The Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad (reporting mark CNSM), also known as the North Shore Line, was an
interurban
The Interurban (or radial railway in Europe and Canada) is a type of electric railway, with streetcar-like electric self-propelled rail cars which run within and between cities or towns. They were very prevalent in North America between 1900 ...
railroad
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
that operated
passenger and
freight
Cargo consists of bulk goods conveyed by water, air, or land. In economics, freight is cargo that is transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. ''Cargo'' was originally a shipload but now covers all types of freight, including tran ...
service over an route between the
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
Loop and
downtown Milwaukee
Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee ...
, as well as an
branch line
A branch line is a phrase used in railway terminology to denote a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line.
Industrial spur
An industr ...
between the villages of
Lake Bluff and
Mundelein, Illinois
Mundelein is a village in Lake County, Illinois, United States and a northern suburb of Chicago. Per the 2020 census, the population was 31,560. It is approximately thirty-five miles northwest of Chicago.
History
The community now known as M ...
. The North Shore Line also provided
streetcar
A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport a ...
,
city bus and
motor coach services along its interurban route.
Extensively improved under the one time ownership of
Samuel Insull, the North Shore Line was notable for its high operating speeds and substantial
physical plant
Physical plant, mechanical plant or industrial plant (and where context is given, often just plant) refers to the necessary infrastructure used in operation and maintenance of a given facility. The operation of these facilities, or the department ...
, as well as innovative services such as its pioneering "
ferry truck" operations and its
streamlined
Streamlines, streaklines and pathlines are field lines in a fluid flow.
They differ only when the flow changes with time, that is, when the flow is not steady.
Considering a velocity vector field in three-dimensional space in the framework of ...
Electroliner
The Electroliners are a pair of streamlined interurban trainsets built by the St. Louis Car Company in 1941. Initially numbered 801–802 and 803–804, they were operated by the Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad from 1941 to 1963, fo ...
trainsets. Author and railroad historian
William D. Middleton described the North Shore Line as a "super interurban"
and opined that its cessation of rail service marked the end of the "interurban era" in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
.
Since 1964 the
Yellow Line of the
Chicago Transit Authority
The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) is the operator of mass transit in Chicago, Illinois, United States, and some of its surrounding suburbs, including the trains of the Chicago 'L' and CTA bus service. In , the system had a ridership of , ...
(CTA) has operated over a short segment of the former main line from Chicago to
Skokie, Illinois
Skokie (; formerly Niles Center) is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, neighboring the City of Chicago's northern border. Its population, according to the 2020 census, was 67,824. Skokie lies approximately north of Chicago's do ...
. Operating examples of North Shore Line
rolling stock
The term rolling stock in the rail transport industry refers to railway vehicles, including both powered and unpowered vehicles: for example, locomotives, freight and passenger cars (or coaches), and non-revenue cars. Passenger vehicles can ...
have been
preserved in
railroad museums, and the former
Dempster Street Station is listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
.
Route
Interurban lines
Chicago Division (Shore Line Route)
The Shore Line Route was a
main line which ran through the
North Shore region from
Linden Avenue in
Wilmette
Wilmette is a village in New Trier Township, Cook County, Illinois, United States. Bordering Lake Michigan and Evanston, Illinois, it is located north of Chicago's downtown district. Wilmette had a population of 27,087 at the 2010 census. The ...
to North Chicago Junction, parallel to
Sheridan Road
Sheridan Road is a major north-south street that leads from Diversey Parkway in Chicago, Illinois, north to the Illinois-Wisconsin border and beyond to Racine. Throughout most of its run, it is the easternmost north-south through street, closest ...
and the
Old Line subdivision of the
Chicago and North Western Railway
The Chicago and North Western was a Class I railroad in the Midwestern United States. It was also known as the "North Western". The railroad operated more than of track at the turn of the 20th century, and over of track in seven states befor ...
(C&NW).
A
freight interchange connection was made with the C&NW at North Chicago, though freight service was not permitted to operate on the line south of
Highland Park.
The Shore Line Route was almost entirely
double-tracked
Double tracking or doubling is an audio recording technique in which a performer sings or plays along with their own prerecorded performance, usually to produce a stronger or bigger sound than can be obtained with a single voice or instrument. ...
, aside from a short segment of
gauntlet track
Gauntlet track or interlaced track (also gantlet track) is an arrangement in which railway tracks run parallel on a single track bed and are interlaced (i.e., overlapped) in such a way that only one pair of rails can be used at any time. Since th ...
in
Glencoe, and included several segments of
street running.
Power was supplied by overhead trolley wire.
Between 1938 and 1941, of the line through Glencoe and
Winnetka were rebuilt as part of a
Public Works Administration grade separation project which included the installation of
automatic block signaling
Automatic block signaling (ABS), spelled automatic block signalling or called track circuit block (TCB ) in the UK, is a railroad communications system that consists of a series of signals that divide a railway line into a series of sections, ...
and
overhead catenary
An overhead line or overhead wire is an electrical cable that is used to transmit electrical energy to electric locomotives, trolleybuses or trams. It is known variously as:
* Overhead catenary
* Overhead contact system (OCS)
* Overhead equipmen ...
along the improved section.
Passenger service on the Shore Line Route was discontinued in 1955, after which it was
abandoned south of Elm Place in Highland Park, reduced to a
single-track line, and utilized for exclusively for freight service, as well as
non-revenue access to the company facilities at Highwood.
