Chicago's Lost 'L' Train to Milwaukee Wisconsin

anyone growing up around Chicago in the  1970s and 80s might recall the final moments   of America's significant era of railroads the  death of which couldn't have been more evident   locomotives at the end of their service life  looked beaten and used up in fact from today's   perspective it's surprising that such third  world looking Transportation was a reality   this was the trade-off for cars and trucks the  railroad had gone under and taken with it some   amazing conveniences conveniences including  the ability to board a passenger train on the   elevated tracks in the Chicago Loop for a direct  ride up the shore to Milwaukee Wisconsin this was   the Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee railroad an  electric railroad that had operated from July the   16th 1916 to January the 21st 1963 on 285.1 track  miles connecting residents of the suburbs such as   Kenosha in Highland Park to the city at East today  we discover the rise and fall of Chicago's North   Shore and Milwaukee railroad I'm your host  Ryan silkash and you're watching its history starts with the Bluff City Electric Street Railway  company in May of 1895 which was a local Street   Railway line in the city of Waukegan Illinois  the Bluff City electric line had already been   extended as far south as Highland Park when it  was acquired by the newly Incorporated Chicago   and Milwaukee electric Railroad in May of 1898  and in the following March a connection was   made to the Chicago Milwaukee and St Paul Railway  line at Wilmette in August of 1899 service began   operating from downtown Waukegan to Church Street  in Evanston where passengers could transfer to   trains of the Northwestern elevated Railroad  and continue into the city for the time such   a connection was really amazing because making  that same trip by Road was not nearly as smooth   of a journey as it would be today not to mention  that cars were still widely unavailable to your   average consumer and steam trains were expensive  the rudimentary single-tracked inter-urban line   which start it all was steadily upgraded over  the following decade with the addition of a   second track improvements to the physical plant  and the gradual relocation from public roads onto   private right-of-way were possible between 1902  and 1904. this simple railroad developed when a   new line was constructed branching from the main  line at Lake Bluff to Libertyville this Branch   would be extended in 1905 West to Mundelein this  connection made a lot of sense for industry as it   connected the larger cities with the major Gravel  Pit East of Libertyville the new Branch line also   enabled the interchange of carload freight with  both the eje and the Milwaukee Road at Round out   around the same time a single track Spur Line  known as the West line was constructed from the   Libertyville Branch at Lake Bluff into the city  of North Chicago where it terminated south of 22nd   Street ambition was high and by 1904 another major  extension to what would become the North Shoreline   would occur in 1904 Chicago and Milwaukee electric  began to purchase property and negotiate contracts   for the extension of its service into Wisconsin  construction between Waukegan and Zion was   largely completed by the summer of 1905 further  construction moved at such a pace that trains   began operating as far north as Kenosha Wisconsin  this was followed by Racine in September of 1906   and just when the ultimate goal of connecting  Chicago and Milwaukee was in sight things nearly   fell apart the Panic of 1907 forced Chicago and  Milwaukee electric into a prolonged period of   insolvency but in spite of ongoing financial  trouble Construction in Wisconsin continued   the northern extension was finally completed  in 1908 with through service between Evanston   and Milwaukee beginning that October however the  Chicago Milwaukee electric had been placed under   receivership in 1908 weight a receivership is  a debt solution that helps a secured creditor   recover outstanding amounts under a secured loan  to a debtor's business when a debtor defaults   anyhow ridership and revenue continue to grow  permitting more improvements to the property old   images of the line don't really do justice to what  an enormous infrastructure project this was still   I'd like to give you a little perspective 131  Bridges between Racine and Milwaukee were upgraded   the original Mainline underwent significant  Rehabilitation as did the street Railway in   Waukegan which had since begun operating a  line on Washington Street 147 new Rolling   Stock was acquired including an order of Steel  coaches delivered from the JG Brill company in   late 1915 when a fantastic concept arose what if  this Dynamic new line not only went into Chicago   but perhaps could enjoy a direct connection to  the city's l planners concluded that indeed they   could eliminate the existing transfer at Church  Street and some passengers right into the loop   the electric service would become competitive  with steam trains by 1919 this concept became   a reality when further trackage rights were  negotiated with the northeastern elevated and   the Saint Paul railroad which ultimately permitted  North Shoreline trains to operate over the L south   of Church Street over the north side Mainline  and through