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.

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, which are not large, or out of our own pocket, which is not very large either.

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

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.

-David Sadowski

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

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

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)

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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

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

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Back in Business

April 15, 2023May 22, 2023David Sadowski 12 Comments

North Shore Line cars 155, 190, and 154 are stopped by the historic Kenilworth fountain on July 24, 1955. The occasion was a Central Electric Railfans’ Association fantrip just prior to the abandonment of the Shore Line Route. A similar picture, taken by Ray DeGroote, is in my book The North Shore Line.

While this is our first new post in nearly three months, we have been hard at work this entire time. Since January 21st we took delivery on our new book The North Shore Line (see below), and shipped out over 200 copies to our purchasers and contributors. The book has been very well received by our readers.

We also gave a presentation on March 8th at the Schaumburg Township Public Library for our 2021 book Chicago’s Lost “L”s. This was a “hybrid” (in-person and on Zoom) program, but it was not recorded.

FYI, I will be giving a presentation on Monday, April 17th at the Libertyville Historical Society for my new book The North Shore Line. This is a “hybrid” program (both in person and on Zoom). More information here.

Three days later, on April 20th, I have another presentation scheduled (in Lake Forest) at the History Center Lake Forest-Lake Bluff. This one is in-person only. More information here.

Meanwhile, we have already begun doing research on our next book, which will be about the Chicago Aurora and Elgin interurban. This is a process that we expect will take the rest of this year. More than $2500 has been spent collecting materials for possible use.

Research does take both time and money, and the expenses are ongoing. If you support our efforts, we hope that you will consider making a donation. There are links to do just that in this post. Any and all contributions are very much appreciated, and we are very thankful for all the help we get from our readers. We can’t do it without you.

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 1,117 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.

The Lake Street “L” in Transition

We recently scanned several original slides taken by the late William C. Hoffman, documenting the transition made by the Lake Street “L”. For more than 60 years, the line ran at ground level west of Laramie Avenue (5200 West). On October 28, 1962, it switched to a new alignment on the adjacent Chicago and North Western embankment, where it has remained for more than 60 years.

We previously ran some other pictures showing this transition in our post Elevation (December 5, 2022).

This September 1959 view looks west along South Boulevard in Oak Park, and shows the Marion Street station on the Lake Street “L”, when it still ran at ground level west of Laramie Avenue. The “L” was relocated to the adjacent Chicago and North Western embankment in October 1962, and the buildings to the left are gone. The side street (Maple Avenue) shown in the picture has been truncated, and a large high-rise residential building occupies this space now.

The same location today.

William C. Hoffman took this picture from the back end of an “L” train on June 28, 1962 just west of the Laramie station. This offers a good view of the construction work underway at left, preparing the new embankment line which opened on October 28th. He referred to this as the “Laramie Avenue interchange.”

Here, we are looking east toward the Laramie Avenue station on the Lake Street “L” on June 28, 1962. According to photographer William C. Hoffman, the westbound track to the new embankment alignment was tied in on this date, and the first cars ran there.

A CTA diesel crane and work gondola are on the new connecting track leading to the Chicago and North Western embankment on August 22, 1962. At this time, there was a connection between the “L” and the new alignment via the westbound track, but not the eastbound one. For a time, it was necessary to have connections leading to both the ground-level trackage as well as the embankment, until service was switched over on October 28th. I am not sure when the new connection was made with the eastbound track. (William C. Hoffman Photo)

This photo by the late William C. Hoffman was taken on October 28, 1962 at the Central Avenue station on the Lake Street “L”, and shows how the transition was made from the ground level operation to the new alignment on the C&NW embankment. Unlike the situation in 1958, when the new Congress rapid transit line and the old Garfield Park “L” both ran on the same day, that was not possible here, due to the tight clearances at the station entrances. The new entrances could not be finished until the old line was torn out. So on October 28, 1962, which was a Sunday, the ceremonies dedicating the new 2.5 mile “L” realignment were held in the morning, and then, until 6 pm, trains only ran as far as Laramie Avenue, where the steel “L” structure ended. While workers put wooden platforms over the old tracks, riders west of Laramie had to take shuttle buses on Lake Street, as the signs here indicate. Passengers still had to enter via the old station entrances for a time.

A 6-car eastbound Lake Street “L” test train is on the new embankment on October 28, 1962, shortly before the new service began at 6 pm. Although the photographer did not indicate which station this was, I believe it is Ridgeland Avenue in Oak Park. (William C. Hoffman Photo)

The view looking east along the new Lake Street “L” embankment alignment at Marion Street on October 28, 1962, shortly before service began. A work train heads east. Photographer William C. Hoffman accessed this area via the Chicago and North Western Oak Park commuter train station, as the “L” station wasn’t yet open until 6 pm.

A 6-car train of CTA 4000-series “L” cars is heading eastbound near Ridgeland Avenue on the new embankment trackage on October 28, 1962, as the ground-level operation has finally been replaced. (William C. Hoffman Photo)

A westbound train of 4000s is on the new Lake Street “L” embankment alignment on November 11, 1962. A track welder’s car is on the eastbound track. The photographer notes, “Bub Lindgren on “L” train.” (William C. Hoffman Photo)

The view looking east along the old ground-level Lake Street “L” right-of-way at Menard Avenue on November 11, 1962. An eastbound two-car “L” train is on the new alignment on the embankment. (William C. Hoffman Photo)

A 4000-series “L” train is stopped at the Harlem and Lake station on November 11, 1962. Note how there are some transparent portions of the station canopy, to let more light in. (William C. Hoffman Photo)

The view looking west/northwest at Lake and Central on November 11, 1962. Riders still entered the station via a temporary connection to the old ground-level station. (William C. Hoffman Photo)

A westbound Lake Street “L” train has just left the Laramie Avenue station on November 11, 1962. This photo gives a good view of how the tracks were shifted over to connect with the nearby embankment. (William C. Hoffman Photo)

The view looking east/northeast along Lake Street (now Corcoran Place) at Austin Boulevard on August 12, 1963. The new station entrance has been finished. (William C. Hoffman Photo)

The view east along Mansfield Avenue at Lake Street on August 12, 1963. The old ground level tracks and ties have been removed, while a two-car train of 4000s is on the new embankment alignment. (William C. Hoffman Photo)

The view east at Lake and Parkside, showing the auxiliary entrance to the new Central Avenue “L” station on August 12, 1963. By now, the old ground-level tracks have been removed, except at street crossings. (William C. Hoffman Photo)

An eastbound two-car Lake Street “L” train heads east on November 24, 1963, after having left the terminal at Harlem Avenue. South Boulevard has been resurfaced, and parking spaces (with meters) added where the tracks used to be. (William C. Hoffman Photo)

A southbound Western Avenue PCC car prepares to cross the Garfield Park “L” temporary trackage on September 24, 1953. The view looks west. (William C. Hoffman Photo)

Several Chicago Aurora and Elgin interurban cars are visible at the entrance to the Wells Street “L” Terminal on April 6, 1953. The substation under the “L” is still there today and powers the Loop “L”. This was the very first color slide my friend Ray DeGroote took (with an Argus C3 camera) on April 6, 1953. He was standing on the platform of the old Franklin Street “L” station.

This is how the northwest corner of 21st Street and 3rd Avenue looked in Manhattan on August 5, 1937. The Third Avenue El was abandoned in 1955 without replacement subway service. In the 68 years since, only a small portion of the Second Avenue Subway has been built.

Photographer Arthur H. Peterson captured this image of a southbound Evanston Express “L” train, including car 4409, near the Berwyn Avenue station on November 25, 1973. The 4000s were ending their more than 50 years of passenger service on the “L”. Miles Beitler writes: “There is a third rail in photo aae109a, so why would the trolley pole be raised? The only reason I can think of is that it’s a fantrip, and the train might be on the gauntlet track (to access Buena Yard), but that is not apparent in the photo. Also, 4000s in Evanston Express service were usually at least four cars long.” November 25, 1973 was a Sunday, and since the Evanston Express only runs on weekdays (then and now), this must be a fantrip. But there were two-car Evanston Express trains in mid-day service, when the EE ran until almost noon (which it no longer does). I rode on one myself. As for the overhead wire, they may have simply preferred operating the fantrip train using the overhead, as it was about to be eliminated in Evanston, and would no longer be needed south of Howard (as the last CTA freight train had operated several months prior). It’s not entirely clear to me exactly when there was third rail available on the entire length of track 1, but the overhead was officially taken out of service in 1975. This left the Skokie Swift as the only CTA that continued to use any overhead wire, and even that was eliminated in the early 2000s.

Although partially double exposed, this rare image shows Hammond Whiting and East Chicago car 79 in service and in color. These streetcars were nearly identical to the Chicago Pullmans. Chicago Surface Lines streetcars shared trackage with these cars, which also went into Chicago as far as 63rd Street until 1940. That is the latest date when this Kodachrome slide could have been taken. Andre Kristopans: “Calumet 79 is NB on Ewing at 95th.”

Chicago Aurora and Elgin cars 455 ad 460 are looping at the DesPlaines Avenue Terminal in Forest Park on July 23, 1955. This view looks east.

Indiana Railroad lightweight high-speed car 58 is at Eaton on October 20, 1940 on a fantrip.

Indiana Railroad car 50 is in Fort Wayne on April 16, 1939.

Indiana Railroad car 71 is in New Castle. (Charles Able Photo)

Milwaukee Electric interurban car 1116, a West Junction car, is southbound on 6th Street in Milwaukee on October 10, 1948, passing by the North Shore Line Terminal.

Chicago Aurora and Elgin cars 413 and 453 are looping at the DesPlaines Avenue Terminal, sometime between 1953 and 1957. (Robert Heinlein Photo)

An Electroliner leaves the North Shore Line’s Edison Court station in Waukegan, probably in the late 1950s. (A. C. Kalmbach Photo)

Here is how the abandoned Chicago Aurora and Elgin Terminal looked like in Aurora in March 1974, fifteen years after the interurban was abandoned. It has since been removed.

North Shore Line line car 606 is at Orchard and 5th in Milwaukee on October 20, 1951.

The Metropolitan West Side Elevated’s Logan Square Terminal, as it appeared in the early 1900s. This station was open from 1895 until 1970, when it was replaced by a subway station. From a C. R. Childs real photo postcard.

Capital Transit (Washington D.C.) ordered 25 pre-PCC cars in 1935. Here is how cars 1002, 1010, 1006, 1009, and 1004 looked on May 13, 1958. By then, they were presumably in dead storage. Only car 1053 from this series was still in service by the time buses replaced streetcars in 1962. This image was shot on type 828 film, with an image size slightly larger than 35mm.

The view looking east from Narragansett Avenue along 63rd Place on May 19, 1953. This was around the time that buses replaced streetcars on the CTA 63rd Street route, which ran here. The buses ran on 63rd Street west of Central Avenue. 63rd Place became a street after streetcars were abandoned, and there is now a fully developed residential neighborhood (known as Clearing) here. (William C. Hoffman Photo)

CTA streetcar 6209 crosses the Nickel Plate railroad at 94th and Dorchester on July 2, 1949, operating on the 93-95 line. (William C. Hoffman Photo) Our resident South Side expert M.E. writes: “Your caption says the streetcar is crossing the Nickel Plate railroad. I had always thought these railroad tracks belonged to the Chicago and Western Indiana, which was basically a commuter line to towns near the Illinois / Indiana border. Fortunately I have a copy of the 1975 issue of “Train Watchers Guide to Chicago”, by John Szwajkart. That book came with a terrific map of Chicago-area railroads and their owners. Right near the junction in your picture, the map lists the track thus: “C&WI (NKP)”. So the C&WI owned it and the NKP used it.
Also: Note in the picture there are two crewmen. Before the streetcar could cross the railroad track, the conductor had to get off the streetcar, walk to the railroad track, look both ways, and only then signal the streetcar to proceed across the tracks. So the motorman picked up the conductor right next to the track, and the conductor kept the motorman company for this short segment. Several streetcar lines that ran east/west on the far south side required two crewmen because those streetcars crossed railroad tracks at grade.
Also: Note all the arms in the side windows. This route was busy because the eastern terminal was near the big steel mills in South Chicago. All those arms tell me it was time for a shift change.”

The view looking east along 63rd Street from Prairie Avenue on June 18, 1953. This is where the Jackson Park branch of the “L” turned east. The tracks at right ramped down to ground level and the 63rd Street Lower Yard. (William C. Hoffman Photo)

Northbound CTA pre-war PCC streetcar 4015 crosses the Garfield Park “L” temporary tracks at Western And Van Buren on August 4, 1955. Streetcars last ran on Western Avenue in June 1956. (William C. Hoffman Photo)

Photographer William C. Hoffman described this as a segment of old Chicago Surface Lines track in Exchange Avenue and Indianapolis Boulevard in East Chicago, Indiana on May 30, 1956. Streetcars last ran here in 1940. Andre Kristopans: “Indianapolis & Exchange “y” was (at the) south end of Whiting line.”

The late William C. Hoffman took pictures that no one else bothered to take. Here, he captured a danger sign at the northwest corner of Madison and Dearborn on June 6, 1954, warning motorists not to park where their cars would not clear turning Madison and Milwaukee streetcars.

On November 11, 1956, CTA red Pullman car 225 is in 81st Street at Emerald Avenue, on an Illini Railroad Club fantrip. This car was soon purchased by the Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport, Maine, where it remains today in much the same condition as when it last ran in Chicago. (William C. Hoffman Photo)

CTA “L” cars 4375 and 4376 are in the State Street Subway at Jackson Boulevard on an October 26, 1969 fantrip. (Ray DeGroote Photo)

One of the original CTA entrances to the Dearborn Street Subway at Quincy on May 28, 1961. I assume the building at left is the old post office. (William C. Hoffman Photo) Chris Cole writes: “The Dearborn Subway entrance was on the west side of Dearborn between Adams and Jackson. The building on the left is the old federal courthouse. The Fair Store was at the NE Corner of Adams and Dearborn. They were later replaced by Montgomery Wards who re-skinned the building to make it look “modern”.”

This appears to be Post Street in San Francisco, circa 1915. Taken from a real photo postcard.

A southbound Lake-Dan Ryan “L” train negotiate the curve at Wabash and Harrison in November 1969. The new Dan Ryan line had only recently opened in September, and was joined up with the Lake Street “L”. It was eventually linked with the Howard line, which was a better match for ridership than Lake. The view looks north.

The new Kimball Subway opened on February 1, 1970, as an extension of the Logan Square “L”, and connected to tracks in the Kennedy Expressway median. This picture was taken at the Logan Square station on January 29, one day prior to the dedication ceremony.

West Penn Railways car 739 is on a fantrip at an unknown time. Interestingly, the car survives. After being used as a residence, after retirement in 1952, it ended up at the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum, where it is being restored. Larry Lovejoy adds: “The photo of West Penn Railways 739 is northbound at Mt. Pleasant, on Center Avenue, just about to cross West Main Street, the latter which is now Pennsylvania Route 31 but back then had a different highway number. The date is August 10, 1952 and this is an “after the last day” fantrip charter by the Pittsburgh Electric Railway Club. PERC was the direct corporate predecessor of Pennsylvania Trolley Museum. The car behind 739 is the 733. Sorry I can’t identify any of the recognizable faces.”

Milwaukee and Suburban Transport car 943 received a unique paint job as a “safety car,” and is shown on February 20, 1955 at the National Avenue station. Ironically, this car was later damaged in an accident.

North Shore Line loco 459 is northbound at Edison Court in Waukegan in May 1962. Also visible are a late 1950s Plymouth (left) and two Chevys. (E. R. Burke Photo) Fred Hilgenberg adds, “For dating verification purposes (and the photo caption appears accurate), the license plates on the cars are white lettering on red. Illinois used that scheme starting in 1961 (and I think 1962) as a nod to North Central College. It was changed to John Deere colors in 1963. The Plymouth appears to be a 1959 (possibly 1958). The two-tone Chevy is a 1956 Bel Air, the other Chevy is a 1961 Impala.”