Skokie Division (Skokie Valley Route)
The Skokie Valley Route was a main line
cutoff which ran through the
Skokie River valley from
Howard Street Howard Street may refer to:
* Howard Street (Baltimore), a major street in Downtown Baltimore, Maryland
**Howard Street Tunnel fire, a disaster that struck the freight railroad tunnel under Baltimore's Howard Street in 2001
*Howard Street (Sheffiel ...
in Chicago to North Chicago Junction, parallel to
U.S. Route 41.
A freight interchange connection was made with the C&NW at Oakton Street in Skokie.
The Skokie Valley Route was entirely double-tracked, located on
private right-of-way, and utilized an automatic block signaling system.
Power was supplied by a combination of third rail and overhead catenary, with the transition made between East Prairie Road and Crawford Avenue in Skokie.
The Skokie Valley Route was constructed between 1923 and 1926, with the purpose of enabling high-speed
limited-stop
In public transit, particularly bus, tram, or train transportation, a limited-stop (or sometimes referred to as semi-fast) service is a trip pattern that stops less frequently than a local service. Many limited-stop or semi-fast services are a co ...
trains to bypass the increasingly congested Shore Line Route.
From 1925 to 1948, the
Chicago Rapid Transit Company
The Chicago Rapid Transit Company (CRT) was a privately owned firm providing rapid transit rail service in Chicago, Illinois and several adjacent communities between 1924 and 1947. The CRT is one of the predecessors of the Chicago Transit Autho ...
(and later the CTA) operated
local rapid transit service over the Skokie Valley Route between Howard Street and
Dempster Street
Dempster Street is a major east-west street in the northern suburbs of Chicago. It is assigned 8800 North in the Chicago address system, being located north of Madison Street.
The road begins at Illinois Route 62 (Algonquin Road) in Mount Pr ...
in Skokie.
The
Skokie Shops were also constructed along the Skokie Valley Route, and the CTA continued to utilize the line to access these facilities from Howard Street after local rapid transit service had been discontinued.
Milwaukee Division
![North Shore Facilities in Milwaukee -- 4 Photos (26946592725)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2b/North_Shore_Facilities_in_Milwaukee_--_4_Photos_%2826946592725%29.jpg)
The Milwaukee Division was a main line which ran from North Chicago Junction to Harrison Avenue in Milwaukee, and served the intermediate cities of Waukegan,
Zion
Zion ( he, צִיּוֹן ''Ṣīyyōn'', LXX , also variously transliterated ''Sion'', ''Tzion'', ''Tsion'', ''Tsiyyon'') is a placename in the Hebrew Bible used as a synonym for Jerusalem as well as for the Land of Israel as a whole (see Nam ...
,
Kenosha
Kenosha () is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the seat of Kenosha County. Per the 2020 census, the population was 99,986 which made it the fourth-largest city in Wisconsin. Situated on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan, Kenosh ...
and
Racine
Jean-Baptiste Racine ( , ) (; 22 December 163921 April 1699) was a French dramatist, one of the three great playwrights of 17th-century France, along with Molière and Corneille as well as an important literary figure in the Western traditi ...
.
A freight interchange connection was made with the
Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad
The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (CMStP&P), often referred to as the "Milwaukee Road" , was a Class I railroad that operated in the Midwest and Northwest of the United States from 1847 until 1986.
The company experience ...
(Milwaukee Road) at Racine.
The Milwaukee Division was almost entirely double-tracked, aside from of single-track operation between Austin Avenue and Oklahoma Avenue on the south side of Milwaukee, and was located entirely on private right-of-way.
The Milwaukee Division utilized block signaling, with automatic systems in place between North Chicago and Kenosha, as well as between Ryan Road in
Oak Creek and Harrison Avenue, while a manual system was in place over the segment between Kenosha and Ryan Road.
Power was supplied by a combination of overhead catenary and overhead trolley wire, with the transition made on the north end of Waukegan.
Libertyville Division
The Libertyville Division was a
branch line
A branch line is a phrase used in railway terminology to denote a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line.
Industrial spur
An industr ...
which ran from Lake Bluff to
Mundelein, parallel to
Illinois Route 176
Illinois Route 176 (IL 176) is a east–west state route in northern Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East se ...
.
Connections were made with the Shore Line Route at Lake Bluff, and with the Skokie Valley Route at Green Bay Junction as well as at South Upton Junction.
Freight interchange connections were made with the
Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway
The Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway was a Class I railroad, operating between Waukegan, Illinois and Gary, Indiana. The railroad served as a link between Class I railroads traveling to and from Chicago, although it operated almost entirely wit ...
(EJ&E) and the Milwaukee Road at
Rondout, and with the
Wisconsin Central Railway at Mundelein.
The Libertyville Division was almost entirely double-tracked, aside from a short segment of single-track operation east of Green Bay Junction.
Power was supplied primarily by overhead trolley wire, though sections of overhead catenary were utilized along the connections with the Skokie Valley Route between Lake Bluff and South Upton.
City lines
Waukegan–North Chicago
The North Shore Line operated an electric street railway in the cities of Waukegan and North Chicago which consisted of two lines:
*The North Avenue Line ran from North Chicago Junction to Greenwood Avenue on the north side of Waukegan, with additional branches to Western Avenue and Sheridan Road along Glen Flora Avenue.
A connection to the Milwaukee Division was made at the intersection of Glen Flora and Western Avenues.
The North Avenue Line was double-tracked between North Chicago Junction and Water Street, while North of Water Street, the line was single-tracked, and made use of
passing sidings protected by Nachod signals.
The North Avenue Line was primarily located in city streets, though private right-of-way was utilized between North Chicago Junction and 10th Street in Waukegan.
*The Washington Street line ran from Sheridan Road to Lewis Avenue along Washington Street in Waukegan. A connection to the Milwaukee Division was made at Edison Court.
