The
Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad, often called the
North Shore Line, was an
interurbanAn interurban, also called a radial railway in parts of Canada, is a type of electric passenger railroad; in short a hybrid between tram and train. Interurbans enjoyed widespread popularity in the first three decades of the twentieth century in North America. Until the early 1920s, most roads were...
railroad line that operated between Chicago, Illinois, and
Milwaukee, WisconsinMilwaukee is the largest city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, the 28th most populous city in the United States and 39th most populous region in the United States. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. According to 2010 census data, the...
, until its abandonment in 1963.
Early history
The predecessor of the Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee was founded in 1891 as the Waukegan & North Shore Rapid Transit Company, a street railway line in
Waukegan, IllinoisWaukegan is a city and county seat of Lake County, Illinois. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 87,901. The 2010 population was 89,078. It is the ninth-largest city in Illinois by population...
. As the company grew and made plans for expansion, it became the
Chicago and Milwaukee Electric RailroadThe Chicago and Milwaukee Electric Railroad was an electric interurban railroad that connected Evanston, Illinois and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was founded in the 1890s and was reorganized in 1916, becoming the Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad....
.
When the company exited reorganization in 1916, it was renamed to Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad. Chicago
utilityIn economics, utility is a measure of customer satisfaction, referring to the total satisfaction received by a consumer from consuming a good or service....
magnateMagnate, from the Late Latin magnas, a great man, itself from Latin magnus 'great', designates a noble or other man in a high social position, by birth, wealth or other qualities...
Samuel InsullSamuel Insull was an Anglo-American innovator and investor based in Chicago who greatly contributed to creating an integrated electrical infrastructure in the United States. Insull was notable for purchasing utilities and railroads using holding companies, as well as the abuse of them...
acquired a controlling interest in the railroad and served as its chairman. Insull, through a holding company, controlled two other Chicago-area interurban railroads — the
Chicago Aurora and Elgin RailroadThe Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railroad , known colloquially as the "Roarin' Elgin" or the "Great Third Rail", was an interurban railroad that operated passenger and freight service on its line between Chicago, Illinois and Aurora, Batavia, Geneva, St. Charles, and Elgin. The railroad also operated...
which connected Chicago with its west suburbs and the
Fox River ValleyThe Fox Valley—also commonly known as the Fox River Valley—is a rural, suburban, and exurban region within Illinois and Wisconsin along the western edges of the Chicago and Milwaukee metropolitan areas. This region centers on the Fox River of Illinois and Wisconsin...
, and the
Chicago South Shore and South Bend RailroadThe South Shore Line is an electrically powered interurban commuter rail line operated by the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District between Millennium Station in downtown Chicago and the South Bend Regional Airport in South Bend, Indiana...
or South Shore Line, which connected Chicago with northern Indiana and which continues to this day as one of the last interurbans in the United States.
Route
The North Shore Line of 1916 consisted of a main line whose southern terminus was at Church Street in
Evanston, IllinoisEvanston is a suburban municipality in Cook County, Illinois 12 miles north of downtown Chicago, bordering Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, and Wilmette to the north, with an estimated population of 74,360 as of 2003. It is one of the North Shore communities that adjoin Lake Michigan...
, somewhat north of the Chicago city limits. The line continued north through Chicago's wealthy
north shoreThe North Shore is a term that refers to the generally affluent suburbs north of Chicago, Illinois bordering the shore of Lake Michigan.- History :Europeans settled the area sparsely after an 1833 treaty with local Native Americans...
communities along
Lake MichiganLake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America and the only one located entirely within the United States. It is the second largest of the Great Lakes by volume and the third largest by surface area, after Lake Superior and Lake Huron...
—
WilmetteWilmette is a village in New Trier Township, Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is located north of Chicago's downtown district and has a population of 27,651. Wilmette is considered a bedroom community in the North Shore district...
,
KenilworthKenilworth is a village in Cook County, Illinois, north of downtown Chicago. It is the newest of the nine suburban North Shore communities bordering Lake Michigan, and is the only one developed as a planned community...
