. Call 312 725-0432 during the meeting for assistance.

We gave two presentations in April that were well attended and received. First, we spoke at the Libertyville Historical Society on the 17th. You can view that presentation here. To date, there have been about 3500 views.

On the 20th, we were at the History Center of lake Bluff and Lake Forest. You can view that presentation here.

Postcards From the Bridge

Sandy Cleary writes:

Good morning! I hope this finds you well 🙂

I’ve been lost on the site for a few weeks since finding it—it scratches an itch I also have—and I’m really grateful for the work that you’ve done in documenting a lot of pretty niche historical artifacts. I’m very curious about one in particular. It’s mentioned in this post here, above the text “I recently bought this real photo postcard, circa 1910.”

I’m pretty certain it comes from the summer of 1907. The boat docked in the lower left of that photo is an obscure lifeboat designed by Robert Brown, of Chicago; it was tied up to the Chicago Sanitary District dock in 1907 but Brown stopped paying docking fees in March, 1908 and it’s absent in another 1908 photo of the bridge. Debris on the loading dock to the northeast of the bridge matches debris visible in Detroit Publishing Co. photo 070152 (here at the LOC), which was taken at the same time as 070153 (LOC link); based on the SS Pueblo’s transit records that photo must’ve been taken on July 30th, 1907.

I’ve been working on writing up the history of Robert Brown’s boat, which features in some other Chicago lore a few years later, and for which the photographic so far consists of only three photos: the two Detroit Publishing Co. ones, and whoever took the picture used in the postcard you found. It was reused in numerous postcards (colorized with the title “Elevated R. R. Jackknife Bridge over Chicago River, Chicago”—you can find examples on eBay).

The one you posted, though, is by far the clearest. I was wondering if you could tell me anything about the postcard’s copyright or who might have printed it? I’ve never been able to find what the photographic source might’ve been. A clearer example, one which might make the text on the white sign north of the boat legible and make it easier to fix the exact date the photo was taken, would be invaluable but I’m not sure where to start looking.

(Also, the version you’ve found is evidently a different crop—the colorized version shows more of the western bank and the dock itself).

I appreciate your time—any pointers on anything more about that postcard or the photo that was responsible for it would be incredibly helpful. The work you did on restoring the one you found was already enough for me to conclude when the boat was actually tied up at Van Buren St., which I’d been despairing of finding possible.

Kind regards
Sandy

Thanks for writing. It’s remarkable how small details in such photographs can be of so much use to researchers today.

In the meantime, what a remarkable piece of scholarship you have achieved!

As you can see, the reverse side of the postcard doesn’t identify the maker. But perhaps it can still be identified by comparison with other postcards with the same printing, whose manufacturers are known to experts.

Would it be alright for me to share your original note with the readers of my blog (and accompanying Facebook group)? You never know what useful information others might have to share.

Sandy Cleary:

Absolutely, you can share with whomever! The information I have is unfortunately pretty limited. From my boat-focused point of view, what’s known is:

1. Chicagoan carpenter Robert Brown designed and built an odd-shaped lifeboat in 1905, which was photographed for a magazine in ~1905/1906
2. His company, the International Automatic Lifeboat Company, paid the Chicago Sanitary District a $5/mo docking fee for the Van Buren St. dock between October, 1906 and March, 1908
3. Hans Behm took three photos of the Metropolitan West Side railroad bridge on July 30th, two of which depict the boat.
4. It’s gone by a September, 1908 photo of the bridge taken, I think, by the Chicago Sanitary District (because the MWRD has posted this picture a few times)
5. The only other photo is the one from the postcard, which must’ve been taken between October, 1906 and March, 1908. The overall bridge configuration seems to be the same between the postcard and the 1907 photos, as does the debris seen on the loading dock on the northeast side of the bridge:

After that the boat disappears for a few years, until it was found sunk in the north draw of the Wells Street Bridge (just south of the Chicago & North Western depot there. Then it was shown for a few months as “The Foolkiller,” putatively the world’s first submarine, after which it disappears again and is now only really relevant for weird Chicago lore.

Fortunately a lot of the Chicago Sanitary District records are online, and I was able to get in touch with someone from Commonwealth Edison who also had some useful information, but I have to imagine a lot of the information from the L companies pre-merger is gone. It seems to me that there might have been some reason why people were taking pictures of the Met’s bridge around the same time, but I’m not sure what that might have been.

I know that there was pressure to have it removed because of how significantly it impacted the channel by ~1911 or so—tracing over old Sanborn maps from 1906 really drives home how dramatic that constriction was:

At the time the western span of the Jackson Blvd. bridge and the Metropolitan West Side crossed what Sanborn identifies as property belonging to the Pacific, Fort Wayne & Chicago, during its period when it was not part of the Penn, I think—I am not a train girl. The Met’s viaduct would’ve crossed over the PFW&C freight house, before that whole west bank became Chicago & North Western property again. In any case the bridge wasn’t actually torn down until 1961 (by that point, as I understand it, the CTA hadn’t been using it to carry rail traffic since 1958).

Thank you so much again for your time and for your help with this. How these photo postcards worked has been something of a mystery to me. Numerous different versions seem to have been made, and I just don’t know whether these were the same company, or different companies skirting copyright because Google Images wasn’t a thing at the time, or what. But the fact that there is such a high-quality photo, anywhere, is extremely heartening.

I suspect the postcard that I have was very short-lived in the marketplace, as this was a transition period between real photo postcards and printed ones. Even if some of the colorized versions may have used the same original negative as a starting point, the eventual results look more and more like drawings rather than photographs.

As to the sudden popularity of pictures of the Met “L” bridge, starting in 1907, this coincided with a major change in how people could write messages on postcards:

DIVIDED BACK PERIOD: 1907-1915

“In 1907, a major change on the address side of postcards occurred. This change was prompted by the Universal Postal Congress, the legislative body of the Universal Postal Union. The convention decreed that postal cards produced by governments of member nations could have messages on the left half of the address side, effective October 1, 1907. The Universal Postal Congress also decreed that after March 1, 1907, government-produced cards in the United States could bear messages on the address side.2 Congress passed an act on March 1, 1907, in compliance with the Union’s decree, allowing privately produced postcards to bear messages on the left half of the card’s back. The next day, the Postmaster-General issued Order No. 146, granting privileges to privately produced postcards that were already granted in international mail, including the allowance of message space. On June 13, 1907, the Postmaster-General issued Order No. 539, which allowed government-produced postcards to bear messages on the left half of the address side.3 These changes to the backs of postcards ushered in the Divided Back Period, which spans from 1907 until 1915. The Divided Back Period is also known as the “Golden Age of Postcards,” due to the vast popularity of postcards during this time period.”

“Another type of postcard that began to be produced and popularly used during the Divided Back period and through the White Border period is the “real photo” postcard. “Real photo” postcards were first produced using the Kodak “postcard camera.” The postcard camera could take a picture and then print a postcard-size negative of the picture, complete with a divided back and place for postage.”

Source: https://siarchives.si.edu/history/featured-topics/postcard/postcard-history

Sandy Cleary:

I’ll be honest, I hadn’t heard “real photo post card” as a term before I read your blog, and then noticed “RPPC” everywhere on eBay.

There are, as far as I can tell, three versions of this postcard. The first two are the colorized ones, which are labeled on the back as no. 171 of the Franklin Post Card Co.—of Germany, although ironically the earliest example I can find, postmarked August 17th, 1909, says “Made in Germany.” There were two distinct crops of that. The first (type A) is the widest crop, and it’s the one where the “E” in “Elevated” is written more like a backwards 3.

The second (type B) is one that the UIC Library gives copyright to Copelin Commercial Photographers in a black-and-white photographic form. This seems to be more common; the earliest postmark so far I’ve found is from September 13, 1910. Both of these two show up with postmarks as late as 1915. They went through different print runs, though; the back variously says:

* Aug. 17 1909: “No. 171. Made in Germany” (Type A)
* Sep. 13 1910: “No. 171.” (Type B)
* Aug 16, 1911: “No. 171” (Type B)
* Nov. 3 1911: “171” (Type B) (it’s possible the “No.” has been scratched off)
* Oct. 14 1912: “No. 171. Publ. by Franklin Post Card Co., Chicago, Ill. Made in Germany” (Type A)
* Aug. 13 1915: “No. 171. Publ. by Franklin Post Card Co., Chicago, Ill.” (Type B)

…As I write this up I realize this means that the widest version is rarer because it’s the German version. The design on the back, with the more ornate “Post Card” lettering, is identical to other postcards published by (for example) M. Weixelbaum, of Lima, and Provincetown Advocate and the Cardinell-Vincent Co. in addition to Franklin. I don’t understand why some postcards were made in Germany and some were not. Apparently the early 1900s was “postcard mania” in Germany, according to Deutsche Welle. I’d never heard of that before.

Anyway, the third one is the one you’ve found, which has different writing, and is also a much closer crop. Here are all three, superimposed:

What is a little puzzling to me is that the postcard you found is of such high quality that implies (to me) that a medium-format negative was accessible to whomever wound up creating all of the derivatives, which I wouldn’t have expected if it was being held in, say, the Franklin vault. But if it was a Franklin photo, the reverse doesn’t look like the reverse of any Franklin postcards. I tried image-searching for postcard backs looking for something similar, and turned up these from Vermont, which use the same language but a different font in “Post Card.”

Given your link, that creates the unfortunate possibility that what you have is, in fact, the only copy of that postcard, because it was created by someone who was interested in the bridge (or liked the composition), had access to the original, and printed it as a one-off postcard, which is why so far as I can tell it’s never appeared elsewhere. The title is odd—as you note, this isn’t the Northwestern, and the bridge seems to have been well-known as a Metropolitan West Side bridge to locals. Or perhaps it dates from the 20s or 30s, and whoever was writing it just guessed. I don’t know.

