The Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad , also known as the South Shore Line, is a Class III

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 ...

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 ...

operating between

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

, and

South Bend, Indiana South Bend is a city in and the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, on the St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total of 103,453 residents and is the fourt ...

. The railroad serves as a link between

Class I railroad 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 Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, st ...

s and local industries in northeast

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

and northwest

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 ...

. It built the

South Shore Line The South Shore Line is an electrically powered interurban commuter rail line operated by the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District (NICTD) between Millennium Station in downtown Chicago and the South Bend International Airport ...

electric interurban and operated it until 1990, when it transferred to the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District. The railroad is owned by the Anacostia Rail Holdings Company.

History

The South Shore Line is the last remaining of the once numerous electric interurban trains in the United States. The South Shore began in 1901 as the Chicago and Indiana Air Line Railway, a

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 ...

route between

East Chicago East Chicago is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. The population was 29,698 at the 2010 census. The city is home of the Indiana Harbor and Ship Canal, an artificial freshwater harbor characterized by industrial and manufacturing act ...

and

Indiana Harbor Indiana Harbor may refer to: * Indiana Harbor and Ship Canal, a harbor and artificial waterway in East Chicago, Indiana connecting Lake Michigan to the Grand Calumet River * Indiana Harbor (East Chicago), the section of East Chicago located east of ...

. Reorganized in 1904 as the Chicago, Lake Shore and South Bend Railway, by 1908 its route had reached

via Michigan City, Indiana. The company leased the Kensington and Eastern Railroad, an

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 ...

subsidiary, to gain access to

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

. Passenger service between South Bend and Chicago began in 1909. The Lake Shore added freight service in 1916. Samuel Insull acquired the bankrupt Lake Shore in 1925 and reorganized it as the Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad, which it remains today. The railroad experienced two more bankruptcies, in 1933 and 1938. The post-World War II decline in traffic hurt the company, and it was bought by the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) in 1967. In 1977, the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District (NICTD) began subsidizing the passenger operations on the

. In 1984, the Venango River Corporation purchased the South Shore from the C&O. Venango declared bankruptcy in 1989. In 1990, the Anacostia and Pacific Company acquired the South Shore. The NICTD purchased the passenger assets. The South Shore acquired the Kensington and Eastern Railroad from the

in 1996. The Surface Transportation Board classes the South Shore as a Class III railroad. Surface Transportation Board
PETER A. GILBERTSON, ET AL. AND ANACOSTIA RAIL HOLDINGS COMPANY--CONTINUANCE IN CONTROL EXEMPTION--NORTHERN LINES RAILWAY, LLC
January 6, 2005 The railroad operates diesel locomotives on the whole line. It also operates the former Indianapolis, La Porte and Michigan City Railroad and Chicago, Cincinnati and Louisville Railroad, once part of the

New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad The New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad , abbreviated NYC&St.L, was a railroad that operated in the mid-central United States. Commonly referred to as the "Nickel Plate Road", the railroad served parts of the states of New York, Pennsylvan ...

(Nickel Plate) system, from Michigan City southeast to

Dillon Dillon may refer to: People *Dillon (surname) * Dillon (given name) * Dillon (singer) (born 1988), Brazilian singer *Viscount Dillon, a title in the Peerage of Ireland Places Canada *Dillon, Saskatchewan United States *Dillon Beach, Californi ...

(southeast of Stillwell), bought from

Norfolk Southern The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the company operates 19,420 route miles (31, ...

in 2001. Via

trackage rights Railway companies can interact with and control others in many ways. These relationships can be complicated by bankruptcies. Operating Often, when a railroad first opens, it is only a short spur of a main line. The owner of the spur line may ...

it connects to many other railroads in the

Chicago area The Chicago metropolitan area, also colloquially referred to as Chicagoland, is a metropolitan area in the Midwestern United States. Encompassing 10,286 sq mi (28,120 km2), the metropolitan area includes the city of Chicago, its suburbs and hi ...

, with connections to the Port of Chicago, Proviso Yard and Joliet. The railroad's primary businesses are coal and steel. The coal is delivered to the Michigan City and

Burns Harbor Burns Harbor is a town in Westchester Township, Porter County, Indiana, United States on the shores of Lake Michigan in Northwest Indiana. It is part of the Chicago metropolitan area. The population was 1,156 at the 2010 census. Burns Harbor is ...

generating stations owned by Northern Indiana Public Service Company. The railroad also serves many customers along the line.

Notes

References

* *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad South Shore Line Companies based in Indiana Michigan City, Indiana Indiana railroads Illinois railroads Standard gauge railways in the United States Transportation in Lake County, Indiana Transportation in LaPorte County, Indiana Transportation in Porter County, Indiana Transportation in St. Joseph County, Indiana Transportation in South Bend, Indiana American companies established in 1925 Railroads in the Chicago metropolitan area Transportation in Cook County, Illinois Transportation in Will County, Illinois