Bloomingdale Line Article in Today's Paper

[TribuneFreightFanatic]

Hello all,
I just received my Sunday Chicago Tribune paper and was leafing through the sections when something caught my eye. In today's "A&E" (Arts & Entertainment) section, there is a lengthy front page article on the abandoned Bloomingdale Line (Trail)! If you don't get the Tribune delivered, i'd definitely recommend picking up a copy of today's (8-11-2013) paper, or checking out the online version here:

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-08-09/entertainment/ct-ae-0811-borrelli-20130809_1_bloomingdale-trail-chicagoans-share-art-installation

Enjoy!
--TribuneFreightFanatic

[TBurke]

I read it too and caught the error when the writer claimed it had been decades since a train last traveled over the Bloomingdale Line.  The last train was in 2001.  I hope they preserve the rails and leave them in place as part of the industrial legacy.  NYC lifted the tracks on most of the High Line.

[Brianbobcat]

The RedEye had the front page Monday devoted to the trail as well.  Here is their story: http://www.redeyechicago.com/news/bloomingdale-trail-overhaul-chicago-20130811,0,1076373,full.story  In it, they do properly reference the dates of trains, albeit vaguely, and via a local resident: "When Knoerle first moved off the 606 with his wife, Judie, in 1999, freight trains were still traveling the trail."

[tytrain]

I read it too and caught the error when the writer claimed it had been decades since a train last traveled over the Bloomingdale Line.  The last train was in 2001.  I hope they preserve the rails and leave them in place as part of the industrial legacy.  NYC lifted the tracks on most of the High Line.

Was that train connecting to the C&NW to the east or serving an industry?

[TBurke]

The Bloomingdale line was used as a bridge by CP Rail (successor to the Milwaukee Road) to reach its own industrial trackage east of the Kennedy Expressway.  There used to be local industries along the Bloomingdale Line but they disappeared in the 1970s.