I’m also not sure if it’s significant (beyond “postcard mania”) that the early examples are German. There was a big German population in Chicago at the time, and the Germans apparently did like postcards. Germans also liked bridges; Scherzer was born in Illinois, but his parents were German immigrants. One of the earlier photos of the Met bridge (I think it might be the oldest) is from a German postcard:

Text says: “‘Folding’ Bridge over the Chicago River (bridge closed)”; handwriting says (I think): “Dear Dad: Sent you today (payday) $1.00 worth of 1 and 2-cent post stamps. Let me know if these arrived safely.”

It has occurred to me that I could poke around here in Berlin to see if there’s anything promising, but if memory serves most Chicagoan immigrants came from further north (Pomerania and such). Here in Berlin our train esoterica is only the “ghost stations” from the Cold War and that some of our subway stops are mildly radioactive because they used uranium oxide glazing in the tile.

Anyway! Thank you again for your time, and for the link to that Smithsonian article!

This is all very interesting to me, and should also interest my readers. Thanks very much for sharing these wonderful images.

In the early years of photography, negatives were usually large enough to be contact printed onto photo paper, without using an enlarger. The “chicken scratch” writing on my postcard could have been inked onto a glass plate, on top of the negative, or it may have been applied to the negative itself. The proportions of postcards are more rectangular than many of the standard film formats of the time, which may help explain the cropping.

While doing further research into this story, I came across a series of blog posts.

Is this something you wrote?

Sandy Cleary:

Yeah, that’s me 🙂

The “Foolkiller” was originally covered by Cecil Adams in the “Straight Dope” column of the Chicago alternative weekly Chicago Reader, and then later by podcaster Mark Chrisler of The Constant. It’s been stuck in my head for about fifteen years, so I’ve been trying to pull together as much as I can rather than leaving things on various email threads or chat discussions, in case any one else ever goes searching. It’s also been a good way to start organizing my thoughts on the matter (I don’t think many people read that blog).

That’s an interesting steer, re: the negatives. The UIC holding is described as a “photographic print” although I understand the MWRD (the Chicago water authority) apparently found a number of glass plates in their archives. The Library of Congress also (I think) has the original Hans Behm photos, which are described as glass 8×10 negatives (here’s one of them below). I need to read up on that era of photography, apparently.

(The Detroit Publishing Co. photos taken by Behm were also turned into colorized photo postcards, although they don’t seem to have been as popular, or at least most of the Met depictions are not those. There’s an early one that the Central Electric Railfans’ Association wrote up about ten years ago; that’s given a copyright date of 1907 but it must be earlier because the bridge doesn’t have the circular pilings that it would retain for most of its life and were in place by 1907; on the other hand, the Palmer Building is visible (leftmost skyscraper) and that was built sometime between 1903 and 1906).

FYI, I wrote that CERA blog post you refer to.

Sandy Cleary:

I’ve also seen your name on the Industrial History page about the bridge, come to think of it.

And this brings the story up to date. Ms. Cleary’s blog posts, linked above, shed additional light on the story of this experimental boat, which I can summarize as follows. This was one of several attempts at creating a safer lifeboat, to be carried on ships, and for rescues. A number of such ideas were patented in the late 1800s and early 1900s, all very speculative, of course.

The International Automatic Lifeboat Company prototype, designed by Robert Brown, was moored in the Chicago River for some period of time, and not always near the Metropolitan West Side “L” bridge. The US Navy studied the concept and decided it was not practical, as it would have been too difficult to get people into this boat during rescues. This most likely doomed its prospects.

At some point, the boat sank, and was later pulled out of the river, whereupon some enterprising persons displayed it as a supposed submarine, which it was not.

The postcard we have mistakenly identifies this as the Northwestern “L”. In actuality, it was the Metropolitan West side Elevated, but some of its trains did go to Chicago’s northwest side. The Northwestern “L” actually ran to the north side, despite the name.

I hope that further information may shed more light on this story in the future. In the meantime, here are some additional examples of postcards showing the Met “L” bridge.

-David Sadowski

Trackwork near the Met bridge was somewhat complex. Tracks to the right fanned out, leading to the Wells Street Terminal. The tracks at left connected to the Loop “L” via Van Buren Street. (Robert Heinlein Collection)

We are looking west from the Wells Street Terminal towards the dual bridges over the Chicago River. (Robert Heinlein Collection)

This is the only photo I have seen that shows the interior of the Met bridge interlocking tower. (Robert Heinlein Collection)

A 1906 postcard, made at a time when messages could only go on the front of the card.

The back of the 1906 card. Only the address was permitted here.

A 1908 postcard.

By 1908, messages were allowed on the left side of the card back.

A 1909 postcard, based on the 1907 photo.

The rear of the 1909 postcard.

A 1911 postcard, based on the 1907 photo.

The back of a 1911 postcard.

A 1912 postcard.

The back side of a 1912 postcard.

A 1915 postcard, clearly based on the 1907 photo.

The back side of a 1915 postcard.

A 1919 postcard.

The back side of a 1919 postcard.

A 1920 postcard.

And here are some later views of the bridge, from various angles:

A view of the Metropolitan “L” crossing the Chicago River on July 10, 1949. We are looking to the northwest.

Over the years, I have seen many poor quality duplicate slides with this view, looking to the northwest, with a Garfield Park “L” train crossing the Met bridge over the Chicago River, with Union Station in the background. However, this was scanned from an original red border Kodachrome slide, circa 1955-58. The name of the photographer is not known. This must be a Garfield train, and the results are stunning. Douglas cars were re-routed over the Lake Street “L” in 1954. Logan Square trains began running via the Milwaukee-Dearborn Subway in 1951.

CTA 2256 is part of a four-car Met train, turning from Market Street onto the double bridge over the Chicago River in March 1951.
(Truman Hefner Photo)

This picture of the old Met bridge over the Chicago River is undated, but probably dates to circa 1952-55 based on the type of red border Kodachrome mount it is in. But it is certainly after the the other picture in this post, taken at much the same location, since the building at rear, or part of it, was in the process of being torn down. This was not related to expressway construction, since the “L” at this point was north of there. Once the Congress rapid transit line opened in 1958, this section of “L” was taken out of service and by the early 1960s it had been torn down.

Stylish Coit Tower sits atop Telegraph Hill in San Francisco, and has afforded an unparalleled view since its completion in 1933. In April 1987, when this picture was taken, the view included Muni streetcar 578, built in 1896. Although it resembles a cable car, it uses overhead wire. It is occasionally operated for special events and is the oldest streetcar in use in the country. In recent years wheelchair access was added.

A Milwaukee Road push-pull commuter train is at Rondout (an unincorporated area in Lake County, IL) on September 2, 1963. Bi-levels were introduced to the Milwaukee Road around 1961 and ridership was much lower than it is today, so often one car sufficed instead of seven or eight as you see today on Metra. The station here was removed around 1965 on what is now the Metra Milwaukee District North Line. I believe we are looking to the northwest, and that the overpass may be the former North Shore Line Mundelein branch, which had been abandoned on January 21, 1963. There was a tower located kitty-corner to the station, to the right and behind the photographer, which was last used in 2015. (William D. Volkmer Photo)

Don’s Rail Photos (via Archive.org): “410 was built as a trailer observation car by Cincinnati Car in June 1923, #2640. It was out of service in 1932. It was rebuilt on December 31, 1942, as a two motor coach by closing in the open platform and changing the seating.” Here is how it looked in December 1958 at the Mundelein Terminal. (Russell D. Porter Photo)

North Shore Line Electroliner 801-802 is on the CTA “L” in August 1962.

This is a nice overhead view of a four-car train of North Shore Line Silverliners on Chicago’s “L” in August 1962.

North Shore Line cars 157, 169, and 175 are heading southbound on the Sixth Street Viaduct in Milwaukee on April 19, 1959.

There are not many color photos showing this prewar paint scheme, seen here on North Shore Line coach 739 at the Milwaukee Terminal on June 25, 1942.

North Shore Line coach 173 is at the Mundelein Terminal in November 1962, just two months before the end of service. Car 160, now at the Illinois Railway Museum, is at right on a storage track. (Walter Schopp Photo)

After the North Shore Line abandonment, car 727 went to the Southern Iowa Railway. Here it is shown on June 14, 1964, next to Waterloo, Cedar Falls, and Northern car 100. Within a few years, both cars ended up on the Iowa Terminal Railroad (now the Iowa Traction Railway), but unfortunately, car 100 was destroyed in a 1967 fire. 727 is still operable.

Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee #607 is at North Chicago Junction on November 16, 1941. “The ‘Big Hook’ operating as a loco, hauling a 12 car drag and caboose.” The color is described as orange and black. (Vic Wagner Photo)

North Shore Line city streetcar 359, a 1920s product of the St. Louis Car Company, is shown at North Chicago Junction on March 2, 1941. This was the south end of the line for Waukegan streetcars. (Vic Wagner Photo)

North Shore Line Silverliner 771 at the Milwaukee Terinal.

$A three car Chicago and Milwaukee Electric (predecessor of the North shore Line) express train, made up of woods including car 401, from an early colorized postcard. The location here may be Lake Forest. Don\s Rail Photos (via Archive.org): "401 was built by Jewett Car in 1909 as parlor-buffet car. In 1917 it was converted to straight coach and retired in 1935. It was leased to Chicago Aurora & Elgin and renumbered 142 in 1936. It came back for a short time with the CA&E number in 1945 and sold to CA&E in 1946. It was retired in 1953."$

A three car Chicago and Milwaukee Electric (predecessor of the North shore Line) express train, made up of woods including car 401, from an early colorized postcard. The location here may be Lake Forest. Dons Rail Photos (via Archive.org): “401 was built by Jewett Car in 1909 as parlor-buffet car. In 1917 it was converted to straight coach and retired in 1935. It was leased to Chicago Aurora & Elgin and renumbered 142 in 1936. It came back for a short time with the CA&E number in 1945 and sold to CA&E in 1946. It was retired in 1953.”

