Chicago's FORGOTTEN "L" Lines- The History of Chicago Elevated Trains - IT'S HISTORY

from the days of horse-drawn carriage  to the modern era of cars and buses   chicago has always been on america's cutting  edge of transportation ultimately adopting   the train for the sake of rapid transit however  this advancement was not without challenges as   chicago suffered a dark age of sorts where parts  of its system would fall into despair lost into   the endless march of time the remnants of the  train's darkest hour are still present today   you just have to know where to look this is the  story of innovation and abandonment this is the   story of chicago's lost l lines i'm your host  ryan socash and you're watching it's history when chicago was founded in 1833 there wasn't  much of anything in the name of public transit   up until the mid-1800s the city was small  enough that anyone could easily walk from one   place to another some went about their business on  horseback but that was about as close to any kind   of transportation as the city had basically they  offered the roads themselves progress elsewhere in   the world had long been made such as the creation  of the french omnibus in the 1600s which was a 20   to 30-seater horse-drawn carriage other cities  took cue in the states it was all about the   stagecoach novel by today's perspective by 1852  the inner city stagecoach was made obsolete by   the newly developed train networks spawning across  america chicago growing as the nation did decided   to adapt many of these now idle street cars for  their own public transportation system as well   though as they became widespread in the city a  new problem arose as we've previously discussed   in episodes on chicago its early days were plagued  by an inherent design flaw it was built incredibly   close to water level so close that any time it  rained the streets would be flooded and turned   into mud making carriages and horses unable to  pass often even immobilizing them in several   feet of muck this state of affairs required an  immediate solution and unlike the water supply   issues whose solution was to entirely rebuild  the streets and raise the city several feet   public transit had a more straightforward approach  in 1859 the first street railways were opened   basically constituting a marriage of the streetcar  and the railways a series of horse-drawn cars that   usually carry 20 people was pulled along rails  built into the streets these rails would keep the   cars out of the swampy roads and carry chicagoans  wherever they needed to go regardless of the   weather and as perfect as that might sound for  the time the solution was only in place until 1906   as there were many issues firstly as one of  chicago's main transit methods the horses were put   under incredible amounts of strain and would only  be able to work a few years on the network not   to mention the streets were being filled with  huge amounts of manure from the 6 600 horses in   service at their peak with the city realizing  that this was not going to work out long term   there were many alternatives pitched throughout  the streetcar's time of usage but the necessity   of a new system was not fully realized until the  late 1870s in 1871 the transport system was put   on the spot in a way when chicago suffered a major  fire that destroyed a third of its residents homes   300 people were killed and many more horses vital  to transport were lost now the exact number of   horses lost in that fire is still unknown but  it's almost non-relevant as shortly after a virus   swept through the remaining horse population these  harsh events convinced the people of chicago that   a new solution was needed even before the great  fire of 71 other methods of transport were being   developed and tested one such test was a small  steam locomotive however it was short-lived as   the public wasn't exactly happy with the smoke  noise and sparks it kicked up in response the   chicago city railways got access to cable car  technology from san francisco in 1882 these   cable cars would prove to be incredibly efficient  and popular gaining more than 80 miles of lines   as time went by making chicago's system one of the  biggest and best in the world the cable car system   was powered by steam engines in the center pulling  cables dug into streets creating constant motion   the car operator would drive by attaching  its grip to the line to pull the car around   the system the action of gripping onto the cable  resulted in the drivers becoming known as gripman   in 1883 another major step forward occurred  when a man named charles j vanderbilt unveiled   an electric streetcar system at the chicago  exposition of railway appliances some years later   richmond virginia introduced the first successful  electric streetcar in chicago followed suit   converting their cable cars to street cars but  the city's growing condensed traffic made the   system horribly inefficient so the designers  looked upwards or should i say they l evaded in   the 1860s new york faced this exact scenario too  much traffic for cable cars to efficiently travel   their solution was pretty innovative there was no  more room on the ground so they just built in the   air their elevated railway system would debut in  1867 immediately drawing the eyes of the country   it was a pretty simple concept train tracks  were built onto a dedicated elevated surface   removing street congestion and allowing for  better punctuality chicago took inspiration   from this network and innovated its own  version solving many problems along the way   in 1892 a straight line called the  south side rapid transit appeared   