,
WinnetkaWinnetka is an affluent North Shore village located approximately north of downtown Chicago in Cook County, Illinois. Winnetka was featured on the list of America's 25 top-earning towns and "one of the best places to live" by CNN Money in 2011...
,
GlencoeGlencoe is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2010 census, the village population was 8,723. Glencoe is located on suburban Chicago's North Shore. Glencoe is located within the New Trier High School District. Glencoe is regarded as one of the most affluent suburbs on...
, and
Highland ParkHighland Park is a suburban municipality in Lake County, Illinois, United States, about north of downtown Chicago. As of 2009, the population is 33,492. Highland Park is one of several municipalities located on the North Shore of the Chicago Metropolitan Area.-Overview:Highland Park was founded...
. The line continued through
HighwoodHighwood is a city in the Moraine Township of Lake County, Illinois, United States. The population was 4,143 at the 2000 census. Highwood is a neighbor to Highland Park and the two share a weekly newspaper and school district. An attempt was made in 2005 to convert Highwood to a home rule city, but...
, home of the railroad's headquarters and main shops, and continued through
Lake ForestLake Forest is an affluent city located in Lake County, Illinois, United States. The city is south of Waukegan along the shore of Lake Michigan, and is a part of the Chicago metropolitan area and the North Shore. Lake Forest was founded around Lake Forest College and was laid out as a town in...
,
Lake BluffLake Bluff is a village in Lake County, Illinois. It is the closest moderate-sized town near the Great Lakes Navy Base and is North of Lake Forest. The population is 6,056 according to the 2000 census. The town has a police department and volunteer fire department.-History:In 1836, John and...
,
North ChicagoNorth Chicago is an outer suburb/exurb of the Chicago metropolitan area and is an incorporated city in Lake County, Illinois, United States. The population was 35,918 at the 2000 census....
, and
WaukeganWaukegan is a city and county seat of Lake County, Illinois. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 87,901. The 2010 population was 89,078. It is the ninth-largest city in Illinois by population...
. From Waukegan, the line traversed
ZionZion is a city in Lake County, Illinois, United States. The population was 22,866 at the 2000 census, and estimated at 24,303 as of 2005. The city was founded in July 1901 by John Alexander Dowie. He also started the Zion Tabernacle of the Christian Catholic Apostolic Church, which was the only...
before entering
WisconsinWisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
and tapping
KenoshaKenosha is a city and the county seat of Kenosha County in the State of Wisconsin in United States. With a population of 99,218 as of May 2011, Kenosha is the fourth-largest city in Wisconsin. Kenosha is also the fourth-largest city on the western shore of Lake Michigan, following Chicago,...
and
RacineRacine is a city in and the county seat of Racine County, Wisconsin, United States. According to 2008 U.S. Census Bureau estimates, the city had a population of 82,196...
, before reaching its northern terminus in
MilwaukeeMilwaukee is the largest city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, the 28th most populous city in the United States and 39th most populous region in the United States. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. According to 2010 census data, the...
. The entire main line in Illinois was double track, but pockets of single track remained in Wisconsin. While some of the line was street trackage, most was on private right-of-way which, along with the paralleling line of the
Chicago and North Western RailwayThe Chicago and North Western Transportation Company was a Class I railroad in the Midwest United States. It was also known as the North Western. The railroad operated more than of track as of the turn of the 20th century, and over of track in seven states before retrenchment in the late 1970s...
bisected the business districts of the north shore communities as far north as Lake Bluff.
At Lake Bluff, a branch diverged to the west to serve
LibertyvilleLibertyville is an affluent northern suburb of Chicago in Lake County, Illinois, United States. It is located west of Lake Michigan on the Des Plaines River. The 2000 census population was 20,742; the 2005 estimate was 21,760...
and Area, now
MundeleinMundelein is a village in Lake County, Illinois, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the village population was 31,064.-History:The community now known as Mundelein has been inhabited since at least 1650, when the Potowatami Indians were known to have been trading with French fur traders....