As the song goes, they paved paradise and put up a parking lot at the former site of the North shore Line’s Milwaukee Terminal, seen here on August 24, 1966. The former switchman’s shanty was the only thing carried over. (Richard H. Young Photo)

On June 6, 1954, the National Railway Historical Society held a farewell fantrip on the Red Arrow interurban line to West Chester, PA. Here, the fantrip cars are stopped at the West Chester Water Works. Car 66 was built by Brill in 1926 and was declared surplus in 1970, after Red Arrow was taken over by SEPTA. It is now at the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum in Washington, PA.

Fairmount Park Transit car 10, built by Brill in 1896, as it appeared on April 6, 1946, not long before the line was abandoned. There are not many color photos of this operation. (David H. Cope Photo)

Fairmount Park Transit was an interesting streetcar operation that ran from 1896 to 1946, all on the grounds of a public park in Philadelphia, completely separate from the rest of the local streetcar system. Here we see car #1.

This picture was taken on July 26, 1961 at the Red Arrow Lines (Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company) 69th Street Terminal. Amazingly, the sign still mentions the Lehigh Valley Transit interurban, which stopped operating in 1951, and which hadn’t operated to this station since 1949.

A Lehigh Valley Transit Liberty Bell Limited interurban car is heading northbound at West Point in Pennsylvania on September 18, 1948. Rail service ended three years later. (James P. Shuman Photo)

CTA PCC 4382 appears to be turning east from Clark Street onto Division Street. Close examination of the slide shows the streetcar is signed for Route 36 – Broadway-Downtown. As Steve De Rose notes, the south portion of Broadway-State was “bustituted ” on December 5, 1955, and the Blatz ad campaign on the side of the car dates this picture to 1956.

Chicago Surface Lines PCC 4125 and red car 1403 are at 73rd Street and Vincennes Avenue in March 1947, as the newest and oldest streetcars in the CSL fleet. (Vic Wagner Photo)

The Union Stock Yards, as seen from the “L”, probably circa 1908 when this branch line opened. From a real photo postcard.

CTA 4409 is at the head of a two-car fantrip train at Francisco on the Ravenswood “L” on November 25, 1973. This was at the end of regular service for the 4000-series cars, built in the early 1920s. (Arthur H. Peterson Photo)

A view looking north at the CTA Linden Avenue “L” yard in Wilmette in June 1966 shows where the North Shore Line’s Shore Line Route tracks branched off at right and continued north. After service ended in 1955, the CTA incorporated some of this trackage into its storage yard, which has since been reconfigured.

This duplicate slide was described as showing the CTA Douglas Park “L” at Kenton Avenue in May 1952. That may be the correct date, but I believe it actually shows an eastbound Garfield Park train between Laramie and Central Avenue. West of here, the “L” turned to run parallel to the B&OCT. The area at left is where the Eisenhower expressway runs today, and this is approximately the location of the Lotus tunnel.

CTA 2102 is at the tail end of a Lake-Dan Ryan train in April 1975, turning the sharp corner from Wabash to Lake. After the horrific crash here two years later, where some “L” cars fell off the structure, additional steel was added to help prevent a future reoccurrence.

Passengers are boarding an eastbound South Shore Line train, headed by car 107, at Michigan City, IN in May 1959. Now, the line is being double-tracked at this location, and the street turned into a private right-of-way. The facade of the old station is going to become part of a new redevelopment here. From left to right, the several cars visible include an early 50s Chevy, a ’59 Chevy, a ’55 Oldsmobile, a late ’50s Cadillac, a 1956 Buick, and a 1959 Ford.

A South Shore Line train, with car 101 at the helm, is at the East Chicago station on February 8, 1953. In 1956 the street trackage here was replaced by a new bypass route, running parallel to the Indiana Toll Road. (James P. Shuman Photo)

Chicago Aurora and Elgin 404 at Forest Park, circa 1955-57. We are looking north. After interurban service was cut back to here in 1953, the CA&E had a track for midday car storage, seen at left.

The final fantrip on the Chicago Aurora and Elgin took place on a wintry December 7, 1958, about six months prior to the complete abandonment of the interurban, which had stopped operating passenger service on July 3, 1957. I am not sure of this location in Chicago’s western suburbs, although the sign at right would suggest it is at one of several Main Streets in the area. Wood cars 319 and 320 were used. By this time, automatic gates had been removed, and the train had to be flagged at each such crossing. Jason Learakos: “Glen Ellyn, Illinois. The photo is facing east across Main Street from the station there.” Mike Franklin says we are “looking SE at Main St., Glen Ellyn.”

Chicago Aurora and Elgin wood car #20, built in 1902, ran for 55 years on that interurban before heading to the Fox River Trolley Museum, where it remains. Here it is in October 1970, when this operation was still known as “RELIC.” These are former tracks of the Aurora, Elgin, and Fox River Electric, which was affiliated with the CA&E.

Chicago Aurora and Elgin car 409, the only Pullman saved from the fleet, is shown operating at “Trolleyville USA” in Olmstead Falls, OH on August 28, 1965. It is now at the Illinois Railway Museum.

Chicago Aurora and Elgin car 20 at “RELIC” in South Elgin in August 1968.

Chicago’s Central Station opened in 1893 to serve trains to the World’s Columbian Exposition site. Trains of the Illinois Central and the “Big Four” (the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway, which after 1906 was affiliated with the New York Central) used this station, which was adjacent to the tracks (electrified in 1926) now used by the Metra Electric and South Shore Line. After Amtrak took over intercity passenger train operations in 1971, they consolidated service to Union Station the following year, and Central Station closed. Demolition began on June 3, 1974, which is right around when this photo was taken.

Another photo of the soon to be demolished Central Station in June 1974.

Don’s Rail Photos (via Archive.org): “65 was built by Cincinnati Car in August 1928, #2985, as I&SE 230. In 1933 it was sold to ICRT as 230 and in 1941 it was sold to SHRT as 65. In 1949 it was sold to Ed Tennyson and leased as Speedrail 65 where it originally operated with a modified Shaker Heights paint scheme. When repainted, the Speedrail logo was omitted. It was scrapped in 1952.” Based on that, my best guess is this picture may date to near the end of service in 1951. The location is at Sixth and Michigan in Milwaukee, by the North Shore Line Terminal. Transport Company bus 930 is also visible.

Don’s Rail Photos (via Archive.org): “66 was built by Cincinnati Car in August 1929, #3025, as Dayton & Troy Ry 203. It was returned to Cincinnati Car in 1932, and in 1938 it was sold to Lehigh Valley Transit as 1102. In 1949 it was sold to Speedrail, but was not rehabilitated until March 1951. But it only ran for 3 months before the line was abandoned and then scrapped in 1952.” Here it is seen during that brief period of operation in Waukesha. Larry Sakar: “aae249 is a photo I also have. The 66 is indeed laying over at the Waukesha loop/ Two questions remain to this day. 1. Was there any specific spot where the cars were supposed to stop? Seems to me I see photos of TM cars laying over parked in a variety of places on the loop. For instance that great single leading duplex shot which was the common lash-up during the WWII era is parked in a different spot than the 66. 2. I have never seen a photo of cars laying over on the Waukesha loop with passengers either boarding or waiting to board. I am inclined to think that passengers could not be carried the two blocks between the Waukesha station at Clinton Street & Broadway and the loop because when the line was cut back to Waukesha loop on 12-30-45 passenger service had been abandoned beyond downtown Waukesha. This is speculative on my part. I don’t really know. Jay Maeder and the city of Waukesha tangled over the sale of the Waukesha loop. The city wanted to buy it from Speedrail to accommodate more cars. Maeder was willing to sell. Initially he asked something like $1100 until he saw the appraisal and quickly raised the asking price to $2500. The city accused him of trying to gouge him and refused to budge beyond $1500. Maeder said they were trying to cheat him and they were. When Hyman-Michaels had the property appraised the appraisal came in at $2200! Just where he planned to turn the cars around if he sold the loop I don’t know. He publicly said there were “lots of places where Speedrail could turn the cars but I can’t think of any!” In the end the city got it anyway and it became a parking lot until the 1980s. It is now the site of a very big Walgreens Drug Store. The Motor Transport Co. freight building was torn down shortly after Speedrail came to an end.”

Don’s Rail Photos (via Archive.org): “62 was built by Cincinnati Car in August 1928, #2985, as I&SE 245. In 1933 it was sold to ICRT as 245 and in 1941 it was sold to SHRT as 62. In 1949 it was sold to Ed Tennyson and leased as Speedrail 62 and was scrapped in 1952.” This photo may have been taken in Waukesha and could date to just prior to the 1951 abandonment. Larry Sakar: “This is NOT toward the end of Speedrail. The lack of front stripes on the curved sider indicates that this is pre Summer 1950 when the two black stripes began to appear on the curved side cars. O’Brien photos took some great photos of the Waukesha loop including an aerial shot of it before it became the loop. They were located about a block or so east of the Waukesha station.” Mike Franklin says we are “looking SE on Broadway from Clinton St, Waukesha, WI.”

Milwaukee Electric M15 at an undetermined location. Stephen Karlson writes, “M15 is under the train shed at East Troy that was later removed. That stretch of the right of way remains off limits to boarding passengers at the preservation railway as the ground is on the same plot of land as the house that was once the station. Thus the loading platform for the electric cars is by the substation.”