North Shore Line Silverliner 776 was the final conventional coach ordered by the interurban in 1930. Merchandise Despatch car 232 is at right in this November 19, 1960 view at the Harrison Street Shops.

This picture, taken on January 2, 1961, gives an excellent overview of the North Shore Line’s Milwaukee Terminal. The view looks south.

North Shore Line combine 250 has just left the Milwaukee Terminal in June 1962.

CTA “L” car number 1 in May 1963. Don’s rail Photos: “1 was built by Jackson & Sharpe in 1892 as South Side Rapid Transit Co 1 as a steam trailer. It was rebuilt as a MU motor car in 1898. It became Chicago Elevated Railway 1 in 1913 and became CRT 1 in 1924. It was preserved by CTA in 1947 and donated to Chicago History Museum in 2005.”

Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company double-ended car 13 has just left the 69th Street Terminal and is signed for Westchester in this early 1950s view. The long Westchester line was replaced by buses in June 1954.

Three old Metropolitan “L” cars are at Indiana Avenue on September 2, 1955, and appear to be operating on the Stock Yards branch. Our resident South Side expert M.E. notes: “This time your caption is absolutely correct — this is the Stock Yards line’s terminal at Indiana Ave. on the southernmost platform. The other side of the platform was for southbound mainline trains to Jackson Park and Englewood.”

This picture was taken on a North Shore Line fantrip using the Electroliner, but the time and place are not evident. Nick Jenkins: “Photo of Electroliner (aae053) is on the interchange track with the Milwaukee Road at Racine.”

North Shore Line car 719 is part of a westbound two-car train on the Mundelein branch in November 1962. The Perpetual Adoration stop was an obvious fan favorite, as it expressed their thoughts about the legendary interurban.

North Shore Line caboose 1003 is part of a freight train at an unknown location.

North Shore Line caboose 1003 is at the back end of a freight train on the Skokie Valley Route in June 1962.

A two-car train of North Shore Line Silverliners is in North Chicago in January 1963.

Although there was never a chance that Chicago would be subjected to a Blitz during World War II, part of our war preparedness involved a practice blackout on August 12, 1942. Both “L” and interurban service was suspended for 30 minutes.

This rare poster (framed) recently sold for $338.34 on eBay. This was the CTA’s attempt to help riders get around after the North Shore Line abandonment. But there wasn’t much they really could do, since the NSL served many communities far beyond the reach of the CTA. In 1963, the CTA served Skokie with the #97 bus, but starting in April 1964, offered “L” service to Dempster Street via the new Skokie Swift (on the former NSL right-of-way).

This is the North Shore Line on February 6, 1949, and the photographer was Charles A. Brown. The Briergate station was built in 1926 on the new Skokie Valley Route, in a style generally referred to as “Insull Spanish.” There were nine such stations on the SVR and Briergate is the only one that still exists. There is a more recent picture of it in my new book The North Shore Line. Briergate station is in west Highland Park, IL and the car number is 157. (Courtesy of Larry Miller III)

North Shore Line electric loco 459 is an eastbound freight in Kenosha, Wisconsin on June 29, 1962.

The North Shore Line’s Milwaukee Terminal as it appeared on June 29, 1962.

North Shore Line wooden coach 302. Don’s Rail Photos: “300 thru 302 were built by Jewett in 1909 as mainline coaches. As the steel cars arrived, they were downgraded to local and school tripper service. In 1936 they became sleet cutters. In 1939 300 was turned over to the Central Electric Railfans Association as a private car. The ownership remained with the CNS&M, but the maintenance was taken over by CERA. During the war, with many members in service, CERA relinquished control, and the car was scrapped in 1947. 301 and 302 were retired in 1939 and scrapped in 1940.”

North Shore Line wooden coach 140. Don’s Rail Photos: “138 thru 141 were built by American Car in 1910. They were rebuilt for Elevated compatibility in 1919. They were also leased to the CA&E in 1936, returned to the CNS&M in 1945, and sold to the CA&E in 1946.”

North Shore Line wooden coach 303. Don’s Rail Photos: “303 thru 305 were built by American Car in 1910 and were almost identical. In 1939 they became sleet cutters and were retired and scrapped in 1940.”

North Shore Line car 162. Don’s Rail Photos: “162 was built by Brill in 1915, (job) #19605. It was acquired by American Museum of Electricity in 1963 and resold to Connecticut Trolley Museum in 1971.” Car 162 is now at the East Troy Railroad Museum, where it is undergoing restoration. It is now the oldest surviving car in the fleet.

North Shore Line car 748 is part of a two-car train heading northbound at Adams and Wabash on September 4, 1961. The view looks south, and you can see CTA Tower 12 in the distance.

A North Shore Line Electroliner is at the Adams and Wabash station on the Loop “L” on September 4, 1961. The interurban had a station here that was connected directly to the “L”.

Here is North Shore Line Merchandise Despatch car 228 as it appeared on Sunday afternoon, August 9, 1953, at the Highwood Shops. It is now undergoing restoration at the East Troy Railroad Museum in Wisconsin. (Bob Selle Photo on Ansco 616 film)

North Shore Line car 730 at Edison Court in Waukegan. This must be right before the end, as this Kodachrome slide (by Walter Schopp) wasn’t processed until March 1963, two months after the abandonment. Looks like someone has already swiped the destination sign.

Our Latest Book, Now Available:

The North Shore Line

Publication Date: February 20, 2023

FYI, my new Arcadia Publishing book The North Shore Line is now available. 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.

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

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Chasing Sanborn (Our 275th Post)

August 30, 2021September 21, 2021David Sadowski 13 Comments

This 1953 view looks to the northwest and shows the old Canal Street station on the Metropolitan “L”, which was near Union Station. They were connected by a walkway nicknamed “Frustration Walk,” since many people would miss their train in the time it took to make the journey. The “L” here closed in 1958 and was demolished soon after. (Jon R. Roma Collection)

This is our 275th Trolley Dodger blog post, so we thought we would make this one extra special for you.

Recently, Jon R. Roma sent us some Sanborn insurance maps that were made in 1906 and 1917, mainly to show sections of the old Garfield Park “L” in greater detail. This was in response to some of our previous posts, where we discussed just where it used to run, before it was replaced by the Congress rapid transit line in 1958.

Learning from history is a process, and as historians, we are continually reaching out to the past, studying the historical record, looking for clues that will inform us today and further our understanding. Photographs, of course, are invaluable, but so are the kind of detailed maps that were made for insurance purposes long ago. They detail pretty much every structure and many of the businesses that once existed.

As an example of what you can learn from these maps, consider the one below showing the layout of old West Side Park, where the Chicago Cubs played through the 1915 season.

A story has gone around in recent years, that supposedly the expression “from out of left field” originated at West Side Park. Cook County Hospital was just north of the park, and the story goes that mental patients there would yell things out during Cubs games, which gave birth to the expression, which has taken on a meaning of something completely unexpected.

Unfortunately, there is no record of “from out of left field” being used in print with this meaning prior to the 1940s, by which time the Cubs had been in Wrigley Field for 25 years. But if you look at the Sanborn map of West Side Park, there was apparently an open area just north of the grandstands, so the hospital would have been some further distance away. I am not sure how much of the field would have been visible from the hospital anyway, so after looking at the map, the story seems unlikely.

What is more likely is how the expression could have evolved just generally from baseball lore. Occasionally, the left fielder will make a throw all the way to home plate during a game. Such a throw, coming “from out of left field,” tends to be unexpected, and it may be that over time, it took on this other meaning colloquially.

In addition, we have more electric traction, steam, and diesel photos taken around 1970 by John Engleman, some recent new photo finds of our own, and correspondence with Larry Sakar.

I guess we will always be “chasing Sanborn,” and other things like it.

We are very grateful to all our contributors. Sanborn fire insurance maps provided courtesy of the Map Library at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Enjoy!

-David Sadowski

PS- If you enjoy reading these posts, you might consider joining our Trolley Dodger Facebook Group as well. We currently have 429 members.

Sanborn Maps from 1917:

The area covered by this volume.

This includes the Met “L” line heading to Humboldt Park and Logan Square. There was a station at Madison Street, opened in 1895, which is not delineated on this 1917 map. It closed in 1951. This section of “L” has since been rebuilt, and is now part of the CTA Pink Line.

The Met “L” branch leading to Humboldt Park and Logan Square made a bit of a jog near Ogden Avenue, an angle street. This is the section just north of Marshfield Junction.

This section of map shows the Garfield Park “L” and includes the station at Western Avenue, which was open from 1895 to 1953. When Western was widened in the 1930s, the front of the station was removed and a new Art Deco front replaced it. The same thing was done to three other “L” stations on Western. This station closed in September 1953, due to construction of the Congress Expressway, and we have featured pictures of its quick demolition in previous posts.

A close-up of the Western Avenue “L” station. I suppose the area marked “iron” refers to the station canopy.

This map includes a section of the Garfield Park “L”.

This map includes a section of the Garfield Park “L”, including part of the station at Hoyne Avenue, which was open from 1895 to 1953. The area between Van Buren and Congress is now occupied by the Eisenhower expressway. The CTA Blue Line tracks are in approximately the same location as the former Garfield Park “L”, but in the depressed highway.

This map shows part of the Garfield Park “L”, including the station at Hoyne Avenue.

This includes the old Garfield Park “L”.

This includes the Garfield Park “L”, including the station at Ogden Avenue, which was open between 1895 and 1953.

A close-up of the Garfield Park “L” station at Ogden Avenue.

The map shows the section of the Met “L” lines just west of Marshfield Junction, where all the various branch lines came together.

The Met “L” branches ran over a building that housed the Dreamland roller skating rink. When the Congress Expressway was built, a new section of “L” was built running north-south to connect the Douglas Park “L” to the tracks formerly used by the Humboldt Park and Logan Square lines prior to 1951. This became part of a new routing for Douglas that brought its trains to the Loop via the Lake Street “L”, where another new connection was built. This is the path that the CTA Pink Line follows today. Douglas trains were connected to the new Congress rapid transit line via a ramp that followed the old Douglas path starting in 1958.

The same location today.

This map shows Marshfield Junction on the Garfield Park “L”, where all the Met lines came together.

A close-up of the Marshfield Junction track arrangement and station layout. Notice that the Aurora, Elgin & Chicago (later the CA&E) had its own platform here. This station was in use from 1895 to 1954. From September 1953 to April 1954, it was only used by Douglas Park trains, as Garfield trains were re-routed to ground level tracks here in Van Buren Street.

This map includes the Laflin “L” station on the Garfield Park main line.

The Metropolitan “L” main line included a station at Laflin Avenue, which originally had two island platforms. Between 1896 and 1914, it was reconfigured with three platforms so the tracks did not have to make sharp curves around the ends of the platforms. This station was open from 1895 to 1951. Notice the complex track arrangement west of the station, which gave the Met maximum flexibility for routing their trains going downtown.

The Met “L” main line between Loomis and Laflin.

The Met “L” facilities shown here represent somewhat of a mystery. There is a general repair shop on Laflin, including maintenance of way, and “batteries” on Loomis.

When the Met “L” was built in the 1890s, they had to generate their own electric power, which they did via this massive power plant between Loomis and Throop. This map indicates that by 1917, the facility was co-owned by what is now Commonwealth Edison.

A close-up of the previous map. Note the Met had a “store house” east of the 1894 power plant.

The Met’s Throop Street Shops. The Met’s “L” station at Racine is also shown.

The Met’s Throop Street Shops are at left, and the Racine “L” station at right. Like Laflin and Halsted, it originally had two island platforms, and was reconfigured to the four side platforms you see here, in order to straighten out the tracks. This station was open from 1895 to 1954. It remained in use until Douglas Park “L” trains could be re-routed downtown via the Lake Street “L”.

The Met Main Line. From 1953-58, when the Garfield Park “L” ran on temporary trackage in part of Van Buren Street, it reconnected with the existing structure via a ramp near Aberdeen. The tracks you see here would have been at the very north end of the expressway footprint.

This section of the Met Main Line was not directly in the way of the Congress Expressway, although it was reduced from four tracks to two during the construction period. The two tracks to the south were removed. The “L” was very close to the highway at this point, though.

The Met Main Line. From 1953-58, the Garfield Park “L” ran on ground-level trackage in Van Buren Street. Douglas Park trains used the old Met structure until April 1954.

The Met Main Line had four tracks in this area, which were reduced down to two during the period from 1953-58. The Halsted “L” station was open from 1895 to 1958, when the new Congress rapid transit line opened in the adjacent expressway median. Many great photos were taken from the east end of the Halsted station, where you had a great view of a double curve.

Like Racine and Laflin, the Met’s Halsted “L” station originally had two island platforms, which meant there were sharp curves in the track at the ends of those platforms. This slowed down operations, so over a period of time leading up to 1914, those three stations were reconfigured. Halsted then had three platforms and the tracks were straightened. During the construction of the adjacent Congress Expressway in the mid-1950s, the two tracks to the south here were removed along with one of the three platforms. It was that close to the highway. However, the station itself remained in use by Garfield trains until the Congress line opened in 1958.

This map shows the Met’s Douglas Park branch heading south, and includes the Polk Street “L” station.

The Polk Street “L” station on the Douglas Park branch opened in 1896 and remains in use today by the CTA Pink Line. It was rebuilt in 1983.

This is the second West Side Park, home of the Chicago National League Ballclub from 1893 through 1915. They were not officially called the Cubs until the 1907 season. Starting in 1916, the Cubs vacated West Side Park in favor of what had been Weegham Park, which had been home to the Chicago Whales of the short-lived Federal League, now known as Wrigley Field. West Side Park was torn down in 1920. Home plate was located at the northwest corner, and it was 560 feet to center field, where there was a club house, somewhat in the manner of New York’s Polo Grounds and other early stadiums. Oftentimes, in those years, if there was a large crowd, fans stood in part of the outfield, as there were no seats there.

The Met’s Douglas Park “L” ran through this area, and is now the CTA Pink Line.

The Met’s Douglas Park “L” branch and the Roosevelt Road (formerly 12th Street) station.

The Roosevelt Road (formerly 12th Street) “L” station on the Metropolitan’s Douglas Park branch opened in 1896 and closed in 1952. In December 1951, the CTA turned it into a “partial service” station, where there was no ticket agent. You could enter the station by placing a token into a turnstyle. This experiment was short-lived, and the station was closed in May 1952.

This shows the Douglas Park “L”, today’s CTA Pink Line.

Sanborn Maps from 1906:

A key to the areas covered by this 1906 set of maps.

This map shows the Halsted station on the Lake Street “L”. It was open from 1893 until 1994. It closed during the two-year rehabilitation project for what is now the CTA Green Line and was eventually replaced by a new station at Morgan Street, which opened in 2012.

A close-up of the Halsted “L” station on the Lake Street line.

The Lake Street “L”.

The Lake Street “L” station at Canal. The “L” crosses the Chicago River here, and in 1906, there was a swing bridge which was eventually replaced. Swing bridges were a hazard to navigation.

The Canal Street “L” station on the Lake Street line opened in 1893 and was replaced by the Clinton station one block west in 1909.

The Lake Street “L” station at Canal.

North is to the left on this map, which shows a curve on the old Metropolitan “L” main line west of the Chicago River. This was part of a double curve east of Halsted Street.

The Met “L” Main Line.

The Met “L” Main Line near Clinton Street. Chicago renumbered many streets after this map was made in 1906. In 1911, the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy railroad built its headquarters at 547 W. Jackson, just to the north of the “L”. While the “L” here closed in 1958 and was removed soon after, that building remains and its shape was partially determined by the “L”. Note the Chicago Union Traction cable power house.

The Met “L” station at Canal Street. A new Union Station was built nearby and opened in 1925. The “L” station had a direct enclosed walkway to it, which was used by thousands of people each day.

