Pullman Railroad

Paul Petraitis posted
Here's an undated map showing Pullman, filed under Lake Calumet, Newberry library

Comments added by Paul:

This is the first map I've seen that shows the Indian Boundary Line (the diagonal that bisects Lake Calumet) with the phrase "established in 1816" associated with it. The line was a concession (maybe the ONLY one) to our "victory" of the War of 1812 as part of The Treaty Of St. Louis but the line itself (and its northside counterpart) were not surveyed until the winter of 1817/18. Yeah, winter...

This map also identifies the rail line along the shore of Lake calumet as "Pullman Association Tracks"...which is interesting. It was initially called "the Rock Island spur"...but it does wend its way through "Pullman Land Association" properties...

The tracks with the hash marks seems to be the route of the calumet Street Railway est 1892...so I think that's how we can date this map...1892.

According to one reference in my archives, the Pullman RR was incorporated in 1906 and the entire stock of the company was owned by the Pullman Co. I presume prior to incorporation as a separate entity, the railroad was an internal part of the company. The Pullman RR was sold to the Rock Island after WWII.

Update: Paul Petraitis posted three photos with the comment:

In the 1840's the land that became Pullman was a mix of wet and dry prairies and wild strawberry patches. By the 1860's it had a patchwork of cultivated plots with onions, potatoes, corn and wheat crops. By April 1880 the Pullman Company had bought almost 4000 acres of this land on the west side of Lake Calumet for the site of the proposed factory and townsite. 

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David Dauszka posted four photos with the comment: "This should warm member Paul Petraitis' heart (our Pullman historian). Pullman had its own in-plant railroad, and here is some of the steam power that shuttled around the complex. Photographs from the collections of the Chicago History Museum. Negatives printed by group member Paul Petraitis."

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Saddle tank switch engine #4 on the turntable. No date or photographer given. Chicago History Museum collection.
Tim Russell 2-4-2T, looks like that one is being worked on since the side and coupling rods are not present. That might be them sitting the inspection platform along the side of the tank.

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Saddle tank switch engine #6. No date or photographer given. Chicago History Museum collection.

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0-6-0 switch engine #17. Given the flags displayed on the pilot I'm going to venture a guess and say it was an employee event of July 4th. No date or photographer given. Chicago History Museum collection.

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Not a locomotive but a train on Family Picnic Day. The building on the right is the Post Office. In the distance beyond the shop buildings are the tower of the Administration Building and the Water Tower. Chicago History Museum collection.