Milwaukee Road Photos of the Dunning Line

This view looks north at the Kimbell Candy Company on Belmont Avenue. The Milwaukee Road’s Dunning Line is to the left or west. Kimbell Candy was the northernmost rail-served industry on this line by 1980. It once reached across Irving Park Road to the north to service the Chicago State Hospital.
The Milwaukee Road photographer is looking south from George Street along the Dunning Line towards Diversey Avenue in the distance. A 1982 study by the railroad suggested discontinuing service to Kimbell Candy due to low traffic and cutting service back to just south of George Street. Enough room would be left via a “tail track” for trains to back freight cars into the Chicago Steel Rule spur just past Diversey. A condo complex was built in this area in 2006 and the tail track remainder of the Dunning Line north of Diversey was preserved in its parking lot-but it was not to be used again.
This view looks north across the George Street grade crossing. The same internal report stated that teenage drivers would often get airborne with their cars at this crossing, creating a potential liability issue for the railroad and another reason to abandon the line from this grade crossing north. Ahead is Kimbell Candy.