taking travelers from congress street to 39th  street this route traveled behind buildings   through alleyways and often on private property  hence it was nicknamed the l almost as soon as   these trains appeared the people of chicago began  giving them nicknames generally they were known as   ls shortening elevated down to a single letter  other nicknames included lake street l the met   so on and so forth these shortened names speak  volumes to the normalcy and importance of the   trains being successful the alley l was such a  hit that it needed to be expanded to jackson park   only a year after it opened by 1910  tracks were running to englewood   kenwood and the stockyards its popularity was  so grand that there were even lines in use then   that you've never heard of today firstly the lake  street elevated railway started operation in 1893   going from laramie to california avenue it was  initially owned and funded by michael c mcdonald   also known as king mike the so-called king had  carved out his lot in life on the gambling table   eventually he moved into public transportation  which was a safer bet for his earnings   creating new lines and selling them off for a  massive markup he would turn enormous profits   eventually gaining enough power and money to buy  out politicians corruption aside the lake street   l was connected to forest park in 1910 before  eventually being cut down one station to the   terminal at harlem avenue it follows lake street  for the most part only deviating at whacker drive   to go to the end of its line the metropolitan  west side elevated railroad also opened in 1895   initially traveling from downtown to logan square  it was the first elevated railroad to use electric   power as opposed to steam by 1898 all the other  elves would follow suit moving from steam power   to electricity it was also the first to be built  in the northwest the met or polly both nicknames   based on the metropolitan was extended to forest  park and cicero by 1915 and opened branches in   garfield park humboldt park and douglas park these  major expansions came with an oddity most people   regarded the lines to be practically useless  to the public one reporter even went as far as   to state that they begin and end nowhere an issue  ultimately to be addressed by charles tyson yerkes   who was a transportation mogul in chicago born on  june the 25th 1837 in philadelphia he started as   commission broker clerk and in 1882 moved to  chicago to focus on buying out railway lines   jerks would use stock in one line as collateral to  get the next eventually creating a massive transit   empire with the efficient effect of consolidation  finally there was the north western elevated   railroad with a track from downtown to wilson  avenue despite being backed by mr yerkes this   line would suffer a painfully long delay in the  construction process being incorporated in 1893   but not entering full service until 1900. this was  primarily due to the depression of the mid-1890s   which pushed back completion while around 20  stations were planned only three had been fully   opened by new year's eve of 1899 the city wasn't  happy and temporarily shut down the project   ultimately extending a new deadline to may the  31st 1900 the deadline was met with ease gaining   a terminal at wilson avenue and branching to  ravenswood in 1912. jerks still had designs for   more elevated railroads such as the union elevated  railroad or as chicagoans would take to calling it   the union loop a single terminal completed in  1897 would connect all four of the other ls   this way commuters downtown would no longer have  to walk around and make additional connections   the other ls used this loop abandoning their  independent terminals unity was furthered in 1911   when they were brought together under the chicago  elevated railways collateral trust which in 1913   fully connected the four l routes introducing  unification in routing and transfers with the   loop finally being completed the transit system  would at least from the outside remain unchanged   for the next 60 years however the benefits for  the average chicagoan would only continue to   increase throughout that period the l would  make some of its highest quality improvements   many of which remain in place today yorkers  had constantly advocated for the unification   of the elevated railroad companies and it  was something he had attempted many times   by 1911 the elevated railway collateral trust or  cer had been established financially bringing the   companies together but at this point yorkers  played no part in the establishment due to the   fiasco of the northwestern l's botched opening  forcing him to leave town in his absence the   trust was headed mainly by one samuel insel  whose specialty was in utilities but he had   also taken interest in transportation the cer  would oversee its first cross city trips in 1913   going from jackson park on the south  side to wilmette's linden avenue   trips from ravenswood to kenwood began the same  year as did wilson avenue to inglewood express   the cer also oversaw universal transfers so that  switching from one line to another would come   without any additional fees and so the lake street  transfer station was opened fully connecting the   met in the lake street l allowing for simple  transfer at lake and paulina street where the   elves met sam insult would also introduce  the chicago north shore and milwaukee lines   into the loop since he owned all three without  making a single transfer one could now board a   train in downtown chicago and ride all the way  to milwaukee wisconsin the cer had helped but   for the sake of