. At North Chicago Junction, a branch led to downtown Waukegan via city streets.
Early improvements
The original arrangement at the railroad's southern terminus in Evanston was for Chicago-bound passengers to transfer to the
Northwestern ElevatedThe Northwestern Elevated Railroad was the last of the privately constructed rapid transit lines to be built in Chicago, Illinois. The line ran from the Loop in downtown Chicago north to Wilson Avenue in Chicago's Uptown neighborhood a with branch to Ravenswood and Albany Park that left the main...
(one
"L"The L is the rapid transit system serving the city of Chicago and some of its surrounding suburbs. It is operated by the Chicago Transit Authority...
company) there. Following the railroad's acquisition by Samuel Insull, limited-stop North Shore Line trains began connecting with special "L" trains (also controlled by Insull) that ran express to the
Chicago LoopThe Loop or Chicago Loop is one of 77 officially designated Chicago community areas located in the City of Chicago, Illinois. It is the historic commercial center of downtown Chicago...
. In 1919, the North Shore Line obtained
trackage rightsTrackage rights , running rights or running powers is an agreement whereby a railway company has the right to run its trains on tracks owned by another railway company....
over the Northwestern Elevated and modified their cars with
third railA third rail is a method of providing electric power to a railway train, through a semi-continuous rigid conductor placed alongside or between the rails of a railway track. It is used typically in a mass transit or rapid transit system, which has alignments in its own corridors, fully or almost...
equipment, giving them direct access to the Loop. The following year, a new terminal in Milwaukee was dedicated, and in succeeding years, the remaining single-track in Wisconsin was eliminated, with the exception of a one-half mile stretch of single-track in southern Milwaukee that remained a minor bottleneck until the railroad's end.
During the early
TwentiesFile:1920s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: Third Tipperary Brigade Flying Column No. 2 under Sean Hogan during the Irish Civil War; Prohibition agents destroying barrels of alcohol in accordance to the 18th amendment, which made alcoholic beverages illegal throughout the entire decade; In...
, the railroad instituted a number of named, limited-stop trains, some carrying deluxe dining and parlor/observation cars. One of the railroad's most distinctive named trains, inaugurated in 1917, was the
Gold Coast Limited. The North Shore also created a network of motor coach (bus) lines to feed on potential traffic from territory not directly served by the company's trains.
Construction of the Skokie Valley Line
The growth of the north shore communities provided good traffic levels for the railroad, but the increasing congestion of these communities' business districts impeded the railroad's desire to remain competitive with the competing steam railroads for longer-haul passenger business, in particular the Chicago-Milwaukee traffic. The North Shore therefore sought to build a new bypass line through the Skokie Valley — what was then undeveloped rural land approximately four to five miles west of the lake shore route.
The needed real estate purchases and financing were arranged in 1923 and 1924, and construction of the new line began in April 1924. The new line diverged from the
Howard Street "L" stationHoward is a station on the Chicago Transit Authority's 'L' system in Chicago, Illinois. It is the northern terminus of the Red Line and the southeastern terminus of the Yellow Line; it also serves the Purple Line, for which it is the southern terminus outside of weekday rush hours...
located at the boundary between Chicago and Evanston, ran west into the village of Niles Center (now
SkokieSkokie is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Its name comes from a Native American word for "fire". A Chicago suburb, for many years Skokie promoted itself as "The World's Largest Village". Its population, per the 2000 census, was 63,348...
), continuing to the north-northwest from that point through marshy countryside, paralleling the Skokie branch of the Chicago and North Western Railway. At South Upton, the new route ran eastward along the North Shore's 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 North Chicago Junction.
An arrangement was made with the
Chicago Rapid Transit CompanyThe Chicago Rapid Transit Company was a privately owned firm providing rapid transit rail service in Chicago, Illinois and several adjacent communities between the years 1924 and 1947...