The Met “L” station at Canal Street opened in 1895 and was rebuilt after a fire in 1922. The platform configuration remained the same, but a new headhouse was built, designed by Arthur U. Gerber. This station closed in 1958 when the new Congress rapid transit line opened nearby, which connected to the Milwaukee-Dearborn-Congress Subway.

The Met “L” crossed the tracks leading to Union Station at an angle, and also crossed the Chicago River this way.

North is to the left on this map, which shows the Met “L” curving a bit towards the north, just east of the Halsted station. Once the buildings surrounding the “L” were cleared away in the early 1950s, for construction of what is now the Kennedy Expressway, this became a favorite site for photographers looking to the east from the “L” station.

Recent Finds

For a minute, I thought this might be Chicago, but apparently not. There was a streetcar #6093 in Chicago, but not until 1914 and the beginnings of the CSL era. That’s not a CSL logo on the side of the car. And Route 9 here was Ashland, not something going to Exchange Depot, whatever that was. It might possibly be Philadelphia, as they had cars like these in a 6000-series (later converted to Peter Witts with the addition of a center door), and they were an early adopter of numbered routes. But there is also a strange logo on the side of the car that I do not recognize. Frank Hicks: “This is International Railway Company in Buffalo. It’s part of a series of 200 Nearside cars built for them by Kuhlman in 1912, a follow-on to their original order for Nearside cars from Brill in 1911.”

A close-up of the unusual logo on the side of the car.

An eastbound single-car Douglas Park train passes by the old Met “L” powerhouse and shops at Throop Street, built in 1894. William C. Hoffman took this picture on October 29, 1950. Work was already underway clearing buildings for construction of the Congress Expressway, today’s I-290 (aka the Eisenhower). The discoloration of the brick was caused by some sort of chemical leaching process.

A close-up of the previous picture, showing the 1894 construction date for the massive Met power house. The “L” opened the following year. The blue line through the date is actually a scratch on the original slide.

The view looking northwest from Congress and Racine on May 14, 1950, showing the old Met “L” power house, the Throop Street Shops, and a bit of the Racine station. (William C. Hoffman Photo)

The old Marshfield “L” station, or at least, the CA&E platform at that station, circa 1951. The red Pullman streetcar is running on Route 9 – Ashland, but here, is on Paulina one block west of Ashland. Streetcars could not run on boulevards, and Ashland was a boulevard between Lake Street and Roosevelt Road. Hence the diversion. A sign advertises the late Carol Channing in the stage version of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. The curving tracks are for the Douglas Park branch. This is where all the various Met “L”s diverged from each other, heading to the west, south, and north from here.

This duplicate slide did not come with any information, but I am wondering if this was taken from the old Met “L” looking to the north, which would mean the streetcar is on Van Buren. The Van Buren line was converted to bus in 1951 and the Garfield Park “L” was re-routed via temporary ground level tracks on Van Buren starting in 1953. Since the buildings around the “L” have been cleared away, that is further evidence that this is the Congress Expressway construction area. Michael Franklin has identified now this as Van Buren and Marshfield.

The same location today.

CTA 6025-6026 is ascending the ramp that brings the Ravenswood “L” up from ground level between Rockwell and Western Avenue. The date is September 30, 1951.

This picture looks north towards Tower 18 on the Loop “L” at Lake and Wells. Since a Douglas Park train is making a turn here, it must have been taken between 1954 and 1958, when that line ran downtown via the Lake Street “L”. As the Loop was uni-directional then, running counterclockwise, the train is coming towards us.

This is the Deerpath Avenue station on the North Shore Line’s Skokie Valley Route.

This is Glencoe on the North Shore Line’s Shore Line Route. The circular white sign would indicate this was a Central Electric Railfans’ Association fantrip, possibly just prior to the 1955 abandonment.

This is the Franklin Avenue station on the NYCTA-BMT Myrtle Avenue elevated in Brooklyn on June 14, 1958, with trolley bus 3039 running on Route 48 – Lorimer Street. Trolley buses were replaced by diesels in 1960, and the Myrtle Avenue El was closed on October 4, 1969. It was the last place on the New York system that used wooden cars. this was nearly 12 years after they were last used in Chicago. The El here opened in 1885, but the station you see here is not the original, but a more modern (and cheaply built) replacement. NY decided that upgrading this El would be too costly, so they got rid of it without replacement. Note the cool 1950s two-toned cars.

This is a view of the same location today. The building at left replaced the one shown in the 1958 picture some time after 2013. The other three buildings appear to be the same, with modifications.

The first photo shows the length of the ramp that connected the Lake Street “L” to the ground level portion west of Laramie. The cross street is Long Avenue (5400 W.), which means the incline ramp was exactly two blocks long. A current view of the same location follows. Streetcars ran on Lake Street until May 30, 1954 when they were replaced by buses. For a few blocks, they ran parallel to the ground level “L”, which was also powered by overhead wire. We are looking east.

The Racine “L” station on the Englewood branch on January 10, 1956.

This picture was taken on January 10, 1956, and shows the ground-level portion of the Lake Street “L” in Oak Park, just east of the Marion Street station. It was relocated to the Chicago & North Western embankment in 1962.

This would seem to be a view of the Quincy and Wells “L” station on the Loop on January 10,l 1956, looking north.

This is a view of the North Shore Line’s Harrison Street Shops in Milwaukee in the late 1950s, taken from an early Ektachrome slide that has unfortunately shifted to red. I did what I could to improve the color. Not sure which express motor car that is.

A colorized view of the old Loop “L” station at State and Van Buren, sometime prior to the end of cable car service in 1906, looking north. There is a picture of this station in 1959 in my book Chicago’s Lost “L”s. It closed in 1973 and by 1975 nearly all of it had been removed, except for a short segment of the platform. A new station opened here in 1997 to serve the new Harold Washington Library.

This view, looking north from the old Loop “L” station at State and Van Buren, dates to between 1952 and 1955. That seems to be prewar PCC 4051, painted in the new CTA colors, heading north. From 1955-56, the prewar cars ran on Western Avenue, but in this time frame, they were used on Route 4 – Cottage Grove.

Another slide I did not win… this one has a real small town feel. Johnstown Traction Electric Streetcar #356 Original Kodachrome Slide Processed by Kodak Oakhurst, Pennsylvania 27 July 1958 Photographer Credit: William D. Volkmer Bob Bresse-Rodenkirk adds: “356 is now at the Shore Line Trolley Museum in East Haven, CT along with Johnstown 357.”

Here is a slide I did not win. It shows two interurban cars on the Iowa Terminal in August 1967. Waterloo & Cedar Falls Northern 100 had just been restored, but unfortunately was destroyed in a fire a few months later. The fate of the North Shore Line box express motor car is less clear. The number seems to be 31, which was also destroyed in the same fire.

The Ravenswood terminal at Kimball and Lawrence in the mid-1950s. The occasion was probably a Sunday fantrip on wooden “L” cars. Since the Ravenswood only ran to Armitage on Sundays in those days (that was changed to Belmont after the North Shore Line quit), there were lots of opportunities to have leisurely photo stops, without interfering with regular service trains. There was also a much more lax attitude back then about having people near the 600 volt third rail.

Photos by John Engleman, Circa 1970

Work car M-454 in Pittsburgh. After it was taken out of regular service in the mid-1950s, it operated as a utility car for Pittsburgh Railways and was also used on some late 1960s fantrips. By 1973 it was sitting derelict on a siding and in sad shape, with its windows smashed, so I assume it has not survived. John Engleman: “The orange car is Pittsburgh Railways M454 on a fantrip somewhere on Pittsburgh’s North Side.” Larry Lovejoy adds: “Work car M454 on a fantrip in Pittsburgh in the early-1960s, inbound at the corner of California Avenue and Brighton Place. After it was taken out of regular passenger service in 1940, “highfloor” car 4115 it was converted into snowplow M454 by Pittsburgh Railways and was routinely used on fantrips during the 1960s. In derelict condition by the early 1970s, it was acquired by Pennsylvania Trolley Museum and scrapped for parts. M454 is survived by sister cars 4145 (nee snowplow M459) and tow-car M200 (nee snowplow M458, nee passenger car 4140), both in PTM’s collection.”

John Engleman: “The GG1 photos, judging by the time of day, are pulling the southbound Silver Star out of Baltimore’s Pennsylvania Station passing B&P Tower on its’ way to Washington. I was an operator at this tower (my favorite one) thus these are non-trespassing photos. I transferred to the B&O in May, 1971, so the GG1s at B&P Jct. were taken prior to that, sometime in 1970. Unfortunately no vegetation around to denote the season though.”

John Engleman: “The Metroliner is southbound at Middle River, Maryland, just east of Baltimore.”

John Engleman: “The single unit diesel and coach is all that was left of the Northern Central service at the time. It was a Washington-Harrisburg coach that reversed direction and changed locomotives in Baltimore, connecting to NY-Chicago and St. Louis trains at Harrisburg. We called it The Afternoon Ridiculous.”

John Engleman: “The 759 photos (without train) were taken in the Western Maryland Ry.’s Port Covington yard, currently being totally gentrified at the present time.”

John Engleman: “The Nickel Plate 759 photos (with train) were taken at Westport, an inner south Baltimore suburb. The MTA light rail line currently operates crossways where I was standing. The power station is BG&E’s Spring Garden substation. Looking forward along the train in the direction it is going one can see the Spring Garden Street trestle bridge, still in place but fire damaged and abandoned. The B&O South Baltimore Branch crosses the WM Ry. at grade looking in the direction the train (obviously a fantrip) is coming from. “

This photo is from one of the annual New Years Eve fantrips that used to take place on the Philadelphia streetcar system. John Engleman: “The SEPTA car is at Richmond & Westmoreland loop of the 15 & 60 lines.”

John Engleman: “The Baltimore Streetcar Museum photos appear to be taken on BSM’s opening day judging by the location of the streetcars. This was the first “end of the line”. The bus is Baltimore Transit 1096, the very first GM branded transit bus built (in 1945) and it is now in the BSM collection, although very unappreciated, and currently in quite unprotected storage pending a major amount of work eventually. The two gentlemen in the picture inside BSM’s carhouse are John Thomsen (L) and Henry Wells (R). This photo shows BSM’s first gift shop.”

Recent Correspondence

Larry Sakar writes:

I just found a great “Then and Now” of the The Milwaukee Electric Rapid Transit line at 35th St. The “Then” photo was taken by Don Ross (Don’s Depot) whom I know you know as do I and the “Now” photo was taken by me having not seen his. The “Then” picture shows a two-car train of 1100’s accelerating away from the 35th St. stop and going under the viaduct. That beam in Don’s photo is probably one of the railings from the steps that lead from the viaduct to the station down below. The steps are long gone but the abandoned right of way is still there.

When I first began photographing the abandoned r.o.w. ln Milwaukee in 1968 I thought it would be “cool” to snap a picture or two showing where the Rapid Transit line went beneath the 35th St. viaduct, so I took a chance and found a way to get down there. I made sure there were no WEPCO employees anywhere in the vicinity.

Don Ross worked for the Railway Express Agency, after working as a towerman for both the Milwaukee Road and the Chicago & North Western. When he worked for the C&NW, one of the towers he worked was Chase Avenue, situated within sight of Harrison St, shops. He said that when he worked a night shift he would see the sparks from the poles of the NSL interurbans. He also founded the National Railway Historical Society’s Milwaukee chapter.

Keep those cards and letters coming in, folks!

-David Sadowski

The Trolley Dodger On the Air

I recently appeared on the Dave Plier Show on WGN radio, to discuss Chicago’s Lost “L”s. You can hear that discussion here.

Our Latest Book, Now Available:

Chicago’s Lost “L”s

From the back cover:

Chicago’s system of elevated railways, known locally as the “L,” has run continuously since 1892 and, like the city, has never stood still. It helped neighborhoods grow, brought their increasingly diverse populations together, and gave the famous Loop its name. But today’s system has changed radically over the years. Chicago’s Lost “L”s tells the story of former lines such as Garfield Park, Humboldt Park, Kenwood, Stockyards, Normal Park, Westchester, and Niles Center. It was once possible to take high-speed trains on the L directly to Aurora, Elgin, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The L started out as four different companies, two starting out using steam engines instead of electricity. Eventually, all four came together via the Union Loop. The L is more than a way of getting around. Its trains are a place where people meet and interact. Some say the best way to experience the city is via the L, with its second-story view. Chicago’s Lost “L”s is virtually a “secret history” of Chicago, and this is your ticket. David Sadowski grew up riding the L all over the city. He is the author of Chicago Trolleys and Building Chicago’s Subways and runs the online Trolley Dodger blog.

The Images of America series celebrates the history of neighborhoods, towns, and cities across the country. Using archival photographs, each title presents the distinctive stories from the past that shape the character of the community today. Arcadia is proud to play a part in the preservation of local heritage, making history available to all.

Title Chicago’s Lost “L”s
Images of America
Author David Sadowski
Edition illustrated
Publisher Arcadia Publishing (SC), 2021
ISBN 1467100007, 9781467100007
Length 128 pages

Chapters:
01. The South Side “L”
02. The Lake Street “L”
03. The Metropolitan “L”
04. The Northwestern “L”
05. The Union Loop
06. Lost Equipment
07. Lost Interurbans
08. Lost Terminals
09. Lost… and Found

Each copy purchased here will be signed by the author, and you will also receive a bonus facsimile of a 1926 Chicago Rapid Transit Company map, with interesting facts about the “L” on the reverse side.

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

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NEW DVD:

A Tribute to the North Shore Line

To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the demise of the fabled North Shore Line interurban in January 2013, Jeffrey L. Wien and Bradley Criss made a very thorough and professional video presentation, covering the entire route between Chicago and Milwaukee and then some. Sadly, both men are gone now, but their work remains, making this video a tribute to them, as much as it is a tribute to the Chicago North Shore & Milwaukee.

Jeff drew on his own vast collections of movie films, both his own and others such as the late William C. Hoffman, wrote and gave the narration. Bradley acted as video editor, and added authentic sound effects from archival recordings of the North Shore Line.

It was always Jeff’s intention to make this video available to the public, but unfortunately, this did not happen in his lifetime. Now, as the caretakers of Jeff’s railfan legacy, we are proud to offer this excellent two-hour program to you for the first time. The result is a fitting tribute to what Jeff called his “Perpetual Adoration,” which was the name of a stop on the interurban.

Jeff was a wholehearted supporter of our activities, and the proceeds from the sale of this disc will help defray some of the expenses of keeping the Trolley Dodger web site going.

Total time – 121:22

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Price: $19.99 (Includes shipping within the United States)

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Loose Ends

February 2, 2021February 14, 2021David Sadowski 20 Comments

CTA 7156 heads south on Broadway at Lawrence in Uptown on February 15, 1957, the last day of streetcar service on Broadway. The film Giant, starring James Dean, Rock Hudson, and Elizabeth Taylor, opened in the US on November 24, 1956, and was playing at the Uptown. You can see the Green Mill lounge a bit south of the Uptown. The Riviera Theater would be just out of view to the left here. A version of this image, taken from a duplicate slide, appears on page 244 of B-146, mistakenly credited to Charles L. Tauscher. (Robert Heinlein Photo)

Life is full of loose ends, and so is this post. Let’s see if we can tie a few up.

Most of what you see in this post is a tribute to Robert Heinlein and the late Jeffrey L. Wien. I spent a lot of time working on these images, because I wanted to give these gentlemen a 100% effort.

There were several slides that I scanned last year for Jeff, that I had not yet had a chance to work over in Photoshop at the time of his passing on January 6th. These were 35mm color slides he had purchased on eBay, to fill in holes in his collection. In his later years, he took great pleasure in buying images that he had not been able to take himself.

Jeff had told me on a number of occasions that I was free to post anything here from his vast collection. So I am sure he would not mind that I share these with you now, after I made them look better. In fact, I think he would be glad I followed through on this. Perhaps the best tribute I can give my friend is to continue the work of historic preservation, which meant so much to him.