The Washington Street line was entirely single-tracked, and utilized unprotected passing sidings.
Power to the Waukegan city lines was supplied by overhead trolley wire.
Shore Line Route trains operated over of the North Avenue Line between North Chicago Junction and downtown Waukegan, where an interurban terminal was located at the intersection of County and Washington Streets after 1929.
Freight service was provided to a number of industries between North Chicago Junction and 10th Street, and deliveries of
coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen.
Coal is formed when ...
were transported from the Milwaukee Division to the Victory Memorial Hospital via the Glen Flora Avenue lines.
After the end of street railway service in 1947, the North Avenue Line was truncated at 10th Street in Waukegan and incorporated into the Shore Line Route until 1955.
Milwaukee
The Chicago and Milwaukee Electric Railway Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of the North Shore Line, operated a single street railway line in the city of Milwaukee.
The Milwaukee city line ran from Harrison Avenue to the intersection of 2nd Street and Wisconsin Avenue in the Westown neighborhood.
Connections existed with the city service of
The Milwaukee Electric Railway and Light Company
The Milwaukee Electric Railway and Light Company , also referred to as the Milwaukee Interurban Lines or TMER&L, is a defunct railroad that operated in and around Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was the largest electric railway and electric utility sys ...
(TMER&L), which utilized the tracks on Wells Street between 2nd and 5th Avenues until it was discontinued in 1958.
The Milwaukee city line was entirely double-tracked and located in city streets.
Power was supplied by overhead trolley wire.
Milwaukee Division trains initially operated over the entire length of the line and terminated on 2nd Street.
In 1920 a dedicated passenger terminal was constructed near the intersection of 6th and Michigan Streets, reducing interurban operations over the city line to 2.8 miles.
After the subsidiary company ceased its street railway operations in 1951, the North Shore Line assumed its
franchise
Franchise may refer to:
Business and law
* Franchising, a business method that involves licensing of trademarks and methods of doing business to franchisees
* Franchise, a privilege to operate a type of business such as a cable television p ...
and continued to operate interurban service to the 6th Street terminal until 1963.
Chicago "L"
Evanston Line
Shore Line Route trains operated over the entire
Evanston Line of the Chicago "L" from Linden Avenue in Wilmette to Howard Street in Chicago.
Power was supplied by overhead trolley wire. When the North Shore Line assumed operations of the Chicago and Milwaukee Electric Railroad in 1916, trains only traveled as far south as Church Street in Evanston, where a passenger terminal and stub tracks had been constructed.
After direct service into Chicago began in 1919, the Church Street station was reconfigured for through service, and retained as a terminal for local trains.
Intermediate stops between Linden Avenue and Church Street included
Isabella Street in Wilmette, as well as
Central Street,
Noyes Street and
Foster Street
Foster Street is a hamlet in the North Weald Bassett civil parish of the Epping Forest district in the English county of Essex.
A non-conformist burying ground was established in 1677 by William Woodward, for the congregation that he was the lead ...
in Evanston.
Operation over the Evanston Line ceased when passenger service on the Shore Line Route was discontinued in 1955.
Howard Street–Roosevelt Road
In 1919, the North Shore Line negotiated a
trackage rights agreement which permitted its trains to operate directly into Chicago over of the "L" from Howard Street to
Roosevelt Road on the
Near South Side.
On the
quadruple-track portion of the
North Side Main Line
The North Side Main Line is a branch of the Chicago "L" system that is used by Red, Purple, and Brown Line trains. As of 2012, it is the network's busiest rail branch, serving an average of 123,229 passengers each weekday. The branch is long wi ...
from Howard Street to Chicago Avenue, North Shore Line trains typically utilized the
express tracks to avoid interference from local "L" trains, though the exact routing varied over the years.
After its completion in 1943, trains were occasionally diverted through the
State Street Subway
The State Street subway is an underground section of the Chicago "L" system in The Loop which serves as the center of the Red Line. It is long and has a boarding average of 53,601 passengers every weekday as of February 2013. It owes its name t ...
if the North Side Main Line was obstructed.
[ Power was supplied primarily by third rail, though overhead trolley wire was utilized on the outermost southbound track between Howard Street and Granville Avenue. North Shore Line trains made limited stops at ]Wilson Avenue
Wilson may refer to:
People
*Wilson (name)
** List of people with given name Wilson
** List of people with surname Wilson
* Wilson (footballer, 1927–1998), Brazilian manager and defender
*Wilson (footballer, born 1984), full name Wilson Rodr ...
, Belmont Avenue, Chicago Avenue
Chicago Avenue is a major east–west street in Chicago, Illinois that runs at 800 north from 385 east to 5968 west in the Chicago street address system from which point it enters the suburbs and goes into several different suburban address ...
, Grand Avenue and the Merchandise Mart
The Merchandise Mart (or the Merch Mart, or the Mart) is a commercial building located in downtown Chicago, Illinois. When it was opened in 1930, it was the largest building in the world, with of floor space. The Art Deco structure is locate ...
. South of Merchandise Mart, trains operated counter-clockwise over the Loop, with southbound trains making stops at the Randolph/Wells, Madison/Wells, Quincy/Wells, LaSalle/Van Buren and State/Van Buren stations, while northbound trains made stops at the Adams/Wabash, Madison/Wabash, Randolph/Wabash and Clark/Lake station
Clark/Lake is an 'L' station located at 100/124 West Lake Street in Chicago's Loop district, and is accessed from the James R. Thompson Center and 203 North LaSalle building. It is one of the most complex stations on the 'L' system, comprising ...
s. Between the Loop and Roosevelt Road, trains made an intermediate stop at the Congress/Wabash station, and the North Shore Line utilized the Congress Terminal
Congress Terminal was a rapid transit station on the Chicago "L", serving its South Side Elevated. It was located at Congress Parkway over Holden Court. The terminal opened in 1892 as the original northern terminus of the Elevated; when the L ...
as its downtown baggage station, an arrangement which continued after the CTA vacated the terminal in 1949. Operation into Chicago over the "L" was maintained until the end of rail service in 1963.