, wherein local "L" service was begun over the new line to the
Dempster Street stationDempster-Skokie, also known as Dempster, or Skokie, is a station on the Chicago Transit Authority's 'L' system, on the Yellow Line at 5005 W. Dempster Street in Skokie, Illinois...
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 the Chicago area. The
Great DepressionThe Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
put a damper on the area's growth, and Niles Center (by that time renamed to Skokie) didn't really begin to experience a surge of growth until the
FiftiesThe 1950s or The Fifties was the decade that began on January 1, 1950 and ended on December 31, 1959. The decade was the sixth decade of the 20th century...
.
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 remains to this day as the
Chicago Transit AuthorityChicago Transit Authority, also known as CTA, is the operator of mass transit within the City of Chicago, Illinois and some of its surrounding suburbs....
's primary maintenance facility for its rail system.
The remaining portion of the North Shore Line's new Skokie Valley line entered service in 1926. The new route consisted of 18 miles (29 km) of new double-track railroad, and the route was a mere 2.5 miles (4 km) longer than the old main line. Because it traversed mostly rural area, higher speeds could be sustained for a longer distance. In conjunction with the completion of the Skokie Valley route, the railroad had improved the Mundelein branch, building a new terminal and double-tracking the branch. Mundelein had previously been served by shuttle service connecting with main line trains at Lake Bluff; with the opening of the new Skokie Valley line on June 5, 1926, 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 of 20 minutes.
The original main line — now designated by the railroad as the Shore Line — continued to host 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.
The Depression
Initially after the
stock market crashA stock market crash is a sudden dramatic decline of stock prices across a significant cross-section of a stock market, resulting in a significant loss of paper wealth. Crashes are driven by panic as much as by underlying economic factors...
in 1929, business went on as usual, but as the depression deepened and as the Insull public utility empire began to crumble, the railroad entered
receivershipIn law, receivership is the situation in which an institution or enterprise is being held by a receiver, a person "placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights." The receivership remedy is an equitable remedy that emerged in...
in 1932. The dire economic conditions and high
unemploymentUnemployment , as defined by the International Labour Organization, occurs when people are without jobs and they have actively sought work within the past four weeks...
caused ridership (and hence revenue) to plummet. A labor strike in 1938 precipitated by a 15% reduction in wages kept the railroad from operating for seven weeks.
In spite of the difficult conditions during the
ThirtiesFile:1930s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: Dorothea Lange's photo of the homeless Florence Thompson show the effects of the Great Depression; Due to the economic collapse, the farms become dry and the Dust Bowl spreads through America; The Battle of Wuhan during the Second Sino-Japanese...
, the North Shore was able to undertake a major
grade separationGrade separation is the method of aligning a junction of two or more transport axes at different heights so that they will not disrupt the traffic flow on other transit routes when they cross each other. The composition of such transport axes does not have to be uniform; it can consist of a...
project along the Shore Line. The North Shore had 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 built-up suburb after another. Prior to the Depression, grade separation projects had been funded by the railroads' private capital, and neither the North Shore Line nor the paralleling steam-operated Chicago and North Western Railway were in a financial position to undertake such a venture even before the stock market crash in 1929.
However, in 1937 President
Franklin D. RooseveltFranklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
and his Secretary of the Interior, Harold Ickes (a Winnetka resident), announced a
Public Works AdministrationThe Public Works Administration , part of the New Deal of 1933, was a large-scale public works construction agency in the United States headed by Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes. It was created by the National Industrial Recovery Act in June 1933 in response to the Great Depression...
program to "prime the pump" of the American economy. This timely program allowed the railroads and the communities of Winnetka and Glencoe to obtain federal funding for the grade separation of the two railroads through their business districts. The project was complicated by the need for construction work to take place under traffic — the two railroads combined operated more than 200 daily trains. The grade separation was completed in late 1941 — just nine weeks before the United States went to war — and cost $4.3 million.
