Chicago Surface Lines Photos, Part Six

February 22, 2016May 4, 2017David Sadowski 15 Comments

The date is October 21, 1956, and the occasion is a weekend fantrip using red Pullman 225 and postwar PCC 4406. We have posted other photos from this fantrip before. By this time, Chicago only had two streetcar lines left, and they only operated on weekdays. Car 225 is one of three Pullmans that were saved, and it is now at the Seashore Trolley Museum in Maine.
Bob Lalich adds, “The photo of red Pullman 225 on a fan trip was taken at 18th and Clark. The car is SB.” The church was called Old St. John’s, and was demolished around 1962.

The same location today. The large shadow is from an “L” extension that did not exist when the previous picture was taken. It was built in 1969 for the Dan Ryan line and is now used by the Orange Line.

Here is another generous helping of classic Chicago streetcar photos. They date to the latter part of the CSL era as well as the early days of its successor, the Chicago Transit Authority. (We also have a trolley bus photo.)

As always, if you can help identify locations, or have interesting facts or reminiscences to add, don’t hesitate to drop us a line. You can leave comments on this post, or write us directly at:

thetrolleydodger@gmail.com

FYI, there will be additional posts in this series coming up in the near future, so watch this space. To see previous posts, use the search window on this page.

-David Sadowski

Help Support The Trolley Dodger

This is our 122nd 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 128,000 page views, for which we are very grateful.

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

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New From Trolley Dodger Press:

American Streetcar R.P.O.s: 1893-1929

Mainline Railway Post Offices were in use in the United States from 1862 to 1978 (with the final year being operated by boat instead of on rails), but for a much briefer era, cable cars and streetcars were also used for mail handling in the following 15 cities*:

Baltimore
Boston
Brooklyn
Chicago
Cincinnati
Cleveland
New Bedford, Massachusetts
New York City
Philadelphia
Pittsburgh
Rochester, New York
St. Louis
San Francisco
Seattle
Washington, D.C.

*As noted by some of our readers, this list does not include interurban RPOs.

Our latest E-book American Streetcar R.P.O.s collects 12 books on this subject (over 1000 pages in all) onto a DVD data disc that can be read on any computer using Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is free software. All have been out of print for decades and are hard to find. In addition, there is an introductory essay by David Sadowski.

The rolling stock, routes, operations, and cancellation markings of the various American street railway post office systems are covered in detail. The era of the streetcar R.P.O. was relatively brief, covering 1893 to 1929, but it represented an improvement in mail handling over what came before, and it moved a lot of mail. In many places, it was possible to deposit a letter into a mail slot on a streetcar or cable car and have it delivered across town within a short number of hours.

These operations present a very interesting history, but are not well-known to railfans. We feel they deserve greater scrutiny, and therefore we are donating $1 from each sale of this item to the Mobile Post Office Society, in support of their efforts.

# of Discs – 1
Price: $19.95

CTA 9193 is on what is billed as “Chicago’s first trackless trolley special,” March 2, 1958. Andre Kristopans: “Trolleybus 9193 is on Kedzie just north of the Sanitary & Ship Canal (about 33rd). Bridge is IC Iowa Division, background bridge is Chicago & Illinois Western. Clue was the big tank to the right. 1938 aerial photo shows this tank. Note how little traffic there is on Sunday!” The occasion was the very first Omnibus Society of America fantrip, which used a prewar trolley bus on south side areas where they had not been used in service.

The same location today, approximately 3374 S. Kedzie. There is an incline at this point leading up a bridge, behind the photographer, going over the Sanitary & Ship Canal.

CTA 5426 is on route 8 at Halsted and Lake, having just passed the “L”. The National Cash Register Company was located at 178 N. Halsted, just south of the “L”, so we are looking north.

The same scene today is almost unrecognizable. National Cash Register’s former location is now a parking lot. The “L” station at Halsted was closed in 1994, during the Green Line rebuild, and demolished in 1996. It was replaced, more or less, by the Morgan station two blocks west, which opened in 2012. Chicago’s downtown is moving west and this area is undergoing rapid change.

Chicago and Calumet District Transit Company car 59, built by St. Louis Car Company in 1901. Joint service to Hammond, Whiting, and East Chicago, Indiana was operated with the Chicago Surface Lines until June 9, 1940.

CTA Sedan 3337 is southbound on Wabash for route 4 – Cottage Grove in the early 1950s.

CTA 1771 says it is on route 60 – Blue Island in this early 1950s photo. But, as Andre Kristopans notes, “Look carefully – this is on Lake near Austin! Destination sign reads “Lake-Austin”, route # sign is set wrong!” (Walter Hulseweder Photo)

The same location today. This is around 5994 W. Lake.

CTA 5304 is eastbound on the private right-of-way at the west end of route 63, followed by prewar PCC 4002. Note how 5304 is using the front trolley pole, reversed. (R. J. Anderson Photo)

The same location today. This is about 5938 W. 63rd Place. As you can see, the middle building, once a storefront, has been converted to residential. That explains why it goes all the way out to the sidewalk. The bungalow at right looks much as it did, while the building at left has had its top redone at some point, due to deterioration of the brick, as you can see on the side of the building.

CTA 928 is on route 47 in this September 2, 1949 view. Andre Kristopans: “at end of line at 47th and Kedzie.”

47th and Kedzie today. One building is still there, but the top has been redone.

CTA salt spreader AA105, formerly car 2854, at 69th and Ashland. This car was scrapped on February 17, 1954. (C. Edward Hedstrom Collection)

#28 Stony Island cars also went to the Pier at times. After Indiana & Stony went Bus, Cottage (for awhile) was extended to Grand & Wabash to State, but not to the Pier.

In this September 12, 1951 view, CTA 982 is heading south at about 400 N. Wabash, approaching the bridge over the Chicago River. The Silver Frolics nightclub at rear, said to be run by The Outfit, closed in the early 1960s and became the second location of the famous Chez Paree. (C. Edward Hedstrom, Jr. Photo) Jim writes: ‘This is a route #38 Indiana car from Navy Pier to 51st Street its south terminal. It is not a 51st St car.
#28 Stony Island cars also went to the Pier at times. After Indiana & Stony went Bus, Cottage (for awhile) was extended to Grand & Wabash to State, but not to the Pier.
Cottage used the #38 Short turn front roll sign for Wabash-Grand & PCC cars were used.”

There is a modern parking garage on the site of the old Silver Frolics on Wabash today.

CTA 6180 is at 43rd and Oakenwald on August 8, 1953, the last day of streetcar service on the 43rd-Root Street line. Note the Illinois Central station at rear. (C. Edward Hedstrom Photo)

43rd and Oakenwald today.

CTA 5508 at 79th and Western on May 29, 1949. That looks like a 1948-50 Packard at left, which some have nicknamed the “pregnant elephant” styling. We can catch a glimpse of the nearby CTA turnback loop for route 49 – Western at right. (John F. Bromley Collection)

CTA 6236 at 71st and California on the 67-69-71 route on May 29, 1949. (John F. Bromley Collection)

CTA 3266 at 71st and California on the 67-69-71 route on May 29, 1949. (John F. Bromley Collection)

CTA work car R202 at 93rd and Drexel on December 30, 1947. (J. William Vigrass Photo) Andre Kristopans: “R202 is a sand car. It was used to deliver sand to the sand boxes that were located at most terminals and other places where streetcars might encounter slippery conditions. Remember, in the 1950’s streets were not salted, and all that was plowed was basically the car tracks, using mostly sweepers.”

CSL 2802 is on Anthony Avenue at Commercial Avenue in this July 13, 1941 photo. Note the Pennsylvania Railroad station at rear. (John F. Bromley Collection) Bob Laich: “The building immediately behind CSL 2802 on Anthony Avenue was PRR’s South Chicago freight station, which was built at street level. The platform for the South Chicago passenger station can be seen on the elevation in the right background.” Andre Kristopans adds, “something odd here – note “Special” sign in front window. Appears to be a charter waiting for its party off the PRR.” This must be Central Electric Railfans’ Association fantrip #35, which used this car on that date.

CSL 3212 heads up the line-up at Archer Station (car house) on October 16, 1946. (John F. Bromley Collection)

CSL 3217 is on route 73 – Armitage on July 1, 1946. (John F. Bromley Collection) Andre Kristopans: “EB passing Mozart Park at Armitage and Avers.”

CSL 5814 (route 4 – Cottage Grove) is southbound on Wabash at Roosevelt Road on June 13, 1947. At rear, you can see where the Roosevelt Road streetcar line was extended to the Museum Loop for the 1933-34 world’s fair (A Century of Progress). (J. William Vigrass Photo)

Wabash and Roosevelt Road today. Since the previous picture was taken, Roosevelt was extended east, in roughly the same location as the old CSL viaduct over the Illinois Central.

CTA 6034 is at Kedzie and Bryn Mawr, the north end of route 17, on April 16, 1949. (John F. Bromley Collection)

CTA 5802 in August 1948 at one of the Stations (car houses) serving the Cottage Grove line. As you can see, at one time CSL (and CTA) were very much interested in landscaping and beautification. (Carl Hehl Photo) Bob Lalich: “CTA 5802 in August 1948 was taken at the Burnside car barn. The IC tracks can be seen in the background. There was an article about the Burnside car barn gardens in First & Fastest a couple of years ago.” Andre Kristopans adds, “definitely the back yard at Burnside.”

CSL 1933 at Chicago Avenue and Lake Shore Drive on May 12, 1947. (John F. Bromley Collection)

CSL 287 on route 52, Kedzie-California. (John Buff Photo) Andre Kristopans: “287 looks like Kedzie at Marquette. Note trolley wire tensioners behind car that would indicate near a terminal.”

Although the photo says this is Madison, that sure looks like Chicago Union Station, which means car 701 is probably on Adams instead, heading east. (B. H. Nichols Photo) Bob Lalich: “I agree with your comment, car 701 is passing CUS on Adams.” Andre Kristopans: “701 should be on Adams EB at Canal.”

Adams and Canal today.

CTA 3250 is at the end of the line on route 67. The presence of “wings” on this car would indicate this car has probably been repainted green. (John Buff Photo)

CSL Sedan 3343 at around 7740 S. Vincennes Avenue on December 1, 1940, passing South Shops.

The same area today.

CSL Red Cross tribute car near the Wrigley Building in June 1944. This car was in the 1700-series. (Gordon Lloyd Photo)

CTA 5421 at South Shops on May 20, 1951.

CTA Pullman 848 at South Shops on May 20, 1951.

CSL 3132 on Broadway-State. Andre Kristopans adds, “just a feeling based on background buildings, but I’ll bet it’s on 119th between Halsted and Michigan.” (Comparison with other photos indicates the location is most likely 119th and Morgan.)

More CSL and C&WT Photos

February 16, 2016July 8, 2016David Sadowski 10 Comments

CTA 6284 at Indiana Avenue and Cermak circa 1951. (Earl Clark Photo)

Today we are featuring classic streetcar photos from the Chicago Surface Lines and Chicago and West Towns Railways. To find more such pictures in our earlier posts, use the search window on this page.

Photos are a wonderful aid to memory. As always, if you can help identify locations, or have interesting facts or reminiscences to add, don’t hesitate to drop us a line. You can leave comments on this post, or write us directly at:

thetrolleydodger@gmail.com

FYI there will be additional Surface Lines photos coming up in the near future, so watch this space.

-David Sadowski

Help Support The Trolley Dodger

This is our 120th 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 125,000 page views, for which we are very grateful.

You can help us continue our original transit research by checking out the fine products in our Online Store. You can make a donation there as well.

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

We thank you for your support.