their longevity they would need  to be fully and officially unified thus in 1924   under the oversight of insole the chicago  rapid transit company or crt was established   bringing the chicago ls under one administration  and allowing for their continued growth for   example the north shore line yet another line  owned by insole got an extension to nile center   eventually operating from howard street to  dempster and nile center with seven stops along   the way this was also extended to the garfield  park line which would carry trains to the far   western suburb of westchester and eventually stop  at manheim and 22nd when the terminal was finished   in 1930. at its height the l had 227.49 miles  of track and carried an average of six hundred   twenty seven thousand one hundred fifty seven  people every weekday thanks to its 5 306 trains   visiting 227 stations in the chicago metropolitan  area alone but from here things started to decline   all was not well with chicago's public  transportation system many issues were developing   by the mid-1940s chief among them of course being  on profitability at this point the street railway   system was being managed by the chicago surface  lines but was still made up of five separate   companies the chicago railways company the  chicago city railway company the calumet and south   chicago railway company the chicago and western  railway company and the southern street railway   company these entities in the face of bankruptcy  concluded that something major needed to be done   so the chicago rapid transit company would  eventually step in consolidating everything   under one name well formerly two but the other the  union consolidated elevated railway company only   had a few miles of track with no rolling stock  so the crt took most of it furthermore around   this time growth slowed due to the lack of funds  brought on by the great depression and wartime   rationing reinvestment became extremely difficult  if not impossible the growth of the crt ground to   a halt in 1930 from then on there would be no more  stations or tracks built ironically it seemed that   with every dollar that didn't go into the system  another person would board a train hundreds of   thousands of people would be added to circulation  and with the lack of finance sooner or later the   system would literally fall apart if new measures  were not taken basically the city needed to play   a stronger hand municipal ownership was not a new  concept it had been thrown around by both yorkers   and insole but there was never a reason to really  pull the trigger however when desperate times   weren't desperate measures everyone seemed to  just get on board there were also some serious pr   issues many disliked the loud racket caused by  the l and taxpayers were not thrilled that in some   cases streetcars still operated their old routes  from the turn of the century which was extremely   redundant so on april the 12th 1945 the chicago  transit authority or cta was created by order of   the state to operate the transportation system of  cook county it was exempted from sales tax and had   the power of eminent domain with the requirement  that at least 50 percent of its profit be made   from travelers fares by october the 1st 1947 the  cta had taken over every l and streetcar operation   in chicago they began undertaking the enormous  task of bringing the trains into modern times   and here is where we come across some of chicago's  lost l branches the crt made it a point to never   abandon a line or even close a single station  and the cta had no such misgivings upon surveying   every line and station they went on to close  anything that didn't turn a profit they closed   10 low-use stations and cut the lake line down  to just market street discontinuing everything   outside the loop several other lines would be  similarly streamlined on march the 27th 1948 the   skokie line service would be replaced by buses as  would the westchester branch on december the 9th   1951 and i'm sure you're curious what happened to  all those lines that were swapped out with buses   many of these lines were demolished as the cta  moved to erase them from the city destroying   their supporting physical infrastructure in the  process the demolition was so effective that to   see where the tracks were you almost have to look  for unexplained blank spaces throughout the city   elements such as scraps of a foundation or an  outline in an alley suggesting where a massive   rail line once stood do remain to this day one of  the lines sentenced to be scrapped in specific was   the met the logan square branch of the met was  demolished in 1964 years after being abandoned   its arches and supports still tower over the  roads and some buildings of chicago graffiti   can even be spotted on the i-beams that hold it  up other views of the met are more subtle only   visible in back alleys and hidden behind buildings  other lines would not leave such obvious remains   the westbound stockyard branch that once ran over  chicago's meatpacking district was thoroughly   erased when the cta discontinued service they  demolished it completely for a time there were   some grinders visible but they have also vanished  as the space was needed for roads and buildings   another lost terminal of the 1950s was the wall  street terminal the place where it once stood and   served the l is now a parking garage the only  thing left is the franklin street substation   which now provides power to the loop instead of  the station and if you don't already know what   a substation is check out our video on the topic  the 1950s and 60s would see chicago begin one of   its