Central Manufacturing District

[Brianbobcat]

The former Wrigley Gum factory at 35th and Ashland is being torn down right now, and I went to take photos of their rail aspect.  They had two tracks leading into the factory, that at some point were pared down to one track.  South of the factory the line split multiple times to feed all sorts of warehouses, factory, loading docks, a bakery, and even chlorine tanks.  I got a great picture of that sign, and of switches and missing rails, which I'll see about posting at some point.  There's still more rails around the CMD that I need to explore, but check it out if you're looking for something new.  Since most/all of them seem abandoned right now, trespassing wasn't an issue.  No one cared except for the demolition company at Wrigley so I wasn't able to actually get on their property.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Manufacturing_District

-Brian

[chuck]

That little area has some pretty cool switching arrangements!!

Speaking of that, I wonder if anyone has an update on the southside switching areas that were going to be added to the site?

[TBurke]

It all comes down to when webmaster Tom Mann has time.  I sent Tom a CD full of photos and descriptions of railroad related things in and around the former Chicago Stockyards a couple of years ago for the future South Side site. 

The Stockyards industrial park has a lot of cool railroad archeology and you can still make out the former loop that the CJ made as about 3/4 of it is still intact and services a couple of industries.  The loop is cut and gone at the SE quadrant closer to Halsted.  Just north of the Stockyards area are a rending plant and a salt facility that are both still rail served.

Security is tight at the businesses in the area so use caution.  Even staying on public sidewalks and streets to take pictures we were tailed by a security  guard in a pickup truck in the Stockyards industrial park.

[chuck]

I know all about time and web sites!!  I think mine is going on 3 years now.

Looking forward to it, whenever it may happen.  Thanks for the info and update.
Chuck

[Brianbobcat]

I know all about time and web sites!!  I think mine is going on 3 years now.

Looking forward to it, whenever it may happen.  Thanks for the info and update.
Chuck

I'm with you Chuck.  2 full years and counting on mine.  My favorite time was when I got an "estimate" that ranged from 3-75 grand.  What a specific range, and way high.

I know I haven't gotten around to posting photos yet.  Maybe I'll make my new year's resolution to be better/faster at that. 

-Brian

[mark_k]

May 2010: During a walk around photo tour of the CMD and surroundings, a friend and I were harassed by a Miniat security guard driving a compact who wanted us to believe he was an undercover Chicago Police officer. Basically a young punk strutting his stuff.
My friend's father is retired CPD and so we figured out the score pretty quickly.
We played along and behaved until a Miniat supervisor came over, asked us some questions and was ultimately satisfied we weren't making trouble for anyone.

At a very basic legal level, if you are standing on public ground you are permitted to take photos of industrial subjects and such as long as you are not impeding activities or creating a safety problem.
See for example:
http://www.krages.com/ThePhotographersRight.pdf