Publication of CERA Bulletin 146, Chicago Streetcar Pictorial: The PCC Car Era, 1936-1958 in 2015 inadvertently created another loose end. Jeff had some duplicate slides he had acquired in 1959, several of which were used in the book. He was certain that these were pictures taken by Charles Tauscher, and this included the photo on the book’s front cover, showing a Clark-Wentworth PCC passing by Wrigley Field.

While we were working on the book, Jeff bought Tauscher’s photo collection, and was disappointed when the originals of these slides did not turn up there (although many other excellent slides did– Tauscher was a great photographer in his own right).

After the book came out, we found out the duplicate slides in question had actually been shot by Bob Heinlein. In 2016, Bob loaned us his original red border Kodachrome slides, so we could set the historical record straight. Now you can see them too, and we can finally give credit where credit is due. It seems an even dozen of these were used in B-146, but the ones that weren’t are every bit as good.

The 24 pictures of Bob’s that are here were all taken between October 1956 and September 1957, and nearly all on the north side of Chicago. By then, the only remaining streetcar lines in the city were Clark-Wentworth and Broadway. Western was replaced by buses a few months before Bob started taking these pictures.

Broadway had been de-coupled from its southerly half (State) in December 1955. Clark and Broadway shared a car barn (Devon) and a portion of their route south of Diversey, so their fates were tied together. By the end of 1957, there were no more north side streetcars, and the last remaining line (Wentworth) only made it until June 21, 1958, when 7213 became the last Chicago streetcar.

In our last post, we featured an extensive article about the Metropolitan West Side Elevated from an 1895 issue of Leslie’s Weekly. After I purchased the magazine, it took 35 days for it to show up. It spent some time, no doubt, buried in a USPS distribution center in December, probably at the bottom of the pile.

Because of the delay, the seller graciously offered to send me an 1894 Leslie’s with another article about the Chicago elevated. He did, but it turns out the article is not about the “L”, but actually details the start of the grade separation movement of steam railroads in the Chicago area, which is another subject I am interested in. You can read it here, from the September 20, 1894 issue of Leslie’s Weekly.

In addition, we have some new recent photo finds of our own. One of these was also a “loose end.” I recently received the negative of CTA streetcar 1743 downtown. I didn’t recall buying this recently. Then, I looked at the postmark on the envelope– June 15, 2020! Turns out I did buy this, and had forgotten all about it. Chances are, the envelope was put into the wrong PO Box by mistake, and whoever owns that box doesn’t regularly check their mail. But all’s well that ends well.

There are a couple of pictures from the collections of John Smatlak. We thank him for sharing these with our readers.

We are grateful for all our contributors. Keep those cards and letters coming in, folks!

-David Sadowski

Our Annual Fundraiser

We thank our readers for making 2020 our most successful yet, with 133,246 page views, surpassing our previous record of 2016, and a 30% increase over the previous year. Each January, we ask our readers to help defray the expenses involved with file storage, web hosting, domain registration and other overhead, the “nuts and bolts” things that make this blog possible. Fortunately, thanks to all of you, we have have received $705 to date, meeting our original goal. Additional donations are always welcome, and will be used to purchase more classic images for this site. If you enjoy what you see here, and would like it to continue, please consider making a donation by clicking on this link, or the one at the top or bottom of this post.

We thank you in advance for your time, consideration, and your generous support.

Robert Heinlein’s Chicago PCCs:

Wouldn’t you just know it? Without even realizing it I am sure, someone walked right into Bob Heinlein’s shot in this September 1957 view of CTA PCC 4390 (which would end up being one of the last cars used in June 1958). What to do, but wait for another car to come along, and take another picture (see Heinlein008).

Although signed for the south portion of Route 36, which was replaced by buses in December 1955, PCC 4406 is actually on Clark and 16th Streets. Since 4406 was used (along with red car 225) on a fantrip on October 21, 1956, my guess is this picture was taken on that day. It was common practice to put incorrect signs up on trips, although on most of the pictures I have seen from that trip, it says “Chartered.” (Robert Heinlein Photo)

In September 1957, CTA 7160 passes by the Rainbo building at left, located in the 4800 block of north Clark Street. A skating rink opened there that year. To the right, you see St. Boniface Catholic Cemetery. We are looking north. A version of this image, taken from a duplicate slide, appears on page 162 of B-146, where it was incorrectly credited to Charles L. Tauscher. (Robert Heinlein Photo)

CTA 7211, still in its original paint scheme, heads south at Clark Street and Irving Park Road in September 1957, near the entrance to Graceland Cemetery. A version of this image, taken from a duplicate slide, appears on page 164 of B-146, where it was incorrectly attributed to Charles L. Tauscher. (Robert Heinlein Photo)

CTA 7149, signed for Clark and Schreiber (Devon Station). Note that the route number is 22 with a red slash through it. (Robert Heinlein Photo)

CTA 7222 by Wrigley Field (Clark and Addison) in July 1957. This picture appears twice in CERA B-146, on the cover and on pages 134 and 167, taken from a duplicate slide. On page 167, it is incorrectly attributed to Charles L. Tauscher. This is the original Red Border Kodachrome. (Robert Heinlein Photo)

CTA 7164 is northbound on Clark at Addison in July 1957, crossing the Milwaukee Road tracks near Wrigley Field. A version of this photo, taken from a duplicate slide, appears on page 166 of B-146, incorrectly attributed to Charles L. Tauscher. (Robert Heinlein Photo)

In September 1957, CTA PCCs 7220 and 7211 pass each other on Clark Street at Delaware near the Newberry Library and Washington Square Park, also known locally as “Bughouse Square.” A version of this image, taken from a duplicate slide, appears on page 181 of B-146, mistakenly attributed to Charles L. Tauscher. (Robert Heinlein Photo)

CTA 7200 is turning south from Devon onto Broadway in 1957. (Robert Heinlein Photo)

CTA 7190 heads south on State Street, crossing the Chicago River. Work on the new Chicago Sun-Times building is well underway. It opened in 1958. The following years, Field Enterprises bought the Daily News, and this building became its headquarters as well. It is now the site of the Trump International Hotel and Tower. (Robert Heinlein Photo)

CTA 7178 heads south on Clark Street near Wrigley Field in September 1957. The Milwaukee Road railroad tracks running by the ballpark were used for freight and connected with the CTA “L” just north of Irving Park Road. A version of this image, taken from a duplicate slide, appears on page 166 of B-146, where it is incorrectly attributed to Charles L. Tauscher. (Robert Heinlein Photo)

CTA 7190 at Clark and Seminary by Wrigley Field in July 1957. The “coke” advertised here wasn’t Coca-Cola, but coal, used for heating homes and businesses then, but phased out soon afterwards. A version of this image, taken from a duplicate slide, appears on page 167 of B-146, incorrectly attributed to Charles L. Tauscher. (Robert Heinlein Photo)

CTA 7189 is southbound on Clark Street just south of Irving Park Road in July 1957. The Wunders Cemetery is at right. A version of this image, taken from a duplicate slide, appears on page 165 of B-146, where it is incorrectly attributed to Charles L. Tauscher. (Robert Heinlein Photo)

CTA 7191 passing by Wrigley Field. (Robert Heinlein Photo)

CTA 7214 heads south on Route 22 – Clark-Wentworth. Since the Cubs were in the middle of a home stand, the date may very well have been September 4, 1957. The Cubbies would lose two of their three next games to the Cincinnati Redlegs (“Reds” was apparently too sensitive a name politically then) on their way to finishing the season with a record of 62 wins, 92 losses, and 2 ties. (Robert Heinlein Photo)

CTA 7180 is southbound on Clark Street, passing by the coal company that was once located next to Wrigley Field. You get a good view of the Milwaukee Road freight tracks, since abandoned, that headed north of here. This was once part of a line that offered commuter rail service on the north side. The portion north of Wilson Avenue was taken over by the “L” in the early 1900s. Originally known as the Evanston Extension, it was gradually elevated as well. (Robert Heinlein Photo)

CTA 7151 is southbound at Clark Street and Chicago Avenue, passing by what is now the former Cosmopolitan Bank Building, designed by the firm of Schmidt, Garden & Martin and built in 1920. The northern portion of the building was a 1930 addition, and was redone in 1995, in a style matching the original portion. (Robert Heinlein Photo)

CTA 7193 is northbound on Clark, just north of Ridge, at around 5961 N. Clark in July 1957. A version of this image, taken from a duplicate slide, was incorrectly credited to Charles L. Tauscher on page 158 of B-146. (Robert Heinlein Photo)

CTA 7192 at Kinzie and Dearborn in 1957. (Robert Heinlein Photo)

I was curious about this car, shown in the previous photo, so I posted it to a Facebook group devoted to 1955-56 Packards and asked, “Is this a Packard?” Apparently, it is a 1956 Clipper, produced and sold by Packard. For that year and that year only, it was its own separate brand and not branded as a Packard. But I think you would be forgiven for calling it a 1956 Packard Clipper Constellation.

The 1956 Clipper Constellation, made by Packard. From what I have read, there may only be one place, somewhere on the trunk, that identifies this as a Packard. They tried to make it a brand of its own, just for this one year. Packard merged with Studebaker, and the final two years of Packards (1957-58) were rebranded Studebakers. 1956 was the last year that Packard built its own cars.

CTA 7138 at Schreiber and Ravenswood, near Devon Station. (Robert Heinlein Photo)

CTA 7171 is northbound on Clark Street, passing Wrigley Field. (Robert Heinlein Photo)

CTA 7162 is southbound on Clark Street at LaSalle Drive in September 1957. A version of this photo, taken from a duplicate slide, appears on page 177 of B-146, mistakenly credited to Charles L. Tauscher. (Robert Heinlein Photo)

CTA 7163 is southbound at Clark, Halsted, and Barry in July 1957. A version of this photo, taken from a duplicate slide, appears on page 170 of B-146, mistakenly credited to Charles L. Tauscher. (Robert Heinlein Photo)

From the Wien-Criss Archive:

The North Shore Line’s Libertyville station on the Mundelein branch in January 1963. (Wien-Criss Archive)

NJ Transit car 6 on the Newark City Subway in July 1975. After the PCCs were replaced in 2001, this car went to the Rockhill Trolley Museum. Sister car #4 (ex-Twin Cities Rapid Transit) is now at the Illinois Railway Museum. (Wien-Criss Archive)

CTA 2554 on a westbound Douglas-Milwaukee B-train between Jefferson Park and Montrose on August 17, 1978. (Wien-Criss Archive)

Chicago North Shore & Milwaukee 764 heads up a train at North Chicago Junction on January 16, 1960. (William D. Volkmer Photo, Wien-Criss Archive)

This is the “before” version of the following slide, the raw scan prior to my working it over in Photoshop.

A North Shore Line employee’s shanty at the Milwaukee Terminal on June 17, 1962. “Cream City” is a nickname for Milwaukee. I believe a fantrip was held on that day, which helps explain the photographer at left. (Wien-Criss Archive)

The North Shore Line’s Woodridge station in August 1962. This was one of several 1920s-era stations designed in “Insull Spanish.” Only two such stations exist today, one of which is Beverly Shores on the South Shore Line. The Woodridge station was demolished after the North Shore Line shut down in 1963. (Wien-Criss Archive)

North Shore Line 714 heads up a northbound train at Loyola on July 13, 1955. Car 714 is now at the Illinois Railway Museum. (Wien-Criss Archive)

A North Shore Line train on the Shore Line Route is southbound in Winnetka in September 1954. This section was grade-separated in 1940, along with the adjacent Chicago & North Western tracks, following a series of pedestrian accidents. Harold L. Ickes, Secretary of the Interior under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, approved Federal aid that paid for part of this work, in a similar fashion to Chicago’s Initial System of Subways. Ickes had lived in the area for many years. The train is moving towards the photographer, and the front is blurred due to the shutter speed that had to be used, in the days when Kodachrome was ISO 10. (Wien-Criss Archive)

One of the two Electroliners crosses the North Shore Channel on October 21, 1950. After the abandonment of the North Shore Line in 1963, this became part of the route of the CTA Skokie Swift, today’s Yellow Line. This is near the border between Skokie and Evanston. (Wien-Criss Archive)

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

Chicago South Shore and South Bend 23 is at the head of a westbound train at Miller, Indiana on October 1, 1990. (Bill McCoy Photo, Wien-Criss Archive)

Although this picture was originally identified as Franklin Street, north of the Loop, it’s actually at 8th Street, south of the Loop. The clue is the Big 4 Advertising carriers storefront, which was located at 26 E. 8th Street. Thanks to John Suhayda for pointing this out. The head North Shore Line car is 420, and this photo was taken by Robert F. Collins on June 2, 1960. (Wien-Criss Archive)

North Shore Line 727 and 729 are northbound at Belmont on the CTA north side “L” on May 20, 1962. Don’s Rail Photos: “727 was built by Cincinnati Car Co in 1926, #2890. It was modernized in 1939 and sold to Iowa Chapter, National Railway Historical Society in 1963. It became Iowa Terminal RR 102 in 1967 and acquired by Iowa Trolley Museum in 1987. It was restored to some extent as CNS&M 727 and apparently returned to Iowa Terminal RR.” (Wien-Criss Archive) John Nicholson: “Off to the right behind the “L” structure Benty Hobby Supplies was still a going concern. I remember it still being in operation into the early 1980s right around the time I moved into the Lake View neighborhood. Now hobby shops are becoming as scarce as interurbans.”

North Shore Line Silverliners 770, 738, and 767 just north of Wilson Avenue on June 2, 1962. This is probably a “substitute Liner,” meaning they were temporarily taking the place of an Electroliner when one of that pair was being serviced. (Wien-Criss Archive) John Nicholson adds: “I noticed you referred to the three Silverliners pictured just north of Wilson (taken On Saturday, June 2, 1962) as a possible “substitute Electroliner.” The latest ruling from the recently-departed Mr. Horaheck was that “substitute Electroliner” is incorrect. The correct term should be “equipment substituting for a shopped Electroliner.” Since the train did not have No. 415 in the consist, it was probably just a three-car train of Silverliners.”

