tb_deeringashland_0703_01
This July, 2003, view looks southwest at the Ashland Avenue bridge where it crossed over both the Milwaukee Road's Deering Line and the North Branch of the Chicago River. The dark opening is where freight trains once traveled to and from the many industries in the Deering Industrial District. By the early 1980s the tracks were removed in this section. The picture was taken from the parking lot of the Wendy's restaurant with a zoom lens. There is no public access to the underpass as the land is fenced off.
tb_deeringashland_0703_01
This July, 2003, view looks southwest at the Ashland Avenue bridge
where it crossed over both the Milwaukee Road's Deering Line and
the North Branch of the Chicago River. The dark opening is where
freight trains once traveled to and from the many industries in the
Deering Industrial District. By the early 1980s the tracks were
removed in this section. The picture was taken from the parking lot
of the Wendy's restaurant with a zoom lens. There is no public
access to the underpass as the land is fenced off.
tb_deeringfinkl_01
Durng an August, 2003, concert (Echo & The Bunnymen) hosted by Finkl Steel and WXRT, I was able to get this photo of a segment of a Deering Line spur which meandered into the present-day Finkl Steel campus to serve several industries at one time. Note the girder rail used on the curves. In the late 1980s the City of Chicago vacated the public streets around Armitage and Southport in the area and turned it over to Finkl Steel. The only time the public has access to this part of the Finkl campus is during concerts in the summer.This photo also shows how the brick industrial buildings were at one time built around the curves and contours of the rail lines which served them. This pattern was typical on the Milwaukee Road's North Side operations until widescale deindustrialization and gentrification changed the landscape.
tb_deeringfinkl_01
Durng an August, 2003, concert (Echo & The Bunnymen) hosted by
Finkl Steel and WXRT, I was able to get this photo of a segment of
a Deering Line spur which meandered into the present-day Finkl
Steel campus to serve several industries at one time. Note the
girder rail used on the curves. In the late 1980s the City of
Chicago vacated the public streets around Armitage and Southport in
the area and turned it over to Finkl Steel. The only time the
public has access to this part of the Finkl campus is during
concerts in the summer.
This photo also shows how the brick industrial buildings were at one time built around the curves and contours of the rail lines which served them. This pattern was typical on the Milwaukee Road's North Side operations until widescale deindustrialization and gentrification changed the landscape.
tb_deeringnorthline_0703_01
Another Deering Line artifact. This underpass below the Union Pacific's (C&NW) North Line was used by the Milwaukee Road's Deering Line to reach industries in the switching district. Note the cut-stone abutments. The best way to view this bridge is from the back of the shopping center off Clybourn by the river. There is no access from the other, east side, of this underpass.Unfortunately the rapid transformation of this area during the 1980s and 1990s from industrial to retail wiped out virtually every other trace of the Deering Line.
tb_deeringnorthline_0703_01
Another Deering Line artifact. This underpass below the Union
Pacific's (C&NW) North Line was used by the Milwaukee Road's
Deering Line to reach industries in the switching district. Note
the cut-stone abutments. The best way to view this bridge is from
the back of the shopping center off Clybourn by the river. There is
no access from the other, east side, of this underpass.
Unfortunately the rapid transformation of this area during the 1980s and 1990s from industrial to retail wiped out virtually every other trace of the Deering Line.
tb_deeringnorthline_0703_02
Looking east once again, behind the T.J. Maxx store gives a little more perspective to the underpass. At the time of this set of photos, the tracks were gone from underneath the bridge but there were still some ties scattered in the weeds and trash, past the chain-link fence.At one time, the Deering Line weaved northwest along the Chicago River past Diversey Blvd. To serve the massive Deering Works plant of International Harvester. Today the Lathrop public housing complex occupies this site.
tb_deeringnorthline_0703_02
Looking east once again, behind the T.J. Maxx store gives a little more perspective to the underpass. At the time of this set of photos, the tracks were gone from underneath the bridge but there were still some ties scattered in the weeds and trash, past the chain-link fence.
At one time, the Deering Line weaved northwest along the Chicago River past Diversey Blvd. To serve the massive Deering Works plant of International Harvester. Today the Lathrop public housing complex occupies this site.
tb_deeringwebster_01
This view looks north from Webster and Dominick at one of the last pieces of Deering Line rails visible north of Finkl Steel. If you look closely to the left in the photo you can see one of the rails poking through the gravel. At one time the Milwaukee Road's Deering Line passed through a tire company lot to reach industries to the west. The 1995 Milwaukee Railroader article shows a picture of a train on Dominick near this location.
tb_deeringwebster_01
This view looks north from Webster and Dominick at one of the last
pieces of Deering Line rails visible north of Finkl Steel. If you
look closely to the left in the photo you can see one of the rails
poking through the gravel. At one time the Milwaukee Road's Deering
Line passed through a tire company lot to reach industries to the
west. The 1995 Milwaukee Railroader article shows a picture of a
train on Dominick near this location.