Topics

31

General Discussion / Aerial View of Milwaukee Road Tracks Outside Wrigley Field, Green Hornet PCC

« on: December 23, 2016, 11:29:18 PM »

Interesting that it was triple tracked across Clark and Addison at one time with the westernmost track for the Collins and Weise coal company spur.

http://chicagopast.com/post/19406058339/more-information

Check out that Chicago Surface Lines "Green Hornet" PCC streetcar paused on Clark.

I guess no Milwaukee Road trains were expected during this game from the cars parked across the tracks or so close to the center one that a train could not pass through without hitting them.

32

General Discussion / It's Alive! Chicago Terminal Still Active Out of North Avenue Yard!

« on: November 17, 2016, 08:15:16 PM »

I spoke to a Chicago Terminal representative on Saturday who was at TrainFest in Milwaukee (West Allis) with the Iowa Pacific display. 

He stated that the operation based out of the North Avenue Yard is still in operation and they switch out Sipi Metals as needed.  They hope to restore service to General Iron which wants to use rail again but the cost to replace the wiring that vandals stripped out of the bridge is $10K.  The intention is to repair the bridge and reinstate service on the east side of the river.  When Finkl was there security guards of the steel plant kept an eye on things and with it gone there is less protection.

Here are photos I took yesterday of two gondolas on the Sipi spur.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/39092860@N06/30923324721/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/39092860@N06/30923324341/in/photostream/

33

General Discussion / Unusual Outdoor Display of a Ghost C&NW Train on Milwaukee Bridge

« on: October 26, 2016, 10:32:24 AM »

OK, so off topic somewhat in that this bridge is in Milwaukee County.  Still, a cool idea. 

http://www.jsonline.com/story/entertainment/arts/art-city/2016/10/25/ghost-train-evoke-shorewoods-locomotive-past/92470934/

This bridge once carried passenger trains on the C&NW "Air Line" which ran from the old lakefront station in downtown Milwaukee to Fond du Lac.  In the 1960s C&NW passenger trains were routed instead to the then new Milwaukee Road station on the south edge of downtown which they shared.  The Air Line was then cut back to North Avenue and it served local industries with trains that backed down from Butler Yard. 

It is now part of the Oak Leaf Trail within most of the Milwaukee area with the exception of a stretch that is operated by UP from the suburb of Granville up to West Bend and another segment from Fond du Lac south to Eden, WI.

For more on the C&NW Air Line Subdivision check out this excellent book-

http://cnwhs.org/shopping/product_info.php?cPath=22&products_id=395

Tom

34

General Discussion / Photos of MP15 on Kingsbury at Erie Plus Old Movie Footage of Same Area

« on: October 19, 2016, 07:51:07 PM »

John took a couple of great photos of an MP15 working the Wallace Press run-around track north of Erie and Kingsbury.

His post includes a link to the movie "Chicago Syndicate" from 1955 with images of this same location in the Milwaukee Road era showing a tank car and a box car located on spurs in the same area-30+ years earlier.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/76677346@N04/29735405684/in/feed-76645207-1476641232-1-72157671776839914

35

General Discussion / Historic Milwaukee Road Maps and Memos Related to the C&E Line Now On Flickr

« on: August 30, 2016, 02:35:40 PM »

Hi-

Slowly I will post more images of historic and internal Milwaukee Road documents about its Chicago & Evanston (C&E) Line, Deering, and Dunning Lines on Chicago's North Side and West Side.  This link will take you to the first one in the series.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/39092860@N06/29293639856/in/datetaken

Tom

36

General Discussion / Sipi Metals Two Gondolas Today-Being Switched by UP?

« on: August 08, 2016, 03:55:28 PM »

Riding back on a Metra train today I noticed a pair of gondolas parked on Sipi Metal's spur.  The Chicago Terminal switcher was still in the same spot where it has been for weeks, shoved out of the way.

Does anyone know if UP has now taken over switching out Sipi as needed?  That would make more sense than Chicago Terminal sending in a crew just to handle an occasional gondola.

37

General Discussion / Vintage Pictures of Wrigley Field Show Milwaukee Road Tracks, Customers

« on: April 01, 2016, 08:19:36 AM »

Chicago Tribune is running this look at the Chicago Tribune.  The first few photos show the Milwaukee Road double track line going past the stadium as well as a boxcar on the team track and coal hoppers at the Collins and Weise Coal Company along Clark. 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/photo/ct-wrigley-field-chicago-cubs-aerials-photos-20160331-photogallery.html

The Cubs themselves were a customer of the Milwaukee Road, receiving among other things loads of bats by rail-no doubt from Louisville! 

38

General Discussion / Former BNSF Line in Little Village to Become a New Hike/Bike Trail

« on: March 18, 2016, 09:02:14 AM »

From the Chicago Tribune...

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-little-village-rails-to-trails-met-20160317-story.html

I wonder if the eastern end of the former CB&Q Lumber District Line will also be converted into a trail now that it is abandoned from Blue Island to Halsted?

Here's a snippet of this line (see the picture from Google Earth) in 2007 when it was operated by the defunct Central Illinois Railway.