American Streetcar R.P.O.s: 1893-1929

# of Discs – 1
Price: $19.95

CTA 3381, now in CTA green, near the south end of route 4 – Cottage Grove, circa 1952. We can tell that this car has been converted to one man because of the sign that says, “Enter at Front.” (Earl Clark Photo)

CTA 3182 and 660 at Cottage Grove and 115th circa 1951. (Earl Clark Photo)

In this 1945 view, CSL 6191 has just turned from Pine onto Lake, heading east on route 16. Looks like the trolley has come off the wire. (Stephen D, Maguire Photo)

Westbound CTA 1758 is turning from Lake onto Pine in this March 1953 view. This is where Lake switched over to the other side of the Chicago & North Western embankment. The streetcar would continue on to Austin Boulevard, the city limits. That looks like a 1952 Kaiser at left.

The Pine Avenue viaduct today, looking north.

The Pine Avenue viaduct looking south. I assume the tracks have not really shifted location, and this is an optical illusion based on the fact that the Google Street View camera was in motion when it took this picture. In other words, it was the camera that shifted its position, not the tracks.

CTA 3153 and 1772 at Lake and Austin, the west end of route 16, on May 15, 1954, same day as the famous “Farewell to Red Cars” fantrip run by Central Electric Railfans’ Association.

CTA 818 by the Park Theatre at Lake and Austin on August 13, 1948. I don’t believe the movie theatre stayed open much later than this. (John F. Bromley Collection)

This old photo was identified as Chicago, but we’d like to know what our readers think.

Chicago Surface Lines work cars P8, P251, P9 and S55 on the scrap line at South Shops, May 12, 1943.

CSL supply car S201. (Earl Clark Photo)

CTA 144 at, I believe, the east end of the 63rd Street line on 64th just west of Stony Island. The Charles J. Klees Golf Shop opened in 1910 across the street from the Jackson Park Golf Course and is still in business today at 10436 S. Western Avenue. Car 144 is preserved in operating condition at the Illinois Railway Museum. (Roy W. Bruce Photo)

West Chicago Street Railway sprinklers.

CSL 5660 on through route 9 – Ashland in 1941. Paraphrasing Don’s Rail Photos, 5660 was built by Kuhlman Car Co in June 1907 (order) #350 for the Chicago & Southern Traction Company. It was purchased and rebuilt as Chicago City Ry 5660 in 1912 and became CSL 5660 in 1914. (Stephen D. Maguire Photo)

CSL 2753 in 1946. (Stephen D. Maguire Photo)

CSL 2776 at Wabash and Wacker in the 1940s. (George Snyder Photo)

CTA 3333 on route 5 in the summer of 1949. (R. O. Johnstone Photo)

CTA Sedan (aka “Peter Witt”) 6310 appears to have been converted to one-man in this view circa 1952 view at South Shops. However, it may not have been used in service this way before being scrapped. (Roy W. Bruce Photo)

CTA 114 heading east on 63rd street, just about to go under the Jackson Park branch of the “L”. M. E. adds, “At the right side of the picture in the foreground are two vertical posts that supported the structure that went south across 63rd St. to the lower 63rd St. yard. Therefore this picture was taken just about underneath that structure.” (Roy W. Bruce Photo)

314 E. 63rd Street today. In the previous photo, the photographer appears to have been standing under the ramp going down to the CTA’s 63rd Street Lower Yard. The ramp has been rebuilt since the earlier picture was taken. The broken lines in the ramp are due to the movement of the camera while this Google Street View picture was being taken.

CSL 2530 in Hegewisch on March 16, 1943. Note the South Shore Line station at rear. (Gordon Lloyd Photo)

Don’s Rail Photos says CSL 2595 was “built by St Louis Car Co in 1901.” The 2501-2625 cars are known as Robertson rebuilds. 2595 is shown on the Riverdale line on November 11, 1939.

C&WT 138 at Cermak and Kenton in the 1940s. Here riders could transfer to the Chicago Surface Lines route 21 streetcar at right. (Joe L. Diaz Photo)

C&WT 155 on private right-of-way west of the Brookfield Zoo on April 11, 1948, on the CERA “day after abandonment” fantrip. (John F. Bromley Collection)

C&WT at 52nd and 36th on February 28, 1938. (John F. Bromley Collection)

C&WT 119 on August 19, 1947. (John F. Bromley Collection)

C&WT 138 at the Brookfield Zoo on July 22, 1938, on the busy LaGrange line. The zoo first opened in 1934. Within a year or two, all West Towns streetcars would be repainted blue. (John F. Bromley Collection)

C&WT 15 on DesPlaines Avenue on April 11, 1948. The occasion was a Central Electric Railfans’ Association fantrip, held the day after West Towns streetcar service came to an end. Note one of the distinctive C&WT shelters at rear. (John F. Bromley Collection)

C&WT line car 15 at Harlem and Cermak on August 19, 1947. (John F. Bromley Collection)

C&WT snow sweeper 9. According to Don’s Rail Photos, “9 was built by McGuire-Cummings in 1928. It was sold to Sand Springs (Oklahoma) Railway in 1948.”

C&WT 126, with bus substitution notice, on April 4, 1948. (Photo by Mathews)

Lost and Found

February 12, 2016January 4, 2021David Sadowski 29 Comments

A close-up of Columbia Park & Southwestern 306 on the “Mobile Home Route.”

Today’s post ties a number of photos together under the heading “Lost and Found.” There are images from the Chicago, Aurora & Elgin, the North Shore Line, and various early preservation efforts. Two of the three great Chicago-area interurbans are lost to history.

Interestingly, among the “saved” equipment shown in these early photos, none of these cars is still at the same location where the pictures were taken. In the case of Milwaukee Electric car 882, it was still in use at a Wisconsin electric power plant as late as 1961, three years after the last Milwaukee streetcar ran on the streets. Yet, oddly enough, it does not appear to have been preserved.

While many of these early museum-type operations such as Trolleyville USA* are no longer with us, they should not be regarded as failures. They played a crucial role in saving many electric railcars from the dustbin of history, and provided a “bridge” to a welcome home in some of today’s more durable institutions.

So, while much of our transit history has been lost, thanks to a few dedicated individuals, not all of it was lost. And despite all the travails and convoluted ways that various cars were saved, there is still a rich history that survives to be found by future generations.

-David Sadowski

PS- Trolleyville USA in Olmstead Township, Ohio, which I visited in 1984, was part trolley museum, and part common carrier. It provided much-needed transportation between a trailer park and general store, both of which were owned by the late Gerald E. Brookins. It is thanks to him that many unique pieces of equipment were saved.

Let me take this opportunity to clear up a Trolleyville “factoid” that has circulated.

Cleveland was where Peter Witt developed his namesake streetcar design, but it is one of the ironies of history that none were saved. A solitary Cleveland Peter Witt car lasted until 1962 before it too was unfortunately scrapped.

Don’s Rail Photos reports, “4144 was built by Kuhlman Car Co in August 1929, (order) #951. It was retired in 1954 and sold to an individual in Lorain. It was lettered as Arlington Traction Co 4144.” Owner Norman Muller had the car in his yard with an organ installed inside.

Some have pondered why Gerald E. Brookins did not save the car. Some have speculated that he was tapped out after purchasing four of the curved-side CA&E cars or that Mrs. Brookins would not let him buy another car.

In 2014, author Blaine Hays told me the real story. He says Brookins had plenty of money and could easily have afforded to purchase the 4144. However, in general his interest in trolley cars was limited to purchasing ones that could be readily run on his short railroad. By 1962, the 4144 did not fit into this category and after having been changed around and stored outside for years, would have required a substantial amount of restoration work, in any case a lot more than Brookins wanted to do.

Thanks to Brookins, four of the ten Ca&E St. Louis-built cars from 1945 were saved. But of fate had turned a different way, all ten cars might have ended up in service on the Cleveland rapid on the airport extension. In the early 1960s, Cleveland transit officials were planning to build this extension “on the cheap,” using local funds. If they had, the CA&E cars would likely have provided the original rolling stock. As things turned out, the project got put off for a few years until Federal funds were available. It opened in 1968 with new equipment.

Ironically, at least one CA&E car (303) did eventually run on the Cleveland system. The Lake Shore Electric Railway was a short-lived successor to Trolleyville that planned to operate in Cleveland. Ultimately, the effort failed due to lack of funding, and the cars in the Brookins collection were sold at auction. Some ended up at the Illinois Railway Museum and the Fox River Trolley Museum, but I have seen pictures of the 303 running in Cleveland in the early 21st century with a pantograph installed.

Who’da thunk it?

Help Support The Trolley Dodger

This is our 119th 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 123,000 page views, for which we are very grateful.

You can help us continue our original transit research by checking out the fine products in our Online Store. You can make a donation there as well.

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

We thank you for your support.

American Streetcar R.P.O.s

Our latest E-book American Streetcar R.P.O.s collects 12 books on this subject (nearly 1000 pages in all) onto a DVD data disc that can be read on any computer using Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is free software. All have been out of print for decades and are hard to find. In addition, there is an introductory essay by David Sadowski.

# of Discs – 1
Price: $19.95

CA&E 423 and 433 have just passed each other just west of the Forest Park terminal at DesPlaines Avenue in October 1953. Concordia cemetery is to the left. This is now the site of I-290.

Don’s Rail Photos says CA&E 18 was “built by Niles Car in 1902. It was modernized in March 1941 and retired in 1955.” Here it is at Wheaton on March 15, 1952.

Curved-sided CA&E car 455, built by St. Louis Car Company in 1945, at Wheaton on July 7, 1954.

Don’s Rail Photos says CA&E merchandise express car 9 was “built by Niles Car in 1907. It was scrapped in 1959.” It is shown here at Wheaton in August 1948.

CA&E 427 parked at Laramie Avenue in August 1948. It was built by the Cincinnati Car Company in 1927.

The view looking south towards the Wilmette station on the CNS&M Shore Line Route, which was abandoned in 1955. For a view from the other end of the same station, look here. Northbound trains began street running on Greenleaf Avenue here.

The same location today, where the North Shore Line curved to the right to head west on Greenleaf.

Once the North shore Line entered Greenleaf, the street widened. We are looking west.

Perhaps one of our keen-eyed readers can tell us if this photo of car 158 was also taken along Greenleaf Avenue in Wilmette.

Don’s Rail Photos says that North Shore Line caboose 1003 “was built by American Car & Foundry Co in 1926. It was rebuilt without a cupola but restored when it was acquired by IRM.” There was some discussion recently on a Yahoo group concerning CNS&M cabooses. Someone was interested in making a model, and this nice side view should help determine the dimensions.

An Electroliner at speed near Crawford looking west. This picture was taken from a passing train in 1960, three years before the North Shore Line quit. CTA’s Skokie Swift began running in 1964. (Richard H. Young Photo)

Today’s CTA Yellow Line looking west from Crawford.

CNS&M Silverliner 738 heads up a four-car special train making a station stop at Northbrook during a snowstorm in February 1960. (Richard H. Young Photo)

CNS&M 150 in a night scene at Waukegan on January 26, 1962.

Electroliner 804-803 at the CTA Roosevelt Road “L” station in Chicago on February 17, 1957.

CNS&M Electroliner 803-804 at Deerpath, Illinois, February 17, 1957. Could be the photographer boarded the train in the previous picture at Roosevelt road and got off here.

Columbia Park and Southwestern 306, ex-Aurora, Elgin & Fox River Electric, ex-Shaker Heights Rapid Transit, at Gerald E. Brookins’ Trolleyville USA in 1962. Electric operations appear to be underway already, or nearly so.

Don’s Rail Photos says, “306 was built by St Louis Car in 1924, #1306. In 1936 it was sold to CI/SHRT as 306 and in 1954 it was sold to CP&SW as 306. It was transferred to the Illinois Railway Museum in 1984 where it is being restored as AE&FRECo 306.”

