The Chicago Terminal Railroad was a

switching and terminal railroad A switching and terminal railroad is a freight railroad company whose primary purpose is to perform local switching services or to own and operate a terminal facility. Switching is a type of operation done within the limits of a yard. It genera ...

that operated over former

Milwaukee Road 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 Midwestern United States, Midwest and Pacific Northwest, Northwest of the United States fr ...

Canadian Pacific The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadi ...

and Chicago and North Western/

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 ...

trackage in northern

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

. The railroad began its operations on January 2, 2007. The railroad rostered a total of three locomotive units, all of EMD design.

Routes

*CTM Chicago Operations: The first routes acquired by CTM on January 2, 2007, from Canadian Pacific were the remnants of the former Milwaukee Road Chicago & Evanston (C&E), Deering, and Chicago & Pacific (aka Bloomingdale Line) branch lines in the city of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. CTM ran from the Union Pacific North Avenue Yard where it was a tenant, north to the Bloomingdale Line, then east across a swing bridge over the North Branch of the Chicago River to C&E Junction in the middle of Kingsbury Street south of Cortland Avenue. From there one end went north to Peerless Confectionery at Lakewood and Diversey on the C&E North Line with a lead coming off at Kingsbury just north of Cortland where a remnant of the Deering Line was used to service Finkl Steel. South of C&E Junction CTM operated down Kingsbury Street to where the tracks ended just north of Division Street with another lead (former C&P) veering off from the C&E South Line on Kingsbury just north of North Avenue. The Goose Island lead went south and crossed North Avenue, then over an arm of the Chicago River on the Cherry Street bridge to service Big Bay Lumber on Cherry just past Division on Goose Island. At its peak CTM in Chicago serviced just four industries it inherited: Finkl Steel, Peerless Confectionery, Big Bay Lumber, and General Iron Industries. It had joint access to Sipi Metals along with UP off the former Rolling Mill Yard area across from the Kennedy Expressway. This CTM operation was notable for its extensive operations on street trackage, especially on Lakewood Avenue, Kingsbury Street, and Cherry Avenue. The last revenue run by CTM was in 2015 to Big Bay Lumber. Later CTM would store empty freight cars on various parts of the tracks. The line was formally abandoned in 2019, with the City of Chicago acquiring the rights to reactivate rail service while at the same time pursuing conversion of the line to a rail trail.City of Chicago-Acquisition Exemption-Chicago Terminal Railroad
/ref> *Centex Industrial Park: The CTM took over operations in this location from the

Central Illinois Railroad The Central Illinois Railroad was a shortline railroad in Illinois. The switching and terminal railroad operated trackage near Peoria, Illinois. The Central Illinois Railroad was established in 2000, operating on track leased from the Burlingt ...

in April 2007. Located in

Elk Grove Village, Illinois Elk Grove Village is a village in Cook and DuPage counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. Per the 2020 census, the population was 32,812. Located northwest of Chicago along the Golden Corridor, the Village of Elk Grove Village was incorpor ...

, this is former Chicago and North Western trackage that was operated by

until 2001. In 2018,

Progressive Rail Progressive Rail Inc. is a shortline railroad and owner of several other shortlines. PGR is directly operating several separate branches in Minnesota including the Airlake Terminal Railway. Progressive Rail also acquired the Wisconsin Northern ...

took over Operations on this line under the name Chicago Junction Railway. *Bensenville Industrial Park: Located roughly adjacent to the Elk Grove Village operation, this former Milwaukee Road branch was leased to the CTM by Canadian Pacific in 2007.

took over this line in 2019, operating it as the Chicago, St Paul & Pacific Railroad (not to be confused with the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad).

References

External links

Chicago Terminal Railroad Unofficial Web Page

Chicago Terminal Railroad Photo Album of the Chicago operations

Chicago Area Shortline Railroads unofficial site
Chicago Terminal Railroad Photograph Tour (2008)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chicago Terminal Railroad Switching and terminal railroads Illinois railroads Railroads in the Chicago metropolitan area Street running Spin-offs of the Canadian Pacific Railway Standard gauge railways in the United States