39

General Discussion / Flashback to 1988-Video of a Ride on C&NW Commuter Train on the North Line

« on: March 11, 2016, 10:33:23 PM »

http://www.cnwnorthline.com/play_mp4_1.html

Cool video from 1988 taken by Eric Ellis WHEN HE WAS IN MIDDLE SCHOOL that in part one captures the entire distance from the C&NW passenger terminal in Chicago up to the Braeside station in Highland Park.  I took a few notes and saw-

1:31 minutes into it the Lake Street L bridge.

2:32 the bascule bridge of the C&NW line to the Sun-Times printing press.

4:38 boxcars for the Tribune and Sun-Times-look at how many more there are than today!

5:57 North Avenue Yard

6:50 Tower CY and the crossing with the former Milwaukee Road Bloomingdale Line, then operated by the Soo Line (CP Rail)

9:30 spur that left the North Line and crossed Ashland to reach a scrapyard and cement plant.

10:21 spur to Chicago Transparent Products-the last rail served customer on the North Line in Chicago. 

10:45 spur to the former Stewart-Warner plant.  A few seconds earlier another spur is shown on the east side that led to fuel oil dealers off Ashland and north of Diversey.

12:15...OK you sleuths what industry did this spur serve?  I am stumped.

15:27 spur to Temple Steel

16:48 spur to S&C Electric

25:17 southern leg of wye with the C&NW Weber Line.  By this date it had already been cut back to McCormick Blvd and south of Oakton, on the west side of the North Shore Channel. 

25:21 tower that controlled movements between the North Line (Old Line) and the Weber Line

34:59 former CNS&M (North Shore Line) interurban Shore Line route right of way on the left or east.

36:00 foundation of former North Shore Line passenger platform.

40

General Discussion / Finkl Steel's New South Side Plant-They Rebuilt Their Internal Railroad!

« on: February 18, 2016, 01:05:41 PM »

Finkl Steel relocated as we are all aware to a much larger facility on the South Side, taking over a former industrial property and renovating it.  Looks like new tracks were built off an NS branch line with more gondolas stored than at the old North Side plant.

Also of interest is that Finkl rebuilt another in-plant railroad to move materials around much as they had on the North Side.  Their in-plant railroad crossed Cortland just east of the river there.  You can see the new tracks including some set in pavement going in and out of the buildings with the "switcher" parked outside.

Go to 93rd and Kenwood on Google Maps to see more.

41

General Discussion / Aerial View of Pacific Junction in Chicago-Milwaukee Road

« on: January 07, 2016, 03:25:11 PM »

Great shot by the Milwaukee Road photographer McCoy showing Pacific Junction.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/milwaukeeroadproject/16180788176/in/dateposted/

The Bloomingdale Line is to the left or east of the diamond.  The plant with the elevated spur coming off the Bloomindale line to the north (bottom of photo) is the old Schwinn bike factory.  On the other side of the Bloomingdale Line is the former Playskol factory with a boxcar on its spur. 

Pacific Junction was so-named since it was the junction between the Chicago & Milwaukee and the Chicago & Pacific predecessor lines of the Milwaukee Road.  The Bloomingdale Line was part of the C&P. 

42

General Discussion / 1959 Aerial View of Milwaukee Road's C&E Line at Kinzie and Kingsbury

« on: January 07, 2016, 03:18:51 PM »

Historic photo of the southern end of the Milwaukee Road's Chicago & Evanston (C&E) branch line in Chicago.  It shows the unique bobtail swing bridge used to span the North Branch of the Chicago River.

Note the C&NW locomotive coming off the Carroll Avenue bascule bridge on the west end. 

It shows an interesting connection on the west side of the river to the C&NW.  I do not believe it was an official interchange point.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/milwaukeeroadproject/16019258540/in/dateposted/

Looks like construction has started on the Ohio/Ontario ramp to and from the Northwest Expressway (later renamed the Kennedy Expressway).

43

General Discussion / Goose Island Railroad Memories

« on: September 30, 2015, 08:06:06 PM »

A look back in time when railroads were active on Goose Island....

https://www.flickr.com/photos/39092860@N06/albums/72157657870065262

44

General Discussion / Newish Flikr Pages Feature New Chicago Switching Photos

« on: August 14, 2015, 08:37:21 PM »

Great photos.

https://www.flickr.com/groups/1793636@N21/

45

General Discussion / Assistance Requested-Special Movement to Morton Grove/Niles

« on: August 10, 2015, 06:47:41 PM »

I hope the Flickr sleuths on this site can help.  I am preparing a short article for The Milwaukee Railroader on changes to the former MILW freight operations in Chicago as they reprint the 2007 book The Milwaukee Road in Chicago.

Last spring I saw a picture on Flickr of a DM&E (now part of CP Rail once again) train heading south through Glenview with a piece of electrical equipment on a drop-center flatcar.  Now it seems to have disappeared when I use the search terms "Glenview" and "railroad."  I believe it was from 2013.  The destination was a spur in either Niles or Morton Grove for ComEd. 

Does anyone have details about this movement?  It would be the first local freight delivery in several decades.

Thanks