CTA Red Pullman 144 and Milwaukee streetcar 972 at the Illinois Electric Railway Museum in North Chicago, February 1960.

A snowy view of the 144 in February 1960, less than two years after this car last ran on the streets of Chicago (in a May 1958 fantrip).

Indiana Railroad lightweight high-speed interurban car 65 at IERM in February 1960.

Don’s Rail Photos says Milwaukee electric car 882 “was built by St Louis Car Co in 1920, (order) #1239. It was one manned in 1926 and rebuilt in 1954 with a plow on one end and a pilot on the other for use at the Lakeside Power Plant of WEPCo. It also had interurban headlights added. It ran until May 8, 1961.” Unfortunately, it does not appear this car was saved.

The two North Shore Line Electroliner sets had a second life for a while as Liberty Liners on the Red Arrow line between Philadelphia and Norristown. Red Arrow President Merritt H. Taylor Jr. (1922-2010) was a closet railfan, and the pride he took in saving these fine streamlined cars is clearly evident in the picture on this 1964 timetable, when they were put into service. This was a morale booster for both the railroad and its riders after enduring a 34-day strike in 1963, the only one in its history.

CNS&M 162 at the American Museum of Electricity in Schenectady, New York in 1968. Don’s Rail Photos says, “162 was built by Brill in 1915, #19605. It was acquired by American Museum of Electricity in 1963 and resold to Connecticut Trolley Museum.”

This 1968 photo presents a bit of a mystery. The only other North Shore car owned by the American Museum of Electricity was 710, sold along with the 162 to the Connecticut Trolley Museum in 1971. But there are other cars shown in this line-up, and the partial number for this one looks like it’s in the 750-series. Stephen B. Rudolph adds, “I just dug up an identical print of the photo of the boarded-up CNS&M 755. The back of my print is machine-dated by the photofinisher “JUNE 64.” This wasn’t somebody’s rubber date stamper, so I think it’s correct. Consequently, I believe the 1968 date stated above is incorrect.”

More CA&E Jewels

February 9, 2016October 19, 2016David Sadowski 12 Comments

CA&E 309 at Wheaton on a May 19, 1957 CERA fantrip. About two years later the fledgling Illinois Electric Railway Museum referred to this car as the “jewel of the fleet,” when raising money for its purchase. We reproduced that flyer in our post Railfan Ephemera (August 26, 2015).

We’ve been on a bit of a Chicago, Aurora & Elgin kick lately, so here are some more great photos of that fabled interurban. Several of these were taken on Central Electric Railfans’ Association fantrips. There were many such trips in the sunset days of the “Sunset Lines.”

We also have some photos of city streetcars in Elgin in the early 20th century. As you can see from the photos, some of these were lightly built lines that I am sure did not offer up the riding quality generally associated with the CA&E.

We also tracked down a photo of a Commonwealth Edison electric loco in service, to satisfy a request made some time ago by one of our readers.

Enjoy!

-David Sadowski

PS- We have the unique and rare opportunity to buy nearly a dozen 7″ reels of 8mm railfan films shot between 1954 and 1971 at a very reasonable cost. These include Chicago rapid transit, streetcars in New Orleans, Toronto, Pittsburgh, Newark and Philadelphia, the Red Arrow lines (including the Ardmore branch), and several CERA fantrips. This opens up the possibility that at some future date, we may be able to offer DVDs of these films. But a lot of work and expense has to go into making that a reality. Your generous contributions towards that goal are greatly appreciated.

Help Support The Trolley Dodger

This is our 118th 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 122,000 page views, for which we are very grateful.

You can help us continue our original transit research by checking out the fine products in our Online Store. You can make a donation there as well.

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

We thank you for your support.

In our post Trolley Dodger Mailbag, 10-18-2015, Mike Murray asked for pictures of the Commonwealth Edison third rail operation on Chicago’s north side (not far from the former location of Hot Doug’s). Well, we finally found one. Here is electric loco S-4 at California and Addison on January 9, 1949. According to Don’s Rail Photos, “4 was built in November 1911 by Alco, #50284, and General Electric, #3514. It was donated to Illinois (Electric) Railway Museum in 1962.”

“CTA elevated train on loop over Aurora-Elgin track (Garfield Park line, Des Plaines Ave.), August 1955.” (Roy Bruce Photo)

CA&E 454 and 701 at Lakewood on a May 19, 1957 CERA fantrip. This is the same train shown in another picture at Elgin. (Roy Bruce Photo)

CA&E Pullman 405. But is this Aurora or Batavia?

This would appear to be a lineup of rapid transit cars in storage at Roosevelt Road on the Westchester branch, which was owned by CA&E. It was intended to be part of a bypass route that would have gone through what we know today as Oakbrook. Service on this branch ended in December 1951. The only car number I can make out in this photo is 2889. (Dick Rumbolz Photo)

CA&E 421 and 423 street running in Aurora. Since the street running was eliminated in 1939, this photo cannot be later than that date.

A two-car CA&E train, headed up by 434, “at speed.” Not sure of the exact location. (H. L. Younger Photo)

CA&E 314 and CTA 2833 at Laramie on March 12, 1953. I’m not sure whether the 314 is on a storage track. The photographer notes, “this section to be abandoned by CA&E.” The interurban cut back service to Forest Park that September 20th. I believe we are looking east. (Roy Bruce Photo)

CA&E freight locos 2001 and 2002 at Wheaton on March 14, 1957.

CA&E 454 and 701 at Elgin, alongside the Fox River, on a May 19, 1957 CERA fantrip. 701 was a control trailer and had formerly been owned by the Washington, Baltimore & Annapolis. As Don’s Rail Photos says, “701 was built by Cincinnati Car Co in 1913 as WB&A 81. It was sold as CA&E 701 in 1938.” It and its brothers had their ends modified by CA&E to fit Chicago “L” clearances.

CTA 6041-6042 at Western Avenue on the Van Buren temporary trackage, February 22, 1955. This rerouting, caused by Congress expressway construction, had a lot to do with the demise of the CA&E.

CA&E 300 and 318 at Batavia on a July 4, 1956 CERA fantrip.

CA&E Pullmans 419 and 403 are taking a photo stop at Glen Oak on a July 4, 1956 CERA fantrip.

A close-up view.

CA&E 321 and 404 at Wheaton on July 4, 1956.

An Elgin trolley.

Photo caption: “Elgin Illinois 1923. 10 cents from here to Elgin via the “Toonerville Trolley,” trolley clog(?) 5 cents extra.”

Photo caption: “Next stop Trout Park.”

The Trout Park roller coaster. Trolley lines often built amusement parks in order to generate traffic.

An Elgin trolley.

Elgin trolleys.

The Elgin Watch factory circa 1910. It closed in the 1960s.

A couple of CA&E woods (including 308) head east, approaching the Des Plaines Avenue terminal in April 1957, a few months before abandonment of passenger service. Another CA&E train is in the terminal, while a train of CTA 4000s, including a “baldy” with the blocked-off center door, turns around on a wooden trestle. This arrangement began when the CA&E stopped running downtown in September 1953.

This undated 1950s photo shows a westbound Chicago, Aurora & Elgin train (cars 406 and 41x) at the Villa Park station. According to the Great Third Rail web site, “The station was rebuilt again in 1929. During this reconstruction, the eastbound platform was moved to the west side of Villa Avenue with the construction of an expansive Tudor Revival station designed by Samuel Insull’s staff architect, Arthur U. Gerber. The westbound platform remained in place and was outfitted with a flat roofed wooden passenger shelter. Villa Park was one of a few stations to survive the demise of the Chicago, Aurora and Elgin. Both it and Ardmore (the next station west) were purchased by the village of Villa Park and refurbished with an official dedication by the Villa Park Bicentennial Commission on July 5, 1976. It is now home to the Villa Park Historical Society which hosts an annual ice cream social on July 3, the anniversary of the day the CA&E ended passenger service.”

I believe this photo shows CA&E freight loco 4006 on the Mt. Carmel branch.

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

Here is Lackawana & Wyoming Valley 31 as it appeared on August 3, 1952. Passenger service ended on this third-rail line at the end of that year. Some have wondered if the LL rolling stock could have benefited the Chicago, Aurora & Elgin, but the general consensus is these cars would have been too long to navigate the tight curves on the Loop “L”, although perhaps they could have been used west of Forest Park. As it was, there were no takers and all were scrapped. Ironically, some thought was later given by a museum of adapting a CA&E curved-side car into an ersatz Laurel Line replica, but this idea was dropped.

Throwback Thursday

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

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

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

Happy New Year!

-David Sadowski

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Updates

George Foelschow writes:

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

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

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

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

Recent Correspondence

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

Here is what I believe at present:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thanks.

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

(Phil Becker Photo)

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

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

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

(Phil Becker Photo)

