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--Jeff
Shot some more Trib switching videos the other day. Can be found on my YouTube channel:
https://youtube.com/@joeavey173
Joe
I have that book and overall it is interesting though it would have been nice to see it cover more of the suburbs along the North Branch farther up in the suburbs and the streams that disappeared as a result of residential development like Glenview Creek. I was fishing on the West Fork of the North Branch of the Chicago River in Glenview a few years ago and I was struck by how clear and clean the water looked. As a boy growing up in Glenview it had an opaque, brownish/grey look to the water.
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.
Service was cut back to Melrose Avenue circa 1981 with enough track left to serve as a tail when working Reed Candy just south of Belmont. Isolated tracks were left in place in various spots north of Melrose including a section at what is now Margaret Donahue Park which was taken up about ten years ago when the park was built. The vision for the original park was to retain the section of track and integrate it into the park with a marker talking about the railroad heritage of the Milwaukee Road in the neighborhood. At some point the Cubs got involved in funding the park which is named after a long time Cubs employee and the railroad heritage was shoved aside.
There was a building supply company that was served by the Milwaukee Road off Melrose alongside the east side of the tracks. At School Street was what looks to be a coal yard and tower. I believe there was also a piano factory near there too.
Along the river:
https://ello.co/capnvideo/post/ryc0qrx3l0zfisapbxxfga
https://www.flickr.com/photos/chuckzeiler/26696759359/in/photolist-GF6Sst-oyuKiT-HEYniE-STR2dT-cTC7zW-9hthB2-9q8BmK-FsbLh7-J5do7a-sWWazA-4V5F22-raedEy-s4VjoC-KFbseY-JU7nVr-rMP4VX-zrK9KB-z9iRQ5-zrDoUp-zrFnxt-ovRzZa-cpcDKo-aq4i8z-offkB6-dwfkkF-oyuHGr-onosyE-aWHzYx-7FpRSE-HizuTf-otPDj3-thEoqK-d2kGcU-oh4zqJ-i38m6y-h89poR-eZJ5WR-akQcUN-9XqRu6-8teU4a-8thT6S-8sZ6Pf-8pmfDw-8pmemb-7pdWgM-7hTNiB-7hXr3y-7hTv1F-7hXqT1-7gFoQp
Can't place this at all, maybe IC lakefront: https://ello.co/capnvideo/post/dqf3xcsx303wrxmdr3omxq
I think that second picture is looking south toward the Prudential Building. Look to the far left and you'll see a loading dock with a sign "piggyback blocking dock". That looks to be the main building in another shot listed as "IC Loading Dock". In that pic you can see the same style row of dock lights and the bridge looks similar with that square gusset.
Joe