Milwaukee Electric 1112 at Waukesha, WI on March 15, 1947. (Vic Wagner Photo) Don’s Rail Photos (via Archive.org): “1112 was built by Kuhlman Car in February 1909, #405. It was rebuilt in 1926. It was one of three sold for scrap in January 1952, before the rest of the cars.” Larry Sakar: “Fantastic shot of the typical Waukesha train during WWII. When first tried TM discovered that placing the single 1100 series car behind the duplex did not work. Because the door on a single 1100 was at the rear of the car and in the center of a duplex they quickly found that the door on the single 1100 did not reach the station platforms or designated loading zone. Thus, two stops had to be made. The solution was to place the single 1100 series car first. Trial and error I guess you’d say.”

Milwaukee Electric interurban car 1106 is at Mukwonago, Wisconsin, on the line going out to East Troy. Passenger service was abandoned here in 1939, although freight service continued for decades. This is currently where the East Troy Railroad Museum operates. I’ve been told that this station was located near an interchange north of where the Elegant Farmer is now, and that the station itself was moved and turned into a residence, which still exists, although additions have been made to it.

Milwaukee Electric 1105. Don’s Rail Photos (via Archive.org): “The Milwaukee Northern Ry came under TM control in 1923 and was officially merged on April 30, 1928. Under TM management 4 of their cars were rebuilt in a fashion similar to the other TM rebuilt interurbans. After 1928, most of the cars were further rebuilt and renumbered to replace the original 1100s which had been renumbered when they were rebuilt. 1101 was to have been rebuilt from MN 20, but it became 1105 instead. Thus there was no 1101.” It may originally have been built in 1907.

Milwaukee Electric streetcar 641 on route 19. Don’s Rail Photos (via Archive.org): “641 was built at Cold Springs in 1913. It was reconditioned as a two man car in 1928.”

Milwaukee Rapid Transit and Speedrail car 61 is at an undetermined location (Waukesha?) and looks rather worse for the wear, with unrepaired collision damage, probably just prior to the 1951 abandonment. Larry Sakar adds: “This is at the Waukesha station. Wilbur Lumber was directly across the street from the station. Note the cement safety island to the left of the car. It was there to facilitate loading so that passengers didn’t have to stand in the street. All traffic passed to the photo left of that island. Today a bank occupies the site of Wilbur Lumber Co. I guess the Wilburs were a prominent Waukesha family from what my friend John Schoenknecht who is the editor of Landmark, the official publication of the Waukesha County Historical Society, told me. Oh, by the way what you see in the background of that shot of the car at Wilbur Lumber is the Madison Street hill which is still there. There was a Milwaukee Road crossing that isn’t visible in the photo and once across it Broadway becomes Madison.” Mike Franklin says this “is indeed Waukesha. Looking NW across Madison St from Clinton St.”

Milwaukee Rapid Transit and Speedrail car 60. Don’s Rail Photos (via Archive.org): “60 was built by Cincinnati Car in August 1929, #3030, as Indianapolis & Southeastern Traction 260. It replaced the heavy-weight cars which became TMER&L 1180 series. In 1933 it was sold to Inter-City Rapid Transit as 260 and in 1941 it was sold to Shaker Heights Rapid Transit as 60. In 1949 it was sold to Ed Tennyson and leased as Speedrail 60 and was scrapped in 1952.” Larry Sakar: “Car 60 is on the bridge over Brookdale Drive on the Hales Corners line on 10-16-49. This is the inaugural fan trip using car 60 that traveled over both lines. Both the bridge and embankment are gone. This is the location where the construction train used to take workers building the suburb of Greendale to and from cut off and went in a southeasterly direction thru what is now Root River Parkway. One of the dumbest things Jay Maeder ever said was that he “intended to restore passenger service to Greendale.” There never was passenger service to Greendale. I’m about a mile or so north of Greendale. MCTS has a bus line (Rt. 76-76th St.) that serves Greendale. I’ve yet to see a single passenger on that part of the line. Greendale is wealth personified! By the way car 65 was supposed to have been used on the inaugural fan trip but it was on the “sick list”. Another thing of interest regarding the 10-16-49 fan trip. Car 60 developed mechanical problems as soon as the car descended the “slide” onto the Rapid Transit line at 8th Street. At the Gravel Pit they put in to the siding. A fan with a vast knowledge of interurban cars opened the hatches in the floor and disconnected the motor leads on motors 3 and 4. Car 60 ran on two motors for the rest of that fan trip. The name of the knowledgeable railfan was George Krambles!! The late Lew Martin recalled that while stopped there a fan remarked, “The line has been in business for a little over a month and they have a car in the scrap line already!” Two other well known railfans were on that car. Barney Neuberger wearing his classic pork pie hat and one Mr. Albert C. Kalmbach, head of the publishing company that bore his name. Kalmbach was seated in the 4th row on the right side of car 60.”

Milwaukee Electric freight motor and utility car M15. Don’s Rail Photos (via Archive.org): “M15 was built at Cold Spring Shops in 1920 as a trailer, but it was motorized almost immediately. It was transferred to the isolated East Troy operation in 1939, and sold to the Municipality of East Troy in 1949. It is sold to WERHS in 1982 and (is) now preserved at the IRM (since) 1989.”

Don’s Rail Photos (via Archive.org): “61 was built by Cincinnati Car in August 1928, #2985, as I&SE 235. In 1933 it was sold to ICRT as 235 and in 1941 it was sold to SHRT as 61. In 1949 it was sold to Ed Tennyson and leased as Speedrail 61 and was scrapped in 1952.” Here 61 is at an undetermined location. Since it is still signed for Milwaukee Rapid Transit and Speedrail, this may be circa 1949-50. Larry Sakar: “The car is westbound on West Michigan Street at North 5th Street. The building in the background (whitish and prominent) was the Boston Store, a department store that at one time was owned by the same company that owned Carson’s in Chicago- P.A. Bergner. The building is still there but the Boston Store is not. I believe it is now housing for seniors. Note the traffic policeman standing in the middle of the intersection. Believe it or not there were no stop and go lights on Michigan Street until Speedrail was gone. Every intersection had a traffic policeman. The late Doug Traxler said the one place you did not want to get stopped was at the top of the hill at 6th and Michigan because half of your car was hanging downhill and making that turn by the NSL station was no picnic. Motorman Don Leistikow concurred and offered this tale: “Yes, I remember that traffic officer. I was one of several motormen who discovered that he had a good day when he had cigars so I, like some of the other motormen, always made sure he had a box of cigars. Things always seemed to go better for him when he had a box of cigars!” Traxler remembered him shouting at him, “Pull it Up. Pull it way up,” when he got stopped there one time.” Mike Franklin says we are “looking east on Michigan St. from 5th St. in Milwaukee.”

Gary Railways car #1 at an undetermined location. William Shapotkin: “We are in downtown Valparaiso, IN. The car is laying over in Franklin St north of Main (now Lincolnway) taking its layover at the east end-of-line. View looks south. Building at right (N/W corner of intersection) is still standing today.”

Gary Railways cars 16 and 19 on the May 1, 1938 fantrip which is considered the beginnings of the Central Electric Railfans’ Association.

Gary Railways line car #11 at the Garyton Loop. (Edward Frank, Jr. Photo)

A view of the right of way along the Gary Railways Indiana Harbor Division near Gary, IN by Edward Frank, Jr.

A view of the right-of-way along the Gary Railways Hammond Division, near Hammond IN, by Edward Frank, Jr.

A view of the Gary Railways right-of-way on the Indiana Harbor Division near Gary, IN by Edward Frank, Jr. Presumably that is his bicycle by the telephone pole. Rail service on the Indiana Harbor Division was abandoned in March 1939.

Our Latest Book, Now Available:

The North Shore Line

From the back cover:

As late as 1963, it was possible to board high-speed electric trains on Chicago’s famous Loop “L” that ran 90 miles north to Milwaukee. This was the Chicago North Shore & Milwaukee Railroad, commonly known as the North Shore Line. It rose from humble origins in the 1890s as a local streetcar line in Waukegan to eventually become America’s fastest interurban under the visionary management of Midwest utilities tycoon Samuel Insull. The North Shore Line, under Insull, became a worthy competitor to the established steam railroads. Hobbled by the Great Depression, the road fought back in 1941 with two streamlined, air-conditioned, articulated trains called Electroliners, which included dining service. It regained its popularity during World War II, when gasoline and tires were rationed, but eventually, it fell victim to highways and the automobile. The North Shore Line had intercity rail, commuter rail, electric freight, city streetcars, and even buses. It has been gone for nearly 60 years, but it will always remain the Road of Service.

Each copy purchased here will be signed by the author, and you will also receive a bonus North Shore Line map. Books will ship by USPS Media Mail.

Title The North Shore Line
Images of America
Author David Sadowski
Edition illustrated
Publisher Arcadia Publishing (SC), 2023
ISBN 1467108960, 978-1467108966
Length 160 pages

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

For Shipping to US Addresses:

New Compact Disc, Now Available:

CTA-1
The Last Chicago Streetcars 1958
# of Discs – 1
Price: $15.99

Total time – 74:38

Help Support The Trolley Dodger

This is our 298th 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 980,000 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

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

Welcome 2023

January 2, 2023January 3, 2023David Sadowski 18 Comments

An early (turn of the century) view of passengers boarding an Illinois Central Suburban train before the line was converted from steam to electric in 1926. I am not certain of the location, but it may be in Hyde Park.

Today, we are ringing in 2023 with a bevy of classic traction images from many far-flung places for your enjoyment.

Later this month, the Trolley Dodger blog will begin its ninth year. This year, we expect to make our 300th post, and will reach one million page views. When we began this journey, these things hardly seemed possible, but here we are, in large part thanks to you, our readers.

January is traditionally the month when we ask our readers for donations to keep this site going. If you enjoy what you see here, we hope you will consider making a contribution via the link at the end of this post. The expenses we incur, in order to bring you the finest and most interesting traction pictures, are considerable and ongoing. Our research costs a lot, but you see the results here and in our four Arcadia Publishing books, which we hope make a modest contribution to society. If you have contributed to our efforts, we are most appreciative, and if you have not, we hope you will consider it.