North Shore Line car 754 gets a bath at the Milwaukee Terminal on May 14, 1961. (Gordon E. Lloyd Photo, Wien-Criss Archive)

North Shore Line car 758 is at the rear of a northbound train at Dempster Street in Skokie in August 1962. This is now where the CTA Yellow Line ends, and the historic station building has been moved a short distance away, but has been restored. (Wien-Criss Archive)

This Seabord Coast Line streamlined diesel train #4900 was built in 1936 by St. Louis Car Company, and was an obvious influence on the design of the North Shore Line Electroliners, built five years later, The 4900 was scrapped in 1971 after Amtrak took over intercity passenger rail service. It is shown here in August 1969 and was originally Seaboard Air Line 2028. Like the Electroliners, it was one of a pair. (Wien-Criss Archive)

Pennsylvania Railroad steam train 612 at the Parkway overpass, Sea Girt, NJ, October 20, 1957. #612 was a K-4S (4-6-2) “Pacific” built in Juniata during 1917 and retired in April 1958. (Wien-Criss Archive)

Atlantic City Brilliner 205 on December 28, 1955. From www.nycsubway.org: "The third electrified service in Atlantic City lasted longer than the others and it was a streetcar line that made its way from a place called The Inlet at the north end of Atlantic City and operated largely along the city's major thoroughfare, Atlantic Avenue, southward and through the communities of Ventnor, Margate and Longport. Owned and operated by the Atlantic City Transportation Company, this service was distinctive, during its final decade-and-a-half, in that its basic fleet of cars consisted in twenty-five streamlined Brilliners, the Philadelphia-based Brill Company's competitive answer to the PCC car. Other properties purchased small fleets of similar Brilliners, but only in Atlantic City did this unique car serve as the basic rolling stock of a transit system. Until the very end of streetcar service in December of 1955, the Brilliners were supplemented by a small number of conventional Hog Island cars." So, this picture was taken just off the Boardwalk at The Inlet, near Captain Starn's Restaurant and Yacht Bar, one of the most famous seafood eateries in America in the 1940s, 50s, and 60s. It opened in 1940 and closed in 1979. This was part of a complex offering sailboat rides, speedboats, a fish market, and sea lions. It was featured in the 1972 film The King of Marvin Gardens. (Wien-Criss Archive)

Atlantic City Brilliner 205 on December 28, 1955. From http://www.nycsubway.org: “The third electrified service in Atlantic City lasted longer than the others and it was a streetcar line that made its way from a place called The Inlet at the north end of Atlantic City and operated largely along the city’s major thoroughfare, Atlantic Avenue, southward and through the communities of Ventnor, Margate and Longport. Owned and operated by the Atlantic City Transportation Company, this service was distinctive, during its final decade-and-a-half, in that its basic fleet of cars consisted in twenty-five streamlined Brilliners, the Philadelphia-based Brill Company’s competitive answer to the PCC car. Other properties purchased small fleets of similar Brilliners, but only in Atlantic City did this unique car serve as the basic rolling stock of a transit system. Until the very end of streetcar service in December of 1955, the Brilliners were supplemented by a small number of conventional Hog Island cars.” So, this picture was taken just off the Boardwalk at The Inlet, near Captain Starn’s Restaurant and Yacht Bar, one of the most famous seafood eateries in America in the 1940s, 50s, and 60s. It opened in 1940 and closed in 1979. This was part of a complex offering sailboat rides, speedboats, a fish market, and sea lions. It was featured in the 1972 film The King of Marvin Gardens. (Wien-Criss Archive)

Here is a video, with some shots of the Atlantic City Brilliners (built 1938-39), with their distinctive “tavern” doors (starts at about 9:38):

Baltimore Transit Company Brilliner 7501 on the Eastern Avenue route. It was built on December 19, 1938. Jeff was actually in Baltimore on the last day of streetcar service on November 3, 1963. Light rail transit returned to the Baltimore area in 1992. (Wien-Criss Archive)

Philadelphia Transportation Company Brilliner 2023 is north of Olney Avenue in May 1953, on a fantrip. Don’s Rail Photos: “2023 was built by Brill Car Co in April 1939, #23763-006. It was scrapped in August 1956.” Brill had been part of the group that developed the PCC car, but refused to pay patent royalties to other companies and dropped out, preferring to go their own way. It was a fatal mistake. By the time Brill introduced their PCC-lookalike, the Brilliner, in 1938, St. Louis Car Company had the PCC market sewed up, and Brill’s was viewed as an inferior product in some ways. Hence, few were sold– one to Philadelphia, one to Baltimore, 24 to Atlantic City, and 10 to Red Arrow. Brill made its last streetcar in 1941. (Wien-Criss Archive)

Philadelphia Transportation Company 6213 was known as a Nearside Peter Witt car. Here is an explanation from http://www.ectma.org/nearside.html : “The 1500 Nearside Cars represented the largest single group of cars in Philadelphia until 1948. They were aquired in five orders between 1911 and 1913 and were numbered 6000 – 7499. As originally built they had only a single double door in the front and a conductor’s booth immediately behind the motorman. A small rear door existed for emergency use only. Previous practice with double end cars was for the car to stop at the far side of intersections so passengers could board the rear platform where the conductor was stationed. The name “Nearside” derives from the fact that these new single end cars stopped for passengers at the near side of each intersection. The double door was arranged with the front leaves opening in for incoming passengers and the rear leaves opening out for exiting passengers. Between 1919 and 1921 to solve the “muzzle loading” problem, 1160 of the 1500 cars were equipped with center doors and the “Peter Witt” fare collection system with the conductor stationed in the middle of the car.” 6213 is on Route 15 – Girard Avenue, which still has a streetcar line, which is currently on hiatus while its small fleet of PCC II cars are being rebuilt. This is from a “half frame” slide. Half frame had a brief fad in the 1950s as a way to double the number of pictures on a roll, but it also had half the film area of 35mm, and therefore wasn’t as sharp. The slide mount gives the location as “Richmond Street near the Ship Yards.” This would be on the eastern portion of the line. This type of streetcar was retired here in 1957. (Wien-Criss Archive)

Atlantic City Brilliner 218. The movie poster advertises Welcome Stranger, a film starring Bing Crosby, John Garfield, and Barry Fitzgerald, released in June 1947, which may help date this photo. (Wien-Criss Archive)

Philadelphia Transportation Company Brilliner 2023 is on a charter trip at Chelten and Yorr Roads. There is a notation on this half-frame slide of “Route 52.” The Brilliner was scrapped in August 1956, so this must be before then. (Wien-Criss Archive)

Recent Finds

FYI, someone has based a painting on a picture from my blog: “A dramatic art illustration of a CTA Rapid Transit train on the Logan Square line at Damen in 1970. Illustration ©2021 Glenn Galen” The original photo is from our post Thankful (November 24, 2020). If you are interested in purchasing prints of his work, go here.

This is a real photo postcard I recently bought. Chicago Surface Lines 6031 was built by Brill in July 1914. The State line was originally numbered 34 by CSL, for internal accounting purposes. When merged with Broadway in 1937, it became Route 36 – Broadway-State. Dewey, I think, was later renamed Schubert Avenue, and is a short street located at 2720 North. So Clark and Dewey would be just south of Diversey. I got rid of some of the scratches via Photoshop.

A three car train of northbound CTA woods on the Evanston Express in August 1957, just a few short months before the last of the woods was retired from regular service. Since the train is using third rail, and there are four tracks, this is somewhere south of Evanston.

I can read the sign on the right (Evanston Wilmette via L) but I wonder what the sign in the middle says?

The CTA Linden Avenue Yard in Wilmette in July 1957. We see 5000s, 6000s, and wood cars present. To the left is where the North Shore Line’s Shore Line Route continued north until the 1955 abandonment.

This photo of a pair of Philadelphia streetcars has to be from the 1940s, since Birney car #1 is present, along with 8471. The occasion was a fantrip. From the original red border Kodachrome. (Charles R. Houser, Sr. Photo)

Chicago & West Towns Railways streetcar 160 on Hillgrove Avenue at Brainard Avenue in the 1940s. This was the end of the long LaGrange line, which also served the Brookfield Zoo and had some private right-of-way.

NSL 725 at the Mundelein Terminal, which resembled the Dempster Street station in Skokie. Don’s Rail Photos: “725 was built by Cincinnati Car Co in 1926, (order) #2890. It was modernized in 1939.”

NSL 710 at Libertyville on the Mundelein branch. Don’s Rail Photos: “710 was built by Cincinnati Car Co in 1924, (order) #2725. It was purchased by American Museum of Electricity in 1963 and resold to Connecticut Trolley Museum in 1972.”

A North Shore Line Electroliner… at North Chicago Junction?

CTA Lake Street car 1743 is turning north at Randolph and Franklin on April 18, 1953.

A sign on the “L” station at Randolph and Wells, from the previous photo.

Red Arrow (Philadelphia & West Chester Traction) car 78 in Media on December 2, 1935. This car was built circa 1931-32 by Brill and is known as a “Master Unit.” It is now at the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum in Washington, PA.

Chicago Rapid Transit “Baldy” 4000’s SB at Armitage about to plunge into the subway. No date, but guessing mid-1940’s based on the presence of the tower that was built here when the subway opened (you can see the tower roof at left above the platform canopy). (John Smatlak Collection)

A two-car train of CTA woods makes a fantrip stop in the 1950s at the ground-level Buena Yard, which was an interchange point for freight between the “L” and the Milwaukee Road up until 1973. Under the “L”, you can see remnants of the former Buena station, which closed in 1949. In the distance, there is a ramp leading up to the “L”. This site is now the location of Challenger Park. (John Smatlak Collection)

I recently bought this real photo postcard, circa 1910. This is how it looked before restoration. I think the developer was not properly fixed when this was made 110 years ago, so the image has faded and may continue to do so in the future. This is the Metropolitan West Side Elevated crossing the Chicago River, not the Northwestern “L”. But perhaps the “N. W.” refers to Met trains that went to Humboldt Park and Logan Square.

The same image after restoration in Photoshop.

A close-up shows the train was probably stopped when this picture was taken.

I recently purchased a CRT map (current as of July 7, 1925), and this useful bit of history, facts, and figures was on the back.

I spent some time cleaning up this map in Photoshop today. I think it’s interesting and a bit unusual, in that is also shows the North Shore Line stops on 63rd Street (service was eventually cut back to Roosevelt Road). When my new book Chicago’s Lost “L”s comes out, I think I will include a facsimile of this map, and the historical information on the backside, with every copy purchased directly from me.

Someone on Facebook recently asked when the CTA added the “Metropolitan Transit” banner to its logo. The answer, courtesy of the CTA Transit News, is May 1958.

Erie Lackawanna 3442 at Hoboken on September 2, 1964, looking pretty spiffy, and much better than the other car in the next photo, taken 18 years later, near the end of its service life. (Dick Ganger Photo)

Erie Lackawanna coach 3515 at Hoboken, NJ on August 7, 1982. It was built by Pullman in 1930.

From the September 20, 1894 Leslie’s Weekly. There is a link to the article “Track Elevation in Chicago” in the introduction to this post.

South Shore Line freight loco 707. Don’s Rail Photos: “707 was built by Alco-General Electric in June 1931, #68270, 11193, as NYC 1242, Class R-2. It was renumbered 342 in August 1936. In July 1967 it was rebuilt as CSS&SB 707. It was scrapped in April 1976.”

A classic winter scene, with South Shore Line 103 at the helm.

South Shore Line “Little Joe” freight loco 803 in Michigan City.

South Shore Line 108 in Michigan City.

South Shore Line 101 heads up a two-car train in Michigan City.

South Shore Line 110 and train running on the street in Michigan City.

South Shore Line car 100 and freight loco 706 are identifiable in this scene that I assume is Michigan City.

South Shore Line caboose 1056.

I assume this is the South Shore yards at Michigan City.

South Shore Line car 7 in downtown Chicago.

South Shore Line car 38.

You would be forgiven for thinking that this picture of South Shore freight running down a busy street could have been taken in East Chicago, Indiana, due to the double track seen here. But comparison with other photos proves this is 11th and Franklin in Michigan City, looking west, with a bit of the South Shore Line depot visible. As for the date, I am going to say this could be 1947, since Indiana license plates were yellow that year, and appear to be a lighter color than some years that followed. There were two tracks for a stretch near the station at that time.

It might help date the picture if I can figure out what year and model this car is. It definitely looks postwar, however.

This picture, from one of our previous posts, was taken at the same location, around the same time:

The way to distinguish South Shore Line street running photos from one city to another usually includes counting the number of tracks. Only East Chicago was double tracked. However, this is Michigan City, as there are two tracks for a short distance near the station seen at rear, since many runs begin and end here. This picture, showing car 105 and train, was taken on August 6, 1948. The station building still exists but is no longer in use.

The same location today.

TMER&L 915.

TMER&L 917.

I unfortunately did not win the auction for this negative from 1961, but it does at least show that steam actually did operate over the new B&OCT tracks that were relocated next to I-290, the Eisenhower Expressway (during an excursion). Who knew? The loco is Grand Trunk Western #5629. The location is in Forest Park, just west of Circle Avenue (the bridge in the distance, with an auxiliary entrance to the CTA Congress median rapid transit line).

New Steam Audio CD:

FYI, we have digitally remastered another classic steam railroad audio LP to Compact Disc. Many additional titles, including the complete output of the Railroad Record Club, in our Online Store.

STEAM CDs:

RGTS
Rio Grande to Silverton:
A Sound Portrait of Mountain Railroading
Price: $14.99

These are vintage 1960 narrow gauge steam train recordings, in true stereo, and originally released on LP in 1961. It is long out of print.
Includes:
01. Riding The Train To Silverton
02. Photo Run At Elk Park
03. Arriving At Silverton
04. Train Time At La Jara
05. Illini Special At Cumbres Pass
06. Doubleheader Starting At Monero
07. Eastbound Freight
08. Arriving At Chama
09. Whistles At Coxo
10. Freight With Pusher At Coxo

Gone are the nostalgic sounds of steam echoes and thundering exhausts, but the memory is immortal. May they live on in the locomotive lexicon, as a monument to the era when trains were pulled by STEAM POWER.

As with all of our recordings, this CD comes with the complete, original liner notes.

Total time – 45:49

The Trolley Dodger On the Air
We appeared on WGN radio in Chicago in November 2018, discussing our book Building Chicago’s Subways on the Dave Plier Show. You can hear our 19-minute conversation here.

Chicago, Illinois, December 17, 1938– Secretary Harold Ickes, left, and Mayor Edward J. Kelly turn the first spadeful of earth to start the new $40,000,000 subway project. Many thousands gathered to celebrate the starting of work on the subway.
Order Our New Book Building Chicago’s Subways

There were three subway anniversaries in 2018 in Chicago:
60 years since the West Side Subway opened (June 22, 1958)
75 years since the State Street Subway opened (October 17, 1943)
80 years since subway construction started (December 17, 1938)
To commemorate these anniversaries, we have written a new book, Building Chicago’s Subways. While the elevated Chicago Loop is justly famous as a symbol of the city, the fascinating history of its subways is less well known. The City of Chicago broke ground on what would become the “Initial System of Subways” during the Great Depression and finished 20 years later. This gigantic construction project, a part of the New Deal, would overcome many obstacles while tunneling through Chicago’s soft blue clay, under congested downtown streets, and even beneath the mighty Chicago River. Chicago’s first rapid transit subway opened in 1943 after decades of wrangling over routes, financing, and logistics. It grew to encompass the State Street, Dearborn-Milwaukee, and West Side Subways, with the latter modernizing the old Garfield Park “L” into the median of Chicago’s first expressway. Take a trip underground and see how Chicago’s “I Will” spirit overcame challenges and persevered to help with the successful building of the subways that move millions. Building Chicago’s subways was national news and a matter of considerable civic pride–making it a “Second City” no more!

Bibliographic information:
Title Building Chicago’s Subways
Images of America
Author David Sadowski
Edition illustrated
Publisher Arcadia Publishing (SC), 2018
ISBN 1467129380, 9781467129381
Length 128 pages
Chapter Titles:
01. The River Tunnels
02. The Freight Tunnels
03. Make No Little Plans
04. The State Street Subway
05. The Dearborn-Milwaukee Subway
06. Displaced
07. Death of an Interurban
08. The Last Street Railway
09. Subways and Superhighways
10. Subways Since 1960
Building Chicago’s Subways is in stock and now available for immediate shipment. Order your copy today! All copies purchased through The Trolley Dodger will be signed by the author.
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Redone tile at the Monroe and Dearborn CTA Blue Line subway station, showing how an original sign was incorporated into a newer design, May 25, 2018. (David Sadowski Photo)
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From the Collections of Bill Shapotkin

August 16, 2018August 20, 2018David Sadowski 6 Comments

On August 13, 1971 Chicago Rock Island & Pacific #303 and 125 are backing into Blue Island (Burr Oak) yard. Bill Shapotkin adds, “The train is a ROCK Mainline Suburban train (if it had operated via Beverly, it would be west of the depot (to left).”

Today, we feature more classic photos of buses, trolleys, and trains, courtesy of Bill Shapotkin, long a friend of this blog. Mr. Shapotkin should be well-known to many of you from his longtime activities as a transit historian, author, and the many informative programs he has given over the years.

Today’s sampling from the Shapotkin Collection includes some rare pictures of Chicago & North Western RDCs (Budd Rail Diesel Cars), which were self-propelled and ran in Chicago area commuter train service for a short period of time in the 1950s. They replaced steam-powered trains and were in turn replaced by the familiar push-pull diesel bi-levels still in use today.

