Erie's Chicago Freight Houses

Andrew Brown posted
Outbound commuter approaching 16th St. Sept. '73.
[Note the C&WI "trench" is in the foreground.]

Sady Rivera commented on a share

Michael Dye posted eight photos with the comment: "Near and dear to the hearts of the Midwestern fans of the Erie, was the Erie's 14th Street Freighthouse." [And he provided a comment on each photo.]
Michae Dye shared
Kit Anderson I was curious about the picture with the car tops. The cars look so close together but I don’t think you could fit a human being in between them?
Michael Dye From reading of similar arrangements, I assume that there was space enough to permit men to walk between the cars, for the purpose of opening doors and setting 'bridgeplates' (To permit movement through the cars and between the two buildings).

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A 1964 fire insurance map, showing the layout of the two separate buildings of the Freighthouse, the tracks in and around it, and , in the lower left hand corner, the CWI's seldom seen 15th Street Interlocking Tower.

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A 1972 photo, showing the tracks passing the SE side of the freighthouse, with the 15th Street Interlocking Tower, apparently closed but shown.

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A 1930s aerial view of the 14th Street Erie Freighthouse and C&WI 15th Street Tower.

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A View of the 14th Street Freight House from between the buildings, looking North.

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A 1960 view, from the NE, looking at the offices, which were part of the North end of the Western building.

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A 1976 view, showing the tracks to the freighthouse had been taken out by Conrail.

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A view of the original freighthouse (The Western one), built in 1882, taken from the Clark Street access.

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By 1977, the abandoned freighthouse was a mere ghost of what it once had been. Back in the days of LCL, when Erie and Lifschultz made the customer's good move!

William A. Shaffer posted
An Unidentified Wabash Passenger Train is shown in Chicago, passing the Erie Freight House. The Parlor/Observation Car appears to be "City of Wabash". (6.15.60)
(Photographer Unknown - Collection of William A. Shaffer)

Mark Llanuza posted

Its 1977 with outbound with C&NW cars going past the old Erie Frt house.

Note the water tower. So Bill's picture is the northeast side of the two-story office building part, and Mark's picture is along the southwest side of the one-story freight handling part.

Mark Llanuza posted three photos, the third of which is the one above, with the comment:

Its 1977 the Erie has been shut down for about a year but the old Frt house still stands near Clark st and 16th of the Rock Island .These three views i took show the Frt house just outside Dearborn station and the front side is where the Rock Island past it by at clarke st .Today all this land is condo's.

Mark again posted with the comment: "Its May 1977 with CNW leased cars to the Rock Island passing past the old Erie Frt house along Clark st."

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Mark Llanuza posted
its 1977 with rush hour fleet heading out of Chicago passing the old Erie Frt house on Clark st.

Mark again posted the above photo with the comment: "Its May 1977 the Rock Island passing past the old Erie Frt house along Clark st and 14th st which closed down the year before.This was a big transfer between box cars and Lifeschultz trucking with the Erie."
Rick La Fever Liftschultz Trucking stuck around after the Erie Railroad went away but eventually succumbed to trucking deregulation and changes in shipper preferences.

Mark posted three of the photos he has already shared with the comment:

Erie freight house ,The growth of Intermodal and bulk traffic as well as the loss of LCL traffic changed the face of how Frt was interchanged and distributed .The era of freight transfer between boxcars and trucking such as Lifeschultz trucking Erie 14th st Freight station here in Chicago stands abandoned in my shot spring of 1977 scene done in by changes in the freight transport business as well as EL Merger into conrail .This was once a very busy place in the 60's and 70's .today this is full of Condo's and would never know what was here .My rock Island shot shows a cool side view of the once big freight house.

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Bill Molony posted
Erie Railroad class C-3 0-8-0 switch engine #242 at Chicago - 1950.

Bob Lalich commented on Bill's posting
That is the Erie office building and Chicago freight house in the background. The locomotive and cut of cars is blocking 14th St. Here is a wider view from the same side, circa 1960.

Steven J. Brown shared
Rock Island E8 650 arrives with one of the Rockets at Roosevelt Rd in Chicago - April 3, 1977.
Dennis DeBruler It also provides a new view of the Erie freight house and RI piggyback yard.
Matt McClure Looks so different today one would think the other side of the world. I like the signal bridge on the ex-CWI tracks leading toward moribund Dearborn Station.
Den Adler They weren't exactly putting out a train that enticed people into riding it.

Mark Llanuza posted
Orland Park commuter train coming into Dearborn station 1976.
[Because the C&EI Inbound Freight House had been torn down since 1975, we can now see the north side of the Erie Freight House.]

ROCK ISLAND ROLLING STOCK updated
Jim Merrick The Golden State.J Pete Hedgpeth It's 1:00pm and No. 3...the Golden State is leaving LaSalle St. Station..That's the Rock Island Coach yard on the right. Looks like some TOFC flats on Coach yard 5 and some other passenger equipment on 6. The corner of the 12th St. yard office fits right in the lower right corner..I'm told everything is gone from what was the 12th St. Coach yard.
[The freight house to the right of the Meadow Gold Butter building was the Erie's.]

This Flickr photo (source) of a Wabash train leaving the Dearborn station has a freight house on the left. Looking at the following map, Erie had a smaller freight house on the east side of their tracks.

1964

67.  NYC tracks at Air Line crossing - Looking north at 16th and Clark Sts.
[This is also the Rock Island tracks. Thanks to the sign on the building, note the Erie freight house in the background.]

The office part of the Erie freight house is in the right background of a photo of the Rock Island piggyback yard.