We are pleased to report that our latest book The North Shore Line is now 100% complete and has gone to press. The publication date is February 20, 2023, and we are now taking pre-orders. You will find more information about that at the end of this post (and our Online Store). To date, we have received orders for 102 copies.

Keep those cards and letters coming in, folks.

-David Sadowski

PS- You might also like our Trolley Dodger Facebook auxiliary, a private group that now has 1,040 members.

Our friend Kenneth Gear now has a Facebook group for the Railroad Record Club. If you enjoy listening to audio recordings of classic railroad trains, whether steam, electric, or diesel, you might consider joining.

FYI, the Hoosier Traction Facebook Group celebrates electric transit in Indiana and the Midwest. It also supports the activities of the annual Hoosier Traction Meet in Dayton, OH (although not affiliated with the North American Transit Historical Society, which organizes that event).

Indiana Railroad lightweight high-speed car 71 is at the Indianapolis Terminal on August 11, 1940.

Indiana Railroad high-speed car 58 (described as a “parlor car”) is at the Indianapolis Terminal yards on August 11, 1940.

Philadelphia streetcar 8026 is at Church Road in Glenside, PA on February 22, 1941, operating on Route 6.

CTA/CSL 7001 and 4001 at South Shops, circa 1958. This was scanned from a red border Kodachrome slide, and by early 1958, those mounts were replaced by more modern ones. In the last days of Chicago streetcars, there were some PCCs in dead storage due to accidents or mechanical issues. The red car at right is a trailer in the 8000-series. The body of 4001 is now at the Illinois Railway Museum, but 7001 was scrapped in 1959.

North shore Line 721 is at the back end of a Central Electric Railfans’ Association fantrip that is making a photo stop at the Zion station.

North Shore Line freight loco 451. Don’s Rail Photos notes, “451 was built in 1907 by Alco, #44387, and General Electric, #2697. It was retired in February 1948 and sold for scrap in March 1949.”

Ravinia Park was built by the Chicago and Milwaukee Electric, predecessor of the North Shore Line. Here is a view of the original music pavilion.

There was once an A branch on the MBTA Green Line in Boston– the Watertown line, which shared some trackage with the B branch to Boston College. PCC streetcars were replaced by buses on June 20, 1969, and this photo by Robert A. Newbegin was taken that same month. Various reasons have been cited for the change, including an equipment shortage. But this view in the Newton Corner neighborhood shows another issue– the inbound PCC, shown crossing over a highway, is going against the flow of one way traffic. Still, this trackage remained in place until 1994, for non-revenue streetcar access to Watertown Yard.

Kansas City Public Service PCC 535 on the Dodson line. The type of slide mount for this red border Kodachrome dates it to circa 1955-57. Car 535 was built by the St. Louis Car Company in 1947, and Kansas City abandoned streetcars in 1957. They have since opened modern streetcar lines.

Illinois Terminal car 415 at the Illinois Electric Railway Museum in North Chicago on February 21, 1960.

The view looking west along Van Bure Street under the Loop “L” on July 24, 1957. The “L” went further west from here until 1955, when a new connection was built through the old Wells Street Terminal a short distance north of here. The Insurance Exchange building is at right.

Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company (aka Red Arrow) car 63 has turned north at Llanerch Junction on May 30, 1964. It was most likely operating on the Ardmore line, which was converted to bus on December 30, 1966. Kenneth Achtert adds, “PSTC #63 is indeed on the Ardmore Division (having just turned off of West Chester Pike) probably on a fantrip, as May 30, 1964, was a Saturday (and Memorial Day weekend).”

SEPTA (Red Arrow) double-ended car 19 at the 69th Street Terminal storage yard on August 9, 1971. It was built by the St. Louis Car Company in 1949, and although it looks like a PCC car, it is not considered one, as it has standard motor components.

A North Shore Line Electroliner heads southbound at North Chicago Junction on January 12, 1963, just over a week prior to abandonment.

Chicago Aurora and Elgin freight loco 2002 at Wheaton on August 6, 1939. Scanned from the original negative. (LaMar M. Kelley Photo)

Chicago Aurora and Elgin car 130 (ex-North shore Line) on April 13, 1943. (Malcolm D. McCarter Photo)

Chicago Aurora and Elgin 600 (ex-Washington, Baltimore & Annapolis) and line car 5, on a Central Electric Railfans’ Association fantrip.

This time card for the Batavia branch of the Aurora, Eglin and Chicago (predecessor of the CA&E) dates to 1905, when the interurban began running trains to downtown Chicago over the Metropolitan West side “L”.

Chicago Aurora and Elgin steel cars 412 and 416 are at the DesPlaines Avenue Terminal in Forest Park on July 23, 1955. After CA&E cut back service to here in 1953, riders could make a cross-platform change to ride the CTA Garfield Park “L” downtown, after paying another fare.

Chicago Aurora and Elgin 416 at the DesPlaines Avenue Terminal in Forest Park on July 23, 1955. This is the view from the opposite direction as the last photo. There were two sets of platforms. The CA&E dropped off passengers at one platform, then traveled a short distance to pick others up at the other platform. CTA trains looped via a wooden trestle that went over the CA&E just west of here. This arrangement continued until the CA&E abruptly abandoned passenger service in the middle of the day on July 3, 1957. The CTA reconfigured the terminal and yard area in 1959, in conjunction with construction of the nearby expressway.

Lehigh Valley Transit

During the first half of the 20th century, Lehigh Valley Transit operated an interurban line known as teh Liberty Bell route between Allentown, Pennsylvania and Philadelphia. 42 miles of the route were on LVT trackage, with the remaining 13 miles going into Philadelphia via shared trackage on the Philadelphia and Western.

The line ran through a lot of farmland and open areas, with numerous stops in small towns along the way. Several of the station buildings still exist.

The Liberty Bell line is considered one of the classic American interurbans, and had somewhat of a Midwestern character despite being located in Pennsylvania. Like many other interurbans, it fell into a decline due to the Great Depression and the rise of the automobile, but rather than pack it in, LVT decided to modernize in 1938. Several lightweight high speed cars were purchased second hand and helped keep the line going for more than a dozen additional years.

Traffic was good during World War II, but went into an irreversible decline after the war. With new highways siphoning off traffic, the interurban had no future and was abandoned in 1951. Even the replacement bus service did not last.

Here are some classic views of LVT interurbans and city streetcars. Nearly all were scanned from original negatives or slides.

A Lehigh Valley Transit lightweight high-speed car is southbound on the Philadelphia and Western, crossing over Matson Ford Road, approaching Conshohocken Road station in January 1947. (David H. Cope Photo)

A Liberty Bell Limited train leaving Allentown, PA. The interurban ran to Philadelphia until 1949, partially via the Philadelphia and Western. For the last two years, service was cut back to Norristown until the 1951 abandonment.

Some Lehigh Valley Transit freight motors are at the Philadelphia and Western’s Norristown Terminal on a foggy day. The P&W connected with the Liberty Bell interurban route that continued to Allentown until 1951.

LVT 1023 (at left) has just passed another car on the streets of Norristown. The Pennsylvania license plate on the auto would indicate we are in an odd-numbered year (1947, 1949, or 1951). Kenneth Achtert: “#1023 is on Marshall siding with the Reading Railroad Elm Street yard to the right.”

LVT 1030 at the Allentown depot.

LVT 1023 at the Allentown depot.

Lehigh Valley Transit’s Liberty Bell interurban was abandoned in September 1951, but the company still had various streetcar lines in the Allentown and Bethlehem area that continued. Here, we see LVT 357, operating on a stretch of Gillmore Street line private right of way known as the “Race Track.” This picture was taken on October 26, 1952, the last day of streetcar service on the South Bethlehem Division (and there is a notice of the service change on the telephone pole at right). The last LVT streetcar ran in 1953.

LVT 963 passes a Liberty Bell car at the Allentown depot, while passengers board for the trip to Philadelphia.

An LVT Liberty Bell car is on a passing siding in Norristown, adjacent to a Reading Railroad yard for its electrified commuter rail service to Philadelphia. While the Liberty Bell line is long gone, commuter rail service to Norristown continues under SEPTA. Kenneth Achtert adds, “on Marshall siding NB with (Reading Railroad) Elm Street yard to the right.”

LVT city streetcar 908, signed for Fullerton. Don’s Rail Photos: “908 was built by Brill Car Co in February 1917, #20206. It was rebuilt.”

LVT 917, signed for the South Bethlehem route. Don’s Rail Photos: “917 was built by Brill Car Co in February 1917, #20206. It was rebuilt.”

A southbound LVT Liberty Bell car on 8th Street crosses Walnut Street in Allentown.

LVT Liberty Bell car 1005. Don’s Rail Photos: “1005 was built by Cincinnati Car in June 1930, #3050, as C&LE 123. It was sold to LVT as 1005 in 1938 and scrapped in 1952.”

LVT city streetcar 924. It was built by Brill, around the time 1917-1919.

LVT city streetcar 927, signed for Albright. Don’s Rail Photos: “927 was built by Brill Car Co in February 1919, #20706. It was rebuilt.”

LVT city streetcars 908 (at right), and possibly 413 at left.

LVT city streetcar 908, signed for Albright.

This is an amazing photograph. LVT 1001 is northbound in Norristown, passing the Rambo House Hotel. I assume this was a short distance from where the Liberty Bell met the Philadelphia and Western line. There is a circa 1950-51 Ford parked at right. The car sign just says Express instead of Philadelphia Express, as LVT cut back passenger service to Norristown in 1949. Their fleet of second-hand high speed cars was wearing out, in part due to having to climb hills in Pennsylvania, instead of the flat Midwest prairies they were designed to traverse. The car at left may have a 1951 Pennsylvania license plate, indicating this picture may have been taken shortly before the abandonment of rail service.