In addition, there are several pictures of Grand Central Station, a Chicago landmark in use between 1890 and 1969, which was torn down in 1971. We have some interesting correspondence, plus some new images of our own.

Enjoy!

-David Sadowski

PS- We have done our part to make these old images look as good as they possibly can. The C&NW RDC pictures were all shot around 1956 on early Ektachrome film, whose dyes turned out to be unstable and quickly shifted to red. (Technically, the red layer was relatively stable, while the green and blue layers faded.)

It used to be some people thought these sorts of images were only suitable for use as black-and-whites. But with modern technology, it is possible, to some extent, to bring back the original colors. This was easier to do on some than others, but the results look much better than you might expect. If you have ever seen one of these early red Ektachromes, you will know what I mean. Modern films are much more stable and resistant to dye fading.

I would be remiss without mentioning Bill has been involved for many years with the annual Hoosier Traction meet, which takes place in September:

It is that time of year again — the 35th annual gathering of the Hoosier Traction Meet is being held Fri-Sat, Sept 7-8 in Indianapolis, IN. The meet includes two full days of interesting presentations on a variety of subjects, as well as our “Exhibition Room” of vendors — with everything from transfers to track charts available. Book now and you can join us for just $25.00 ($40.00 at the door). We recommend that once you book hotel accommodations as early as possible, as there is an event scheduled at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway that same weekend. By calling the number of the Waterfront Inn (where our event is being held), by mentioning that you are with the Hoosier Traction Meet, you should be able to register at our group rate.

For those of you would are unable to attend both days, we have a special “Saturday Only” rate of just $15.00 ($25.00 at the door). As many of our Friday presentations are repeated on Saturday, you will be able to partake of a wide variety of subjects and presenters.

We hope you are able to join us for what many consider to be THE electric railway gathering in the country…see you there!

Thanking you in advance,

Bill Shapotkin

The Milwaukee Road’s Elgin terminal in August 1970. Bill Shapotkin adds, “The MILW depot in Elgin was built 1948. It is the second depot constructed at the same site. View looks south from Chicago St.”

Chicago & Milwaukee Electric 354, built in 1928 by the St. Louis Car Company, is seen at the Illinois Railway Museum in May 1977. It ran in Milwaukee and Waukegan as a North Shore Line city streetcar.

The Chessie Steam Special in Wellsboro, IN on June 17, 1978.

The Chessie Steam Special in Peru, IN on June 17, 1978.

The Chessie Steam Special in Wellsboro, IN on June 17, 1978.

Minneapolis & St. Louis “doodlebug” GE 29, was used as a railway post office (RPO). According to http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/, ” Number GE-29 was built in 1931, body by Saint Louis Car Company (c/n 1550), the power plant was 400 horsepower EMC Winton Model 148 gasoline engine (c/n 491) coupled to GE electrical gear. I don’t know who is responsible for the boxy structure on the roof but it’s likely the cooling system for the prime mover. This unit went by the name ‘Montgomery’ (painted above the rear truck) and was repowered in August 1950 with a Caterpillar 400 horsepower Model D diesel.”

CTA bus 4606 is at the Roosevelt/Monitor Loop in October 1992 (same one used by trackless trolleys a few years earlier). The view looks E-N/E (toward Monitor Avenue). I don’t know much about the GM Fishbowl next to it, however.

A Milwaukee Road dome car near Union Station in Chicago.

Milwaukee Road equipment in downtown Chicago.

Pace buses in Elgin, June 2003.

A westbound NYC passenger train as it approaches LaSalle Street Station in November 1963. At right is the CRI&P’s coach yard. The view looks south from the Roosevelt Road bridge. (John Szwajkart Photo)

Chicago, IL. NYC loco #7300 is seen as it passes the CRI&P coachyard. The view looks south from the Roosevelt Road bridge in November 1963. (John Szwajkart Photo)

Metra Milwaukee District loco 124 is pushing an eastbound train towards Union Station in Chicago. The view looks east from DesPlaines Street. August 1995. (Dan Munson Photo)

Loco 604 leads a northbound (timetable: westbound) Metra/Milwaukee District passenger train out of Union Station in Chicago. The view looks south-southwest off the Lake Street bridge over the south branch of the Chicago River. July 19, 1990. (Dan Munson Photo)

Control cab 3244 brings up the reat of a westbound Metra/Rock Island train at Joliet Union Station. The view looks west in December 1990. (Paul D. Schneider Photo)

Joliet, IL: Loco 163 is seen pushing an eastbound Metra/Rock Island suburban train across the ATSF/IC (ex-ICG, former GM&O, nee C&A) diamonds at Union Station. The view looks south in December 1990. (Paul D. Schneider Photo)

The imposing clock tower of Grand Central Station, in operation from 1890 to 1969. Located at the southwest corner of Wells and Harrison, it was demolished in 1971. This view looks northwest. (Ron Peisker Photo)

The Wells Street side of Grand Central Station in Chicago. The view looks north along Wells Street in the 1960s. (Ron Peisker Photo)

In the 1960s, and auto is parked on Wells Street in front of Grand Central Station. The view looks to the west-northwest across Wells Street. (Ron Peisker Photo)

Looking west from the clock tower at Grand Central Station in the 1960s. Through these windows are various railroad offices. The building at left in the background is the CGW freight house. (Ron Peisker Photo)

Grand Central Station, Chicago is viewed from the west side of Franklin Street from a point north of Harrison Street. The view looks southwest. (Ron Peisker Photo)

Looking north on Holden Court in March 2000, under the South Side “L”, we are looking north under the St. Charles Air Line bridge. (William Shapotkin Photo)

A westbound B&O freight train prepares to cross the IHB at the Illinois/Indiana state line. The view looks east in September 1959. (John Szwajkart Photo)

This is 91st St Tower in November 1949 — protecting the PRR/ROCK Xing on the ROCK’s Suburban (now Beverly) Branch. The tracks heading off to the upper right are the ROCK. Tracks heading off to the upper left are the PRR.

This billboard, advertising SouthShore Freight, is located west of Indianapolis Boulevard north of the Indiana Toll Road in East Chicago, IN. The view looks west. June 28, 2018. (William Shapotkin Photo)

C&NW cab-coach 152 in Chicago, north of the Clinton Street Tower on August 2, 1978.

An eastbound C&NW train is passing under the CGW bridge on July 9, 1968. Bill Shapotkin adds, “This photo was taken in Lombard east of Grace St. Today, a Great Western Trail x/o over the UP (C&NW) at the same location. View looks west.”

C&NW cab car 254 at Davis Street in Evanston on July 18, 1976.

C&NW GP7 is at an unknown location, on a morning train running between Milwaukee and Madison, Wisconsin in March 1954. Bill Shapotkin: “This location is West Allis, WI just west of Belden Tower (the freight line to Butler is in background). View looks N/E.”

C&NW KO Tower in Lake Bluff, IL on May 5, 1977.

C&NW 1653 at Kenmore station, Chicago.

The C&NW commuter stop in Zion, July 30, 1966.

C&NW RDC cars in Park Ridge, IL.

C&NW RDC cars southbound departing Kenmore station (Granville Avenue) in Chicago.

C&NW 1531 in Kenmore station, Chicago in May 1956.

C&NW RDC cars, southbound at Kenmore station, Chicago, 1956.

C&NW RDC cars in Waukegan, IL.

C&NW RDC car 9933 just north of Thome Avenue in August 1956.

Chicago Surface Lines 6213. Tony Waller adds, “The photo of the red streetcar on route 95 captioned as being at 93rd and Anthony Ave. is actually at 93rd and Exchange Ave. The streetcar line westbound turned from Exchange onto 93rd. Anthony Ave. parallels the PRR/NYC viaducts (and now the Skyway bridge alignment) that is in the near distance; crossing the streetcar line at a perpendicular angle.”

CTA 6213 at 95th and State in 1949.

CSL 6212 on Route 93 near Blackstone, west of Stony Island on August 13, 1947.

Here, we are looking north (from 31st Street) under the South Side “L” mainline. Note supports at left – that portion of the structure dates back to 1892. The pillars and structure at right was added when a third main (express) track was added. June 28, 2018. (William Shapotkin Photo)

A southbound Englewood train approaches 31st Street on the South Side “L” main line. The view looks north from 31st Street. June 28, 2018. (William Shapotkin Photo)

A southbound CTA Englewood train has just crossed over 31st Street on the South Side “L” main line. The view looks south across 31st. June 28, 2018. (William Shapotkin Photo)

A southbound CTA Jackson Park train makes its stop at the 35th Street “L” station. The view looks north. June 28, 2018. (William Shapotkin Photo)

A westbound Metra train in Blue Island on June 26, 1992. (R. Bullermann Photo)

Metra loco #104 is seen heading a westbound Metra/Milwaukee District suburban train out from Union Station in August 1995. The view looks east from DesPlaines Street. (Dan Munson Photo)

A 7900-series CTA bus, working a westbound trip on Route 31 – 31st, is westbound in 31st Street approaching the South Side “L” main line. The view looks east. June 28, 2018. (William Shapotkin Photo)

CTA bus 1158, working an eastbound trip on Route 103 – West 103rd, is eastbound in 103rd Street, approaching the Metra Rock Island tracks at Hale Avenue. The view looks west. June 28, 2018. (William Shapotkin Photo)

CTA bus 1158, working an eastbound trip on Route 103 – West 103rd, is eastbound in 103rd Street, makes a stop before crossing over the Metra Rock Island tracks at Hale Avenue. The view looks west. June 28, 2018. (William Shapotkin Photo)

CTA bus 1158, working an eastbound trip on Route 103 – West 103rd, is eastbound in 103rd Street, crossing over the Metra Rock Island tracks at Hale Avenue. The view looks west. June 28, 2018. (William Shapotkin Photo)

CTA bus 1158, working an eastbound trip on Route 103 – West 103rd, is eastbound in 103rd Street, having just crossed over the Metra Rock Island tracks at Hale Avenue. The view looks east. June 28, 2018. (William Shapotkin Photo)

CTA bus 1094, working a westbound trip on Route 103 – West 103rd, is westbound in 103rd Street at Hale Avenue and the Metra Rock Island tracks. View looks northeast. June 28, 2018. (William Shapotkin Photo)

CTA bus 1094, working a westbound trip on Route 103 – West 103rd, is westbound in 103rd Street, having just crossed over Hale Avenue and Metra Rock Island tracks. The view looks northwest. June 8, 2018. (William Shapotkin Photo)

My Metra title slide… nice, eh? December 1990. (Paul D. Schneider Photo)

A close-up of Metra 126 and its brethren in December 1990. (Paul D. Schneider Photo)

Recent Site Additions

This picture was added to our recent post The Magic of Jack Bejna (August 4, 2018):

Don’s Rail Photos says, (North Shore Line) “213 was built by Cincinnati in March 1920, #2445, as a merchandise despatch car. In 1940 it was rebuilt as a disc harrow ice cutter. It was retired in 1955 and sold to CHF as their 242. It was donated to Illinois Railway Museum in 1964.” Here, we see the car at the Chicago Hardware Foundry Company in February 1960. This was also then the location of the Illinois Electric Railway Museum.

Chicago Streetcar Tracks Exposed

Exposed streetcar tracks are a rare sight in Chicago nowadays. We recently took some pictures of some on Western Avenue under a viaduct just north of 18th Street, in the northbound lane.

-David Sadowski

While we were in the neighborhood, we took this picture of an inbound CTA Orange Line train on Archer:

Recent Finds

CTA 2029-2030 on the turnaround loop at the DesPlaines Avenue terminal in October 1964. We are looking west. Here, you can see the close proximity of the Chicago Great Western tracks to the right. These have since been removed, and the area turned into a bike path connecting with the Illinois Prairie Path at First Avenue in Maywood.

On July 12, 1955 we see Pittsburgh Railways car 4398 at the Drake Loop. It is signed for the Washington interurban, which continued for several miles from here until interurban service was cut back a few years before this picture was taken. Don’s Rail Photos adds, “4398 was built by St. Louis Car Co. in 1916.” This car was retired in 1956 and has been at the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum in (fittingly) Washington, PA ever since. Service to the Drake Loop ended in 1999, when the last PCC streetcars were retired. In its last few years, it had operated as a shuttle. You can read more about the final days of the Drake Loop here. (C. Foreman Photo)

We recently acquired this World War II-era brochure promoting the Chicago Aurora & Elgin interurban’s services as a way to get around in spite of wartime gasoline rationing and tire shortages:

Here is an article about the new Chicago Subway, from the May 1943 issue of Trains magazine. (For information about our new book Building Chicago’s Subways, see the end of this post).

Recent Correspondence

Mark Batterson writes:

We recently purchased the Navy Yard Car Barn, built in 1891 by the Washington and Georgetown Railroad Company. It was one of four streetcar barns in DC. We’d like to celebrate the history of streetcars in our buildout of the space. I know you’ve got some amazing images in your collection. Is there a way to purchase some of those? We’re also trying to purchase an old DC streetcar. Thought I’d ask if you know where we might be able to find one?

Thanks so much for your time and consideration.

Thanks for writing.

FYI, there is a web page that lists the current whereabouts (as of 2014) of all surviving DC trolley cars:

http://www.bera.org/cgi-bin/pnaerc-query.pl?sel_allown=DC+Transit&match_target=&Tech=Yes&pagelen=200

After the DC system quit in 1963, some PCC cars were shipped overseas and others were heavily modified for use in the Tandy Subway operation, which no longer exists. The bulk of remaining equipment is in museums.

Unfortunately, there were a few DC streetcars that were preserved at first, but were later destroyed. These include the Silver Sightseer PCC and pre-PCC car 1053.

We can offer prints from some of the images on this site, but not others… only the ones we own the rights to. We specialize in the Chicago area, and as a result, do not have that many DC images. But perhaps some of our readers can point you in the right direction for those. (If anyone reads this and can help, write to me and I can put you in touch with Mr. Batterson.

-David Sadowski

Chicago Rapid Transit Company Door Controls

A picture appeared in our last post The Magic of Jack Bejna that has stirred up some correspondence:

This three-car train of Chicago Transit Authority 4000-series “L” cars is signed as a Howard Street Express in June 1949. (L. L. Bonney Photo) Our resident south side expert M. E. adds, “Methinks this photo was taken looking west at the Indiana Av. (at 40th St.) station.
Because the train destination sign says Howard Express, the location has to be on the main north/south line. (Plus, this train had to originate on the Jackson Park branch, because Englewood trains at that time ran to Ravenswood.) Also, I don’t recall any other three-track main anywhere else on the north/south line. Also, Indiana Ave. had the overhead walkway to get to and from the Stock Yards L, which terminated to the left of the left-hand platform in the photo.
When this photo was taken, the Kenwood L ran as through service from 42nd Place, through Indiana Ave., up to Wilson Ave. Later in 1949, the Kenwood service was cut back to a shuttle ending at Indiana Ave. The inbound station platform was extended over the northernmost track, then mainline north/south service used the middle track heading downtown. A fuller explanation is at
https://www.chicago-l.org/operations/lines/kenwood.html .
Also of interest is that this photo shows a three-car train. Before the advent of new equipment in 1950 there were no “married pairs” of cars. Trains could be as small as a single car, which I recall seeing on the Englewood branch on Sunday mornings.
Plus, the three-car train shown in the photo would have had two conductors whose job was to open the passenger entry doors (which were on the sides, at the ends of the cars) using controls situated between the cars. So conductor #1 operated the doors at the rear of car 1 and the front of car 2. Conductor #2 operated the doors at the rear of car 2 and the front of car 3. Side doors at the front of car 1 and the rear of car 3 were not used by passengers. To operate his side doors, a conductor had to stand between the cars. (Yes, in any weather.)
And the conductors had to notify the motorman when to proceed. To do this, the conductors had to observe when there was no more boarding or alighting at their doors. They used a bell system to notify the motorman. Two dings meant “proceed”. One ding meant “hold”. The rearmost conductor started with his bell, then the next rearmost, etc., until two dings rang in the motorman’s compartment, his signal to go. The longer the train, the longer it took to leave the station.”