the loop to a downtown terminal at   Roosevelt the Roosevelt terminal has long since  faded into the pages of history but what about   the direct connection to Milwaukee in 1920 a new  terminal in Milwaukee was opened and the remaining   single track in Wisconsin was doubled with the  exception of a one-half Mile Stretch of single   track in southern Milwaukee which indeed was a  bottleneck until the railroads end this completed   line was basically 20 years in the making and  so although it was feet it was also difficult   to draw new and immediate attention the railroad  did run a number of named limited stop trains   some carrying Deluxe dining and parlor observation  cars which indeed served the company a very very   valuable PR message to the public rides into the  city could have an element of Glamor one of the   railroad's most distinctive name trains was the  Gold Coast limited the North Shore also created a   network of Motor Coach Lines to feed on potential  traffic from territory not directly served by the   company's trains but could you imagine that people  were basically taking the L to a different state   and dressing up for the occasion where they would  be served Fine Food that's a polar opposite to the   experience you can expect today for example  I was once riding the L and some guy sitting   behind me sneezed without covering his mouth and  the results were explicit I only point that out   because I believe if we had even the slightest of  novelty and regality built into everyday burdens   such as commuting we might rise up as a society  to enjoy a little dignity anyhow suffice it to say   that at the start of the 1920s the North Shore was  a real success But as time passed new challenges   arose the growth of the North Shore communities  provided good traffic levels for the railroad   so the increasing congestion of these communities  business districts impede the railroad's desire to   remain competitive with the steam trains providing  long-haul service particularly the Chicago   Milwaukee traffic the North Shore therefore sought  to build a new bypass line through the Skokie   Valley which at those times albeit hard to imagine  was an undeveloped rural area approximately four   to five miles west of the Lakeshore route real  estate purchases and financing were arranged   in 1923 and 1924 with construction beginning in  April of that year the new line diverged from the   Howard Street L station located at the boundary  between Chicago and Evanston it ran West into the   Village of Niles center now Skokie continuing to  the Northwest from that point through the marshy   Countryside paralleling the Skokie Branch from the  Chicago and Northwestern Railway at South ofton   the new route ran Eastward along the North Shores  Mundelein Branch until just west of Lake Bluff   at which point a new connection diverged to  the north onto what had been a freight only   branch which connected to the original Main Line  at North Chicago's Junction an arrangement was   made with the Chicago Rapid Transit company  wherein local L service was begun over the   new line to the Dempster Street Station in Niles  Center in 1925. it had been anticipated that the   opening of the new L line would help launch a real  estate boom in the area as it had decades earlier   in other parts of Chicago the Great Depression  had put a damper on the area's growth and Niles   by that time renamed Skokie didn't really begin  to experience a surge of growth until the 1950s   though the Niles Center elevated service failed  to prosper the transit operator benefited from   the construction of new shop facilities on vacant  land along the southern part of the Skokie Valley   Line This spacious facility relieved older more  crowded facilities on the L system and remained   to this day as the Chicago Transit Authority's  primary maintenance facility the remaining portion   of the North Shore Line's new Skokie Valley Line  entered service in 1926 the new route consisted   of 18 miles of new double-tracked Railroad and  the route was a mere 2.5 miles longer than the   old Main Line because it traversed mostly rural  areas higher speeds could be sustained for longer   distances in conjunction with the completion  of the Skokie Valley route the railroad had   now improved the Mundelein Branch building a new  terminal and a double-tracked section Mundelein   had previously been served by shuttle service with  the opening of the new Skokie Valley Line on June   the 5th 1926 the North Shore inaugurated  an hourly Chicago Mundelein local Suburban   service interspersed with the hourly Chicago  Milwaukee limited stop trains diversion of   the Chicago Milwaukee service onto the Skokie  Valley Line brought a reduction in travel time   20 minutes add that up over a week's commute  anyhow the original main line now designated by   the railroad as the shoreline continued to host  the Chicago Waukegan service which consisted of   limited stop Chicago Waukegan Service as well as  all stop local service each operating at roughly   30-minute headways in some ways you might say that  this was the peak of The Rail lines operational   history as the Great Depression would also bring  great challenges initially after the stock market   crash of 1929 business went on as usual but as  the depression deepened and as the insult public   utility Empire began