This picture was taken at the same location, and same time, as the previous image. We are in Norristown on Swede St. with Airy St. in the background, not far from the point where the LVT Liberty Bell line met the Philadelphia and Western. LVT 1002 is an outbound Allentown Limited. Kenneth Achtert: “#1002 is not yet headed to Allentown, but is backing up on Swede St. about to turn onto Airy St. (note that the front-end pole is up). These single-ended cars would unload at the Norristown Terminal (after through operation was halted) then would back up the 3-4 blocks on Swede and Airy Streets to Rink Loop, back around the loop, then back to the Terminal (now facing north) for the trip to Allentown.”

LVT 1021 is operating as a northbound Allentown Limited. Most of the Liberty Bell route was single tracked, with passing sidings. This is Acorn Siding, located by Normandy Farms in Blue Bell, PA.

The photographer took this picture while riding in a southbound Liberty Bell train on Markley Street in Norristown. Most of this was single track and we are on a passing siding. The northbound car approaching us could be 1021, and the picture probably dates to 1949-51, as the sign on the approaching car does not say Philadelphia. The Reading Company’s Elm Street commuter train station is off to the right.

This LVT Philadelphia Limited car is at Nace Siding, which Wikipedia says was “in open country just north of Souderton and the Souderton carbarn.”

Another picture at Nace Siding. The car is LVT 1008.

This LVT car is signed as a Norristown Local, which dates the picture to circa 1949-51. Not sure of the exact house number location on Airy Street in Norristown, but it has just crossed Cherry Street.

A rear end view of LVT 1030 on Airy Street in Norristown, about to turn onto Swede Street towards the Philadelphia and Western station. As this car originally came from the Indiana Railroad, it was slightly different than the other lightweight high-speed cars, which started out as Cincinnati and Lake Erie “Red Devils.” The IR cars were designed for multiple-unit operation, while the C&LE cars were not. Therefore, car 1030 had a more squared off back end. The C&LE cars were more rounded.

Another shot of LVT 908, signed for Fullerton.

Original Slides For Sale

My friend Jeff Wien passed away nearly two years ago, and I inherited his extensive slide collection, which takes up a lot of space. His interests were very wide-ranging, far more so than mine. One of my resolutions for 2023 is to start going through this collection systematically and decide what to keep, and add to my own collection. Simply leaving all these slides in boxes does not do anyone any good.

It is a fact of life that you can’t keep everything and you can’t take it with you. Since the Trolley Dodger blog has ongoing expenses, and my book projects cost real money, I have decided to sell some of these slides to help defray expenses and de-clutter. Here are the first 30 slides I have listed on eBay. The process of going through these will take several years. I can still post the scanned images to the blog, as I have done below.

Most of the slides below were taken by the late James J. Buckley (1918-1994), who was an excellent photographer.

We continue to purchase prints, slides, and negatives for what we consider our core collection, which we hope will eventually end up at a proper institution that can make good use of it. Those things that do not fit into our core collection can be sold, and the proceeds will help in our overall efforts.

-David Sadowski

Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad 1974 Original 35mm Kodachrome Slide
Subject: CRI&P 652-610-654 and 14 cars on train 5, intercity service to Rock Island, IL
Location: Chicago IL
Date: May 4, 1974
Photographer: James J. Buckley
This is slide EBA030 in our internal filing system.
From the Wikipedia:
By the time Amtrak was formed in 1971, the once-proud Rock Island was down to just two intercity trains, the Chicago-Peoria Peoria Rocket and the Chicago-Rock Island Quad Cities Rocket, both of which now operated entirely within the borders of Illinois. However, the Rock Island opted against joining Amtrak, in part because the government assessed the Amtrak entrance fee based upon passenger miles operated in 1970. After concluding that the cost of joining would be greater than remaining in the passenger business, the railroad decided to “perform a public service for the state of Illinois” and continue intercity passenger operations. To help manage the service, the Rock Island hired National Association of Railroad Passengers founder Anthony Haswell as managing director of passenger services.
The last two trains plied the Rock Island’s Illinois Division as the track quality declined from 1971 through 1977. The transit times, once a speedy 2½ hours in the 1950s, had lengthened to a 4½ hour run by 1975. The State of Illinois continued to subsidize the service to keep it running. The track program of 1978 helped with main-line timekeeping, although the Rock Island’s management decreed that the two trains were not to delay freight traffic on the route. By this time, both once-proud trains were down to just two coaches, powered by EMD E8 locomotives entering their second decade of service. With the trains frequently running with as many paying passengers as coaches in the train, Illinois withdrew its subsidy, and the two trains made their final runs on December 31, 1978.
Link to eBay Listing

Santa Teresa Tram Rio de Janeiro Original 1974 35mm Kodachrome Slide
Subject: CTCG 6
Location: Carioca (R10)
Date: March 17, 1974
Photographer: James J. Buckley
Link to eBay Listing

Amtrak Conrail Train Valpo Local 1971 Original 35mm Kodachrome Slide
Subject: CR 5780-5603 plus 3 commuter train to Valparaiso, IN
Location: Chicago IL
Date: May 14, 1977
Photographer: James J. Buckley
From the Wikipedia:
The Calumet, also commonly called the Valpo Local, was a 43.6-mile (70.2 km) passenger train route operated by Amtrak between Chicago and Valparaiso, Indiana. Despite Amtrak’s mandate to provide only intercity service, the Calumet was a commuter train. Transferred from Conrail in 1979, the full route was shared with Amtrak’s Broadway Limited until 1990; the Calumet was discontinued the next year.
Link to eBay Listing

Bolton Tram 66 Original 1985 35mm Kodachrome Slide UK
Subject: Bolton Tram 66
Location: Fleetwood (on Blackpool Tramway, UK)
Date: July 14, 1985
Photographer: James J. Buckley
From The Bolton News:
The Bolton 66 tramcar was built in 1901 as an open top eight-wheel double deck bogie tram by the Electric Railway and Tramway Carriage Works in Preston.
Bolton 66, the only tram in Blackpool Transport’s Heritage Tramcar fleet which does not originate in Blackpool, is well over one hundred years old and is still in good running order but that has not always been the case.
At the beginning of the 1960’s, Alan Ralphs and Bolton-born Derek Shepherd took the decision to attempt to restore the Bolton tramcar.
After more than 40 years serving the people of Bolton, the tramcar spent twenty years as a semi derelict bodyshell on a farm on the moors above Bolton.
However, with lots of enthusiasm, a group led by the duo, professional electrical engineer Derek Shepherd and supported by Alan Ralphs, spent many hours to completely restore the tram to a new condition taking them 18 years to complete.
In June 1981 the tram was moved to Blackpool and started to operate on the seafront, where it has remained for the last 41 years, due to Covid the 40th anniversary was postponed until this year.
Link to eBay Listing

Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad 1971 Original 35mm Kodachrome Slide
Subject: CRI&P 664 and 6 cars, commuter train to Blue Island
Location: 47th Street, Chicago IL
Date: September 8, 1971
Photographer: James J. Buckley
From the Wikipedia:
Chicago commuter service
The Rock Island also operated an extensive commuter train service in the Chicago area. The primary route ran from LaSalle Street Station to Joliet along the main line, and a spur line, known as the “Suburban Line” to Blue Island. The main-line trains supplanted the long-distance services that did not stop at the numerous stations on that route. The Suburban Line served the Beverly Hills area of Chicago as a branch leaving the main line at Gresham and heading due west, paralleling the Baltimore and Ohio Chicago Terminal Railroad passenger line before turning south. The Suburban Line made stops every four blocks along the way before rejoining the main line at Western Avenue Junction in Blue Island.
From the 1920s on, the suburban services were operated using Pacific-type 4-6-2 locomotives and specially designed light-heavyweight coaches that with their late 1920s build dates became known as the “Capone” cars. The suburban service became well known in the diesel era, as the steam power was replaced, first with new EMD FP7s and ALCO RS-3s, with two Fairbanks-Morse units added later. In 1949, Pullman-built 2700-series cars arrived as the first air-conditioned commuter cars on the line.
In the 1960s, the Rock Island tried to upgrade the suburban service with newer equipment at lower cost. Second-hand Aerotrains, while less than successful in intercity service, were purchased to provide further air-conditioned accommodations that had proven popular with the 2700 series cars.
When the Milwaukee Road purchased new Budd Company stainless-steel, bilevel cars in 1961, the Rock Island elected to add to a subsequent order and took delivery of its first bilevel equipment in 1964. Power for these new cars was provided by orphaned passenger units: three EMD F7s, an EMD E6, and the two EMD AB6s. The engines were rebuilt with head end power to provide heat, air conditioning, and lighting for the new cars. In 1970, another order, this time for Pullman-built bilevel cars arrived to further supplement the fleet. To provide the power for these cars, several former Union Pacific EMD E8 and EMD E9 diesels were also rebuilt with head end power and added to the commuter pool.
The outdoor passenger concourse and platforms of LaSalle Street Station as built and operated by Metra. The trains shown are commuter runs to Blue Island and Joliet, Illinois.
The commuter service was not exempt from the general decline of the Rock Island through the 1970s. Over time, deferred maintenance took its toll on both track and rolling stock. On the Rock Island, the Capone cars were entering their sixth decade of service and the nearly 30-year-old 2700s suffered from severe corrosion due to the steel used in their construction. LaSalle Street Station, the service’s downtown terminal, suffered from neglect and urban decay with the slab roof of the train shed literally falling apart, requiring its removal. By this time, the Rock Island could not afford to replace the clearly worn-out equipment.
In 1976, the entire Chicago commuter rail system began to receive financial support from the state of Illinois through the Regional Transportation Authority. Operating funds were disbursed to all commuter operators, and the Rock Island was to be provided with new equipment to replace the tired 2700 series and Capone cars. New Budd bilevels that were near copies of the 1961 Milwaukee Road cars arrived in 1978. New EMD F40PH units arrived in late 1977 and, in summer, 1978, briefly could be seen hauling Capone cars. The Rock Island’s commuter F and E units were relegated to freight service or the scrapyard.
With the 1980 end of the Rock Island, the RTA purchased the suburban territory and remaining Rock Island commuter equipment from the estate, while the Chicago and North Western Railway took over operations for a year before the RTA began operating it directly in 1981. LaSalle Street Station was torn down and replaced with the Chicago Stock Exchange building, with a smaller commuter station located one block south of the old station. The RTA gradually rebuilt the track and added more new equipment to the service, leaving the property in better shape than it was in the Rock Island’s heyday, albeit with less track. The Rock Island District, as the Rock Island’s suburban service is now known, now operates as part of Metra, the Chicago commuter rail agency.
Our resident South Side expert M.E. adds, “Your (or maybe the Wikipedia) text says
“The Suburban Line served the Beverly Hills area of Chicago as a branch leaving the main line at Gresham and heading due west, paralleling the Baltimore and Ohio Chicago Terminal Railroad passenger line before turning south.” The wording “paralleling the B&OCT RR passenger line” is not precise. On a sheet of paper, maybe the CRI&P and the B&OCT ran parallel, but in reality, they shared the ground-level trackage for about a mile. The CRI&P’s first station on the Suburban Line (after leaving the Main Line) was at 89th and Loomis (1400 W.). It was (and still is) called Brainerd. One block of Loomis, between 89th and 90th Sts., became a business district. Just as the commuter lines to the north and west saw the development of business districts around commuter train stations, the CRI&P Suburban Line brought about business districts at Brainerd, 95th St., 99th St., 103rd St., and 111th St.
At the western end of that shared mile, about a block west of Ashland Ave. (1600 W.), the B&OCT turned north while the CRI&P turned south. At the eastern end of the shared mile, a few blocks west of Vincennes (which at that point was about 1000 W.), the B&OCT kept going east while the CRI&P Suburban Line ascended to the Main Line and turned north.
Way back (I’m talking about 1950 and earlier), the Halsted St. streetcar line went south on Vincennes, eventually ending at 111th and Sacramento (3000 W.) where it served a row of cemeteries along 111th. Southbound along Vincennes, at 89th St., having just gone under the CRI&P overhead Suburban Line junction with the Main Line, the streetcar line diverged from the street itself onto its own private right-of-way adjacent to the CRI&P Main Line. So 89th and Vincennes was at one time a nice place to watch railroad and streetcar activity.”
Link to eBay Listing