Recently, Jim Huffman commented:

Photo #365? 3-car train of CTA 4000s standing at the 38th St station. I differ with your explanation of the conductors door work.
1. When the CTA took over they made all the doors on the 4000s one-man operated, allowing for trains with odd number of cars . Thus, 8-cars, 4-cars, 3-cars, 1-car= only 1-conductor per train.
2. Way prior to that, the CRT used a conductor between each two cars, doing the doors as you described. 8-cars=8-conductors, etc.
3. But later, prior to the CTA, the CRT re-wired (air?) the 4000s so that a conductor between every two cars could operate all the doors on two cars. 8-cars=4-conductors etc.
4. On multi conductor trains, there was only one signal used and that was by the front conductor, not by the other conductors. Nor were there differing sounds or number of bells or buzzers! The front conductor monitored the rear conductors doors, when all were closed, then he would signal the Motorman. There usually was not much of any delay, the reason for less men was to lower labor costs, not to speed up the train.
This is from my memory & further info from conductors back then.

We replied:

You are referring to the explanation of how door controls worked on the 4000s, given by one of our readers (M. E.) in the caption for the photo called proofs365.jpg.

We had previously reproduced a CTA training brochure dated March 1950 in our post Reader Showcase, 12-11-17. By this time, the 4000s had been retrofitted into semi-permanent married pairs, so a three-car train, as shown in the June 1949 picture, no longer would have been possible.

The 1950 training brochure does mention using a buzzer to notify the next train man in one direction.

This is how Graham Garfield’s excellent web site describes the retrofit:

After the CTA ordered the first set of 6000s (6001-6200), they set about retrofitting the 4000s to make them operate more safely, economically and basically more like the forthcoming 6000s. By the time the 6000s started rolling in, the changes had been pretty much completed. In this overhaul, the 4000s were given multiple unit door control, standardized to use battery voltage for control, the trolley feed on Evanston cars was tied together so only one pole per pair was needed, and they were paired up into “semi-permanently coupled pairs” (as opposed to the “married-pairs” of the 6000s), usually in consecutive numerical order. Additionally, the destination signs (which were all still hand-operated) were changed to display either the route names (i.e. “Ravenswood” or “Lake A”) or both terminals (i.e. “Howard – Jackson Park B”) so they wouldn’t have to be changed for the reverse trip. The number of signs per car was reduced from four to two, not counting the destination board on the front. All this allowed a two-man crew to staff a train of any length.

This does not of course explain door operation prior to 1950, and I promised to do further research, by contacting Andre Kristopans.

PS- in addition to this, in a previous comment on this post, Andre Kristopans wrote, “On CRT the conductor was the man between the first and second cars. The rest were Guards. Motorman and conductor worked together all day but guards were assigned according to train length that trip.”

So, I asked Andre to explain. Here’s what he wrote:

Wood cars very simple – man between each two cars as doors were completely local control. End doors of train were not used. Steel cars more complicated. Originally same as woods – man between each two cars. Remember steels and woods were mixed. In 1940’s changed so man could control doors at both ends of cars on either side of him, so conductor between 1and 2, guards between 3 and 4, 5 and 6, 7 and 8 only. Then in 1950’s full trainlined doors. Initially one conductor for 2 or 4 car trains, working between last 2 cars, on 6 or 8 car trains conductor between cars 3 and 4, guard between last two. Guard eliminated late 50’s, conductor in sane (same?) position now controls all doors.

Thanks for the info. On the woods and early 4000s, how did the guards and conductor signal each other?

They had signal bells. First rear guard pulled the cord that rang the gong at forward end of that car. Then that guard pulled the rope by his position to signal the next guard up. When the conductor got the signal and pulled his rope, the gong by the motorman rang and he released and started up.

Yes the 4000’s evolved. Originally basically operationally identical to woods. Circa 1943 before subway, converted from line voltage control to battery control. Now they were no longer able to train with woods. Around same time changed to door control at each end controlling doors at both ends. In 1950’s full mudc, paired with permanent headlights and permanent markers (over a period of a decade or so!). Shore Line’s Baldies book shows how this happened over time if you compare photos. Large door controls early for single door control, small door controls for entire car control, then no door controls on paired sets.

This is something that has not been looked into much, but a 1970’s 4000 was VERY different from a 1930’s 4000!

Our thanks to Andre and everyone else who contributed to this post. Keep those cards and letters coming in, folks!

-David Sadowski

Pre-Order Our New Book Building Chicago’s Subways

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

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

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

Bibliographic information:

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

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

Building Chicago’s Subways will be published on October 1, 2018. Order your copy today, and it will be shipped on or about that date. All copies purchased through The Trolley Dodger will be signed by the author.

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

For Shipping to US Addresses:

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For Shipping Elsewhere:

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

Help Support The Trolley Dodger

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A Traction Photo Album, Part 3

May 31, 2018June 21, 2018David Sadowski 8 Comments

J G Brill Master Unit Car #80 at Scranton, PA. 8-5-09.

Today’s post features more classic traction photographs by guest contributor Kenneth Gear. This is the third installment in a virtual career retrospective, covering 40 years of railfanning.

Ken has long been a friend of this blog. He has contributed greatly to our understanding of the Railroad Record Club of Hawkins, Wisconisn, and it is thanks largely to him that we have been able to share all 40 RRC LPs with you, digitally remastered on CDs and sounding better than ever.

We thank Ken for that, and for sharing these great images with our readers.

Click on these links to see Part 1 and Part 2 in this series.

-David Sadowski

Metra/ICG Highliners

Photo 1. RTA/ ICG Highliner MU trains pass near the Randolph Street Terminal, Chicago, IL. 6-23-82.

RTA/ ICG Highliner #407 near the Randolph Street Terminal, Chicago, IL. 6-23-82.

Metra Electric Highliner #224 at the Vermont Avenue Station, Blue Island IL 3-25-03.

Canadian National Box Cab

CN Box cabs #6714, # 6715, & #6722 at Montreal, Que. 6-14-85.

CN Box cabs 6710 & 6711 at Montreal photographed from the Amtrak MONTREALER approaching Central Station.

EX-NYNH&H 4400 “Washboard” MU

Ex-NH 4400 “Washboard” MUs in the dead line at New Haven, CT on March17, 1984 awaiting scrapping.

National Capitol Trolley Museum

Third Avenue Railway System car 678 still wears her bicentennial paint scheme as she sits outside the car barn at the National Capital Trolley Museum in May of 1989. The car has since been repainted in the TARS color scheme of red and white.

DC Transit PCC #1101, 8-5-89.

Electric City Trolley Museum

J G Brill Master Unit Car #80 at Scranton, PA. 8-5-09.

Pennsylvania Trolley Museum

Pittsburgh Railways DE City Low-floor car #4398 at Washington, PA. 9-27-13.

Conrail

Conrail E-33 #4602 leads a long freight through the Metropark station at Iselin, NJ. 8-14-78. From my very first roll of color slide film.

Conrail E-44 #4430 leads a westbound train at the Metropark station, Iselin, NJ. From my very first roll of 35mm slide film.

Conrail sold E-44 #4464 to NJ Transit in 1983 for use as work train power. The locomotive never turned a wheel for NJT and it is shown here at the Ex-CNJ yard at Elizabethport, NJ. 5-25-83.

Odds and Ends: Miscellaneous Traction:

New Orleans Streetcar

In 1982 I was in New Orleans, LA making an overnight connection between Amtrak’s CRESENT and the SUNSET LIMITED. In the general vicinity of the Amtrak station I took several photos of the streetcars. All of the streetcar photos were taken in the vicinity of Lee Circle.

All of these cars were built by Perley Thomas in 1924.

Car #904 New Orleans, LA. 6-1-82.

Car #911.

Car #923.

Car #953.

Car 968.

Car #971.

New York City Transit Authority

R-36

I wanted to include this photo in spite of the fact that the subject is Amtrak SSB-1200 #550 at Q Tower at Sunnyside, Queens, New York. I hope it will be of interest to traction fans because of the IRT subway train of NYCTA R-36 “Redbirds” passing overhead in the background. 6-20-87.

R-42

A “W” train of R-42 cars near the Ditmers Boulevard station in Astoria Queens, New York, 4-19-05.

R-21

The NYCTA Car Repair yard at 207th Street in New York as seen from a boat in the Harlem River in 1986. Visible just behind the fence are two R-21 garbage motors. These cars were tasked with the removal of trash from the subway. The two shown here G7208 and G7206 have both been retired and most likely scrapped.

Apparently retired and not too far from being scrapped is R-21 #7086 at the 207th Street Car Repair yard.

R-38

Retired R-38s #4002 & #4003 at the 207th Street Car Repair yard.

R-32A

Starting in 1988 and continuing to 1990, NYCTA sent most of the R-32 cars to Morrison Knudsen at Hornell, NY for overhaul. Conrail brought the rebuilt cars loaded onto flat cars down the River Line to Greenville yard in Jersey City, New Jersey. From there the New York Cross Harbor Railroad car floated them back to New York City. On February 13, 1990 several of the rebuilt R-32a cars, including #3613 head out, were sitting in Greenville yard awaiting a boat ride home.

Eventually NYCHR Alco S-1s 25 & 22 came across the float bridge and coupled to the flat car containing the subway cars. The immaculate Alcos then loaded the car of R-32As onto the car float for a trip across the bay to Brooklyn.

End of the line: NYCTA R-10 cars face a very bleak future at Greenville yard, Jersey City, NJ.

Staten Island Rapid Transit Operating Authority:

R-44

R-44 cars at Great Kills, NY.

R-44 cars at the terminal in Tottenville, NY.

Staten Island S-1 #821 & R-44 cars at Annadale. The Alco was leading an Electric Railroaders Association “Farewell to the Alcos” fan trip on October 25, 2008.

Staten Island Railway Alco S-2 #821 & S-1 #407 make way for an approaching train of R-44 cars at Tottenville, NY in October of 2008.

R-44 car #421 in the shop at Clifton, NY.

R-33 De-Icer

SIRTOA R-33 De-Icer car #RD344 at Clifton, NY.

SEPTA – City Transit Division

PCC

SEPTA Kawasaki car #9023 & PCC #2129 at the Elmwood Avenue car barn in Philadelphia, PA in January of 1992.

SEPTA PCC car #2129 at the CSX/SEPTA grade crossing at Main Street in Darby, PA.

SEPTA PCC car #2129 at 49th Street & Woodland Avenue in West Philadelphia PA. This car was built by the St Louis Car Company in 1948. It is now preserved by the Pikes Peak Historical Street Railway at Colorado Springs, CO.

SEPTA Kawasaki car #9017, PCC #2129, & GM RTS bus (model T8W603) #8043 at Darby, PA in 1992.

PCC #2129 at the 80th & Eastwick loop in Philadelphia, which is the end of the Route 36. This photo was taken on January 25, 1992, the car was used on a Wilmington Chapter NRHS charter this day.

SEPTA PCC #2054 built by St Louis Car in 1941. Philadelphia, PA. 5-7-95.

SEPTA PCC #2711 at the Elmwood Depot, Philadelphia, PA.

SEPTA PCC #2728 in Philadelphia Transportation Company colors at Philadelphia, PA in 1995.

On May 7, 1995 Wilmington Chapter NRHS chartered SEPTA PCC #2799 in a Red Arrow paint scheme and PCC #2728 in the colors of the Philadelphia Transportation. The two brightly colored cars were posed side by side on Girard Avenue at 63rd Street in the Philadelphia neighborhood of Haddington.

SEPTA motor flat #W-61 & PCC #2054 at Philadelphia, PA.

Work Cars

SEPTA motor flat #W-61 at Philadelphia, PA. 1-25-92.

SEPTA crane #W-56 at Elmwood.

Motor flat # W-62 at Elmwood.

Kawasaki Streetcar

Line up of SEPTA Kawasaki cars at the Elmwood Avenue car barn in Philadelphia, PA. 1-25-92.

SEPTA Kawasaki car #9003 departs the Elmwood depot, 5-7-95.

SEPTA Kawasaki car #9023 at Philadelphia, PA.

SEPTA Kawasaki car at 49th Street & Woodland Avenue in West Philadelphia, PA in 1992.

AEM-7

SEPTA AEM-7 #2304 laying over for the weekend at Trenton, NJ. 2-9-02.

SEPTA AEM-7 #2307 at Conshohocken, PA in 1992.

Interior of the cab of SEPTA AEM-7 #2307.

SEPTA AEM-7 2307 in the yard at West Trenton NJ. It will soon power a fan trip excursion around the Philadelphia area. 3-29-92.

The Philadelphia Chapter NRHS arranged this over & under shot of SEPTA AEM-7 #2307 & P&W N-5 #451 at Norristown, PA on March 29, 1992.

AEM-7 2307 at West Trenton, NJ.

SEPTA Regional Rail:

Blueliner

SEPTA Ex-Reading Blueliner MU train on a Philadelphia Chapter NRHS special during a photo stop at Glenside, PA on June 5,1988.

SEPTA Blueliner #9128 at Wissahickon, PA. Number 9128 has been preserved by the Reading Technical and Historical Society at Hamburg, PA. According to their website this MU, Reading Class EPb was built as an 80 seat steel coach by Harlan & Hollingsworth (subsidiary of Bethlehem Steel) in 1932 and converted into a MU trailer.

SEPTA Ex-Reading class EPb Blueliner MU #9116 in 1988.

The engineer’s Controls of SEPTA Blueliner MU #9119.

Inside Blueliner MU #9114.

SEPTA Blueliners on a fan trip passing the Ex-PRR interlocking tower at Overbrook, PA on the famed Pennsy Mainline. 6-5-88.

SEPTA Blueliner #9129 at Elm Street Station in Norristown, PA in 1989.

Blueliner #9129 departs from the upper level of 30th Street Station Philadelphia, PA.

Silverliners

A train of SEPTA Silverliner IV MUs departs Cornwall Heights, PA. 1-10-10.

SEPTA Silverliner II #9004 (Ex-RDG) at the Philadelphia Airport Station in 1988.

SEPTA Silverliner III #238 on a R-1 Airport line train at the Philadelphia Airport station.

SEPTA Silverliner III #227 at West Trenton NJ. 3-29 -92. This MU was built by St Louis car in 1967.

A 3 car train of SEPTA Siverliners crossing the Delaware River at Morrisville, PA in January of 2010.

SEPTA Silverliner II #263 & Silverliner IV #182 at Lansdale, PA in April of 1993.

Silverliner IV #333 departing the upper level of 30th Street Station Philadelphia, PA in 1988.

SEPTA Silverliner IV #368 on a R-5 train arriving at the Upper Level of 30th Street Station, Philadelphia PA. 4-25-93.

Chicago Trolleys

On the Cover: Car 1747 was built between 1885 and 1893 by the Chicago City Railway, which operated lines on the South Side starting in April 1859. This is a single-truck (one set of wheels) open electric car; most likely a cable car, retrofitted with a trolley and traction motor. The man at right is conductor William Stevely Atchison (1861-1921), and this image came from his granddaughter. (Courtesy of Debbie Becker.)

Check out our new book Chicago Trolleys. Signed copies are available through our Online Store.

This book makes an excellent gift and costs just $17.99 plus shipping. That’s $4.00 off the list price.

Help Support The Trolley Dodger

This is our 212th 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 408,000 page views, for which we are very grateful.

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DONATIONS

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Red Arrow in West Chester

September 13, 2016June 22, 2020David Sadowski 31 Comments

Double-ended Red Arrow 13 at the end of the line in West Chester (Gay and High Streets) circa 1954.

The same location today.

The Red Arrow Lines in Philadelphia’s western suburbs are a real example of perseverance. Privately owned and operated until 1970, and now by SEPTA (Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority), Red Arrow (or, as it was known for some time, the Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company) can trace its origins back to 1848.