most ambitious projects yet the congress  expressway plan an intricate and expensive   highway that would run through the city starting  at the loop following the congress street west out   of town the first part of this plan was completed  in 1960 and would see a rapid transit line in the   center of the expressway eventually renamed  the eisenhower expressway and classified as   interstate 290. the expressway followed the  route of the old mets garfield park branch and   led to the demolition of that part of the line  unlike the logan square branch there would be   no remnants of this track as room needed to  be made for the expressway for the duration of   construction a temporary line between halstead and  kenzie was set up with no stops along the way the   line that would run with the expressway would be  called the congress line stations were identical   with an island platform and a small station house  turnstiles ticket booth and passageway connecting   them the design was a bit of a compromise between  the traditional closely space station and the   newer station designed with more space and a bus  feeder route the latter being vastly preferred   by the cta planners funny enough the congress  line was referred to as a subway for much of its   early history despite not being underground in  any sense of the word and due to this the west   side subway an actual subway constructed around  the same time was mistakenly referred to by the   chicago population as the congress line the name  stuck even after the cta renamed the subway to the   forest park branch in the 1990s while the congress  line was being laid out it was to be thoroughly   routed with the dearborn subway and the lasales  congress terminal and it would then continue with   the median line into the expressway taking  passengers straight into chicago's main post   office construction crews removed 16 foundation  caissons from the massive depression era building   and replaced them with new ones around and atop  the subway tunnels thanks to this connection   the lines could now be through routed with the  milwaukee line by the milwaukee dearborn subway in   what would come to be known as the west northwest  route as a result when the route opened on june   the 22nd 1958 most of the loop-bound l branches  were no longer necessary and were abandoned only   the ravenswood evanston express lake and north  shorelines would remain connected to the chicago   loop perhaps the final nail in the coffin of the  lines that would be lost post 1970 was the mass   migration to suburbia as people began following  jobs out of the city the millions of commuters   that kept the cta afloat were suddenly gone it  was getting to the point where nothing could   save the dwindling lines and hence more branch  closures occurred following the 1970s deficits   kept mounting as ridership plummeted and more  stations and lines were eliminated one notable   casualty of the 1980s was the homan station once  a beautiful piece of architecture where one could   walk up the stairs from the sidewalk to the l all  that remains now is the track it once served and   two metal bars that once supported the station's  house they're still standing but without purpose   ultimately the decades of urban decay brought  the famous chicago l down to six humble lines   all being renamed with colors the red line blue  line green line brown line purple line and yellow   line as the 1990s rolled around costs were at  their highest and riders were at their most scarce   in 1992 would see the closure of five l stations  and four station entrances service hours were   also reduced but these measures merely put  a bandage on a much more significant problem   there really wasn't anything left to close they  had narrowed the scope more than enough weekend   and late night services were dropped to bus  service and eliminated in certain areas altogether   some bus lines were destroyed others dropped their  bus count by half and five routes were shortened   this was not popular with chicagoans who  still very much enjoyed the cta service   despite the dropping passenger counts but finally  with all the decades of cuts the cta entered   the 21st century with actual profits enabling  long-needed modernization and repairs with the   only real trade-off being chicago's lost l's the  loop remains the central artery of the l and it's   an amazing way to see the city the system still  feels extensive and easy to use with the sound   of the trains passing as a hallmark of chicago but  you have to wonder about the grand network what it   could have been had things played out differently  but people passengers they vote in dollars   and so it is the elevated trains of chicago  have now become a shell of their former glory if   you'd like to learn more about chicago including  stories of the town's mysterious tunnel systems   check out my chicago history playlist and if you'd  like to hear more tales of urban decay from the   windy city make yourself noticed by subscribing  right now this is ryan socash signing off

Channel: IT'S HISTORY

Views: 585,437

Keywords: tales of urban decay, urban history, American history, urban exploring, Ryan Socash, Chicago, Trains, Elevated, Lines, Public Transit, Transportation, Cars, CRT, CTA, Travel, Railway, Loop, Abandoned Chicago, Chicago tunnels, Lost trolly tunnels, Chicago's Lost L, Elevated Trains, Rapid transport hisory, Forgotten Chicago, Historic Chicago, Why Chicago's Trains are elevated?, Chicago by 'L' with Geoffrey Baer, trolly dodger, Chicago's lost L, David Sadowski, Chicago subway, Union Loop

Id: 7NPCFnF4csA

Length: 23min 43sec (1423 seconds)

Published: Thu Nov 11 2021