John Smatlak posted two photos with the comment:
A pair of shots from the one time I managed to catch the Milwaukee Road (by then Soo Line) C&E switch run along the elevated Bloomingdale Line. These shots were taken in the early evening on June 12, 1989. By the time I started taking photos in this area in 1978 there were no more customers along the Bloomingdale line, it was simply used to connect the C&E lines to the rest of the system. So there was only one run in and out on weekdays when the job was working. The Bloomingdale Line has since been abandoned and much of it converted to the 606 walking/biking trail.
 |
| 1 Milwaukee Road, Bloomingdale line. The train is traveling westbound at Drake, returning to Bensenville. Chicago IL June 12, 1989. John Smatlak photo [Street View] |
 |
| 2 Milwaukee Road Bloomingdale line at Milwaukee Ave. 6/12/89. All I needed was an L train going by in the background and it would have been the perfect shot! Note the Sawyer campaign ad on the light pole at right- Mayor of Chicago for about two years following the death of Harold Washington, in 1989 Eugene Sawyer lost the Democratic primary to Richard Daley. Today this right-of-way has been re-purposed as the Bloomingdale Trail. [3D Satellite] |
Whenever I need a reference about the abandoned Milwaukee Bloomingdale Line, I have been using the 606 Trail Site or the Friends of the Bloomingdale Trail. This posting allows me to reference both.
I included the track that is east of the Kennedy and C&NW because the Bloomingdale Line used to connect with the line going east over the North Branch to serve many industries along the Chicago and Evanston Branch before gentrification caused most of the industries to disappear or give up using rail service.
 |
| 606 Trail |
Paul Musselman posted five photos with the comment: "Some Bloomingdale line pics...about 2005...captions on pics, click to open."
 |
| 1 This is east of Elston looking west...switch track (NB) went to old coal yard on Elston, long gone. |
 |
| 2 Looking east at river bridge, now out of service. |
 |
| 3 Hobo camp under I-90, where Bloomingdale line used to run past. |
 |
| 4 Looking west at old Bloomingdale line...old girder bridge sides still there...hobo camp under here then... |
 |
| 5 Looking E at where line went across Elston towards Chic River...note no longer used WB signal on left...track going R leads to small yard alongside CNW/UP main to downtown Chic... |
 |
| Dennis DeBruler commented on Paul's post The building on the left in the first photo and the bridge in the second photo still exist. The plan for the Lincoln Yards development would reuse this former Milwaukee Road right-of-way as part of an extension of the Bloomingdale (606) Trail. I can't determine if those plans would reuse this bridge or replace it. |
 |
| Dennis DeBruler commented on Paul's post In 1939 the coal yard still existed. And tracks still exist to show where the 606 extension would be built. |
No comments:
Post a Comment