To meet the competition of modern
streamlined trainsA streamliner is a vehicle incorporating streamlining in a shape providing reduced air resistance. The term is applied to high-speed railway trainsets of the 1930s to 1950s, and to their successor "bullet trains". Less commonly, the term is applied to fully faired recumbent bicycles...
operating on the steam railroads connecting Chicago and Milwaukee, the North Shore in 1939 embarked on a program to modernize a portion of its steel coach fleet for both commuter and intercity service. Some 15 coaches dating from 1928 were modernized, practically from the ground up. All-electric heating was installed with a new ventilation system, new flooring, new interior decorations and fittings. The cars' exteriors were painted green with gray and red trim, and were dubbed "Greenliners". 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 trainsets. The trainsets consisted of four cars semi-permanently attached. The two end units included operating cabs and smoking and non-smoking coach seating. An additional car provided more coach seating, and the tavern/lounge car rounded out the four-car
consistA consist , in North American railway terminology, is used as a noun to describe the group of rail vehicles that make up a train. A near-equivalent UK term is rake but this excludes the locomotive....
. These trains were dubbed
ElectrolinerThe Electroliners were a pair of electric passenger train sets operated by the Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad, which ran between Chicago, Illinois, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. These streamlined electric multiple unit interurban trains were built by St. Louis Car Company in 1941. Each...
s and were the railroad's premiere service. Entering service on February 9, 1941, each trainset was scheduled to run five one-way trips in Chicago-Milwaukee service every day. The
Electroliners continued in service until the end of the railroad in 1963. The Electoliners were sold to the Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company, and were renamed Liberty Liners. The Liberty Liners were retired around 1979.
Wartime rush and postwar decline
The outbreak of
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
caused the railroads of the United States to see a sharp rise in traffic. Even before the imposition of
rationingRationing is the controlled distribution of scarce resources, goods, or services. Rationing controls the size of the ration, one's allotted portion of the resources being distributed on a particular day or at a particular time.- In economics :...
of fuel and rubber made auto travel difficult, the North Shore saw its freight and passenger traffic rise to record levels of sixteen million, no doubt in part due to the railroad serving important military facilities — the Army's
Fort SheridanFort Sheridan is a residential neighborhood spread among Lake Forest, Highwood, and Highland Park in Lake County, Illinois, United States. It was originally established as a United States Army Post named after Civil War Cavalry General Philip Sheridan, to honor his services to Chicago...
just north of Highwood, and the Navy's Great Lakes Naval Training Station, just south of North Chicago. North Shore saw its traffic increase to the extent that the railroad was forced to borrow equipment from the
Chicago Rapid Transit CompanyThe Chicago Rapid Transit Company was a privately owned firm providing rapid transit rail service in Chicago, Illinois and several adjacent communities between the years 1924 and 1947...
and fellow interurban
Chicago Aurora and Elgin RailroadThe Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railroad , known colloquially as the "Roarin' Elgin" or the "Great Third Rail", was an interurban railroad that operated passenger and freight service on its line between Chicago, Illinois and Aurora, Batavia, Geneva, St. Charles, and Elgin. The railroad also operated...
, both former Insull properties.
Wartime earnings were high enough that the railroad's bankruptcy trustees were able to pay some of the company's outstanding debt and submit a reorganization plan. After the plan was approved, a new corporation (with a slightly different corporate name from before) took over the property in 1946.
The failure to resolve a wage dispute taken to the
National Mediation BoardThe National Mediation Board is an independent agency of the United States government that coordinates labor-management relations within the U.S...
in 1948 led to a 91-day work stoppage that spring. The dispute was resolved by increasing both fares and wages, though the company's employees continued to earn less than their counterparts at other area railroads. Simultaneously, a decline in rail travel began to be felt by the nation's railroads as initial postwar shortages of automobiles ended. These national trends, coupled with the lost revenue from the three-month strike and the effects of the strike-settling wage increase created serious passenger revenue losses for the North Shore. In 1949 the railroad sought to curtail some of its more unprofitable services. Dining car service (other than that on the
Electroliners) was dropped, service (particularly on the Shore Line) was reduced, and the railroad applied unsuccessfully to drop Shore Line service altogether.
