Messages

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General Discussion / Re: Brand Brewing buildings on Elston Threatened Once More

« on: June 23, 2012, 11:16:12 PM »

My girlfriend and I ran by there today on Elston, and EVERYTHING is gone. It took them no time to raze the place and get the contents shipped off. I have no doubt the old wood beams used for structural support will get a wood reclaim operation a pretty penny. It's just too bad they couldn't save that beautiful building...

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General Discussion / Re: Mystery Photo

« on: June 09, 2012, 06:11:05 PM »

Thanks Tom...so much industry that used to be found over there. When Finkl finally moves to the South Side, I can only imagine how long until that area becomes like the area up by the former Deering Yard. At least some of the buildings in that area were preserved, even if the jobs left.

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General Discussion / Re: Mystery Photo

« on: June 07, 2012, 05:27:56 PM »

Thanks for the response! I sent this along to him.

"Looking North on Marcey, at approximately Willow (maybe a bit north of there). The building on the right of the spur (east of it) is now Goose Island Brewing. The building to the left is gone now, replaced by the parking lot to Binny's Beverage Depot and for Smith and Hawken, which occupies the beautiful industrial building on the left-hand side of the street."

Am I right? :-)

- John

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General Discussion / Mystery Photo

« on: June 05, 2012, 11:20:40 PM »

Just curious, since I sent an e-mail with what I think is the right answer for the Mystery Photo...has anyone guessed it?

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General Discussion / Re: East-West track exposed across Paulina between Surf and Wolfram

« on: May 29, 2012, 09:47:03 PM »

Thanks Tom and Joe...looking at the lay of the land there, I'm guessing the facilities that were on Wolfram are the now vacant land found to the north of the street. Again, crazy how different that area must have looked thirty years ago....

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General Discussion / Re: East-West track exposed across Paulina between Surf and Wolfram

« on: May 27, 2012, 07:37:29 AM »

I went and got a couple of pics of the track with the trusty iPhone last night. I added one to the original post. Here is the other.

John

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General Discussion / East-West track exposed across Paulina between Surf and Wolfram

« on: May 26, 2012, 12:02:50 AM »

Been a while since I've been on here...hope everyone has a safe and happy Memorial Day! While I was out running on Wednesday night, I was heading north on Paulina from Diversey, and as I passed Wolfram into the high-rent district that used to house all the former industrial facilities, I noticed to the right of Paulina, heading west to east, some exposed track sitting out through the pavement, and continuing east toward Ashland. Any ideas on where this used to go? I always am AMAZED to see how much "hidden" rail I find when I am out running in that area. Thanks all!

John

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General Discussion / Re: Kingsbury branch crossing at Halsted disappearing

« on: December 17, 2011, 03:41:07 AM »

Thanks Tom!

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General Discussion / Re: Kingsbury branch crossing at Halsted disappearing

« on: December 11, 2011, 11:05:42 PM »

Tom,
Just curious...when did the Ogden Ave. overpass get truncated there? I know that Ogden used to run all the way through downtown toward LP, but then was cut back. As a Chicago transplant, wasn't sure when that all changed?

10

General Discussion / Re: we need more youtube videos

« on: September 25, 2011, 01:03:33 PM »

It's not a video, but interesting to see CP Rail still use some semblence of the Bloomingdale Line. I saw this when doing some research on Pacific Jct. and thought I would share.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/65172294@N00/4506433524/

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General Discussion / Re: Milwaukee Road Track Diagram-Deering Line 1955

« on: September 23, 2011, 12:00:05 AM »

Thanks for sharing Tom. I'll do some more digging regarding the plight of FP Smith. McNichols is near where I used to work out in Des Plaines, and I remember going by their facility several times. I am guessing it's been a while since they were in Northlake too...McNichols had a facility in Elk Grove Village that they shuttered to move where they are now.

As for this diagram and the old Deering line, based on this chart, it appears the branch line meanders north past Fullerton. Just curious, but does anyone know if it went over the road at this point, or ducked below it hugging the riverbank?

Thanks for sharing this!

12

General Discussion / Tracks exposed at 2615 N. Elston

« on: August 09, 2011, 01:26:41 PM »

I went on to Google Maps and pulled up a street view of the tracks I was referring to. The end of them can be seen in the pedestrian crosswalk. http://maps.google.com/maps?q=2615+N.+Elston+Ave+chicago+IL&hl=en&ll=41.928679,-87.682711&spn=0,0.009602&sll=41.928843,-87.682908&sspn=0.006295,0.006295&layer=c&cbp=13,195.15,,0,21.51&cbll=41.928626,-87.68263&gl=us&z=17&panoid=L1hSXLm-wJqhXINNSGqmiA

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General Discussion / Tracks exposed at 2615 N. Elston

« on: August 07, 2011, 12:22:26 AM »

Hello all! I am new to this forum but have been a big fan of this site for a while. Curious if anyone can tell me about the tracks that I am seeing protruding across Elston slightly north of the entrance to the Home Depot? Were those part of the former IH building trackage? Did they connect with the C&NW line there, or were they somehow part of the myriad of former Milwaukee Road/Soo Line tracks in the area? It\'s amazing to see how many remnants of rail one sees when their out running on the city streets! Thanks in advance!