South Side extension
In 1922, another trackage rights agreement was negotiated which permitted certain North Shore Line trains to operate over the South Side Elevated
The South Side Elevated is a branch of the Chicago "L" system in Chicago, Illinois that is served by the Green Line. It has on average 12,509 passengers, counting branch divisions, boarding each weekday as of February 2013, according to the Chi ...
from Roosevelt Road to the 63rd/Dorchester station in the Woodlawn neighborhood. Trains made intermediate stops at 43rd Street, 61st Street, South Park Avenue
South Park Avenue is a street connecting Buffalo to Hamburg in New York, United States. South Park Avenue is the most important street in South Buffalo and is the primary alternative to the Buffalo Skyway (New York State Route 5) when traveling ...
, Cottage Grove Avenue
Roads and expressways in Chicago summarizes the main thoroughfares and the numbering system used in Chicago and its surrounding suburbs.
Street layout
Chicago's streets were laid out in a grid that grew from the city's original townsite plan pl ...
and University Avenue
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...
. Operation over the South Side Elevated provided the North Shore Line with access to the Chicago "L" yards at 61st and 63rd Streets. Service south of Roosevelt Road was discontinued in 1938.
History
Early history
The Bluff City Electric Street Railway Company began operation in May 1895 as a local street railway line in the city of Waukegan, Illinois. The Bluff City Electric line had already been extended as far south as Highland Park when it was acquired by the newly incorporated Chicago and Milwaukee Electric Railroad in May 1898, and the following March a connection was made to the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway (Milwaukee Road) line at Wilmette. In August 1899, through service A through service is a concept of passenger transport that involves a vehicle travelling between lines, networks or operators on a regularly specified schedule, on which the passenger can remain on board without alighting. It may be in form of eithe ...
began operating from downtown Waukegan to Church Street in Evanston, where passengers could transfer to trains of the Northwestern Elevated Railroad
The Northwestern Elevated Railroad was the last of the privately constructed rapid transit lines to be built in Chicago. The line ran from the Loop in downtown Chicago north to Wilson Avenue in Chicago's Uptown neighborhood with a branch to Raven ...
and continue into Chicago. The rudimentary, single-tracked interurban line was steadily upgraded over the following decade, with the addition of a second track, improvements to the physical plant and the gradual relocation from public road
A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It is used for major roads, but also includes other public roads and public tracks. In some areas of the United States, it is used as an equivalent term to controlled-access ...
s onto private right-of-way where possible.
Between 1902 and 1904, a branch line was constructed from the mainline at Lake Bluff to Libertyville. In 1905, this branch line was extended further west to Mundelein (then known as “Rockefeller”). In addition to giving the Chicago and Milwaukee Electric access to a large gravel pit
A gravel pit is an open-pit mine for the extraction of gravel. Gravel pits often lie in river valleys where the water table is high, so they may naturally fill with water to form ponds or lakes. Old, abandoned gravel pits are normally used either ...
east of Libertyville, the new branch line also enabled the interchange of carload freight with both the EJ&E and the Milwaukee Road at Rondout, as well as with the Wisconsin Central Railway at Mundelein. Around this same time, a single-track spur line known as the "West Line" was constructed from the Libertyville branch at Lake Bluff into the city of North Chicago, where it terminated south of 22nd Street.
In 1904, the Chicago and Milwaukee Electric began to purchase property and negotiate contracts for the extension of its service into Wisconsin. Construction between Waukegan and Zion City was largely complete by the summer of 1905. Further construction proceeded at such a pace that trains began operating as far north as Kenosha, Wisconsin by December of that year, followed by Racine in September 1906. Shortly thereafter, the Panic of 1907 forced the Chicago and Milwaukee Electric into a prolonged period of insolvency
In accounting, insolvency is the state of being unable to pay the debts, by a person or company ( debtor), at maturity; those in a state of insolvency are said to be ''insolvent''. There are two forms: cash-flow insolvency and balance-sheet ...
, but in spite of ongoing financial trouble, construction in Wisconsin continued. The northern extension was finally completed in 1908, with through service between Evanston and Milwaukee beginning that October.
Though the Chicago and Milwaukee Electric had been placed under receivership
In law, receivership is a situation in which an institution or enterprise is held by a receiver—a person "placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights"—especially in c ...
in 1908, patronage and revenue
In accounting, revenue is the total amount of income generated by the sale of goods and services related to the primary operations of the business.
Commercial revenue may also be referred to as sales or as turnover. Some companies receive reven ...
continued to grow, permitting more improvements to the property. Bridges between Racine and Milwaukee were upgraded and the original mainline underwent significant rehabilitation, as did the street railway in Waukegan, which had since begun operating a line on Washington Street. New rolling stock
The term rolling stock in the rail transport industry refers to railway vehicles, including both powered and unpowered vehicles: for example, locomotives, freight and passenger cars (or coaches), and non-revenue cars. Passenger vehicles can ...
was acquired, including an order of steel coaches
Coach may refer to:
Guidance/instruction
* Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities
* Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process
** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers
Transportation
* Coac ...
delivered from the J.G. Brill Company in late 1915. The possibility of a direct entry into Chicago over the elevated lines was also studied during this time, with the intent to eliminate the necessity of transferring at Church Street, and thereby making the interurban service more competitive with the steam railroads.