When the franchise held by the North Shore subsidiary operating streetcar service in Waukegan expired in 1947, the company felt that a renewal was not justified, the company replaced its city operations there with bus service. Shore Line trains that used the streetcar tracks to reach downtown Waukegan were simultaneously cut back to allow the tracks to be abandoned. The subsidiary city streetcar service in Milwaukee was discontinued in 1951, but brought no abandonment of track, since the trackage involved was used by main line services to reach the North Shore's Milwaukee terminal.
As the transportation business began to show poor return on investment, the railroad's owners began to diversify their investment. The railroad was reorganized in 1953 to form a Delaware-based
holding companyA holding company is a company or firm that owns other companies' outstanding stock. It usually refers to a company which does not produce goods or services itself; rather, its purpose is to own shares of other companies. Holding companies allow the reduction of risk for the owners and can allow...
, which eventually became known as the Susquehanna Corporation. The company's investments included mining of ores and
aggregatesConstruction aggregate, or simply "aggregate", is a broad category of coarse particulate material used in construction, including sand, gravel, crushed stone, slag, recycled concrete and geosynthetic aggregates. Aggregates are the most mined material in the world...
and manufacture of electronic equipment.
The railroad repeated its petition to abandon Shore Line in 1954. Though rush hour traffic levels remained strong, off-peak ridership had declined sharply, leading to further losses. The remaining
street runningOn-street running or street running is when a railroad track or tramway track runs directly along city streets, without any separation. The rails are embedded in the road....
and numerous stops eliminated many of the advantages of rail transportation on this route. Travel time on the Shore Line was roughly twice that of the slightly longer Skokie Valley route. The completion of the
Edens ExpresswayThe Edens Expressway is the main major expressway north from the city of Chicago. For most of its length, the Edens carries Interstate 94; it also carries U.S. Route 41 from Wilmette to its northern terminus. Only the short portion from the Spur Ramp to the expressway's end in Highland Park does...
through the Skokie Valley in late 1951 caused mounting ridership losses reflected on the railroad's earnings statements. Though the abandonment proceedings garnered strong opposition in the communities affected, the railroad was successful in proving its case and was authorized to end service on the Shore Line. July 24, 1955 was the final day of service on that route. A short portion of the line was retained to provide access from North Chicago Junction to the railroad's shops in Highwood; the remainder of the line was removed, much of the right-of-way becoming — ironically — automobile parking spaces for commuters who switched to the suburban trains of the parallel Chicago and North Western Railway.
With its transportation holdings proving to be an increasingly unprofitable part of its diversified portfolio, Susquehanna moved to cut its losses; in 1958, the railroad filed with state and federal regulatory authorities for the authority to discontinue all service and abandon the entire property. The
Interstate Commerce CommissionThe Interstate Commerce Commission was a regulatory body in the United States created by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. The agency's original purpose was to regulate railroads to ensure fair rates, to eliminate rate discrimination, and to regulate other aspects of common carriers, including...
(ICC) examiner handling the case recommended abandonment, but the
Illinois regulatorsThe Illinois Commerce Commission is a quasi-judicial tribunal which regulates public utility services in the U.S. state of Illinois. The mission of the ICC is "to pursue an appropriate balance between the interest of consumers and existing and emerging service providers to ensure the provision of...
recommended the continued operation of the railroad. For the time being, ridership remained fairly stable, but the completion of the
Northwest ExpresswayThe John F. Kennedy Expressway is a long highway that travels northwest from the Chicago Loop to O'Hare International Airport. The expressway is named for the 35th U.S. President, John F. Kennedy. The Interstate 90 portion of the Kennedy is a part of the much longer I-90...
(now the Kennedy Expressway) in late 1960 provided a link between the Edens Expressway and the Chicago Loop. The North Shore Line's lifeblood — the passenger traffic that provided approximately 85 percent of its revenue — began to hemorrhage at the rate of 46,000 passengers per month.
