tb_CNWNavyPier_1988_19
We're looking west towards the C&NW Hubbard St. yard with Des Plaines Avenue in the background on the overpass. To the right or north is Kinzie Street and we are standing just off Clinton St. The boxcars were dropped off using the wye by Blommer Chocolate and await a shove to the Sun-Times printing plant. You can just make out one segment of the wye where the track crosses Kinzie St. In the distance to the left or south are refrigerated cars on former Milwaukee Road yard tracks which will be delivered by a Soo Line patrol inside the building at Carroll Ave. and Morgan St. An example of this switch job is shown elsewhere on this website. The Milwaukee Road's freight station was to the left, just out of view. The Pennsylvania Railroad's Panhandle Line was the third railroad in this corridor. It served the unique, rounded Braun Bottle factory on Canal St. by the viaduct and its successors continued to handle the ADM plant half mile west of here through today. In a few years, this C&NW yard would be gone.
tb_CNWNavyPier_1988_19
We're looking west towards the C&NW Hubbard St. yard with Des
Plaines Avenue in the background on the overpass. To the right or
north is Kinzie Street and we are standing just off Clinton St. The
boxcars were dropped off using the wye by Blommer Chocolate and
await a shove to the Sun-Times printing plant. You can just make
out one segment of the wye where the track crosses Kinzie St. In
the distance to the left or south are refrigerated cars on former
Milwaukee Road yard tracks which will be delivered by a Soo Line
patrol inside the building at Carroll Ave. and Morgan St. An
example of this switch job is shown elsewhere on this website. The
Milwaukee Road's freight station was to the left, just out of view.
The Pennsylvania Railroad's Panhandle Line was the third railroad
in this corridor. It served the unique, rounded Braun Bottle
factory on Canal St. by the viaduct and its successors continued to
handle the ADM plant half mile west of here through today. In a few
years, this C&NW yard would be gone.
tb_CNWNavyPier_1988_20
A C&NW crew member flags Clinton Ave. as the train made up of boxcars for the Sun-Times is shoved east under the Metra viaduct.
tb_CNWNavyPier_1988_20
A C&NW crew member flags Clinton Ave. as the train made up of
boxcars for the Sun-Times is shoved east under the Metra viaduct.
tb_CNWNavyPier_1988_21
The train pauses to wait until the bascule bridge is fully lowered and locked into place before proceeding. In the background is the Apparel Center which was built using air rights over this C&NW branch line. In the foreground is Canal St. To the left, above the boxcars, are relatively new condos built along the North Branch of the Chicago River with their own docks-the first in a wave of residential developments that would take over the area over the next fifteen years. In April of 1992 the Chicago River flooded the former Chicago Tunnel railroad system where it crossed under the river just in front of these new condos and by the Kinzie St. bridge. Pilings were apparently driven into the wrong location which damaged the tunnel wall, leading to a cave in a few months later and the hidden flood that shut down Chicago's Loop for days. The freight tunnel system at one time used narrow-gauge, electric locomotives to link downtown businesses via sub-basement docks for parcel pickup, removal of ashes, and more. Connections were made with regular railroads at various transload locations. Service ended in the late 1950s. Later the tunnels took on a second life as corridors for utility lines. For more information on the Chicago Tunnel railroads see Bruce Moffatt's excellent book "Forty Feet Under" published by the Central Electric Railfans Association (CERA).
tb_CNWNavyPier_1988_21
The train pauses to wait until the bascule bridge is fully lowered
and locked into place before proceeding. In the background is the
Apparel Center which was built using air rights over this C&NW
branch line. In the foreground is Canal St. To the left, above the
boxcars, are relatively new condos built along the North Branch of
the Chicago River with their own docks-the first in a wave of
residential developments that would take over the area over the
next fifteen years. In April of 1992 the Chicago River flooded the
former Chicago Tunnel railroad system where it crossed under the
river just in front of these new condos and by the Kinzie St.
bridge. Pilings were apparently driven into the wrong location
which damaged the tunnel wall, leading to a cave in a few months
later and the hidden flood that shut down Chicago's Loop for days.