The Insull years
When the North Shore Line assumed operations of the Chicago and Milwaukee Electric Railroad
The Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad (reporting mark CNSM), also known as the North Shore Line, was an interurban railroad that operated passenger train, passenger and freight train, freight service over an route between the Chicago C ...
in 1916, it inherited an arrangement in which its trains operated on the Chicago and Evanston Line of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad
The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (CMStP&P), often referred to as the "Milwaukee Road" , was a Class I railroad that operated in the Midwest and Northwest of the United States from 1847 until 1986.
The company experienced ...
south of Laurel Avenue in Wilmette
Wilmette is a village in New Trier Township, Cook County, Illinois, United States. Bordering Lake Michigan and Evanston, Illinois, it is located north of Chicago's downtown district. Wilmette had a population of 27,087 at the 2010 census. The ...
to a terminal at Church Street in Evanston, where passengers transferred to and from Northwestern Elevated trains.
In 1919, further trackage rights agreements were negotiated with both the Northwestern Elevated and the St. Paul Road which permitted North Shore Line trains to operate over the "L" south of Church Street, over the North Side Main Line and through the Loop, to a downtown terminal at Roosevelt Road.[ The following year, a new terminal in Milwaukee was dedicated, and in succeeding years, the remaining single-track in Wisconsin was eliminated, with the exception of a one-half-mile stretch of single-track in southern Milwaukee that remained a minor bottleneck until the railroad's end.
During the early 1920s, the railroad instituted a number of named, limited-stop trains, some carrying deluxe dining and parlor/observation cars. One of the railroad's most distinctive named trains, inaugurated in 1917, was the ''Gold Coast Limited''. The North Shore also created a network of motor coach (bus) lines to feed on potential traffic from territory not directly served by the company's trains.
]
Construction of the Skokie Valley route
The growth of the north shore communities provided good traffic levels for the railroad, but the increasing congestion of these communities' business districts impeded the railroad's desire to remain competitive with the competing steam railroads for longer-haul passenger business, in particular the Chicago-Milwaukee traffic. The North Shore therefore sought to build a new bypass line through the Skokie Valley – what was then undeveloped rural land approximately four to five miles west of the lake shore route.
The needed real estate purchases and financing were arranged in 1923 and 1924, and construction of the new line began in April 1924. The new line diverged from the Howard Street "L" station located at the boundary between Chicago and Evanston, ran west into the village of Niles Center (now Skokie), continuing to the north-northwest from that point through marshy countryside, paralleling the Skokie branch of the Chicago and North Western Railway. At South Upton, the new route ran eastward along the North Shore's Mundelein branch until just west of Lake Bluff, at which point a new connection diverged to the north onto what had been a freight-only branch which connected to the original main line at North Chicago Junction.
An arrangement was made with the Chicago Rapid Transit Company
The Chicago Rapid Transit Company (CRT) was a privately owned firm providing rapid transit rail service in Chicago, Illinois and several adjacent communities between 1924 and 1947. The CRT is one of the predecessors of the Chicago Transit Autho ...
, wherein local "L" service was begun over the new line to the Dempster Street station in Niles Center in 1925. It had been anticipated that the opening of the new "L" line would help launch a real estate boom in the area as it had decades earlier in other parts of the Chicago area. The Great Depression put a damper on the area's growth, and Niles Center (by that time renamed Skokie) didn't really begin to experience a surge of growth until the 1950s.
Though the Niles Center elevated service failed to prosper, the transit operator benefited from the construction of new shop facilities on vacant land along the southern part of the Skokie Valley line. This spacious facility relieved older, more crowded facilities on the "L" system and remains to this day as the Chicago Transit Authority
The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) is the operator of mass transit in Chicago, Illinois, United States, and some of its surrounding suburbs, including the trains of the Chicago 'L' and CTA bus service. In , the system had a ridership of , ...
's primary maintenance facility for its rail system.
The remaining portion of the North Shore Line's new Skokie Valley line entered service in 1926. The new route consisted of of new double-track railroad, and the route was a mere longer than the old main line. Because it traversed mostly rural area, higher speeds could be sustained for a longer distance. In conjunction with the completion of the Skokie Valley route, the railroad had improved the Mundelein branch, building a new terminal and double-tracking the branch. Mundelein had previously been served by shuttle service connecting with main line trains at Lake Bluff; with the opening of the new Skokie Valley line on June 5, 1926, North Shore inaugurated an hourly Chicago-Mundelein local suburban service, interspersed with the hourly Chicago-Milwaukee limited-stop trains. Diversion of the Chicago-Milwaukee service onto the Skokie Valley line brought a reduction in travel time of 20 minutes.
The original main line – now designated by the railroad as the Shore Line – continued to host Chicago-Waukegan service, which consisted of limited-stop Chicago-Waukegan service as well as all-stop local service, each operating at roughly 30-minute headways.
The Great Depression
Initially after the stock market crash
A stock market crash is a sudden dramatic decline of stock prices across a major cross-section of a stock market, resulting in a significant loss of paper wealth. Crashes are driven by panic selling and underlying economic factors. They often foll ...
in 1929, business went on as usual, but as the depression deepened and as the Insull public utility empire began to crumble, the railroad entered receivership
In law, receivership is a situation in which an institution or enterprise is held by a receiver—a person "placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights"—especially in c ...
in 1932. The dire economic conditions and high unemployment caused ridership (and hence revenue) to plummet. A labor strike in 1938 precipitated by a 15% reduction in wages kept the railroad from operating for seven weeks.