Off-Street Chicago Bus and Streetcar Loops

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

Limits Garage 1860’s out 7/3/94
Root/Halsted 1/1895 out 8/9/53
Cable Ct/Harper 7/08 out 6/21/59
Wentworth/63 11/08 out 6/22/58
Western/Flournoy 6/09 out 7/18/65
Cottage Grove/72 11/10 out 9/28/56
State/63 1/11 out 1/9/57
Western/Roscoe 7/11 out 1/24/51
Vincennes/80 8/11 out 1990’s
Clark/Arthur 11/11 active
Halsted/79 12/12 active
63/King 6/13 out 6/28/69 (temporarily reactivated circa 1977 when Ryan L out of service at 18th)
Halsted/Waveland 3/15 active
Clark/Howard 4/15 out 12/3/61
75/Lakefront 5/15 active (cul-de-sac)
Broadway/Ardmore 12/15 out 12/26/63
Torrence/112 3/17 active
Devon/Sheridan 5/17 (CMC) out 10/18/53
Archer/Cicero 12/17 active (relocated 1955)
Navy Pier 6/21 active (relocated 1959, relocated again 1990’s)
Madison/Austin 7/21 active
Milwaukee/Imlay 9/27 active
Montrose/Milwaukee 1/25/31 out 9/23/78
Montrose/Narragansett 1/25/31 out 9/3/78
Belmont/Pacific 5/30/31 out 1/9/49
18th/Lake Shore 6/33 out 3/9/49
Roosevelt/Columbus 8/33 out 4/11/53
Hamlin/Fulton (CMC) 6/35 out 2/11/53
Belmont/Central 5/30/31 out 1/9/49 (relocated across street 9/16/35)
Diversey/Western 9/12/35 out 7/1/55
Diversey/Neva 10/4/38 active
Caldwell/Central 8/39 (relocated 10/29/61)
83/Green Bay 5/13/40 out 10/30/63
Bell & Howell 12/5/42 out 03/08/87
76/Keeler 7/26/43 out 3/16/53
76/Kilpatrick 7/26/43 out 6/21/59
Pershing/Western Blvd parking lot east of intersection 8/28/45 out 2/14/48
Pershing/Ashland parking lot west of intersection 8/28/45 out 1947
115/Cottage Grove 9/23/45 out 6/16/63 (south of 115th)
Montrose/Broadway 7/29/46 out 6/22/80
Monroe Parking Lot (CMC) 8/15/46 out 1972
Soldier Field Parking Lot (CMC) 8/15/46 out 9/12/83
Merchandise Mart Plaza 9/16/46 out 1987
Torrence/128 10/21/46 relocated to 130th west of Torrence 6/21/78, out 9/11/81
Torrence/112 10/21/46 out 4/25/48 (south of RR)
74/Damen 11/1/46 active
Irving Park/Cumberland 2/4/47 active (moved 1/24/64)
87/Western 5/22/47 active
Damen/Elston 6/19/47 out 9/30/63
84/State 6/28/47 out 11/26/58
116/Burley (Republic Steel) 6/30/47 out 11/30/86
Cortland/Paulina 8/31/47 out 4/17/59
31/Ellis 2/29/48 out 9/27/56
Narragansett/63 Pl 4/25/48 active
63/Archer 4/25/48 active (relocated 1990’s)
Harlem/64 Pl 6/15/48 active
Western/79 7/31/48 active
Devon/Kedzie 9/13/48 active
Irving Pk/Neenah 11/17/48 (moved from S to N of Irving Pk 7/9/58) out 1/24/88
16th/47th Ct 12/12/48 active
Belmont/Halsted 1/9/49 active
Belmont/Cumberland 1/9/49 active
Belmont/Octavia 1/9/49 active
Western/Berwyn 1/10/49 active
Western/Howard 2/17/49 active
North/Clybourn 7/3/49 out 12/28/08
Lehigh/Touhy 7/14/49 out 2/20/55
Cermak/Harlem (West Towns Garage) 8/13/49 out 1/16/57
Harrison/Central 8/14/49 active
Addison/Pontiac (CMC) 8/17/49 active
Western/Leland 11/14/49 active
Fullerton/Parkside 12/4/49 out 9/8/85
North/Clark 12/4/49 active
North/Narragansett 12/4/49 active
Jersey/Peterson 5/13/50 out 9/7/73
31/California 5/17/50 out 9/2/80
111/Harding 10/21/50 active
Central/Milwaukee 11/17/50 out 9/24/70
Grand/Nordica 4/1/51 active
47/Lake Park 4/15/51 active (moved from W of Lake Park to E 7/26/66)
Cicero/Pensacola 5/10/51 active
Lincoln/Wrightwood 7/2/51 out 4/27/60
Elston/Kentucky 7/19/51 out 7/8/55
Pulaski/Peterson 7/20/51 active
Archer/Neva 11/2/51 active
Lincoln Village 11/13/51 out 1/30/55 (McCormick N of Lincoln)
Lincoln/Whipple 11/23/51 out 4/9/84
Cicero/24 Pl 11/25/51 active
31/Komensky 12/6/51 active
Logan Square 12/19/51 out 1/31/70
North/Winchester 5/5/52 out 9/7/73
Grand/Latrobe 5/24/52 active
Cermak/54 Av 5/25/52 active (moved 8/18/03)
Fairbanks/Ontario 7/20/52 out 1990’s, new built 2000’s
79/Lakefront 8/11/52 relocated 2012
Roosevelt/Monitor 9/7/52 out 2000’s
Pulaski/Foster 9/8/52 out 1990’s
95/Western Evergreen Plaza 9/28/52 out 12/20/15
Chicago/Mayfield 12/13/52 active (moved to Austin 11/21/88)
Roosevelt/Wabash 5/12/53 out 4/15/73
Racine/87 5/28/53 active
26/Kenton 6/18/53 out 6/12/77
Desplaines/Congress 10/9/53 active relocated numerous times until 2/23/81
Jackson/Central Fieldhouse 10/29/53 out 7/8/55
Niles Center/Pratt 11/15/53 out 1/15/54
Kedzie/63 Pl 12/15/53 active
42/Packers 2/14/54 out 11/9/70 (moved 4/22/63)
87/Cicero 8/13/54 active moved to shopping center across Cicero 12/29/96
Ashland/95 11/4/54 active
California/Addison 11/26/54 out 3/31/13
Grand/Natchez 12/20/54 out 2/22/67
Western/119 2/9/55 active
Cermak/47 Av 4/17/55 out 6/29/86
Jackson/Austin 7/8/55 active
Forest Glen Garage 12/4/55 active
Damen/87 12/9/55 active
North Park Garage 12/4/55 no longer used as turnaround since 1/31/92
Cottage Grove/Burnside 8/22/56 out 4/1/91 (reactivated 6/17/07 to 8/23/10)
Brother Rice High School 9/10/56 active
Cermak Plaza 1/14/57 out 11/30/75
59/Keating 5/5/57 out 9/6/87
Howard/Kedzie 1/26/58 out 11/19/60 (east of Channel)
Jackson/Kedzie Garage 7/3/58 not used as turnaround since 1990’s
83/Wentworth 7/14/58 out 3/7/86
Teletype Corp 9/8/58 out 6/26/81
Pulaski/104 9/17/58 active
Cicero/64 11/27/58 out 11/7/93
Pulaski/77 6/21/59 out 6/1/62
79/Kilpatrick (Scottsdale) 6/21/58 out 3/5/00
Indianapolis/101 7/5/59 out 1970’s
Cumberland/Montrose 8/3/59 out 7/13/64
Howard/McCormick 11/3/60 active
Cermak/State 11/19/60 out 9/28/69
McCormick Place 11/19/60 out 1/16/67 account McCormick Place burned down
115/Pulaski 12/4/60 out 8/3/64
67/Oglesby 12/15/60 active
Howard/Hermitage 12/3/61 replaced 3/22/02
Pulaski/75 6/1/62 out 7/21/63
Pulaski/81 7/21/63 active
Beverly Garage 2/10/64 not used as turnaround after 11/19/03 (unofficially several years earlier)
Skokie Swift 4/19/64 active
Old Orchard 4/20/64 relocated to west mall entrance 2/11/74
Marist High School 8/24/64 out 8/30/07
Randolph/Lake Shore (Outer Drive East Apts) 9/14/64 out 3/7/75
55/St Louis 11/11/64 active replaced 2000’s
51/St Louis 1/13/65 out 11/7/93
115/Springfield 5/10/65 active
King Dr/Burnside 6/20/65 out 11/12/72
Ford City 8/12/65 active relocated 11/29/87
Luther High School (87/Sacramento) 11/24/65 out 1990’s
Pratt/Kedzie 8/1/66 out 6/23/03
Mercy Hospital 2/1/68 out 6/29/04?
Ashland/63 5/6/69 active
95/Dan Ryan 9/28/69 active
79/Perry 9/28/69 active
69/Dan Ryan 9/28/69 active
Cermak/Clark 9/28/69 out 12/10/76
Jefferson Park 2/1/70 active
Irving Park/Keystone 2/1/70 active
Belmont/Kimball 2/1/70 active
Logan Square 2/1/70 active
McCormick Place 1/2/71 out 1/80 account McCormick Place expansion
Olive/Harvey 2/8/71 active relocated 8/3/81 to west side of main bldg and 8/20/82 to s side of bldg
International Towers (Bryn Mawr/Delphia) 6/7/71 out 5/29/73
Wilson/E Ravenswood 1970’s out 12/15/12
King Dr/96 11/12/72 out 7/30/73 temporary Chicago State terminal
Pavilion Apts – 5/29/73 active (relocated to N side of complex 2/28/83)
Clark/Wisconsin 6/18/73 out 9/8/96
95/St Lawrence 7/30/73 active (not used 6/17/07 to 8/23/10 because of dispute with CSU)
South Blvd/Sheridan 09/10/73 out 6/20/03 inherited from Evanston Bus Co
Touhy/Overhill 10/25/74 – CTA has not used since 12/15/12 (replaced last Y terminal)
Randolph/Harbor (Harbor Point Apts) 3/7/75 active
North Riverside Park Mall 11/30/75 active (relocated closer to entrance 7/9/81)
Division/Austin 2/16/76 active
Lincoln Village (Lincoln/Jersey) 4/2/78 out 2/3/80
73/Oak Park 4/2/78 out 12/31/81
Field Museum turn-in on McFetridge 6/18/78 active
Chicago-Read Hospital 9/3/78 out 9/6/15 (relocated across Oak Park Av 10/6/96)
71/Pulaski (Shopping center parking lot) 6/22/80 active
Pratt/Central Park 12/8/80 out 3/8/87
Central/77 (St Laurence HS) 1980’s active
Evanston Twp High School Parking Lot 1/3/82 out 6/20/03
Harlem/Higgins 2/27/83 active
Cumberland/Bryn Mawr – 2/27/83 active
River Rd/Kennedy 2/27/83 – CTA stopped using 1/23/88
47/Laramie (trucking company parking lot) 7/2/84 out 6/21/92
Riverside Square (Archer/Ashland) 12/1/86 out 11/4/97
Skokie Courthouse 1/25/88 active
103rd Garage 6/26/88 active
Grand/Columbus 12/27/88 out 2/28/93
Church/Lamon (Skokie) (JCC) 6/25/90 out 6/21/91
Bryn Mawr/Lake Shore 7/19/93 active
Wright College 8/22/93 active
Archer/Halsted 10/31/93 active
Archer/Ashland 10/31/93 active
Western/49 10/31/93 active
Archer/Leavitt 10/31/93 active
Kedzie/49 10/31/93 active
Pulaski/51 10/31/93 active
59/Kilpatrick 10/31/93 active
King/24th Pl 10/30/94 active but no scheduled service since 12/14/12
McCormick Place South driveway 2/8/97 out ca 1998 as impractical
Desplaines/Harrison 3/9/97 active
Nature Museum (Cannon/Fullerton) 12/12/99 active
Kostner/74 6/25/00 active
Golf/Waukegan (Avon Corp parking lot) 6/24/02 active
Central Park/Cleveland (Rand-McNally Skokie) 6/23/03 out 9/5/09
Lincolnwood Town Center Mall 6/19/06 active
Pullman Plaza parking lot (Doty W/109) 9/11/13
74th Garage first used as turnaround 3/30/14 active

More “Throwback” Photos:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

PCC Side Roll Signs

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

John DeLamater writes:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

One of our readers notes:

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

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

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

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

The above readings were from a SLCC PCC.

George Trapp adds:

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

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

Thanks for this great information.

-D. S.

The CTA sign shop at work in the 1950s.

Reader Mailbag, 1-3-2016

January 3, 2016January 3, 2016David Sadowski 15 Comments

CSL Brill 188 is southbound on Central Ave at North Ave, with a westbound streetcar in the background on North Ave. You can see that trolley buses shared wire on North with streetcars– an unusual occurrence in Chicago, although it was common in other cities. Photo courtesy the Illinois Railway Museum Strahorn Library and the Scalzo collection, caption help courtesy of Roy Benedict.)

Chicago Trolley Buses and Shared Wire

One of our readers recently brought our lead photo (from http://www.trolleybuses.net) to our attention:

Very good example of streetcars and trolley buses using a shared wire in Chicago. Not very common here.

My first thought was that this picture may have been taken in 1949, when CTA switched route 72 – North Avenue from streetcar to trolley bus.

North Avenue was converted to trolley bus between the west end and North and Clybourn in 1949. A streetcar shuttle continued between Clybourn and Clark until they extended the line to Clark with the loop by the Chicago Historical Society (now the Chicago History Museum).

The photo is not dated, so I can’t comment about what was going on at the time that it was taken. I only mentioned it because shared wire was not common in Chicago unlike other cities (i.e. Milwaukee). I believe that the CSL logo is on the Brill trolley bus, but we know that CTA was slow to apply their decals on various surface vehicles in their early years so it could be a 1949 photo. I believe the conversion was in December 1949.

I looked up the conversion date on http://www.chicagorailfan.com and they give it as July 3, 1949. Having done additional research, it looks like the photo is most likely from the CSL era after all.

This enlargement (below) of part of a 1946 CSL supervisor’s map shows that trolley buses could run west on North Avenue from the garage at Cicero all the way to Narragansett, where they could then turn north. (The solid lines are streetcar routes, the dashed lines trolley buses, and the others represent gas buses.)

I am sure that most Chicago transit historians don’t know of that shared wire for 2 miles. In the past the only shared wire that I knew about was on Chicago Avenue from Larrabee to Halsted, a very short distance in comparison to what existed on North Avenue.

If you study those maps you might find other examples of shared wire.