Amtrak Turboliner RTG 1978 Original 35mm Kodachrome Slide
Subject: Amtrak RTG 6715, train 334
Location: Chicago, IL on route to Milwaukee
Date: April 15, 1978
Photographer: James J. Buckley
Link to eBay Listing

mtrak RDC Train 1974 Original 35mm Kodachrome Slide
Subject: Amtrak RDCs 31-30-10, Train 370
Location: Cicero, IL (between Dubuque and Chicago)
Date: June 24, 1974
Photographer: James J. Buckley
Link to eBay Listing

Santa Teresa Tram Rio de Janeiro Original 1974 35mm Kodachrome Slide
Subject: CTCG 7
Location: Carioca (R10)
Date: March 17, 1974
Photographer: James J. Buckley
From the Wikipedia:
The Santa Teresa Tram, or Tramway (Portuguese: Bonde de Santa Teresa, IPA: [bõˈdʒi dʒi ˈsɐ̃tɐ teˈɾezɐ]), is a historic tram line in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It connects the city centre with the primarily residential, inner-city neighbourhood of Santa Teresa, in the hills immediately southwest of downtown. It is mainly maintained as a tourist attraction and is nowadays considered a heritage tramway system, having been designated a national historic monument in 1985. The line has a very unusual gauge: 1,100 mm (3 ft 7+5⁄16 in). The main line is 6.0 kilometres (3.7 miles) long.
Having run continuously since its opening in 1877 (except for a 2011–15 suspension), it is one of the oldest street railway lines in the world and having been electrically powered since 1896, it is the oldest electric railway in all of Latin America. For many years it was also the only remaining metropolitan tram system in Brazil. The only other original tram systems in the country to have survived past 1971 are the Campos do Jordão interurban tram/light rail line, which continues to operate today, and the Itatinga line (near Bertioga), a rural and non-public tram line which had ceased operation as a tramway by 2017. All other cities closed their systems by 1971 (Santos being the last), but since that time, three towns, Belém, Campinas and Santos, have reinstated trams as heritage services. Rio de Janeiro opened a modern light rail/tram system in 2016.
Link to eBay Listing

Pittsburgh PAT PCC 1751 1974 35mm Kodachrome Slide
Subject: Pittsburgh PAT PCC 1751
Location: Broadway near Neeld, Beechview, 42/38 route
Date: May 21, 1974
Photographer: James J. Buckley
Link to eBay Link

Santos Tramways São Paulo Brazil Original 1965 35mm Kodachrome Slide
Subject: Serviço Municipal de Transportes Coletivos car 216
Location: Santos
Date: March 12, 1965
Photographer: James J. Buckley
Link to eBay Listing

Amtrak Turboliner RTG 1974 Original 35mm Kodachrome Slide
Subject: Amtrak RTG 63-95-94-93-62
Location: Bloomington IL (on Chicago-St. Louis route)
Date: November 2, 1974
Photographer: James J. Buckley
Amtrak took over much of the nation’s rail passenger service in 1971, and the Turboliners were an attempt to modernize. Ultimately, they proved unsuccessful for a variety of reasons, and were withdrawn from service in 1981. Some were rebuilt and were used in the Northeast Corridor from 1988-1994.
Link to eBay Listing

Milwaukee Road Electrification E71 1970 Original 35mm Kodachrome Slide
Subject: Milwaukee Road E71
Location: East end of Butte, MT yard
Date: October 2, 1970
Photographer: Unknown
The Milwaukee Road operated an extensive system of electric freight in its Pacific Extension in the northwestern United States between 1914 and 1974.
Link to eBay Listing

Southern Pacific 4449 Steam Loco “Daylight” 1991 Original 35mm Kodachrome Slide
Subject: SP 4449
Location: Benecia
Date: May 17, 1991
Photographer: Unknown
From the Wikipedia:
Southern Pacific 4449, also known as the Daylight, is the only surviving example of Southern Pacific Railroad’s “GS-4” class of 4-8-4 “Northern” type steam locomotives and one of only two GS-class locomotives surviving, the other being “GS-6” 4460 at the National Museum of Transportation in St. Louis, Missouri. GS is an abbreviation of “General Service” or “Golden State,” a nickname for California (where the locomotive was operated in regular service).
The locomotive was built by Lima Locomotive Works in Lima, Ohio for the Southern Pacific in May 1941; it received the red-and-orange “Daylight” paint scheme for the passenger trains of the same name which it hauled for most of its service career. No. 4449 was retired from revenue service in 1956 and put into storage. In 1958, the Southern Pacific donated the locomotive to the City of Portland, Oregon. The City then put the locomotive on static display in Oaks Amusement Park, where it remained until 1974.
After this, No. 4449 was then restored to operation for use in the American Freedom Train, which toured the 48 contiguous United States as part of the nation’s 1976 Bicentennial celebration. The locomotive has operated in excursion service throughout that area since 1984.
The locomotive’s operations are based at the Oregon Rail Heritage Center in Portland, Oregon where it is maintained by a group of volunteers named the Friends of SP 4449. In 1983, a poll of Trains magazine readers selected 4449 as being the most popular locomotive in the United States.
Link to eBay Listing

Southern Pacific 4449 Steam Loco “Daylight” 1984 Original 35mm Kodachrome Slide
Subject: SP 4449
Location: Unknown
Date: May 8, 1984
Photographer: Unknown
Link to eBay Listing

Illinois Central City of New Orleans 1966 Original 35mm Kodachrome Slide
Subject: IC 4020-4015
Location: Chicago IL
Date: July 10, 1966
Photographer: James J. Buckley
From the Wikipedia:
The City of New Orleans is an Amtrak passenger train which operates on an overnight schedule between Chicago and New Orleans. The train is a successor to the Illinois Central Railroad’s Panama Limited.
The original City of New Orleans began in 1947 as part of the Illinois Central Railroad, and was the longest daylight run in the United States. The daylight train under that name ran through 1971, when it was moved to an overnight schedule as the Panama Limited. The present name was brought back in 1981, still on an overnight schedule. The train is the subject of the bittersweet 1971 song “City of New Orleans”, written by Steve Goodman.
The train operates along a route that has been served in one form or another for over a century. The Panama Limited originally ran from 1911 to 1971, though the IC ran Chicago-New Orleans trains since the turn of the century. Additional corridor service is provided between Chicago and Carbondale, Illinois–the northern leg of the route–by the Illini and Saluki.
Link to eBay Listing