In spite of the difficult conditions during the 1930s, the North Shore was able to undertake a major grade separation project along the Shore Line. The North Shore had for nearly a quarter century sought to eliminate the hazards and operating costs associated with running a busy railroad through the business districts of one built-up suburb after another. Prior to the Depression, grade separation projects had been funded by the railroads' private capital, and neither the North Shore Line nor the paralleling steam-operated Chicago and North Western Railway were in a financial position to undertake such a venture even before the stock market crash in 1929.
However, in 1937, President Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
and his Secretary of the Interior, Harold L. Ickes
Harold LeClair Ickes ( ; March 15, 1874 – February 3, 1952) was an American administrator, politician and lawyer. He served as United States Secretary of the Interior for nearly 13 years from 1933 to 1946, the longest tenure of anyone to hold th ...
(a Winnetka resident), announced a Public Works Administration program to "prime the pump" of the American economy. This timely program allowed the railroads and the communities of Winnetka and Glencoe to obtain federal funding for the grade separation of the two railroads through their business districts. The project was complicated by the need for construction work to take place under traffic – the two railroads combined operated more than 200 daily trains. The grade separation was completed in late 1941 – just nine weeks before the United States went to war – and cost $4.3 million.
Modernization: Green Liners and Electroliners
To meet the competition of modern streamlined trains operating on the steam railroads connecting Chicago and Milwaukee, the North Shore in 1939 embarked on a program to modernize a portion of its steel coach fleet for both commuter and intercity service. Some 15 coaches dating from 1928 were modernized, practically from the ground up. All-electric heating was installed with a new ventilation system, new flooring, new interior decorations and fittings. The cars' exteriors were painted green with gray and red trim, and were dubbed "Greenliners". These cars were regularly assigned to Skokie Valley limited-stop service.
The most significant component of the passenger equipment modernization program was the purchase of two articulated
An articulated vehicle is a vehicle which has a permanent or semi-permanent pivot joint in its construction, allowing it to turn more sharply. There are many kinds, from heavy equipment to buses, trams and trains. Steam locomotives were sometim ...
streamlined trainset
In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and transport people or freight. Trains are typically pulled or pushed by locomotives (often know ...
s. The trainsets consisted of four cars semi-permanently attached. The two end units included operating cabs and smoking and non-smoking coach seating. An additional car provided more coach seating, and the tavern/lounge car rounded out the four-car consist
In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and transport people or freight. Trains are typically pulled or pushed by locomotives (often know ...
. These trains were dubbed ''Electroliner
The Electroliners are a pair of streamlined interurban trainsets built by the St. Louis Car Company in 1941. Initially numbered 801–802 and 803–804, they were operated by the Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad from 1941 to 1963, fo ...
s'' and were the railroad's premiere service run as fast as 90 mph between Dempster Street and North Chicago Junction on the North Shore's excellent track and roadbed. Entering service on February 9, 1941, each trainset was scheduled to run five one-way trips in Chicago-Milwaukee service every day. The ''Electroliners'' continued in service until the end of the railroad's operation in 1963. The Electroliners were sold to the Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company and were renamed Liberty Liners and run between 69th Street Philadelphia and Norristown. The Liberty Liners were retired around 1979.
Wartime rush and post-war decline
The outbreak of World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
caused the railroads of the United States to see a sharp rise in traffic. Even before the imposition of rationing
Rationing is the controlled distribution of scarce resources, goods, services, or an artificial restriction of demand. Rationing controls the size of the ration, which is one's allowed portion of the resources being distributed on a particular ...
of fuel and rubber made auto travel difficult, the North Shore saw its freight and passenger traffic rise to record levels, in part due to the railroad serving important military facilities: the Army's Fort Sheridan just north of Highwood, and the Navy's Great Lakes Naval Training Station
Naval Station Great Lakes (NAVSTA Great Lakes) is the home of the United States Navy's only boot camp, located near North Chicago, in Lake County, Illinois. Important tenant commands include the Recruit Training Command, Training Support Center ...
, just south of North Chicago. North Shore saw its traffic increase to the extent that the railroad was forced to borrow equipment from the Chicago Rapid Transit Company
The Chicago Rapid Transit Company (CRT) was a privately owned firm providing rapid transit rail service in Chicago, Illinois and several adjacent communities between 1924 and 1947. The CRT is one of the predecessors of the Chicago Transit Autho ...
and fellow interurban Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railroad, both former Insull properties.
Wartime earnings were high enough that the railroad's bankruptcy trustees were able to pay some of the company's outstanding debt and submit a reorganization plan. After the plan was approved, a new corporation (with a different corporate name from before) assumed the property in 1946.
The failure to resolve a wage dispute taken to the National Mediation Board
The National Mediation Board (NMB) is an independent agency of the United States government that coordinates labor-management relations within the U.S. railroads and airlines industries.
History
The board was established by the 1934 amendments to ...
in 1948 led to a 91-day work stoppage that spring. The dispute was resolved by increasing both fares and wages, though the company's employees continued to earn less than their counterparts at other area railroads. Simultaneously, a decline in rail travel began as initial postwar shortages of automobiles ended. These national trends—coupled with the lost revenue from the three-month strike and the effects of the strike-settling wage increase—created serious passenger revenue losses for the line. In 1949, the railroad sought to curtail some of its more unprofitable services. Dining car service (other than that on the ''Electroliners'') was dropped, service (particularly on the Shore Line) was reduced, and the railroad applied unsuccessfully to drop Shore Line service altogether.