Looking at this map, the shared wire on North Avenue was probably a matter of necessity in 1930, when CSL’s first trolley bus routes began service on Chicago’s northwest side. I suppose there was little choice but to string wire on two miles of North Avenue to connect the barn with these routes, even though North Avenue was not yet served by trolley coaches. It probably helped tip the scale in favor of the later conversion, since they had already done part of it.

Trolley buses ran on Narragansett between 1930 and 1953, when the line was consolidated with the one mile extension of the North Avenue route. Rather than extend wire to North and Harlem, CTA substituted gas or propane buses on all of route 86. (By then, Cicero Avenue was likely the preferred means of moving trolley buses north and south from the North Avenue garage, so Narragansett was superfluous.)

Starting in 1949, the 72 trolley bus used the wire between Narragansett and Cicero that had presumably been put up in 1930.

Interestingly, in 1959 Oak Park village officials wrote to the CTA requesting extension of trolley bus service on North Avenue between Narragansett and Harlem Avenue. While I have not read CTA’s reply, they probably said no funds were available for such an extension. By 1959, it would seem that a decision had already been made to gradually phase out trolley bus service as the fleet aged and reached the end of their service lives (although some of these buses ran for many additional years after 1973 in Mexico).

It would seem that 1958 was the pivotal year for CTA to decide that it was going to eventually do away with all surface electric vehicles. It probably was a subtle decision because of course the focus had been on the removal of streetcars entirely by 1957/1958. After the streetcars were gone, they came to the realization that a lot of the overhead infrastructure and substations would have to be upgraded to maintain trolley buses indefinitely. Always being the ones to cut costs without any concern for the environment except in the use of propane buses, CTA sought to trim everything to the best of their ability. It is interesting how different their approach was to surface electric transit than that of the Toronto Transit Commission which was already going full speed ahead with the building of subways while at the same time retaining streetcars and trolley buses.

I think that you can pretty well establish the beginning of the end of the trolley bus era in Chicago when the streetcar wire on 79th Street and Halsted was taken down, I believe in 1958. Both lines had been converted to motor bus in the early 50s, but the overhead wire was kept up with the anticipation of converting them to trolley bus. Andre Kristopans, the source of unbounding transit trivia, might be able to tell you when those wires were finally taken down. Unfortunately, I did not take any photos of the wire on Halsted, but I do have photos of the 79th Street wire at Vincennes/79th where the Clark-Wentworth cars crossed 79th Street. CTA took out the crossing, but used the 79th Street wire to hold up the streetcar wire at the crossing on Vincennes.

The 1951 DeLeuw, Cather and Company consultant’s report for CTA recommended against buying any more electric surface vehicles, due to the high cost of power purchased from Com Ed. As it happens, CTA entered into a new 10-year contract with Com Ed in 1958, which went into effect just after the last streetcar ran. The rate was a small increase over the prior agreement.

One possibility is that the trolley buses were kept until they were fully depreciated. CTA got the streetcars off the books before they were fully depreciated through their PCC Conversion Program, where 570 of the 600 postwar PCCs were sold to St. Louis Car Company for scrapping and parts reuse in a like number of rapid transit cars.

These issues are discussed in detail in our E-book Chicago’s PCC Streetcars: The Rest of the Story, available in our Online Store. You will also find CSL/CTA supervisor’s track maps from 1941, 1946, 1948, 1952, and 1954 in the same publication, along with the complete text of the 1951 DeLeuw, Cather consultant report and much more.

An enlargement from a 1946 CSL supervisor’s map shows how streetcars and trolley buses had two miles of shared wire between Cicero and Narragansett.

More Grand and Nordica

FYI, we’ve added these two photos of trolley buses near Grand and Nordica to our recent post Chicago Surface Lines Photos, Part Five:

This image from www.trolleybuses.net, credited to the Scalzo collection, shows a Grand trolleybus, Marmon 9437, at Grand and Nordica on October 12, 1968. There was a grocery east of the loop, which later became a thrift store.

This image from http://www.trolleybuses.net, credited to the Scalzo collection, shows a Grand trolleybus, Marmon 9437, at Grand and Nordica on October 12, 1968. There was a grocery east of the loop, which later became a thrift store.

Marmon 9437 westbound on Grand at Newland on September 7, 1969, again from www.trolleybuses.net and the Scalzo collection. From 1954 to 1964, my family lived just south of here on Medill. The Rambler dealer later became AMC, then Jeep, Chrysler-Jeep and is now demolished. We are a short distance from the Grand-Nordica loop.

Marmon 9437 westbound on Grand at Newland on September 7, 1969, again from http://www.trolleybuses.net and the Scalzo collection. From 1954 to 1964, my family lived just south of here on Medill. The Rambler dealer later became AMC, then Jeep, Chrysler-Jeep and is now demolished. We are a short distance from the Grand-Nordica loop.

Thomas Wozniak writes:

Thank you for sending out your very informative DVD so fast. I’m really enjoying all the history and rare photos that are included in it. I wish there were more photos of the construction of the Congress St. Expressway and the dismantling of the West Side, Humboldt Park, Kenwood, Stock Yards, and Normal Park branches. Did you work for the CTA?

No, I never worked for the CTA, although I certainly have used it a lot my entire life. I guess I will just have to remain an “Ownerider,” thanks.

However, we have already posted lots of pictures of the Metropolitan and Garfield Park “L”s, as well as the construction of the Congress rapid transit line, on the previous blog we were involved with. You can use keyword searches to find those posts.

From a CTA brochure, distributed on October 1, 1947.

Chicago CB&Q Suburban Stations

Charlie Vlk writes:

While I am a CB&Q researcher I do have interest in Chicago Traction, having worked at All Nations Hobby Shop with “Traction Ted” Seifert and knew George Trapp, Joe Diaz, Rich Boszak, George Clark, Bob Kutella and other customers “back in the day”.

I am researching pre-1900 CB&Q Chicago suburban stations. I have shots of Millard Avenue/Shedd Park and Crawford Avenue. I would like an image of the Douglas Park Station and am hoping it might show up in construction photos of the Douglas Park “L” bridge over the Q or maybe during the track elevation raising of that bridge.

I am also interested in the Chicago (14th Street) Union Avenue, Ashland, Blue Island, and Western Avenue and Panhandle Crossing stations that existed before track elevation. Perhaps some of these were adjacent to streetcar lines and show up in pictures?

PS- I used to ride the North Shore Line from Milwaukee to Chicago and would connect with the Bluebird bus to Brookfield, 31st, and Prairie to get home on weekend leave from St John’s Military Academy 1958-1963. Of course, I never took even one picture in those five years!!!

You might find the attached pdfs from the Chicago Tribune about the Suburban Railroad and Chicago, Hammond & Western disputing their crossing at the Brookfield/La Grange Park border interesting.

Chicago Tribune, July 12, 1897
Chicago Tribune, July 13, 1897

We’ll see what our readers might know, thanks.

Book Review

text068

Chicago Surface Lines: The Big 5 Routes and 5 Others
by Richard F. Begley, George E. Kanary, and Walter R. Keevil
Dispatch Number 6 of the Shore Line Interurban Historical Society

While I certainly do appreciate full-length railfan books, I am also very much in favor of shorter ones, such as this new 100-page volume from the Shore Line group. The Chicago Surface Lines is a vast subject, since it was, in its heyday, the largest and most extensive street railway system in the world. Here, the focus is on the five biggest CSL routes, plus five small ones.

This book is a welcome addition to the admittedly slim shelf of Chicago streetcar tomes. The three authors are all very experienced, and their reputations precede them. They are that rare combination, being both gentlemen as well as scholars.

While there is a goodly amount of informative text herein, for most readers, the main interest will be in the photographs, almost all of which are in classic black-and-white. The overall format should be familiar to anyone who has read previous CSL articles in First & Fastest, Shore Line’s quarterly magazine. If the result here seems like several such articles strung together, there’s nothing wrong with such an approach. I have enjoyed those articles too.

As far as I know, most of the pictures here have not previously appeared elsewhere. Many are from collections acquired by the authors over the years, and are reproduced from the original negatives, often from film formats larger than 35mm. The photos themselves are excellent, as is the quality of their reproduction.

The general approach is not altogether different from our own CSL posts. Naturally, in our case, when we get things wrong, our readers help point out these mistakes (sometimes within a few hours) and we make the necessary corrections.

In the case of a printed book, such an approach is impossible. Everything needs to be corrected and fact-checked ahead of time. Since the authors are seasoned veterans of this sort of thing, the chance of finding any factual errors is very slim indeed.

Of course, the three authors have an advantage in years over this writer. They experienced many of these things first-hand, while we merely strive to learn about them after the fact. We are doing our best to educate ourselves and get caught up.

There is value in both approaches, the permanence of a book, and the immediacy of a blog.

Any criticisms I might make would be very minor in nature and would seem like nit-picking. I won’t even bother mentioning them.

It’s safe to say that anyone who appreciates seeing Chicago streetcar pictures on this blog would also like this book, which is available directly from Shore Line using the link given above. It is highly recommended.

-David Sadowski

PS- Please note that Trolley Dodger Press is not affiliated with the Shore Line Interurban Historical Society.

Help Support The Trolley Dodger

This is our 109th post, and we are gradually creating a body of work and an online resource for the benefit of all railfans, everywhere.

You can help us continue our original transit research by checking out the fine products in our Online Store. You can make a donation there as well.

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

We thank you for your support.

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

2015 Annual Report

We thank our readers for making our first year such a success. We received 107,460 page views in all, from 30,743 individuals.

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2015 annual report for this blog.

Here's an excerpt:

The Louvre Museum has 8.5 million visitors per year. This blog was viewed about 110,000 times in 2015. If it were an exhibit at the Louvre Museum, it would take about 5 days for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

The back cover of Shore Line Dispatch Number 6.

Remembering Newark’s PCCs

December 19, 2015December 19, 2015David Sadowski 2 Comments

PCC 14 outbound at Orange St. Station on March 28, 2001.

Today’s article is by guest contributor Kenneth Gear. You’ve heard his name before, since Ken has generously loaned us many Railroad Record Club and other similar records from his collection, so that we could transfer them to audio CDs. Thanks to Ken, we are well on our way towards our goal of making the entire RRC collection available once again.

But Ken is also an excellent photographer, with a particular fondness for the PCC cars that ran from 1954 to 2001 in the Newark City Subway. I only rode the line once, in 1991, and you can see a picture I took here. Last year, along with Ray DeGroote, I gave a program about the Newark and Rochester subways, which you can read about here.

You will also find an unofficial list there detailing where Newark’s PCCs ended up after they were retired. Newark car 4 (ex-Twin Cities Rapid Transit 323) is now at the Illinois Railway Museum.

All the Newark PCC photos in today’s post are by Kenneth Gear.

-David Sadowski

Help Support The Trolley Dodger

This is our 105th 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 103,000 page views from nearly 30,000 individuals.

You can help us continue our original transit research by checking out the fine products in our Online Store. You can make a donation there as well.

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

We thank you for your support.

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

CD Updates

The latest addition to our steam audio CDs (again, thanks to collector Kenneth Gear) features Hi-fi recordings made in late 1964, showcasing the last great days of Mexican steam:

VALLE
Valle del Locomotora de Vapor (Valley of the Steam Locomotives)
Mexican Steam Railroading in Twilight, 1964
# of Discs – 1
Price: $14.95

A decade after mainline steam railroading had largely disappeared from the United States, it was still going strong in the Queretaro Division of the National Railways of Mexico. These Hi-Fi stereo recordings were made in the summer and fall of 1964, just before diesels took the place of steam in some of the last North American holdouts. This two-LP set, originally issued on a long-defunct record label in the 1960s, fits on a single CD and is a remarkable document of a vanished era.