In early 1961, the railroad requested expedited action by the ICC on its abandonment petition, citing its mounting losses. The Illinois regulators and an association of commuters both opposed the action, the association offering to buy the railroad at salvage value but ultimately failing to raise sufficient funds to buy the property.
The end for the Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee came during the wee hours on a snowy and bitter cold January 21, 1963. Most of the rails were removed in the succeeding two years. The
Chicago Transit AuthorityChicago Transit Authority, also known as CTA, is the operator of mass transit within the City of Chicago, Illinois and some of its surrounding suburbs....
purchased the southernmost portion of the Skokie Valley line between Howard Street and Dempster Street, Skokie, and in early 1964 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." The trackage between Dempster Street and Lake-Cook Road was sold to the Chicago & North Western Ry. for use as a freight line; the
Union PacificThe Union Pacific Railroad , headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, is the largest railroad network in the United States. James R. Young is president, CEO and Chairman....
(which the North Western was merged into in 1995) continued to operate the line until 2001, and it was dismantled in 2004-05. CTA is studying possible extension of the Yellow Line along the old North Shore right-of-way as far as Old Orchard Road, opposite the Old Orchard shopping center.
The State of Wisconsin is said to own the former North Shore right of way from the Illinois border to Milwaukee "for future transit use", but forty-plus years later that use has still not been identified. In Illinois, extension to the Skokie Swift into the now-fully-developed territory in the Skokie Valley is discussed periodically. In other places, parts of the North Shore right of way have been turned into paved trails, as part of the
rails to trails programA rail trail is the conversion of a disused railway easement into a multi-use path, typically for walking, cycling and sometimes horse riding. The characteristics of former tracks—flat, long, frequently running through historical areas—are appealing for various development. The term sometimes also...
.
Preservation
Electroliner trainset 801-802 is preserved at the
Illinois Railway MuseumThe Illinois Railway Museum is the largest railroad museum in the United States and is located in Union, Illinois, northwest of Chicago...
in
Union, IllinoisUnion is a village in McHenry County, Illinois, United States. The population was 580 at the 2010 census, up from 576 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Union is located at ....
; the museum's holdings also include 15 other passenger and freight cars from the railroad. Both Electroliners saw use on SEPTA's
Norristown High Speed LineThe Norristown High Speed Line is an interurban line system operated between Upper Darby and Norristown, Pennsylvania, USA by SEPTA...
in
PennsylvaniaThe Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
from 1964 to 1980 before being retired. The other Electroliner set, former 803-804, still painted in SEPTA "Liberty Liner" colors, is stored at the
Rockhill Trolley MuseumThe Rockhill Trolley Museum is located at 430 Meadow Street, Rockhill Furnace, Pennsylvania, north of the Pennsylvania Turnpike and south of US 22, the William Penn Highway....
in Rockhill Furnace, Pennsylvania. Other museums that have North Shore Line cars preserved include the
Fox River Trolley MuseumThe Fox River Trolley Museum is a railroad museum in South Elgin, Illinois.-Location:The museum grounds are located at 361 South LaFox Street , approximately two blocks south of the intersection of LaFox and State Streets.-Collection:...
, in South Elgin, Illinois; the East Troy Electric Railroad Museum in East Troy, Wisconsin; the
Shore Line Trolley MuseumThe Shore Line Trolley Museum, located in East Haven, Connecticut, is the oldest operating trolley museum in the United States. It was founded to preserve the heritage of the trolley car. The museum includes exhibits on trolley history in the visitors' center and offers rides on restored trolleys...
, in East Haven, Connecticut, and the
Seashore Trolley MuseumThe Seashore Trolley Museum, located in Kennebunkport, Maine, United States, is the world's oldest and largest museum of mass transit vehicles....
, in Kennebunkport, Maine. The Iowa Terminal Railroad, in Mason City, Iowa, also owns former North Shore Line equipment. Unrestored North Shore Line equipment is also in storage at several other museums.
The Dempster station has been
preserved, although moved 150 feet to the east. The Briergate station also survives, currently housing a commercial operation as does the Kenosha station.
External links