When the franchise held by the North Shore subsidiary operating streetcar
A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport a ...
service in Waukegan expired in 1947, the company felt that a renewal was not justified, the company replaced its city operations there with bus service. Shore Line trains that used the streetcar tracks to reach downtown Waukegan were simultaneously cut back to allow the tracks to be abandoned. The subsidiary city streetcar service in Milwaukee was discontinued in 1951 but the tracks remained, as they was used by main line services to access the North Shore's Milwaukee terminal.
Right-of-way and trackage between Leland Avenue in Chicago and Linden Avenue in Wilmette was sold to the CTA in 1953, though the Shore Line continued to operate. In turn, the railroad received $7 million USD
The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
in CTA revenue bond
A revenue bond is a special type of municipal bond distinguished by its guarantee of repayment solely from revenues generated by a specified revenue-generating entity associated with the purpose of the bonds, rather than from a tax. Unlike genera ...
s.
The railroad repeated its petition to abandon the Shore Line in 1954. Though rush hour traffic levels remained strong, off-peak ridership had declined sharply, leading to further losses. The remaining street running and numerous stops eliminated many of the advantages of rail transportation on this route. Travel time on the Shore Line was roughly twice that of the slightly longer Skokie Valley route. The completion of the Edens Expressway
Iens ( nl, Edens) is a small village in Súdwest-Fryslân in the province Friesland of the Netherlands with a population of around 32 in January 2017.
History
The village was first mentioned in the 13th century as Ederinghe, and means "settlem ...
through the Skokie Valley in late 1951 caused mounting ridership losses reflected on the railroad's earnings statements. Though the abandonment proceedings garnered strong opposition in the communities affected, the railroad was successful in proving its case and was authorized to end service on the Shore Line. July 24, 1955 was the final day of service on that route. A short portion of the line was retained to provide access from North Chicago Junction to the railroad's shops in Highwood. The rest of the line north of Linden Avenue in Wilmette was removed, much of the right-of-way becoming automobile parking spaces for commuters who switched to the suburban trains of the parallel C&NW North Line.
End of rail service
With its transportation holdings proving increasingly unprofitable, the Susquehanna Corporation, a Delaware
Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...
-based holding corporation formed after a 1953 reorganization, moved to cut its losses; in 1958, the railroad filed with state and federal regulatory authorities for the authority to discontinue all service and abandon the entire property. The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) examiner handling the case recommended abandonment, but the Illinois regulators recommended the continued operation of the railroad. For the time being, ridership remained fairly stable, but the completion of the Northwest Expressway (now the Kennedy Expressway) in late 1960 provided a link between the Edens Expressway and the Chicago Loop. The North Shore Line's passenger traffic began to hemorrhage at the rate of 46,000 passengers per month.
The Chicago Transit Authority researched the possibility of continuing truncated rail service between Waukegan and Howard Street in Chicago, with buses assuming operations between Lake Bluff and Mundelein. The report, released that October, revealed that passenger service had dropped to an average of 14,000 daily riders, and that the line was in dire need of modernization. The report recommended that the CTA only assume operations under the conditions that the acquisition of the railroad's property and modernization of the fleet could be achieved without cost to the agency, and an operational subsidy would be provided. In February 1961, an updated study was released, revealing that patronage had become even lighter than it had been when the initial study was conducted. Ultimately, no action was taken as a result of the study, as none of the recommended conditions could be met.
That February, the railroad requested expedited action by the ICC on its abandonment petition, citing its mounting losses. On May 17, 1962, the request was approved under the condition that no buyer stepped forward within 35 days. Both the Illinois regulators and an association of commuters opposed the action, the association offering to buy the railroad at salvage value but ultimately failing to raise sufficient funds to buy the property. That November, the state of Illinois ruled in favor of the ICC, and prevented the commuters association from having the abandonment postponed any further. The last full day of service came on January 20, 1963, with the final trains reaching their destination in the early hours of the following morning. Sporadic freight movements continued into the next week, as the remaining cars on the line were collected from various points on the system.
Post-abandonment
Most of the rails were removed in the succeeding two years. The Chicago Transit Authority
The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) is the operator of mass transit in Chicago, Illinois, United States, and some of its surrounding suburbs, including the trains of the Chicago 'L' and CTA bus service. In , the system had a ridership of , ...
purchased the southernmost portion of the Skokie Valley line between Howard Street and Dempster Street, Skokie, and in early 1964 obtained federal funding for what turned out to be a successful mass transportation pilot project, dubbing the new non-stop service as the "Skokie Swift
The Yellow Line, alternatively known as the Skokie Swift, is a branch of the Chicago "L" in Chicago, Illinois. The route runs from the Howard Terminal on the north side of Chicago, through the southern part of Evanston and to the Dempster Ter ...
." That same year, the Skokie Valley Transportation Council was formed by the towns of Glenview, Northbrook, Northfield and Skokie, with the goal of reviving rail service by funding an extension of the "Skokie Swift" further north. This was prevented, however, by the sale of the trackage between Dempster Street and Lake-Cook Road to the Chicago & North Western Railway
The Chicago and North Western was a Class I railroad in the Midwestern United States. It was also known as the "North Western". The railroad operated more than of track at the turn of the 20th century, and over of track in seven states befor ...
for use as a freight line. The Union Pacific
The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pac ...
(into which the North Western was merged in 1995) continued to operate the line until 2001, and it was dismantled in 2004–05. CTA is studying possible extension of the Yellow Line along the North Shore right-of-way as far as Old Orchard Road, opposite the Old Orchard shopping center.
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada ...