Total time – 75:12

Our Twilight of Steam title (again, made possible thanks to the generosity of Kenneth Gear) has been expanded to three CDs, and now covers four LPs in this series, with nearly three hours of audio:

TOS-123
Twilight of Steam
# of Discs – 3
Price: $24.95

Record #TOS-123:
The long out-of-print, thrilling audio counterpart to the exciting and controversial 1963 book The Twilight of Steam Locomotives by Ron Ziel. (Book not included.)

This collection includes LPs 1 through 4 on three CDs.

Railroads covered include the Reader, Virginia Blue Ridge, Southern Pacific, Bevier & Southern, Mobile & Gulf, Kentucky & Tennessee, Magma Arizona, the Mississippian, Graham County Railroad, Brooklyn Eastern District Terminal, Denver & Rio Grande, East Broad Top, Reading, Canadian Northern, the Strasburg, the Burlington, Buffalo Creek & Gauley, Grand Trunk Western, Alabama Central, Valle de Mexico, Rockton & Rion, Duluth Missabe & Iron Range, and Great Western. These were among the last steam locos in regular service on North American railroads, in recordings made between 1958 and 1966.

Total time – 171:17

Remembering Newark’s PCCs

Most of my trips on the Newark City Subway (excepting fan trips) were not railfan photography outings. I rode for the fun of riding a PCC car on an interesting route. I might ride on the spur of the moment because my Amtrak or NJ Transit train wasn’t due for an a while. Sometimes when I had a free day I took a NJT Raritan Valley Line train from Dunellen to Newark Penn, bought a coffee, and rode to Franklin Avenue and back.

I did on occasion make a photography day out of a trip on the subway. In my opinion there were only a hand full of good photography locations on the entire 4.3 mile length of the line. I tended to shoot these same locations over and over but I wish I would have taken photos at more stations. I went where I knew I’d get good photos and be reasonably safe.

The locations were Norfolk Street, the only station I photographed at that was below street level in the old Morris Canal bed. Still visible was sections of the ramp that carried the Route 23 Central Avenue line up to street level. Buses replaced trolleys in 1947.

Orange Street was the location I went to the most. It is at street level with plenty of room to move around and even take broadside views of the PCCs as they crossed Orange Street, the only grade crossing on the subway. According to the April 1999 issue of RAILPACE both Orange Street and Norfolk Street are “the stops which could pose the greatest safety concerns as the surrounding areas at these locations are blighted”. I never felt threatened at either place, in fact my interactions with locals were always pleasant and usually we chatted about the trolleys and how they will be missed.

My second most photographed location is Davenport Avenue . I always enjoyed spending time here. It is in a nicely kept neighborhood at the entrance of Branch Brook Park. Elevated photos could be taken from a pedestrian walkway and there was a conveniently located set of vintage signals that, like the PCCs they governed, were on borrowed time. Here in March of 2001 I photographed motor flat # 5223, the only time I saw this car out on the line. This work car was made from Public Service composite car # 2683 in 1954. The car was originally built in 1917! The only other railroad equipment of that age I saw in regular service were the steeple cab locomotives on the Iowa Traction. These electrics seem to be able to stand the test of time!

My other photo spot was the end of the line at Franklin Avenue Station. Here was located that wonderful loop track. I really enjoyed the sight and sounds of the PCCs rounding that impossibly tight curve, screeching and clawing their way from being outbound to being inbound. The loop was built around 1940 because the PCCs being single ended, needed a means of changing direction. The loop is now gone, Franklin Avenue Station is now called Branch Brook Park Station and , of coarse, the PCCs are long gone.

On August 24th 2001 I rode the Newark City Subway for the last time. That was the last day of PCC car service. The cars had been running since 1954, but it sure seemed to me that they still had a lot more life left in them. NJ Transit, to their credit, did a nice job of giving these cars a grand send-off. Car # 6 was painted in the grey paint scheme of Public Service Coordinated Transport. It looked great in it’s new shiny paint on that warm sunny day. It was quite a nice gesture for NJT to completely repaint a piece of equipment that only had one more day of revenue service.

This wasn’t only the end of the PCC era this was, after all, August of 2001. We all know what would happen on the 11th of the following month and railfanning the subway, or any place other place would never be the same.

-Kenneth Gear

This batch is from the first time I rode the Newark subway. It is also the only time I photographed the PCCs before they were equipped with pantographs. The occasion was an Electric Railroad’s Association fan trip that ran on May 24, 1987. In the morning we rode a farewell to the PATH K class cars and after lunch we rode the subway and toured the shop at Penn Station. My tripod was accidently left at home so I got very few useable photos of the shop. Somehow I managed to get a fairly good shot of the snow sweeper.

PCC 10 makes a photo stop at Davenport Avenue Station.

PCC 10 at Franklin Avenue station in Branch Brook Park. PCC 10 was built by St. Louis car in 1946.

No. 10 at Norfolk Street. This station is where the connection to the 23 Central Avenue Line once left the subway by means of ramps.

PCC 11, still in the Transport of New Jersey Bicentennial colors, is stopped at the soon to be replaced Orange Street Station. Here the subway crosses over the ex-DL&W Morris & Essex Line and the bridge is in need of replacement. To accommodate this work the station was moved across Orange Street to it’s present site.

PCCs being readied for the NJ Transit “Disco Stripes” paint job.

A going away shot of PCC 15 in TNJ colors, inbound, leaving Franklin Avenue.

PCCs 10 & 11 on the Franklin Avenue loop.

Cars 10 & 11 during a photo stop at the Franklin Avenue station.

Snow sweeper #5246 in the shop area of Penn Station. Number 5426 was built by Russell in 1921. It was built for the Trenton & Mercer County, Trenton Transit as number 51.

Here is the next bunch of photos. Again these are from a fan trip. This time the trip was run by The North Jersey Electric Railway Historical Society. All photos taken on April 22, 2000:

NJ Transit PCC 1 makes a photo stop at Davenport Ave.

A wider shot of PCC 1 at Davenport Avenue.

This is one of my favorite PCC photos. It shows car 15 seen from inside car 1 near Franklin Street. Number 1 is inbound while 15 is, of coarse, outbound.

PCC 23 is outbound at Franklin Avenue, it will soon go around the loop track and become inbound (to Penn Station). The construction work in preparation of the new LRV cars is in evidence along the right of way here.

NJT PCC all electric PCC 1 at Norfolk Street Station “chartered” for a fan trip.

Car 1 is again in front of the fan’s cameras as it poses for even more photos at Franklin Avenue. We made several trips of the entire subway.

Cars 1 and 19 pass at Davenport Avenue.

The famous art deco headlight wings on PCC 25.

After taking tons of photos of car 1, we toured the Penn Station subway shop.
Photos in the next bunch are all April 22, 2000:

Operator’s controls of PCC No. 1

The trolley operator in this photo appears to be all business. He was the person who ran car 1 during our fan trip. He was more likely to be smiling at the end of the day because we passed the hat around and he got a pretty nice tip!

Brand new line car # 5420 (diesel powered)

PCC 1 at Newark Penn Station.

PCC 21 in the shop under Penn Station.

PCC 16 in the shop.

A wide view of car 21 and the surrounding shop area.

Car 25 and friends in the shop.

No tobacco chewing here! The sign in the shop area of Penn Station spells it out quite clearly.

Here is the next bunch. All photos were taken on March 28, 2001 at Davenport Avenue Station:

PCC 12 and motor flat 5223 meet at Davenport Avenue.

Inside car 24.

PCC 12 inbound at Davenport Avenue.

NJT motor flat 5223. Originally built in 1917 as Public Service Composite car 2683. It was converted to a motor flat work car in 1954.

Car 20 outbound at Davenport Ave.

Car 23 arrives Davenport Ave.

PCC 24 inbound and 14 outbound meet at Davenport Ave.

PCC 12 and motor flat 5223 meet at Davenport Avenue.

All photos taken at Orange Street on March 28, 2001:

Car 17 inbound, Interstate 280 overpass in background.

Car 17 rear view as it makes the Orange Street station stop.

Car 17 again, crossing the subway’s only grade crossing– Orange Street.

PCC 20 outbound.

PCC 23 approaching the Orange Street Station. Former Otis Elevator building in background.

Car 24 outbound, showing the entire Orange street Station.

PCC 28 inbound at Orange Street.

Here is the last batch of the PCC car photos. These were all taken on the last day of PCC car service on August 24, 2001:

PCC 6 outbound making the stop at Orange Street.

PCC 28 in a wide view of the Orange Street grade crossing.

Car 28 ’rounds the tight curve of the Franklin Avenue loop on the last day of service for both the car and the loop trackage.

PCC 19 outbound, Orange Street.

PCC 17 amongst the construction work still going on at Franklin Avenue/Branch Brook Park Station.

PCC 17 at Franklin Avenue re-named Branch Brook Park at this point.

PCC 6 head-on at Orange Street.

PCC 6 again crossing Orange Street.

PCC 4 inbound. (Editor’s note: This car is now at the Illinois Railway Museum.)

The star of the show PCC 6 in it’s brand new retro Public Service paint job. Crossing Orange Street.

My last ride. The last time I rode a PCC on the Newark City Subway was in this car, Number 19. inbound to Penn Station. It would all be over soon!

PS- Here are some scans of Newark Subway related documents from my files.
These are all from NJ Transit except the newspaper article:

More Chicago PCC Photos – Part Six

November 30, 2015May 5, 2024David Sadowski 13 Comments

CSL 7003 lets passengers off in front of the old Chicago & North Western Station on Madison just west of the Loop. The late 1930s Packard at left helps date the picture.

The Trolley Dodger at 100

We have reached a milestone with this, our 100th post. When we began this venture in January of this year, I would never have dreamed it possible, to have come so far in so little time. But here we are.

The challenge then was to get people to take a look, even though there wasn’t yet much to look at. Little by little, we have gradually built up an archive of work that people can refer to. Many times, when I am researching a subject on the Internet, a lot of the “hits” that come up with are simply posts from this blog.

At first, we thought there was a need for something like this, a place where photos, information, reminiscences, and original research in transit history could be shared with people who have similar interests. We just didn’t know how many people would be interested in it.

There is a tendency in some quarters to think of this as a hobby in decline, that will simply shrivel up and fade away in future years. Nothing, I think, could be further from the truth. There are, I believe, a lot of folks who are interested, but you have to know how to reach them and how to engage them.

This we have done. We are well on our way to achieving 100,000 page views by the middle of December, and The Trolley Dodger has been visited by more than 28,000 individuals to date. Over time, the number of visitors and page views is increasing.

That would not be possible if this was really a hobby in an irreversible decline.

The good thing is we are not doing this alone. If we have had some success already, it is mainly due to all the various people who have helped us out and have shared things with us and others. Even in less than a year, the names of all who have helped are too numerous to mention individually here. It would be a very long list.

It is a rule of life that no one person ever has all the facts. I have made plenty of mistakes, and I apologize for that, but my errors are usually quickly corrected by an ever-larger army of keen-eyed, fact-checking readers.

I frankly admit that many of my readers know more about these subjects than I do. If you find yourself in the position of knowing more, we would love to hear from you. Lend us a hand.

I like to think of The Trolley Dodger as a collaborative effort. Your help and participation makes it all possible.

There will always be room for improvement here, and may our reach always exceed our grasp. As for the future, we have many exciting things in the pipeline. I don’t know just what our second 100 posts will bring, but of one thing I am certain.

We hope it will be something worthwhile. Something of lasting value. We will do our best, and with your help, we cannot fail.

Thanks.

-David Sadowski

More Chicago PCC Photos – Part Six

For our 100th post, here are lots of classic photos of Chicago PCC streetcars, all of them new to this blog.

Some show prewar Chicago PCCs in experimental paint schemes. These were tried out by the Chicago Surface Lines in 1945-46 before settling on the well-known combination of Mercury Green, Croydon Cream, and Swamp Holly Orange for the 600 postwar cars that were on then on order.

