The Kenwood branch was a
rapid transit
Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT), also known as heavy rail or metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport generally found in urban areas. A rapid transit system that primarily or traditionally runs below the surface may be ...
line which was part of the
Chicago 'L' system from 1907 to 1957. The branch served the
Kenwood neighborhood of
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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and consisted of six elevated stations. It opened on September 20, 1907 and closed on December 1, 1957.
Operations
The Kenwood branch was a elevated line which served six stations. The branch began at the
Indiana
Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...
station, which was a transfer point for the
South Side Main Line and
Stock Yards branch. It ran eastward along two tracks to a terminal at 42nd Place and Oakenwald Avenue in Kenwood. A storage yard was located at the eastern end of the branch. The branch was built on a concrete embankment, which it shared with the
Chicago Junction Railway. Initially, service on the branch consisted primarily of 42nd Place-Indiana shuttles and 42nd Place-Loop locals; 42nd Place-Loop express trains were occasionally run. Loop service was eventually through-routed on the
Ravenswood Line, and some trains were through-routed on the Stock Yards branch in the later years of the line.
History
The predecessor of the Kenwood branch was a freight line the
Union Stock Yards and Transit Company built in 1864, which paralleled 40th Street between the Union Stock Yards and the
Illinois Central Railroad
The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, was a railroad in the Central United States, with its primary routes connecting Chicago, Illinois, with New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama. A line also c ...
. The freight line began passenger service in 1882, which continued along the line until 1904. In 1903, the
Chicago City Council passed a measure to elevate the 40th Street line as part of an effort to remove grade crossings from Chicago railroads. The
Chicago Junction Railway was formed to bear the costs of the elevation, and the task of running passenger trains on the line shifted to the
South Side Elevated Railroad
The South Side Elevated Railroad (originally Chicago and South Side Rapid Transit Railroad) was the first elevated rapid transit line in Chicago, Illinois. The line ran from downtown Chicago to Jackson Park, with branches to Englewood, Normal Pa ...
. The elevated Kenwood branch ultimately opened on September 20, 1907.
The new line led to increased residential development in Kenwood, a mostly white-collar neighborhood when the line opened. Crosstown service through the Ravenswood line began in 1913; in 1931, this service was changed to a Kenwood-
Wilson routing. Shuttle service on the line was discontinued between 1943 and 1949.
In the 1930s, the Chicago Junction Railway stopped regularly maintaining the branch due to financial difficulties; since it did not operate trains on the line, it cared little about its upkeep. 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 ...
, which by then had taken control of operations, replied to the Chicago Junction's actions by refusing to pay rent on the line.
The Chicago Junction took the CRT to eviction court over the matter; the
Illinois Commerce Commission
The Illinois Commerce Commission is a quasi-judicial tribunal that regulates public utility services in the U.S. state of Illinois. The mission of the ICC is "to pursue an appropriate balance between the interest of consumers and existing and emer ...
initially ruled that the Chicago Junction had rights to operate on the line, but
federal bankruptcy court ultimately granted the CRT a stay on eviction.
The CRT agreed to assume maintenance of the line and deducted maintenance costs from its rent. The CTA took over the line from the CRT in 1947. Ridership on the line began to fall in the early 1950s, and the line continued to deteriorate from the ongoing lack of maintenance. The CTA contemplated refurbishing the Kenwood branch in 1956, but the costs of modernizing the branch were prohibitive, and it ultimately closed the line on December 1, 1957.
Later uses and abandonment
Upon closing the line, the CTA sealed the stations but left the branch itself intact. The Chicago Junction Railway continued to use the branch for freight service, and its freight track remained until the 1960s. The right-of-way along the Kenwood branch was assumed by the
Penn Central Railroad
The Penn Central Transportation Company, commonly abbreviated to Penn Central, was an American class I railroad that operated from 1968 to 1976. Penn Central combined three traditional corporate rivals (the Pennsylvania, New York Central and the ...
,
Conrail, and
CSX
CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of track. ...
at various points; Penn Central used part of the line to access a warehouse near King Drive until the 1980s. The embankment for the Kenwood branch remained mostly in place; only the steel structures at the termini, the street crossings, and the section between Cottage Grove and Drexel Boulevard have been removed since the branch's closure.
Station listing
References
{{Chicago L
Chicago Transit Authority
Railway lines in Chicago
fr:South Side Main Line#Kenwood Branch