Marshfield Station

Marshfield was a rapid transit station on the Chicago "L"'s Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad. It was the western terminus of the Metropolitan's main line, after which it branched into three branches; the northwestern Logan Square branch, the western Garfield Park branch, and the southwestern Douglas Park branch. The station existed from 1895 to 1954, when it, alongside the main line and the Garfield Park branch, was demolished to make way for the Eisenhower Expressway and its Congress Line. It was also serviced by Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railroad (CA&E), an interurban that used the Garfield Park branch's tracks between 1905 and its closure in 1953.

History

The Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad Company was granted a 50-year franchise by the Chicago City Council on April 7, 1892, and began securing right of way shortly thereafter. As designed, the Metropolitan's operations would comprise a main line that went westward from downtown to
diverge into three branches one northwest to Logan Square, one due west to Garfield Park, and one southwest to Douglas Parkwould diverge and serve various parts of Chicago's west side. A further branch to Humboldt Park would proceed due west from the Logan Square branch just past Robey Street. The franchise stipulated that this divergence had to take place somewhere between Ashland Avenue and Wood Street; the Metropolitan decided to place the junction at Marshfield Avenue, a minor street.

Originally intended to be powered by steam locomotives like the competing South Side and Lake Street Elevateds, the Metropolitan later decided to use electric traction; the tracks had already been largely constructed prior to the decision to electrify them, but retrofitting the third rail proved an easy task outside of the switches of the main line. The junction at Marshfield required "elaborate special work" in its switches and signals, more so than other elevated railroads at the time. The junction's switches and signals were constructed by the Paige Iron Works of Chicago.

Closure and demolition

Logan Square (and Humboldt Park) trains were rerouted from elevated trackage to the new Milwaukee–Dearborn subway in 1951, and thus no longer needed the station, and Garfield Park trains started using temporary at-grade trackage in 1953. Douglas Park trains started using the Paulina Connector to get to the Loop on April 4, 1954, removing the last traffic to Marshfield station and resulting in its closure. Racine was closed and demolished at the same time. After the change, Douglas Park riders needing to transfer to westbound Garfield Park trains were advised to use the Madison/Wells station in the Loop, whereas eastbound Garfield Park riders headed for Douglas Park were recommended to switch at State/Van Buren.

Station details

The station, like all stations on the four-track main line, had two island platforms, one each between an inner and outer track. West of the Laflin station, trains crossed over such that the northern tracks and southern tracks were each a bidirectional pair; trains bound for or coming from Logan Square (and the Humboldt Park branch that would branch off it) would use the northern tracks and island platform, while trains bound for or coming from Garfield Park and Douglas Park used the southern tracks and platform. When the CA&E began serving the station in 1905, a separate side platform was built for it west of the junction going westbound, whereas eastbound trains would use one of the "L" platforms to alight passengers; boarding was not allowed onto eastbound CA&E trains. A pedestrian bridge linked the two "L" platforms to one another, as well as a third pedestrian bridge to the CA&E platform. When the Chicago Transit Authority complained that CA&E alightment delayed "L" traffic at Marshfield, the CA&E discontinued eastbound alightment at the station in favor of Ogden further west.

Stations on the Metropolitan's main line had racks for bicycles, staff to announce those in waiting rooms of approaching trains, and space for baby carriages.

Operations and connections

Westbound trains serving the Westchester branch, which was a continuation of the Garfield Park branch from Des Plaines, were express operations and did not stop at Marshfield during weekday rush hours or most of Saturdays; patrons wishing to go to Westchester needed to board Garfield Park trains to Laramie to transfer to Westchester trains.

In the late 19th century, an Ashland Avenue streetcar ran from 22nd Street up to Roosevelt Street, where it turned west to run north from Paulina Avenue, a block west of Marshfield. North of the Marshfield station, this route turned eastward on Lake Street to return to Ashland. This was extended south to Archer Avenue in 1896, and on September 4, 1908, was extended to connect with another route south to 70th Street. Simultaneous with the 70th Street extension was a northward one to Southport Street via Clybourn Avenue, which was further extended to Clark Street on October 16, 1912. Further extensions, including the absorption of a shuttle route, created a crosstown through-route from Clark Street down to 87th Street starting November 1, 1916. This became known as "Through Route 9" (TR 9) in 1924. By the early- to mid-20th century, Ashland was one of the "Big Five" streetcar lines, which had the highest ridership, got the most amentities and had the shortest wait times. As of 1928, TR 9 had owl service between 1 and 4:45 a.m., wherein streetcars ran every fifteen minutes; during the day, streetcar lines in Chicago typically had intervals of between eight and fifteen minutes per car. Buses replaced streetcars on weekends starting May 11, 1952, and altogether on February 13, 1954.

In addition to the Ashland Avenue streetcar, one ran on Van Buren Street adjacent to the Metropolitan's tracks. Powered by horse until 1896, upon electrification it proceeded west from State Street to Kedzie Street. Such streetcars were a competitor to the Metropolitan, siphoning many of its would-be passengers during the warm summer months as their cars were more open-air. As of 1928, the Van Buren route had owl service between 1:03 and 4:42 a.m., where cars ran on intervals varying between 15, 24, and 30 minutes. On October 11, 1937, the Van Buren route was through-routed with streetcar service on Division Street, about miles to the north, via downtown. This continued until Division Street service was replaced by buses and Van Buren streetcars were once again independent on February 4, 1951. This was short-lived, however, as buses replaced streetcars on Van Buren on August 12, 1951.

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{{Former Chicago "L" stations navbox, Metropolitan=Yes, Logan=Yes, Garfield=Yes, Douglas=Yes

1895 establishments in Illinois
1954 disestablishments in Illinois
Defunct Chicago "L" stations
Railway stations in the United States opened in 1895
Railway stations closed in 1954