In similar fashion, the door arrangement used on the postwar PCCs had first been tried out (before the war intervened) on CSL car 4051, and we have pictures of that car as well to go along with others we have previously featured.

All of the pictures in today’s post are being added to our E-book Chicago’s PCC Streetcars: The Rest of the Story, available through our Online Store.

If you have already purchased our E-book, and wish to get an updated copy with the additional information, this can be done at little or no cost to you. We always intended that it would be improved over time and offer an upgrade service to our purchasers on an ongoing basis.

We also wish to thank the great photographers who took these pictures originally. We have provided attribution for each photo, if we have the information.

As always, clicking on each photo with your mouse should bring up a larger version of the picture in your browser. You may be able to magnify this if you then see a “+” on your screen.

Finally, if you have any interesting tidbits of information to share about the photos you see here, don’t hesitate to let us know, either by making a comment on this post, or by dropping us a line to:

thetrolleydodger@gmail.com

Help Support The Trolley Dodger

In addition to 100 posts, we have put out two electronic book collections, with a third on the way. We are also well on our way towards our goal of reissuing the entire output of the long-gone Railroad Record Club on compact discs for a new generation of railfans. So far, we have issued 25 different CD collections of vintage material, covering both electric railroads and steam. Nearly all of these collections include two LPs on a single disc. A few are multiple CDs.

All this has been done in less than a year, for the benefit of all railfans, everywhere.

You can help us continue our original transit research by checking out the fine products in our Online Store. You can make a donation there as well.

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

We thank you for your support.

CSL 4081 and another PCC are northbound on Clark at Wacker Drive, June 13, 1947. (J. William Vigrass Collection) On the back of the photo it says the second car is 7174, but George Trapp counters, “The St. Louis built car cannot be 7174 based on the date, car 7174 being delivered 2/25/48. Note the car has a CSL logo and also has its rear marker and stop lights mounted on tubes, a spotting feature of the first 90 St. Louis Post War PCC’s. It looks to me like the car is either 7071 or 7074.”

CSL 4118 southbound on Clark at Wacker, June 13, 1947. (J. William Vigrass Collection)

Clark and Wacker today, looking north.

Although signed for Clark-Wentworth, CSL 4160 is eastbound on Madison at Central Park in this 1947 CSL photo, with the Garfield Park fieldhouse in the background. The newly delivered car was brought here to pose for staged photos.

CTA 4218 at State and 95th on April 4, 1948 (route 36 – Broadway-State). (John F. Bromley Collection)

CSL prewar cars 4042 and 7029, in “tiger stripes,” are at the loop at 63rd Place and Narragansett, western terminal of the 63rd Street line.

CSL 4050 in experimental Coronado Tan, with 4047 behind it, at the Madison-Austin loop on November 2, 1946. (Harold A. Smith Photo)

CSL 4028 is eastbound on Madison at Dearborn in Chicago’s Loop, having already changed the sign for the trip west . O’Connor and Goldberg shoe stores were once a fixture throughout the Chicago area, with 15 locations. (Ohio Brass Company Photo)

4020, in experimental colors, is eastbound on Madison Street between Parkside and Central circa 1946. (Robert W. Gibson Photo)

CTA 4208 on a shoofly at Halsted and Congress circa 1950-51, during the early stages of construction on the Congress Expressway. Two of the four Metropolitan “L” tracks were removed in this area, since they were in the expressway footprint. (M. D. McCarter Collection)

CTA Pullman PCC 4173 on the long Broadway-State route. The building at rear advertises the Werner Brothers – Kennelly moving and storage firm, owned by Martin H. Kennelly, Chicago’s mayor from 1947-55. This picture was taken in January 1951.

7024 at Madison and Austin on July 16, 1938. (M. D. McCarter Collection)

CSL 4090 and follower at 81st and Halsted, south end of the Clark-Wentworth line, circa 1947.

CSL 4043, despite the sign, is eastbound on Madison near LaSalle on May 12, 1945. (Thomas H. Desnoyers Photo, Krambles-Peterson Archive)

A more recent view of Madison near LaSalle. We are looking west. Bus rapid transit stops are under construction.

CSL 4033 and 7002 on 78th Street by South Shops on October 23, 1938, during a fantrip. Although sponsored by the Chicago Surface Lines, this trip helped recruit many members to the fledgling Central Electric Railfans’ Association. (M. D. McCarter Collection)

CSL 4039 at Madison and Austin on June 30, 1946. (Barney Neuburger Collection, Courtesy of John F. Bromley)

CSL 4022 and 4018, with varying stripes, at Kedzie and Van Buren in December 1945. (Joe L. Diaz Photo)

7002 and 7006 show the first and second generation CSL paint schemes. The “tiger stripes” were added in 1945 to warn motorists that these streetcars were wider than the older red ones.

From left to rigth, at Ashland and 69th Station, we have prewar PCC 4032, Pullman 813, postwar St. Louis Car Company PCC 7259 and an unidentified prewar car.

CTA 4009 is on route 4 – Cottage Grove, circa 1952-55. Patrick writes, “Photo 981 is in the 6700 block of (south) Cottage Grove, looking north. The one story Michael Dunn building still exists, as does the biggest building (now a self storage facility). This is across the street from Oak Woods Cemetery.”

The 6700 block of South Cottage Grove today.

CSL 7014 is westbound on the wider, outer end of Madison Street in this 1940s view. The auto at left is a type referred to as a “business coupe,” a two-door car with a small back seat and a large trunk– the type of car favored by salesmen of the 1940s. (Joe L. Diaz Photo)

CSL 4027 at 64th and Stony Island, east end of the 63rd Street line. Again, at left, we have a 1940s business coupe. This Joe L. Diaz photo was taken at the same time as some others we previously posted here:
http://thetrolleydodger.com/2015/10/12/more-chicago-pcc-photos-part-four/

CSL 4051 at the Madison and Austin loop on February 22, 1942. This car had previously been modified with an experimental door arrangement later used on the 600 postwar Chicago PCCs. By the time this picture was taken, it had been partially returned to its original configuration. As John Bromley notes, “The car is not yet fully restored after the rear entrance experiment. It’s missing one front door and is thus in a hybrid state.” (James J. Buckley Photo, Krambles-Peterson Archive)

CSL 4051 at Kedzie and Van Buren, during the 1940-41 experiment with a modified door arrangement. (CSL Photo)

CSL 4020 and 4044 at Madison and Austin on November 7, 1945, showing off contrasting paint schemes (4020’s is experimental). These experiments eventually led to the adoption of the well-known combination of Mercury Green, Croydon Cream, and Swamp Holly Orange. (Joe L. Diaz Photo)

CSL 4050 in experimental paint (Coronado Tan), most likely in late 1945. (Joe L. Diaz Photo)

CSL 4035, in experimental colors, at Madison and Austin, probably in late 1945. (Joe L. Diaz Photo)

CSL 4036 on Madison Street. (CSL Photo)

PCC 7026 at West Shops, temporarily fitted with experimental roof-mounted forced air ventilation, of a type that was used in Boston, but did not find favor in Chicago. (CSL Photo) Chuck Amstein adds, “The large building behind the shop building is the back of the Paradise Theatre, 231 N. Crawford/Pulaski. It was one of the last big movie palaces built in Chicago (1928) and one of the first to be torn down (1956).”

A side view of the 1934 Brill-built experimental pre-PCC 7001, with doors open.

A side view of the 1934 Brill-built experimental pre-PCC 7001, with doors closed.

A rare 1947 picture showing 7001 at Rockwell Depot, signed as an Instruction Car. It had been retired from regular service in 1944 and was turned into a shed in 1948.

A close-up of the 7001 during its instruction car days. On the front of the car, it says, “Please enter and leave by center door.” A picture of the car’s interior during this period, from the Hicks Car Works blog, shows why:
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CibxtjFSWwY/T37_s3ADAxI/AAAAAAAABXc/A3Aief1Y1iA/s1600/kpa7001-classroom3-48.JPG

Chicago & West Towns Railways car 130 is at the east end of the Madison line on March 31, 1946, while a Chicago Surface Lines prewar PCC sits nearby at the Madison-Austin loop. This is the borderline between Chicago and suburban Oak Park. (Don Ross Photo)

CSL 7034 eastbound at Madison and Hamlin in July 1937. The tall building at rear is still there. (CSL Photo) Marty Robinson adds, “The tall building is the Midwest Hotel, which housed the studio of WNIB in the attic. I was a program host there in 1957.”

Historic Chicago Buses, Part Three

November 23, 2015March 29, 2016David Sadowski 19 Comments

CTA trolley bus 374 at Montrose and Narrangansett in 1948, “Another New CTA Bus.” (Railway Negative Exchange Photo)

We generally don’t feature buses on this blog, since our main interest is in streetcars, light rail, and electric rail transit. But we do get requests to post more bus photos, and we are fortunate to have some excellent ones to show you today, thanks to the incredible generosity of George Trapp. Mr. Trapp has been collecting these type of pictures for nearly the last 50 years, and we thank him for sharing them with us. Some of these pictures also have streetcars in them.

To see additional photos he has already shared with us, just type “George Trapp” into the search window at the top of this page. Several other posts should come up.

For the streetcar fans, we have also included several additional trolley pictures from our own collections, featuring the Chicago & West Towns Railways, Illinois Terminal Railroad, and its subsidiary the Chicago, Ottawa & Peoria.

As always, if you can help identify locations, or have interesting facts or reminiscences to add, don’t hesitate to drop us a line. You can leave comments on this post, or write us directly at:

thetrolleydodger@gmail.com

-David Sadowski

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Bill Robb: “Chicago City Railway 430 is a 1938 ACF H-13-S. These units lasted unit 1953-55.”

CSL buses 6515 and 6407 at South Shops. The destinations signs on 6515 do not match. George Trapp: “CSL bus 6515 built by GM model TD-4506 built in 1946 is newly delivered and photo most likely taken by CSL.”

Bill Robb: “Chicago City Railways 402 is a 1934 ACF H-13-S.”

Andre Kristopans: “The Diversey TB shot is eb at Kimball. Large building across street still there.” Trolley bus service on Diversey ended in 1955 once the route was consolidated with former Chicago Motor Coach route 134. Ray Piesciuk: “The Diversey TB route was extended to Harlem (actually a wye at Neva) on 06/19/1932.” (Railway Negative Exchange Photo)

CSL bus 825, signed for Peterson. Bill Robb: “Calumet & South Chicago 825 is a 1939 White 805M which ran until a general purge of obsolete buses in 1949.” Andre Kristopans: “Most likely turning from north on Catalpa to west on Hollywood. Loop at the time was Bryn Mawr-Catalpa-Hollywood-Broadway.”

CSL bus 6520 on extension route 103A. The original version of this route operated between 1930 and 1941. (Railway Negative Exchange Photo)

CTA trolley bus 465. (Railway Negative Exchange Photo)

Another new trolley bus being delivered to Chicago by rail. (Railway Negative Exchange Photo) George Trapp: “New St. Louis trolley bus #411 on flatcar in a freight train in April of 1948 on Illinois Terminal, note catenary.”

CTA trolley buses 570 and 571 being delivered on Illinois Central flatcars.

North and Lamon was the approximate location of CTA North Avenue garage, so presumably that is where this picture of trolley bus 403 was taken. (Railway Negative Exchange Photo) George Trapp: “St. Louis trolley bus 403 is next to Pullman-Standard trolley bus 344 built at Worcester plant. Both delivered in
1948, St. Louis unit in March-April, Pullman in Nov.-Dec.”

