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On this cold, grey December 29, 2004 day business is strong for CP Rail on the remnants of the former C&E and Deering Lines. Space was so tight on Finkl Steel's spur that another gondola of scrap metal had to be spotted on the C&E track just north of the C&E/Deering junction in Kingsbury St. A tank car was spotted at Peerless Confectionary, two bulkhead flatcars full of lumber were being unloaded on Cherry St. by Big Bay Lumber, and General Iron had what appeared to be a dozen or more gondolas placed on the siding and main track off Kingsbury. A total of 18 freight cars along these old Milwaukee Road tracks!

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In late 2004 the City of Chicago put up new, steel crossbucks at each side street crossing along the active trackage operated by CP Rail on Chicago's North Side, from Goose Island up to Diversey. In some cases there were no visible warning signs at all prior to the installation of these new crossbucks.

This particular crossbuck is located at the southwest corner of Lakewood and Schuberth. In the background is Peerless Confectionary with a tank car of corn syrup on the spur track. The new crossbuck sits on top of the same concrete pedestal which once supported a wig-wag signal in the Milwaukee Road era.

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A CP Rail MP15 still in Milwaukee Road colors cuts across Cortland Avenue on Kingsbury St. heading north towards Peerless Confectionary to retrieve a sugar hopper. On both sides in the background is the Finkl Steel facility, another rail-served customer. The crew would return to work Finkl Steel later in the afternoon.

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A few blocks north, the MP15 and crew cross busy Clybourn Avenue. The Clybourn corridor was once the scene of heavy industries, now it hosts upscales shops and restaurants.

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A car quickly moves out of the way at the Treasure Island grocery store and strip shopping center parking lot as the train carefully creeps through at about five MPH. In this case, size does matter.

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Leaving the Treasure Island parking lot the train continues north until stopped by a chain at Webster St. The chain is there to stop drivers from taking a shortcut via the strip shopping center parking lot but it must be unlocked each time by the train crew to allow it to pass.

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The next chore for the crew is to move the trash receptacles blocking the alley right-of-way off to the side.

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Two crew members walk alongside the MP15 to flag impatient motorists as it crosses Webster St. Expensive townhomes replace former yard trackage and sidings. Most drivers and pedestrians seem rather nonchalant about their neighborhood switcher from many observations.

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The train heads north down another alley with more townhomes to the east, on the other side of the cinder block walls. On this particular day the engineer moved the locomotive a few paces forward, then backed up, and moving forward once again, to push compacted snow and ice out of the flangeways. The load groaning of the MP15s traction motors showed it was working hard! The former southbound main track is to the left, poking out from underneath the pavement. At one time the Milwaukee Road maintained a double-tracked branch to handle the freight volumes.

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Looking south this time as the train approaches Belden Ave. Compare this view with the one from last August showing the same track buried in weeds and grasses. A former cross-over track is still visible along with its switch.

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In the last photo of this sequence, the MP15 crosses very busy Fullerton Ave. The only protection in place is a pair of round, yellow RR street signs affixed to street lamps along Fullerton. Two decades ago this grade crossing was protected by overhead, gantry-type signals with lights and crossbucks. If you look carefully you can see their footings in the sidewalk by the track.

It was amazing on this day to see cars pull right out in front of the huge locomotive crossing the street. On the return trip this photographer saw a school bus stop, look, then proceed to cross the tracks despite the CP Rail locomotive bearing down on it from the north via the health club parking lot!

This particular trip might be considered a waste of time for the crew since apparently Peerless Confectionary was still emptying the hopper at their factory spur. The MP15 returned light back down the Lakewood branch where it would eventually back onto the Deering Line to switch out Finkl Steel.

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CP Rail crew sets cars in the Finkl Steel spur while the locomotive gets ready to uncouple and head north, running light, to pick up an empty car from Peerless Confectionary.

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The CP Rail MP15, in unusual coloring, creeps across the Treasure Island grocery store parking lot near Clybourn Avenue on its way north to Diversey Parkway. A delivery truck blocking the track had to move to allow the MP15 to pass.

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Crew unlocks the gate at the runaround track located at Lakewood and Wrightwood.

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View looking west on Schubert across Lakewood. This scene of railroad action on residential streets was once much more common on Lakewood-now trains come by when there's switching to be done for Peerless Confectionary, the last customer on the north end of the line.

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MP15 on its way to retrieve the empty hopper on the Peerless spur track.