's Hiawatha Service
The ''Hiawatha Service'', or simply ''Hiawatha'', is an 86-mile (138 km) train route operated by Amtrak on the western shore of Lake Michigan between Chicago, Illinois and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. However, the name was historically applied to ...
currently serves the passenger rail market between Chicago and Milwaukee. Metra
Metra is the commuter rail system in the Chicago metropolitan area serving the city of Chicago and its surrounding suburbs via the Union Pacific Railroad, BNSF Railway, and other railroads. The system operates 242 stations on 11 rail lines. ...
Union Pacific / North Line
The Union Pacific North Line (UP-N) is a Metra line in the Chicago metropolitan area. It runs between Ogilvie Transportation Center and Kenosha, Wisconsin; however, most trains terminate in Waukegan, Illinois. Although Metra owns the rolling stoc ...
commuter trains serve the market between Chicago and Kenosha, Wisconsin
Kenosha () is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the seat of Kenosha County. Per the 2020 census, the population was 99,986 which made it the fourth-largest city in Wisconsin. Situated on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan, Kenos ...
. Also, Metra's Milwaukee District / North Line
The Milwaukee District North Line (MD-N) is a Metra commuter rail line in Chicago, Illinois, and its northern suburbs. Although Metra does not refer to any of its lines by color, the timetable accents for the Milwaukee District North line are pal ...
and North Central Service
The North Central Service (NCS) is a Metra commuter rail line running from Union Station in downtown Chicago through northwestern and far northern suburbs to Antioch, Illinois. In June 2018, the public timetable shows 10 weekday departures from ...
now serve Libertyville and Mundelein, respectively.
The former North Shore right-of-way from the Illinois border to Milwaukee was sold off piecemeal to numerous private interests. In Illinois, extension to the Skokie Swift into the now-fully-developed territory in the Skokie Valley is discussed periodically. In other places, parts of the North Shore right of way have been turned into paved and limestone recreational trails, such as the Green Bay Trail, as part of the rails to trails program.
Preservation
Electroliner trainset 801–802 is preserved at the Illinois Railway Museum
The Illinois Railway Museum (IRM, reporting mark IRMX) is the largest railroad museum in the United States. It is located in the Chicago metropolitan area at 7000 Olson Road in Union, Illinois, northwest of downtown Chicago.
Overview
Hist ...
in Union, Illinois
Union is a village in McHenry County, Illinois, United States. The population was 580 at the 2010 census, up from 576 in 2000.
History
A post office called Union has been in operation since 1852. The village was named for the federal union of th ...
; the museum's holdings also include 15 other passenger and freight car
A railroad car, railcar (American and Canadian English), railway wagon, railway carriage, railway truck, railwagon, railcarriage or railtruck (British English and UIC), also called a train car, train wagon, train carriage or train truck, is a ...
s from the railroad. Both Electroliners saw use on SEPTA
The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) is a regional public transportation authority that operates bus, rapid transit, commuter rail, light rail, and electric trolleybus services for nearly 4 million people in five c ...
's Norristown High Speed Line
The Norristown High Speed Line (NHSL), also called the Purple Line, the P&W, or Route 100,) is a interurban light rapid transit line operated by SEPTA, running between the 69th Street Transportation Center in Upper Darby and the Norristown Tr ...
in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
from 1964 to 1980 before being retired. The other Electroliner set, former 803–804, still painted in SEPTA "Liberty Liner" colors, is stored at the Rockhill Trolley Museum
The Rockhill Trolley Museum is a museum and heritage railway in Rockhill Furnace, Pennsylvania that collects and restores trolley, interurban, and transit cars. Founded in 1960, the museum operates what has been historically referred to as the Sha ...
in Rockhill Furnace, Pennsylvania. Other museums that have North Shore Line cars preserved include the Fox River Trolley Museum, in South Elgin, Illinois; the East Troy Electric Railroad Museum
The East Troy Electric Railroad is an interurban heritage railroad owned and operated by the East Troy Railroad Museum. Passenger excursions run on a stretch of track from East Troy to Mukwonago, Wisconsin.
History
The line dates back to ...
in East Troy, Wisconsin; the Shore Line Trolley Museum
The Shore Line Trolley Museum is a trolley museum located in East Haven, Connecticut. Incorporated in 1945, it is the oldest continuously operating trolley museum in the United States. The museum includes exhibits on trolley history in the visit ...
, in East Haven, Connecticut, and the Seashore Trolley Museum
Seashore Trolley Museum, located in Kennebunkport, Maine, United States, is the world's first and largest museum of mass transit vehicles. While the main focus of the collection is trolley cars (trams), it also includes rapid transit trains, ...
, in Kennebunkport, Maine. The Iowa Terminal Railroad, in Mason City, Iowa, also owns former North Shore Line equipment. Unrestored North Shore Line equipment is also in storage at several other museums.
The Dempster station has been preserved, although moved 150 feet to the east. Both the Briargate and Kenosha stations also survive, currently housing commercial operations.
Abandoned and overgrown sections of track exist between Dempster Street and Lake Cook Road in the former Skokie Valley right of way.
Notes
References
Further reading
*
*
*
External links
North Shore Line timeline, 1910–1919
Station architect Arthur U. Gerber
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chicago North Shore Milwaukee Railroad
Defunct Illinois railroads
Defunct Wisconsin railroads
Railroads in the Chicago metropolitan area
History of Wisconsin
Interurban railways in Illinois
Interurban railways in Wisconsin
Streetcars in Illinois
Streetcars in Wisconsin
Electric railways in Illinois
Electric railways in Wisconsin
650 V DC railway electrification