A St. Louis Car Company builder’s photo of trolley bus 172. (Railway Negative Exchange Photo)

CSL had an open-air trolleybus yard at Central and Avondale, adjacent to the Chicago & North Western. The Kennedy expressway now occupies this location. (Railway Negative Exchange Photo) Ray Piesciuk: “The open air TB yard at Central-Avondale shows two buses with poles that are not trolley buses. They are work motor buses BA-106 & BA-115 outfitted with sleet scraping poles.”
Another reader writes: “Note the “Marmon-Herrington” builder’s plate on the front of the bus. When the buses were retired, there were no such builder’s plates to be found under the advertising holders that had existed at that location for most of the lives of the coaches. “

Another view of the old Central and Avondale yard. (Railway Negative Exchange Photo)

Here is a 1940s map of the area around Central and Avondale on Chicago’s northwest side, where the Surface Lines had a temporary open-air trolley bus yard parallel to the Chicago & North Western starting in 1943. It was replaced by the Forest Glen garage in 1955. This area is now occupied by the Kennedy expressway.

George Trapp: “CSL #3226 is at South end of South Damen streetcar line, bus 6805 is on the shuttle bus extension to 87th Street.” (Railway Negative Exchange Photo)

CSL 6153 on a charter, eastbound at Washington and State. Meanwhile, a suburban bus bound for the Brookfield Zoo approaches. (Edward Frank, Jr. Photo) Andre Kristopans: “The Brookfield Zoo bus is Bluebird Coach Lines. Route was from downtown out Randolph, Ogden, 26th Desplaines, with most trips continuing out 31st, LaGrange, Ogden to Aurora.”

CSL 3189, northbound at State and Lake, on August 29, 1947. Note the Greyhound bus at right. (Thomas H, Desnoyers Photo, Krambles-Peterson Archive)

CSL Sedan 3332 southbound at Wabash and Roosevelt on September 27, 1947. Note the Greyhound bus at right. (Thomas H. Desnoyers Photo, Krambles-Peterson Archive) Allen Breyer: “Also shows the old Union Bus Terminal behind the Greyhound.”

CSL 5289 passes some CSL buses at 78th and Vincennes, looking NE. According to Don’s Rail Photos, “5251 thru 5300 were built by Brill in 1906, #15365, for CCRy. They were brought up to higher standards in 1909.” (Gordon Lloyd Photo) This CSL bus photo is not part of the Trapp collection. Chuck Amstein: “The South Shops building in the background is still there.”
Another reader notes, “The two Yellow Coach gas buses in the background were purchased by CSL and are painted in the pre-Mercury Green CSL motor bus colors of Red and Cream with Black Striping as found on CSL 3407 at the Illinois Railway Museum today.”

Chicago & West Towns Railways

FYI, we have also added these two pictures to our earlier post West Towns Streetcars in Black-and-White (August 4th).

C&WT 104 at the Harlem and Cermak car barn on April 3, 1948, less than two before the end of streetcar service. One of the replacement buses is at right. (C. Edward Hedstrom Photo)

C&WT line car 15, with its famous bent pole.The defect was apparently accidental, but it was certainly distinctive.

Illinois Terminal Railroad

IT 273.

According to Don’s Rail Photos, IT 104 “was built by American Car in 1917 as AG&StL 64. In 1926 it became StL&ARy 64 and in 1930 it became IT 104.” This picture was taken in Granite City on August 14, 1956.

IT 284, decked in bunting, on what must have been the final revenue trip on this portion of the interurban in 1955. If anyone can identify the exact date or the location, please let me know. (Glenn L. Sticken Photo) You can see a picture of the same bunting applied to IT 277 at the Illinois Railway Museum in 2011 here:
http://hickscarworks.blogspot.com/2011/04/illinois-terminal-society-meet.html

IT double-end PCC 455 at speed in St. Louis on May 18, 1951.

Chicago, Ottawa & Peoria

Here are four rare photos of the CO&P. Since it was abandoned in 1934, photos are scarce. We previously posted a few more here.

CO&P freight motor 1523 at the Ottawa Shops in 1934, presumably around the time of abandonment.

CO&P express freight car 301 in November 1910.

CO&P first #60 at Depue in 1910, a product of the Danville Car Company.

CO&P #66 at the Ottawa Shops in 1934, presumably at the time of abandonment. It was built by St. Louis Car Company in 1924. Some cars in this series were rebuilt for use on the rest of the Illinois Terminal system, including IT 415 (former CO&P 64) which is now at the Illinois Railway Museum.

More Chicago PCC Photos – Part Five

October 28, 2015November 1, 2015David Sadowski 6 Comments

CTA 7208 southbound on Clark at Van Buren, a view from the Loop “L”, on August 15, 1956. (John F. Bromley Photo, M. D. McCarter Collection)

We recently presented four installments of Chicago PCC pictures from the collections of George Trapp. Today we offer another batch made up of our own recent acquisitions for your enjoyment.

To see the previous four posts, and another featuring Mr. Trapp’s pictures of historic Chicago buses, just type “George Trapp” in the search window on this page. Links to these should come right up.

Some of these pictures show prewar Chicago PCCs in experimental paint schemes. These were tried out by the Chicago Surface Lines in 1945-46 before settling on the well-known combination of Mercury Green, Croydon Cream, and Swamp Holly Orange for the 600 postwar cars that were on order.

We found this online about the development of Swamp Holly Orange:

Yellow (truck lines) commissioned DuPont to determine what color was most visible from the greatest distance for the fleet. After careful research, DuPont presented a color, dubbed “Swamp Holly Orange.” And so the company named Yellow had an official color—orange—the safest color on the road.

All of the pictures in today’s post are being added to our E-book Chicago’s PCC Streetcars: The Rest of the Story, available through our Online Store.

Over the next few weeks, we will post some of George Trapp’s pictures of red Chicago streetcars, so watch this space.

We also wish to thank the great photographers who took these pictures originally. We have provided attribution for each photo where we have the information. The two pictures taken by John F. Bromley in 1956 are presented with his permission.

He writes:

I was still a teenager with a Voightlander camera and was on a trip with my parents at the time. I recall riding the 36 up to the carhouse, and I think I came back on the 22.

Mr. Bromley is a well known historian and is the author of two books on the Toronto transit system.

Of course, the deluxe hardcover book Chicago Streetcar Pictorial: The PCC Car Era 1936-1958, published in June by Central Electric Railfans’ Association, is the premier volume covering the rise and fall of the modern streetcar in the Windy City. That book contains hundreds of great color photos and is a must-have for anyone who is interested in the subject, or even anyone who is interested in knowing what Chicago’s disparate neighborhoods looked like in a bygone era. While I am proud to be a co-author of that work, B-146 is available directly from the publisher. I would be remiss if I did not mention that Trolley Dodger Press is not affiliated with CERA.

In my humble opinion, B-146 is a fantastic bargain and a great value for the money, and I urge you to get a copy if you have not already done so.

My more recent E-book, available on a data disc in PDF format, is intended as a very unofficial supplement and companion to that noble work. One advantage that an electronic book has over a printed one is that more information can be added to it as things become available. We have already added numerous photos, maps, etc. to it, and the material from the Trapp Collection is a tremendous addition, which we are very grateful to have.

On top of that, we have now added another section of photographs to the book covering Chicago’s rapid transit system as it appeared early in the CTA era. That will give the reader a very clear idea of how badly the system was in need of improvement and modernization, a factor in the process by which CTA ultimately decided to eliminate streetcars.

With the E-book, we are not attempting to duplicate anything covered in B-146, which mainly showcases color photography. But there are still lots of great black-and-white photos that deserve to be seen, and lots of other information which could not be included even in a 448-page book. Chicago once had the largest streetcar system in the world, and chances are it will be a long time, if ever, before anyone has the “last word” about it.

As always, clicking on each photo with your mouse should bring up a larger version of the picture in your browser. You may be able to magnify this if you then see a “+” on your screen.

thetrolleydodger@gmail.com

Thanks.

-David Sadowski

PS- We have just added a couple more pictures to our post Railfan Ephemera (August 26th). One shows the interior of Chicago, Aurora & Elgin car 300 shortly before it was scrapped in 1962. The other is of CA&E car 36 in action.

All of the photos in today’s post are being added to our E-book Chicago’s PCC Streetcars: The Rest of the Story.

CSL 4160 is westbound on Madison near Central Park in this 1947 Surface Lines photo.

CSL 4020 leaves the Madison-Austin loop for a trip eastbound on November 7, 1945. (Joe L. Diaz Photo)

CSL 4022 at Kedzie and Van Buren on July 22, 1946. (Thomas H. Desnoyers Photo, Krambles-Peterson Archive)

CSL 4027 at Fifth Avenue and Pulaski, the west end of the Madison-Fifth branch line. (Joe L. Diaz Photo)

CSL 4062 eastbound on Madison at Central Park, with the Garfield Park fieldhouse in the background. This CSL photo most likely dates to September 1946, when this car was new.

A close-up of the preceding photo, showing what appears to be a 1940 Packard.

CTA 4022, with some obvious front end damage, eastbound on the 63rd Street line. There is an ad on the side of the car promoting Hawthorne Race Course, which opened in 1891. One of our readers writes, “I believe that this car is laying over on the wye at 63rd and Central Park waiting to head east to Stony Island. The car was still two man at the time, but being in Everglade Green, I would date it as mid 1952 before the cars were sent to Cottage Grove after being converted to one-man operation.” (R. Alexander Photo, Krambles-Peterson Archive)

CTA 4085 westbound at Fifth Avenue and Pulaski on August 9, 1950. Madison-Fifth was a branch line from route 20. Today, this location is just south of the Eisenhower expressway. Thomas H. Desnoyers Photo, Krambles-Peterson Archive)

CSL 4018 at Madison and Austin on November 2, 1946. (Harold A. Smith Photo)

CTA 7006 at 63rd and Wolcott on January 4, 1951.

CTA 7070 southbound on the then-new State Street bridge over the Chicago River on February 25, 1950.

A “blind side” view of CSL 4051 at Kedzie and Van Buren on May 24, 1939. (CSL Photo)

CSL 4002 is eastbound at Madison and Paulina on July 4, 1941. (M. D. McCarter Collection)

CSL 4010 at Madison and Austin in November 1945. (Joe L. Diaz Photo)

CTA 4151, still wearing a CSL badge, heads south on the Clark Street bridge over the Chicago River in March 1948. (Harold A. Smith Photo)

Riders are exiting from the middle door in this view of 7101 at State and Roosevelt taken on October 24, 1948. These concrete platforms were called Safety Islands and once dotted the city.

CTA 4165 southbound at Halsted and Congress on shoofly trackage, September 15, 1950. This was the beginnings of construction of the Congress (now Eisenhower) expressway, which opened in this area late in 1955. (Thomas H. Desnoyers Photo, Krambles-Peterson Archive)

The caption on this picture of CTA 7136, taken in August 1954, says it is at the end of the Western Avenue line, but does not say which end. George Trapp writes, “I believe car 7136 is a pull out from Devon Depot slightly north of the Berwyn loop, pull outs did carry passengers.” Another reader says this car is southbound on Western at Winona, which is one block south of Foster (and a few blocks south of the Berwyn loop).

One of our readers thinks that CTA 7217 is likely eastbound on 78th pulling off of Vincennes Avenue in this December 1953 view. They continue, “Since the sun is obviously in the east, this appears to be a route 22 pull-in after the AM rush.” (Harold A. Smith Photo)

A close-up of the last shot. According to William Barber, this is a 1954 Chevrolet model 210.

CSL 4047 is eastbound on Madison near Canal, with the landmark Chicago Daily News building (1928) at rear. (George Krambles Photo, Krambles-Peterson Archive)

Prewar PCC 4013 on private right-of-way near the western end of the 63rd Street route, between Central and Narragansett. I think the car is heading west. This is now a completely built up residential area today. Most likely we are early in the CTA era. (Joe L. Diaz Photo)