The freight tunnel system at one time used narrow-gauge, electric
locomotives to link downtown businesses via sub-basement docks for
parcel pickup, removal of ashes, and more. Connections were made
with regular railroads at various transload locations. Service
ended in the late 1950s. Later the tunnels took on a second life as
corridors for utility lines. For more information on the Chicago
Tunnel railroads see Bruce Moffatt's excellent book "Forty Feet
Under" published by the Central Electric Railfans Association
(CERA).
tb_CNWNavyPier_1988_22
This view looks south down Canal St and captures action on the C&NW's Navy Pier line as well as the C&NW's headquarters several blocks away. Looks like a truck knocked off one of the warning lamps on the grade crossing signal. Just a few feet past the Navy Pier line is the former Milwaukee Road C&M mainline which headed west from Chicago. This mainline today sees a lot of traffic from Metra and Amtrak. Freights used a pair of tracks to pass through Union Station on transfer runs.
tb_CNWNavyPier_1988_22
This view looks south down Canal St and captures action on the
C&NW's Navy Pier line as well as the C&NW's headquarters
several blocks away. Looks like a truck knocked off one of the
warning lamps on the grade crossing signal. Just a few feet past
the Navy Pier line is the former Milwaukee Road C&M mainline
which headed west from Chicago. This mainline today sees a lot of
traffic from Metra and Amtrak. Freights used a pair of tracks to
pass through Union Station on transfer runs.
tb_CNWNavyPier_1988_23
The bascule bridge slowly lowers and attracts the interest of passersbys. Looks like they are headed to the nearby East Bank Club which was built on the site of the Milwaukee Road's C&E line and approach to the one-time bobtail bridge the C&E used to cross the river by Kinzie St. This C&NW bridge still stands and has two sets of tracks, reflecting an era when the line saw a lot more traffic, including passenger trains which terminated on the east side of the river, where the Merchandise Mart stands. In early 2002 Union Pacific ended service on the line when the Sun-Times switched production to a new facility on the South Side. There's still talk from time-to-time about reviving this dormant rail corridor for light-rail use or as a dedicated, express bus route. Right where the pedestrians are walking was the southern end of the Milwaukee Road's C&E line which paralled Canal St. and linked up with the main tracks just to the right or south. This section of track was removed by the Milwaukee Road in 1973 and the C&E was dead-ended at Grand Avenue.
tb_CNWNavyPier_1988_23
The bascule bridge slowly lowers and attracts the interest of
passersbys. Looks like they are headed to the nearby East Bank Club
which was built on the site of the Milwaukee Road's C&E line
and approach to the one-time bobtail bridge the C&E used to
cross the river by Kinzie St. This C&NW bridge still stands and
has two sets of tracks, reflecting an era when the line saw a lot
more traffic, including passenger trains which terminated on the
east side of the river, where the Merchandise Mart stands. In early
2002 Union Pacific ended service on the line when the Sun-Times
switched production to a new facility on the South Side. There's
still talk from time-to-time about reviving this dormant rail
corridor for light-rail use or as a dedicated, express bus route.
Right where the pedestrians are walking was the southern end of the
Milwaukee Road's C&E line which paralled Canal St. and linked
up with the main tracks just to the right or south. This section of
track was removed by the Milwaukee Road in 1973 and the C&E was
dead-ended at Grand Avenue.
tb_CNWNavyPier_1988_24
The first Mystery Photo in context! Getting ready to finally shove the boxcars to the Sun-Times at Clinton and Kinzie, under the C&NW/Metra viaduct.
tb_CNWNavyPier_1988_24
The first Mystery Photo in context! Getting ready to finally shove
the boxcars to the Sun-Times at Clinton and Kinzie, under the
C&NW/Metra viaduct.