Sao Paulo Brazil CMTC Tram 1807 ex-NYC 1965 Original 35mm Kodachrome Slide
Subject: CMTC 807 (ex-Third Avenue Railway System, NYC)
Location: Sao Paulo, Brazil
Date: March 11, 1965
Photographer: James J. Buckley
From http://www.tramz.com:
Additions in later years included 75 center-door cars, called centex in São Paulo, acquired second-hand in 1947 from the Third Avenue Transit System in New York. Third Avenue Railway had built them for conduit operation in 1938; trolley poles were added in São Paulo, doors were removed on one side and they were numbered 1701-1849. These “Huffliners” ran twice as long in São Paulo as in New York. In 1947 the São Paulo tramway system had 689 trams: 252 single-truck open motors, 28 single-truck open trailers, 153 double-truck open motors,
In 1960 CMTC announced that it would rid the city completely of trams by 1968. The Santa Amaro route, which ran mostly on private right-of-way, would be converted to rapid transit. Several short routes were abandoned in the early 1960s: Barra Funda, Vila Prudente, Brésser, Bosque, Jardim Paulista. After 1963 open trams ran only on the Belém line – it had no turning loop, so required double-end cars. July and August 1966 saw the abandonment of most of the major tram routes in the city: Lapa, Penha, Belém, Pinheiros, Perdizes, Angélica, São Judas Tadeu. In January 1967 the end came to the others: Ipiranga, Fábrica, Casa Verde and Alto da Vila Maria. Only the Santo Amaro line remained. Its inner terminus was cut back to Vila Mariana and henceforth São Paulo, like Rio de Janeiro, had only one standard-gauge trolley line running in an obscure area at the edge of town. On 27 March 1968, with thousands of weeping paulistas lining the route, a cortège of 12 camarões made a final roundtrip to Santo Amaro and ended 96 years of tram service in the city.
Link to eBay Listing

Toronto Streetcar TTC ALRV 4201 1988 Original 35mm Kodachrome Slide
Subject: TTC ALRV 4201
Location: Lake Shore and Symons, Etibicoke, Ontario
Date: May 30, 1988
Photographer: James J. Buckley
Link to eBay Listing

Illinois Central City of New Orleans 1966 Original 35mm Kodachrome Slide
Subject: IC 4039-4104-4031-4021
Location: Chicago IL
Date: July 10, 1966
Photographer: James J. Buckley
Link to eBay Listing

Santa Teresa Open Tram 4 Rio de Janeiro Brazil Original 1974 35mm Kodachrome Slide
Subject: CTCG 4
Location: Carioca, Rio de Janeiro
Date: March 17, 1974
Photographer: James J. Buckley
Link to eBay Listing

Baltimore and Ohio Capitol Limited 1967 Original 35mm Kodachrome Slide
Subject: B&O 1419-2415/8
Location: Capitol Limited Train 6 departing Chicago
Date: September 16, 1967
Photographer: James J. Buckley
From the Wikipedia:
The Capitol Limited was an American passenger train run by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, originally between New York City and Grand Central Station in Chicago, Illinois, via Union Station, Washington, D.C., Baltimore and Pittsburgh. For almost 48 years, it was the B&O’s flagship passenger train, noted for personalized service and innovation. At the time of its discontinuation on May 1, 1971, when Amtrak took over most rail passenger service in the U.S., the Capitol Limited operated between Washington and Chicago.
Link to eBay Listing

Santos Tramways São Paulo Brazil Original 1965 35mm Kodachrome Slide
Subject: Serviço Municipal de Transportes Coletivos cars 90-223
Location: Santos
Date: March 12, 1965
Photographer: James J. Buckley
Link to eBay Listing

Santa Teresa Tram Rio de Janeiro Original 1974 35mm Kodachrome Slide
Subject: CTCG 18
Location: Carioca (R10)
Date: March 17, 1974
Photographer: James J. Buckley
Link to eBay Listing

Santa Teresa Tram Rio de Janeiro Original 1974 35mm Kodachrome Slide
Subject: CTCG 17
Location: Carioca (R10)
Date: March 17, 1974
Photographer: James J. Buckley
From the Wikipedia:
The Santa Teresa Tram, or Tramway (Portuguese: Bonde de Santa Teresa, IPA: [bõˈdʒi dʒi ˈsɐ̃tɐ teˈɾezɐ]), is a historic tram line in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It connects the city centre with the primarily residential, inner-city neighbourhood of Santa Teresa, in the hills immediately southwest of downtown. It is mainly maintained as a tourist attraction and is nowadays considered a heritage tramway system, having been designated a national historic monument in 1985. The line has a very unusual gauge: 1,100 mm (3 ft 7+5⁄16 in). The main line is 6.0 kilometres (3.7 miles) long.
Having run continuously since its opening in 1877 (except for a 2011–15 suspension), it is one of the oldest street railway lines in the world and having been electrically powered since 1896, it is the oldest electric railway in all of Latin America. For many years it was also the only remaining metropolitan tram system in Brazil. The only other original tram systems in the country to have survived past 1971 are the Campos do Jordão interurban tram/light rail line, which continues to operate today, and the Itatinga line (near Bertioga), a rural and non-public tram line which had ceased operation as a tramway by 2017. All other cities closed their systems by 1971 (Santos being the last), but since that time, three towns, Belém, Campinas and Santos, have reinstated trams as heritage services. Rio de Janeiro opened a modern light rail/tram system in 2016.
Link to eBay Listing

Shaker Heights Rapid Transit PCC 41 Original 1968 35mm Kodachrome Slide
Subject: SHRT PCC 41
Location: 55th Street, Cleveland OH
Date: May 25, 1968
Photographer: James J. Buckley
From Don’s Rail Photos: “41 was built by St. Louis Car (Company) in 1946, #1655, as SLPS (St. Louis Public Service) 1766. It was sold as SHRT 41 in 1959 and converted to MU (multiple unit) operation after purchase. It was sold to Buckeye Lake Trolley in 1984.”
Link to eBay Listing

Blackpool Tramway 40 Original 1985 35mm Kodachrome Slide UK
Subject: Blackpool Tramway 40
Location: Fleetwood UK
Date: July 14, 1985
Photographer: James J. Buckley
Blackpool Tramway 40 was built in 1926 and retired in 1963. It has since been part of the collection at the Crich Tramway Village museum. Here, it is shown operating briefly once again on the Blackpool Tramway in 1985.
Link to eBay Listing

Glasgow Tram 1297 Original 1985 35mm Kodachrome Slide UK
Subject: Glasgow Tram 1297
Location: Fleetwood (on Blackpool Tramway, UK)
Date: July 14, 1985
Photographer: James J. Buckley
Glasgow Tram 1297 was built in 1948 and retired in 1962. It is part of the collection at the Crich Tramway Village museum. Here, it is shown operating on the Blackpool Tramway briefly in 1985.
Link to eBay Listing

Great Northern Railway Red River 1954 Original 35mm Red Border Kodachrome Slide
Subject: GNR 12
Location: Departing Minneapolis station for St. Paul
Date: Fall 1954
Photographer: Unknown
From the Wikipedia:
The Red River was a passenger train operated by Great Northern Railway between Grand Forks, North Dakota, and Saint Paul, Minnesota (operating between 1950 and 1968).
History
Great Northern Railway’s third new train set of 1950 was a new schedule named the Red River. The five-car streamliner built by American Car and Foundry Company began service June 25, 1950, operating a daily round trip 324 miles (521 km) each way between Grand Forks, North Dakota, and Saint Paul, Minnesota. The train went southbound in the morning returning northbound in the evening.
The cars for the Red River streamliner were quite different than those built for the International (another 1950 introduction) in that the Red River’s cars had extra insulation and the coaches were equipped with Baker Heaters as there was no steam heat available at the Grand Forks depot where the cars stood overnight. The locomotive was sent to the roundhouse each evening for any running repairs and service so the solution was the installation of the Baker Heaters in the cars.
Link to eBay Listing

Amtrak RDC Train 1975 Original 35mm Kodachrome Slide
Subject: Amtrak RDCs 30-32-15, Train 372 Blackhawk
Location: Crawford (Chicago bound, between Dubuque and Chicago)
Date: September 14, 1975
Photographer: James J. Buckley
Link to eBay Listing

Milwaukee and Suburban Transport 1975 Original 35mm Kodachrome Slide
Subject: M&ST 1466
Location: Wells-River (posed by the old Milwaukee Electric power plant)
Date: June 29, 1975
Photographer: Jeff Wien
Link to eBay Listing

Yakima Valley Transit Trolley 1975 Original 35mm Kodachrome Slide
Subject: YVT 1776/1976
Location: 44th-Nob Hill, Yakima
Date: June 1975
Photographer: Jeff Wien
Link to eBay Listing

Our Latest Book, Now Available for Pre-Order:

The North Shore Line

Publication Date: February 20, 2023

FYI, my new Arcadia Publishing book The North Shore Line is now finished and has gone to press. My publisher decided to expand it to 160 pages, instead of the usual 128. That’s a 25% increase, without any change to the $23.99 price. I am quite pleased with how this turned out.

From the back cover:

As late as 1963, it was possible to board high-speed electric trains on Chicago’s famous Loop “L” that ran 90 miles north to Milwaukee. This was the Chicago North Shore & Milwaukee Railroad, commonly known as the North Shore Line. It rose from humble origins in the 1890s as a local streetcar line in Waukegan to eventually become America’s fastest interurban under the visionary management of Midwest utilities tycoon Samuel Insull. The North Shore Line, under Insull, became a worthy competitor to the established steam railroads. Hobbled by the Great Depression, the road fought back in 1941 with two streamlined, air-conditioned, articulated trains called Electroliners, which included dining service. It regained its popularity during World War II, when gasoline and tires were rationed, but eventually, it fell victim to highways and the automobile. The North Shore Line had intercity rail, commuter rail, electric freight, city streetcars, and even buses. It has been gone for nearly 60 years, but it will always remain the Road of Service.

Each copy purchased here will be signed by the author, and you will also receive a bonus North Shore Line map. Books will ship by USPS Media Mail as soon as we receive them, on or before February 20, 2023.

Title The North Shore Line
Images of America
Author David Sadowski
Edition illustrated
Publisher Arcadia Publishing (SC), 2023
ISBN 1467108960, 978-1467108966
Length 160 pages

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

For Shipping to US Addresses:

New Compact Disc, Now Available:

CTA-1
The Last Chicago Streetcars 1958
# of Discs – 1
Price: $15.99

Total time – 74:38

Help Support The Trolley Dodger

This is our 295th 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 941,000 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

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