Only two lines (Media and Sharon Hill) remain of its vaunted interurban network. The smaller Ardmore trolley was replaced by bus at the end of 1966, with its private right-of-way portion converted into a dedicated busway.

Today, we celebrate the Red Arrow with some classic pictures, mainly featuring its longest line, between 69th Street Terminal in Upper Darby and West Chester. This is a distance of some 19 miles end to end along West Chester Pike.

The West Chester line was to some degree a victim of its own success. It helped stimulate growth in the region to such an extent that West Chester Pike was widened in 1954, displacing the trolley. It was replaced by buses.

The Red Arrow story is made all the more remarkable when you consider that much of this line was single-track, and still does not provide a one-seat ride into downtown Philadelphia. Riders must change trains at 69th Street Terminal and ride the Market-Frankford subway into town.

Lack of a one-seat ride into Chicago’s Loop is widely credited with killing off the Chicago, Aurora & Elgin interurban, which ended passenger service in 1957. But Red Arrow has never had a one-seat ride and its service continues to this day.

Much credit for its survival must go to Merritt H. Taylor, Jr. (1922-2010), who guided it into the modern era, and finally had little choice but to sell out to SEPTA. Red Arrow was one of the very last holdouts against public ownership and set a very high standard for the industry.

From what I have heard, Merritt Taylor was something of a “closet railfan,” who learned to operate the cars as a youth and sometimes took them out for late-night “joy rides” to West Chester.

In 1954, Philadelphia Suburban Transportation purchased the Philadelphia and Western, which operated the Norristown High-Speed Line. This 13 1/2 mile long, grade-separated third-rail route also continues today under SEPTA.

Until 1956, the Norristown line included a branch to Strafford, which gave name to the famous Strafford cars that ran alongside the more well-known Bullets. Today, SEPTA is working on plans to extend the High-speed Line to King of Prussia.

For the longest time, Red Arrow favored J. G. Brill railcars, which were built in nearby Philadelphia, including Master Units and Brilliners in the 1930s and 40s. But with that firm’s exit from the market in the early 1940s, there was one order of double-ended cars circa 1949, made by St. Louis Car Company.

Although those cars had styling very much like PCC streetcars, they had conventional interurban running gear and are thus not technically considered “true” PCCs. Service on the Media and Sharon Hill lines is handled by 29 modern Kawasaki cars, built in 1981.

We hope that you will enjoy this trip down memory lane in the Keystone State. Meanwhile, back here in Chicago, one can only wonder what fate might have awaited the Chicago, Aurora & Elgin if it had been run by Merritt Taylor, Jr. in the 1950s. For all we know, it might still be with us in some form.

As for West Chester, SEPTA ran commuter rail service there until 1986, when it was cut back due to deteriorating track conditions. There are hopes for restoring service by the year 2040. Meanwhile, the bus service that replaced the West Chester trolley remains popular and convenient.

You can read my 2013 report on the Media trolley centennial fantrip here. (Videos are here.)

-David Sadowski

PS- You can read an interesting report on the Ardmore line and its busway successor here.

Red Arrow 78 and 80 in 1959. These were Brill-built “Master Units.” Garrett Patterson adds, “It might be pointed out with the second image, that both 78 & 80 operate to this day, #78 at PTM in Washington, PA, and #80 at Steamtown.”

Red Arrow 17. Michael T. Greene writes, “The first picture of Red Arrow 17 was taken in Media, probably at the end of the line, sometime starting in 1956, based on the 1956 Plymouth parked (or passing) by the trolley.” Kenneth Achtert: “The shot of #17 is at the end of the line in Media (Orange St.) as evidenced by the two poles raised as the operator is in the process of changing ends.”

350 W. State Street in Media, the end of the Media light rail line.

Near 69th Street Terminal. This is where the Ardore and West Chester lines (left) converged with Media and Sharon Hill (right). Over the years, the tracks to the left have been cut back to just a few short blocks where cars can be stored.

Brilliner 6 in Ardmore service near 69th Street Terminal circa 1954.

Near 69th Street Terminal.

A Brilliner near 69th Street Terminal.

A West Chester car at 63rd and Market in 1905. (Robert Foley, Jr. Collection)

Car 12 at a passing siding along West Chester Pike circa 1954.

Near 69th Street Terminal circa 1954.

Car 12 at a passing siding along West Chester Pike circa 1954.

Brilliner 3 at the end of the line in West Chester, circa 1954. This car is an Express. There were many photos taken here over the years, by the W. T. Grant dime store. The line was single track going into town.

An outbound car in “side of the road” operation along West Chester Pike, circa 1954. Matt Nawn: “The scene of #22 outbound along West Chester Pike appears to be near Broomall. The homes along this part of West Chester Pike look much the same today. Zooming in on the photo, a former Acme store near the intersection of West Chester Pike and PA Route 320 can be seen in the background. “

The same location today. That certainly appears to be the same house at right. We are looking west on West Chester Pike in Broomall, just east of PA Route 320.

Near 69th Street Terminal.

A Sharon Hill train at 69th Street Terminal, circa 1954. Garrett Patterson: “Sharon Hill Train of Center Doors was most likely a School Tripper servicing Archbishop Pendergast (girls) and Msgr. Bonner (boys) at Lansdowne Ave.” On the other hand, Matt Nawn says, “The two-car train of center door cars is probably a few years too early to be a school tripper to Monsignor Bonner and Archbishop Prendergast High Schools (combined into one school in recent years). These schools did not open until the late 1950s.”

Double-end car 14, a product of St. Louis Car Company, signed for Sharon Hill in the 69th Street Terminal circa 1954. Garrett Patterson: “Where #14 is shown loading at 69th St., the track was paved to street rail condition days before the cessation of West Chester car service for the startup of the W Bus which took its place.”

Caption: 2 car “MU” Train, which operated along with an extra single car behind it on the last rail trip (by MPRA Club) to West Chester, PA., Sunday, June 6, 1954.

Car 12 in August 1952. Garrett Patterson: “Llanerch Car house.” Kenneth Achtert: “That shot of #12 in August 1952 would be at the Llanerch car barn. The street at the top of the hill behind the cars is West Chester Pike, and the car barn structure is to the right out of the frame.” (Arthur B. Johnson Photo)

This postcard, showing the end of the line in West Chester, was mailed in 1907. The view is the opposite of the one shown at the top of this page. Caption: “You might take the early trolley to Atlantic. Think the photo is something worth having, thanks.”

The same view today. That’s the Greentree building at left, built around 1930.

Red Arrow 41 on the West Chester line in 1945.

Cars 14, 20 and 68 at a photo stop along the West Chester line on the June 6, 1954 NRHS fantrip.

Brill “Master Unit” 78, built in 1932, at the West Chester end of the line on August 24, 1941. This car is now preserved at the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum in Washington, PA.

Car 19 along West Chester Pike. What was once a “side of the road” operation is now part of the road. This long view gives you some idea of the distances involved on this 19-mile line.

Car 17 at a passing siding along West Chester Pike on April 25, 1954.

Car 66 (plus one) at Edgemont Siding on the West Chester line.

Cars 14 and 15 running in multiple unit operation at the West Chester end of the line on June 6, 1954.

Cars 69 and 71 at the West Chester end of the line on June 6, 1954.

Cars 14 and 15 at the West Chester end of the line on June 6, 1954.

Young railfan with a box camera, 62 years ago.

This picture shows Red Arrow Brilliner 8 and an older car at the end of the Ardmore branch on May 15, 1949. It looks like the older car is in fantrip service, while the Brilliner is the regular service car ahead of it. The Ardmore branch was replaced by buses in 1966.

Here, Red Arrow Brill Master Unit 86 is the regular service car at the end of the line in West Chester, with the older fantrip car behind it. Again, the date is May 15, 1949.

Red Arrow 66 and 76 at St. Albans Siding in Newtown Square on June 6, 1954.

Here, we see Red Arrow car 66 heading up a two-car train on May 6, 1962. This is the Clifton-Aldan stop on the Sharon Hill line.

The same location today.

Red Arrow car 21 on the private right-of-way section of the Ardmore line. Since Ardmore was converted to bus at the end of 1966, this area has been paved over to create a dedicated busway.

The photo caption reads, “Two car streamline train arriving at Norristown, looking up from R. R. tracks.” The date is May 12, 1935, meaning these “Bullet” cars were just a few years old.

Although the late Merritt Taylor, Jr. may have been, in some fashion, a “closet railfan,” he was also responsible for the ill-fated Railbus experiment on the Red Arrow Lines in 1967-68. This was an attempt to replace rail with buses that could also run on railroad tracks. Fortunately, the effort proved to be a failure. Taylor had found that he couldn’t simply convert all his rail lines to bus service, without losing much of the rights-of-way in turn due to the terms under which rail service had started many years earlier. It turns out that the requirements of a railcar and a bus are too much different to be combined into a single vehicle. Within a couple years of this experiment, Taylor sold Red Arrow to SEPTA, and the Norristown, Media and Sharon Hill lines remain rail to this day.

Red Arrow “Master Unit” 79 is inbound in 1949 on either the Media or Sharon Hill line, in spite of the sign saying Ardmore (thanks to Kenneth Achtert for that correction). He adds, “It was (still is) standard practice for Red Arrow operators, when changing ends at the outer end of their route, to set the sign on what would be the rear of the car for the inbound trip to read their next outbound destination. Thus, when the car arrived at 69th St. Terminal and went around the loop to the boarding platform the rear destination sign was already set. This was actually the more important sign, as most passengers approached the cars from the rear coming from the main terminal (and from the Market-Frankford Elevated line).” (Mark D. Meyer Photo)

Red Arrow “Master Unit” 82 is at the 69th Street Terminal on August 8, 1948. (Walter Broschart Photo)

On September 12, 1959, Philadelphia Suburban Transportation 3, a 1941 “Brilliner,” is on Lippincott Avenue north of County Line Road, on the short Ardmore line which was bussed in 1966.

Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company (aka “Red Arrow”) cars 5 and 14 pose at 69th Street Terminal on June 22, 1963. The car at left is a Brilliner, from the last batch of trolleys built by Brill in 1941. The car at right was built by the St. Louis Car Company in 949. Although it looks much like a PCC, it was not considered such as it had standard interurban trucks and motors. Both types of cars were double-ended.

A SEPTA commuter train, ex-PRR, at West Chester in May 1979. SEPTA rail service to this station ended in 1986, but the West Chester Railroad began running a not-for-profit tourist operation of train service on weekends between West Chester and Glen Mills in 1997. (Photo by Paul Kutta)

PS- Here is a video with many additional pictures of the Red Arrow Railbus:

A Red Arrow PCC!

Kenneth Gear writes:

I really enjoyed the latest Trolley Dodger installment about the Red Arrow Lines.

Although the Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company never owned a “true” PCC, one SEPTA PCC car, number 2799, was painted in their red & cream paint scheme! This car is single ended, unlike Red Arrow cars, but it was built by the St. Louis Car Company only a year earlier than the red arrow cars.

On May 7, 1995 I rode a Wilmington (DE) Chapter NRHS fan trip using Red Arrow painted car# 2799. Here are a few pictures.

For the last ten years or so, 2799 has been in the collection of the Baltimore Streetcar Museum.

All photos by Kenneth Gear:

PCC 2799 at Woodland Avenue & 60th Street, Kingsessing, PA.

2799 on Girard Avenue at St. Bernard, West Philadelphia, note cobble stones in road.

2799 on Lancaster Avenue & 41st Street, Barins, PA.

2799 on Girard Avenue at Corinthian, North Philadelphia.

2799 at the Market Frankford Line Girard station, Philadelphia.

The Red Arrow logo as applied to SEPTA PCC car # 2799.

PS- Here is a video tour of the Ardmore busway:

Also, video of West Chester trolleys:

The Chicago, Aurora & Elgin

Chicago, Aurora & Elgin 309 heads up a four-car train of woods circa 1940. This “coffee and cream” paint job is not often seen in color pictures. This one, however, has the appearance of being hand-colored, most likely not digital, either. The original was faded, which would not happen with digital. This is more like an old colorized postcard.

The CA&E Spring Road station in Elmhurst in the mid-1950s.

My guess is this 1950 CA&E scene shows the end of the line in Elgin, If so, the commuter rail coaches on the other side of the river belong to the Milwaukee Road.

A CA&E for-car train of steels, headed up by 460. Some think this may be 25th Avenue in Bellwood.

CA&E wood car 26. (Paul H, Stringham Photo) Don’s Rail Photos: “26 was built by Niles Car in 1902. It was modernized in June 1943 and retired in 1959.”

CA&E wood car 314 at an unknown location. Don’s Rail Photos says, “314 was built by Kuhlman Car Co in 1909, #404. It was modernized at an unknown date.” (Paul H. Stringham Photo)

Mystery Photo

This Chicago “mystery photo” showing two young girls is dated 1943. But where was it taken? The “L” structure in the background has some ornamentation, and we see a gate car as well as a 4000. Since the 4000s were all put onto the State Street subway when it opened in October 1943, this picture probably dates to a late snowfall in spring. So far, our best guess is this may be Independence Boulevard on the Garfield Park “L”.

Recent Correspondence

From Andre Kristopans, following up on some earlier correspondence we had regarding CTA transfer regulations:

A few items –

Half-fare for high school students started 5/10/1943. Before that half fare was strictly for 7 to 11 years old, and I guess grammar school kids, though this I have never seen actually spelled out anywhere. Until 7/23/1961 there were two kinds of student permits, those that allowed reduced rate travel 24/7 and cost $1 per year, and those that allowed travel only to and from school on school days that were issued by the schools free. I remember those – they would be accepted anywhere from about 6 to 8 am, and only within one block of the school after letout.

Transfer regulations remained remarkably constant for all the years that map transfers were in use. Basically good at points of intersection, divergence, convergence, and extension with travel only in the same general direction. Walking transfers were basically within two city blocks, such as between the 92-Foster/NW Highway bus and 151-Sheridan bus at Berwyn.

Transfers were free until 7/23/61, then charged 5 cents. This also caused two minor changes in procedures. ID checks showing that you paid the express fare were now needed on Evanston Express trains south of Loyola, and ID checks of a different sort were issued by ticket agents when they were opening and closing stations. Before, you just got a regular transfer.

The problem with CMC was that CMC fares were HIGHER than CTA’s. CSL went from 7 to 8 cents 4/20/42, while CMC and CRT were already 10. CRT went to 12 cents 5/24/46. CTA went to 10 cents 10/1/47 on surface, CMC was 20 by 10/1/52, while CTA had only hit 20 on 6/1/52. Unfortunately I do not have any better info on changes in this time period. I have a CTA listing somewhere that detailed some of this, maybe I will find it one day… When I was doing much of this research in the 1980’s, I basically just went thru the service bulletins that sometimes had fare stuff, but often not, and I never did dig thru the fares bulletins.

This much I can tell you, though: As of 10/1/47 transfers surface to surface were free, transferring to the L paid 2 cents to agent at station, as L fare was 12 cents. I do not know for sure what CMC was at the time, but coming from CMC to surface was free, to L was 2 cents to the ticket agent, so CMC fare must have been 10c as of 10/1/47. Only thing I can surmise is that CMC must have raised fares more or less as CTA did, to 13 in 1948, 15 in 1949, 17 in 1951 and 20 in 1952.

If you want to see how the transfers worked, look under irm-cta.org – documentation – service pamphlets – 02/60 transfer regulations. In some ways a very complex system, but in other ways very straight-forward and very hard to cheat.

As a note of interest – on 10/1/43 when the subway opened, the schedule for the North-South, which included Ravenswood-Loop, Wilson-Loop, Wilson-Kenwood, and Stock Yards wood car routes, called for 416 steel and 284 wood cars, 840 trainmen, 230 ticket agents, 20 switchmen, 54 towermen, 38 porters, and carried 64% (325,000) of the L system’s passengers.

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