to crumble the railroad  once again entered receivership in 1932 the dire   economic conditions and high unemployment caused  ridership and hence revenues to plummet this was   exacerbated by a labor strike in 1938 brought on  by a 15 reduction in wages that kept the railroad   from operating for several weeks in spite of  the difficult conditions during the 1930s the   North Shore was able to undertake a major grade  separation project along the shoreline you see the   North Shore head for nearly a quarter Century  sought to eliminate the hazards and operating   costs associated with running a busy railroad  through the business districts of one buildup   suburb after another remember in many places these  carriages ran in the streets with cars and people   prior to the depression grade separation projects  had been funded by the railroad's private Capital   neither the North Shoreline nor the paralleling  steam operated Chicago and Northwestern Railway   was in a financial position to undertake such a  venture even before the stock market crash of 1929   even so in 1937 President Franklin D Roosevelt  and his Secretary of the Interior Harold L Ikes of   Winnetka announced a Public Works Administration  program to quote prime the pump of the American   economy this program allowed the railroads and  the communities to obtain Federal funding for the   grade separation of the two railroads through  the business districts the project was very   complicated as rail traffic passed through the  construction zone and the two railroads combined   operated more than 200 daily trains even so  the grade separation was completed in late   1941 just nine weeks before the United States  went to war at a cost of 4.3 million dollars   past trained technology started to evolve and the  once Charming streetcar style carriages were now   aging and seemed unappealing in comparison with  the more modern designs that were emerging so   to compete the North Shore embarked on a program  to modernize a portion of its steel coach Fleet   for both commuter and Intercity service in 1939.  some 15 coaches dating from 1929 were modernized   practically from the ground up all electric  heating was installed with a new ventilation   system new flooring and new interior decorations  and fittings the car's exteriors were painted   green with gray and red trim and were dubbed  green lines these cars were regularly assigned   to Skokie Valley limited stop service the most  significant component of the passenger equipment   modernization program was the purchase of two  articulated streamlined train sets the train   sets consisted of four cars semi-permanently  attached the two end units included operating   cabs and smoking or non-smoking coach seating  an additional car provided the tavern Slash   Lounge car again I just adore the idea that  into City commuter trains running over the   loop would have lounges on them these new trains  were dubbed electroliners and were the railroads   premium service running as fast as 90 miles per  hour between Dempster Street and North Chicago   Junction on the North Shore's excellent track and  road bed entering service on February the 9th 1941   each train set was scheduled to run five one-way  trips in the Chicago Milwaukee service daily the   electroliners continued in service until the end  of the railroads operation in 1963 when they were   sold to the Philadelphia Suburban transportation  company and renamed Liberty liners they ran   between 69th Street Philadelphia and Norristown  the Liberty liners were ultimately retired around   1979 meaning they outlived the Chicago North Shore  and Milwaukee Railroad by almost 10 years let me   explain the outbreak of World War II caused  the railroads of the United States to see a   sharp rise in traffic even before the challenge  of rationing the North Shore saw its frayed and   passenger traffic rise to record levels in part  due to railroads serving important military   facilities such as the Army's Fort Sheridan just  north of Highwood and the Navies Great Lakes Naval   training station just south of North Chicago North  Shore saw its traffic increased to the extent that   the railroad was forced to borrow equipment from  the Chicago Rapid Transit company and fellow into   urban Chicago Aurora and Elgin railroad both  former insul properties this was a great time   for the company wartime earnings were high enough  that the railroad's bankruptcy trustees were able   to pay some of their outstanding debt and submit  a reorganization plan after this plan was approved   a new Corporation assumed the property in 1946 so  at this point things were still let's say on track   but that wouldn't last forever the first stumble  happened because of the failure to resolve a wage   dispute taken to the National mediation board  in 1948 this led to a 91-day work stoppage the   dispute was resolved by increasing both fares and  wages though the company's employees continued to   earn less than their counterparts and other areas  of railroad simultaneously decline in rail travel   began as initial post-war shortages of automobiles  ended these National Trends coupled with the Lost   revenue from the three-month strike and the  effects of these strike settling wage increase   created serious passenger revenue losses for the  line in 1949 the railroad sought to curtail some   