Another bit of track along Kingsbury Street gone

[TBurke]

The former Milwaukee Road tracks in the North Bank Club parking lot at the SW corner of Grand Avenue and Kingsbury Street in Chicago are gone now thanks to a new condo building under construction there.  These tracks were the southernmost remnants of the former Milwaukee Road\'s C&E line.

[JohnColeman]

Speaking of Kingsbury, I noticed this week that the tracks between North Avenue and the cut off for Goose Island are now covered in asphalt in some places.  While not used in recent past, I guess this section is officially out of commision.  The cross bucks at North Avenue have been removed as well, although the ones for the Goose Island approach are still there to warn drivers of those tracks.

[TBurke]

John:

Thanks for the update on the street tracks on that section of Kingbury being paved over.  I was at the Starbucks at North and Kingsbury a few weeks ago and didn\'t notice anything so it must have just happened.

That section of track south of the Goose Island lead to the best of my knowledge has not seen trains since 1998 when Midwest Zinc shut down.  Midwest Zinc was just south of Weed Street and on the west side of Kingsbury.  It\'s spur is still in place though the site is a fenced-off, vacant lot.

There might be more changes coming as the city rebuilds the North Avenue bridge and approaches over the Chicago River.  I suspect that the track to Goose Island might be reconfigured.

Tom

[Cway]

Does anybody think that Goose Island rail activity will ever be revitalized again? I remember seeing gondolas by the Waste Management facility as well as hopper cars by Cherry street(I think)...At least it\'s still nice to see lumber cars by Big Bay lumber...How long is that going to last,eh?

Cway

[TBurke]

Cway-

The track that once led to Waste Management and the team tracks at Division Street is disconnected from the main track on Goose Island near where they used to diverge, just south of the Cherry St. RR bridge.  Sadly, it doesn\'t appear rail service will return as the tracks were also removed in sections along the east side of the island.  

On a bright note, the passing siding installed on Cherry St. just north of Division Street a few years ago is much longer than is required for the one or two cars a week that Big Bay Lumber receives.  My guess is the city is hedging its bet with future rail service.