CA&E: 1902-57 Chicago, Aurora & Elgin Railroad Overview

(Update: TrolleyDodger has lots of photos. AJ Grigg blog Kevin Piper posted a history and some photos from the perspective of the EJ&E. Kevin Piper posted a description of the salvage operation.)

CA&E calls itself a railroad, but it was actually an interurban. It was electric, and it used the Metropolitan "L" tracks and terminal to access Chicago. I don't normally study interurban railroads because it is challenging enough to learn the regular railroads in Illinois. But since I live in the western suburbs of the Chicago area, the CA&E has special significance.

Passengers transferred between the CA&E and the "L" at Laramie/52nd Ave Station. [chicago-l-larame-52nd] The Chicago Rapid Transit Company gradually started servicing CA&E stations to the west until they went to Westchester in 1926. [chicago-l-westchester]

Biran Morgan posted
The Chicago Aurora & Elgin Railroad. AKA The Roarin Elgin, The great third Rail route. In reality the Third Rail Operations ran as far as Wheaton Shops. East of the Wheaton shops was third rail any where west of Wheaton was overhead Cat wire operated.
Thomas Leaton The third rail continued West of Wheaton, extending to Aurora on the outskirts of Aurora branch, to the Batavia village limits on the Batavia Branch, to West Chicago, under the wires in West Chicago, then third rail to Geneva, and third rail to approximately the Elgin city limits on the Elgin branch.
Mark Egebrecht It was 3rd rail until a point about 1/2 a mile east of National Street in Elgin and the Burlington crossing in Aurora.
David Rhodes I like seeing Orchard Place on the map which is now O'Hare Airport. The original airport there is the reason O'Hare's call letters are ORD.
Val Ginter I hated when you had to transfer outside the City of Chicago.

York Township posted four photos with the comment:

York Township Through Time: Before the Prairie Path

Today, thousands of people walk, run, and bike along the Illinois Prairie Path. It's one of York Township's most beloved recreational trails—but long before it echoed with the sound of bicycles and footsteps, it hummed with electric trains racing across the countryside.

At the turn of the 20th century, the Aurora, Elgin & Chicago Railway—later known as the Chicago Aurora & Elgin Railroad (CA&E)—was transforming how people lived and traveled. When service began in 1902, its electric trains were among the fastest in the nation, connecting western DuPage County to Chicago at a time when many local roads were still little more than dirt and gravel.

The railroad became a lifeline for York Township. Stations at York Street in Elmhurst, Villa Park, Lombard, Stewart Avenue, Westmore near Meyers Road, and Green Valley gave residents an easy way to commute to the city, visit family, or spend a day shopping in Chicago. Long before expressways, the CA&E made it possible to enjoy the quiet of suburban life while working in the heart of the city.

The railroad didn't just move people—it helped shape our communities. Homes, businesses, and neighborhoods grew around these stations, and developers proudly advertised how close their properties were to the electric railway. In many ways, the growth of York Township in the early 1900s followed the tracks.

But after decades of service, changing travel habits and the rise of the automobile took their toll. On July 3, 1957, after years of financial struggles and competition from automobiles and highways, the railroad ended passenger service.

Not at the end of the day.

Not after a week's notice.

In the middle of the day.

Thousands of commuters who rode the train into Chicago that morning discovered there would be no train home that evening. Passenger service ended abruptly when a court injunction allowing the railroad to continue operating was lifted.

Fortunately, the story didn't end there.

Rather than allowing the abandoned rail corridor to disappear, local leaders saw an opportunity. The former railroad became the Illinois Prairie Path, one of the nation's first successful rail-to-trail conversions. What was once a corridor for electric trains is now a place where families stroll, cyclists explore, runners train, and neighbors connect.

The next time you find yourself on the Prairie Path, take a moment to imagine the scene more than a century ago. Picture sleek electric trains gliding past open fields, stopping at small stations that helped build the communities we know today. Beneath every step is a piece of York Township history—proof that sometimes the paths we enjoy today were once the tracks that carried our communities into the future.

Do you remember riding the CA&E, or have stories passed down from family members? We'd love to hear your memories in the comments!

