Messages

1

General Discussion / Re: photo missions

« on: July 14, 2023, 04:22:29 PM »

Jeff,

Here's a mission for ya:

Get shots of the former C&NW tracks at the water purification plant just north of Navy Pier.   

Get in, and get out quickly before they start shooting at you!

I KEED I KEED.

Mike

2

General Discussion / 1921 tracks along river

« on: July 02, 2023, 12:31:29 PM »

From the Forgotten Chicago FB group, a photo of the Wrigley Building being built in 1921.  Tracks on the north side of the river are visible.

3

General Discussion / Buena

« on: May 18, 2023, 09:41:01 PM »

6 cool shots of Buena on the Lake States Archive site:

https://www.lakestatesarchive.org/FR-Ritzman-Collection/CMStPP-Structures/i-fdzTF2G

You can buy copies of the images as well.

4

General Discussion / Consumers Company Yard pics?

« on: May 10, 2023, 10:13:51 AM »

Does anyone know of any photos of the RR working the Consumers Company Yard/North Side Lumber and Timber industries at Lincoln/Grace/Ravenswood?

It's found on page 108 of the Sanborn map:

https://digital.library.illinois.edu/items/340136c0-8a1f-0137-6d99-02d0d7bfd6e4-6

5

General Discussion / Video of ROW in 70s

« on: July 10, 2022, 06:20:57 PM »

If anyone is in David Harrison's 'L' / CHICAGO ELEVATED FB group, he posted a nice b/w video of the northside L in the 70s.  Starting at the 2:50 mark, there is a clip of a combined 6000s/5-50s train going over the MILW ROW on the Ravenswood.  There are additional clips of the MILW crossing at Addison and Buena yard.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/3027704194214804

Cheers,

Mike

6

General Discussion / Chicago Ave pics

« on: September 22, 2021, 08:51:07 AM »

The Trolley Dodger, a fantastic photo resource, has a couple of pics of Chicago Ave. trackage in the latest post:

https://thetrolleydodger.com/2021/09/21/old-and-improved/

They're 27 pics in, about 1/3 of the way down the post.

7

General Discussion / City of Chicago Zoning Website

« on: January 19, 2021, 06:31:29 PM »

https://gisapps.chicago.gov/ZoningMapWeb/?liab=1&config=zoning

Just another fun way to explore the city and RR ROW.  Click on a piece of property, look on the left side of your screen at the "locate and search" window that pops up, and select the "80 Acre Page" link.

Enjoy!

Mike

8

General Discussion / Re: Chicago & West Ridge Railroad

« on: August 17, 2020, 09:27:40 AM »

4th pdf

9

General Discussion / Re: Chicago & West Ridge Railroad

« on: August 17, 2020, 09:27:16 AM »

3rd pdf

10

General Discussion / Re: Chicago & West Ridge Railroad

« on: August 17, 2020, 09:25:57 AM »

2nd pdf

11

General Discussion / Chicago & West Ridge Railroad

« on: August 17, 2020, 09:24:14 AM »

I recently read Richard Lanyon's Draining Chicago, about the North Branch and the North Shore Channel.  Interesting book if you want to learn about the early days of sewage disposal.  It deals with the north side exclusively and there are lots of old pictures of the Mayfair Division being built in the area of the Channel as well as the narrow gauge RR used to move the fill from the digging of the Channel.

One of the things that caught my eye was the Chicago & West Ridge Railroad. In this post and the comments below I've attached some maps and the description from the Appendices of the book.  Interestingly enough, there is still evidence of this line, as there is rail embedded within Channel Road.  Here's a link showing the streetview:

https://www.google.com/maps/@42.0177812,-87.7092957,3a,75y,223.53h,70.22t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sR0CrWQLZ7Tp4l2_wfaUMEg!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

Also in the final PDF is a brief description of the MILW swingbridge onto Goose Island being dislodged and falling into the river.

12

General Discussion / MILW ROW under Ravenswood

« on: January 22, 2020, 11:56:38 AM »

https://flic.kr/p/2iistm7

13

General Discussion / Re: A couple interesting shots from Ello

« on: September 27, 2019, 02:01:24 PM »

Navy pier:

https://ello.co/capnvideo/post/ayf3-sd6sxdyqfzndttn9g
https://ello.co/capnvideo/post/706t_4igowbu6wxfp5yiyg

Along the river:

https://ello.co/capnvideo/post/ryc0qrx3l0zfisapbxxfga

14

General Discussion / Old Kingsbury Photos

« on: June 07, 2018, 12:28:38 PM »

Recently came across some old photos of the Chicago Linoleum Co. plant, a building located on Kingsbury and designed by Louis Sullivan.  The Art Institute has some pics in their digital archives that shows the MILW in front of it.

Pictures here: http://digital-libraries.saic.edu/cdm/search/collection/mqc/searchterm/louis%20sullivan!kingsbury/field/all!all/mode/all!all/conn/and!and/order/title/ad/asc

Hopefully that works.

BTW, the building now houses Chicago's own Off Color Brewing's taproom called The Moustrap.  Info here: http://www.offcolorbrewing.com/taproom/

Mike

15

General Discussion / Some northside scenes with streetcars

« on: February 01, 2018, 12:35:15 PM »

CSL crossing the MILW at Fullerton:

https://flic.kr/p/22yNf9F

Montrose and Knox:

https://flic.kr/p/22Rqa1W

Under the MILW on North Ave:

https://flic.kr/p/22yNewi

Under the MILW at Healey:

https://flic.kr/p/JZgvYt

Under CNW at Lawrence:

https://flic.kr/p/E79Enn