of its more unprofitable Services it started off  by getting rid of my favorite features the dining   car service was dropped service on the shoreline  was reduced and the railroad went as far as filing   an application to drop the shoreline altogether  another way to reduce costs was via bus for   example when the franchise held by the North Shore  subsidiary operating streetcar service in Waukegan   ended in 1947 the company felt that a renewal was  just not justified hence they replaced the trains   with a bus service Shoreline trains that used the  streetcar tracks to reach downtown Waukegan were   also cut back and eventually allowed the tracks  to be abandoned things started to downward spiral   fast the subsidiary City streetcar service in  Milwaukee was discontinued in 1951 but the tracks   remained as they were used by Mainland service  to access the Milwaukee terminal right-of-way   and trackish between Leland Avenue in Chicago and  Linden Avenue and Wilmette were sold to the CTA in   1953 though in theory the shoreline continued to  operate in return for this the railroad received   seven million dollars in CTA revenue bonds  the railroad wanted out badly they repeated   their petition to abandon the shoreline in 1954 it  didn't seem like an obvious move to most you see   although rush hour traffic levels remain strong  off-peak ridership had declined sharply and this   was hurting their books but why was the decline  happening in the first place well travel time   on the shoreline was now roughly twice that of  the slightly longer Skokie Valley route and then   the completion of the Edens Expressway through  the Skokie Valley in late 1951 caused extreme   ridership losses this was perhaps the final nail  in the coffin and so it was on July the 24th 1955   Riders enjoyed the final day of service on  that route and sadly not much would remain   almost immediately after abandonment only a short  portion of the line was retained to provide access   from the North Chicago Junction to the railroad  shop in Highwood the rest of the line north of   Linden Avenue in Wilmette was removed much of the  right-of-way became automobile parking spaces for   commuters who switched to the Suburban trains of  the parallel CN and W Northline most of the Rails   were physically removed in the succeeding two  years the Chicago Transit Authority purchased   the southernmost portion of the Skokie Valley  Line Between Howard Street and Dempster and in   early 1964 they obtained Federal funding for what  turned out to be a successful mass transportation   pilot project dubbing the new non-stop Service  as the Skokie Swift that same year the Skokie   Valley Transportation Council was formed with  the goal of Reviving rail service by funding an   extension of the Skokie Swift further north this  was prevented however by the sale of the trackish   between Dempster Street and Lake Cook Road to  the Chicago and Northwestern Railway for use as   a freight line the Union Pacific which had merged  with the Chicago Northwestern in 1995 continued to   operate the line until 2001 and was dismantled in  2004. the former North Shore right away from the   Illinois border to Milwaukee was sold off piece  by piece to numerous private investors in other   places parts of the North Shore right-of-way have  been turned into paved and Limestone recreational   Trails as part of the Rails to Trails program the  electroliner train set 801 802 is preserved at the   Illinois Railway Museum in Union Illinois along  with 15 other passenger and Freight cars from the   railroad both Electra liners saw use on SEPTA's  high speed in Pennsylvania from 1964 to 1980   before being retired the other electroliner set  former 803 to 804 still painted in Liberty liners   colors is stored at the Rock Hill Trolley Museum  of Pennsylvania several other museums have North   Shore liner cars preserved including the museum  in South Elgin Illinois or the East Troy Electric   Railroad Museum in East Troy for example example  the Dempster station has been preserved although   it's moved 150 feet to the east both the bridge  gate and Kenosha stations also survive and are   currently in use as commercial housing operations  abandon and overgrown sections of the track exist   between Dempster Street and Lake Cook Road in the  former Skokie Valley right-of-way it's funny to   think that such a massive trade Network used by  hundreds of thousands of people can simply be   reduced to fragments of what once was but these  fragments remnants are also what makes cities   interesting the essence of time has best captured  by Decay and with that I suppose we've reached our   conclusion for today thank you guys for watching  until next time this is Ryan silkash signing off

Channel: IT'S HISTORY

Views: 254,763

Keywords: Ryan Socash, chicago north shore and milwaukee railroad (business operation), north shore line, chicago north shore and milwaukee railroad, chicago north shore and milwaukee, chicago, north shore, milwaukee, railroad, north shore railroad, north, shore, chicago railroading, north shore 761, cns&m nsl inteurban train electroliner north shore line chicago north shore and milwaukee, chicago transit authority, chicago aurora & elgin, north short line #749, milwaukee (city/town/village)

Id: Xt8zhVoVIPY

Length: 22min 25sec (1345 seconds)

Published: Sat Dec 10 2022