Joseph Obrien shared

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The Blackhawk Railway Historical Society posted seven photos with the comment:

After years of battling declining ridership and competition from the neighboring Chicago & North Western and new government-built freeways (which also resulted in them losing their direct line into downtown Chicago,) the Chicago, Aurora & Elgin ceased passenger service on July 3, 1957. Unfortunately, they came to this decision AFTER hauling about 6,000 passengers into Chicago during the morning rush…but in the day long before 24-hour news and text messaging, word was slow getting out, and when those same passengers hopped on the CTA’s Garfield Park “L” line for their connections to the CA&E at Des Plaines Ave., they found no trains to complete their journey home.
The “Roarin’ Elgin” ran freight-only for a couple years and was eventually abandoned and scrapped. Most of its right-of-way is now part of the Illinois Prairie Path bike and walking trail, and because the CA&E outlasted most of the other interurbans, quite a bit of their equipment still exists, including nearby at the Illinois Railway Musem and the Fox River Trolley Museum. But most of the people living alongside or exercising on that trail don't know a lot about the electric railroad that one ran there, or the events of 63 years ago today.

Greg Burnet Timely. The car in the picture (Car #316) is currently undergoing restoration at the Fox River Trolley Museum. In fact, I'm delivering over a thousand feet of newly milled components (window sills, exterior trim, etc.) to them next week for painting & will be milling a batch of new siding to replace the damaged material in the near future as well.

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Bill Molony posted
1915 map of the Chicago, Aurora & Elgin Railroad.
All passenger service on the CA&E was discontinued in June of 1957. 
Limited freight service continued on the CA&E until the summer of 1959.
Scott Greig Part of the Aurora branch became a branch for the Burlington for a while...also part of the Cook County branch was used as an industrial spur into the 80s, I think?
Thomas Kaufman After the CA&E abandonment, the ICC which was the predecessor to the Surface Transportation Board, authorized something similar to a Directed Service Order ala CRI&P in the 80's. The IHB and IC were authorized to access the Cook County branch from their respective railroads for a time. I think you are correct about 1980. I think that is when the IHB terminated the haulage rights when the last freight customers abandoned service.

Fox River Trolley Museum posted four images with the comment:

Long before our trolleys were carrying families along the Fox River, the electric interurban trains of the Chicago, Aurora & Elgin Railroad raced across the Illinois prairie, linking towns, farms, and cities through one of the most advanced electric railway systems in the country. When CA&E passenger service ended in 1957, most of that world disappeared almost overnight. Tracks were removed, cars were scrapped, and an entire era of transportation faced the risk of being lost. 

In 1963, as the abandoned CA&E right-of-way faced an uncertain future, volunteers organized to save these historic corridors from vanishing entirely. What began with a single letter to the editor grew into a grassroots movement that, in just a few short years, secured land, cleared miles of brush, built bridges, and laid the foundation for what became the Illinois Prairie Path , widely recognized as the nation’s first major Rails-to-Trails project. Built largely by volunteers, the Prairie Path transformed former interurban lines into a public greenway and was later designated Illinois’s first National Recreation Trail. It not only preserved the routes of the CA&E, but helped launch a nationwide movement showing how former rail corridors could be protected, repurposed, and shared. 

Today, the Illinois Prairie Path and the Fox River Trolley Museum stand as two living outcomes of the same history. The Prairie Path preserves the routes and landscapes of the interurban era. We preserve the motion, the machinery, and the experience. Our collection includes CA&E cars that once rode the line, including 458, 316, and 317, allowing visitors to ride the same types of trains that once connected communities across northern Illinois. We also preserve the structures that anchored this system. The historic Wayne depot, which once served CA&E passengers, now stands at our museum and has been recently restored and repainted. Nearby is our Hollywood station building, another authentic survivor that helps place our operating railway in its original setting. Every ride at the Fox River Trolley Museum is more than a trip down the track. It is a journey through the same CA&E legacy that inspired the Illinois Prairie Path and launched the Rails-to-Trails movement itself. Together, these two institutions ensure that the story of electric railways in Illinois is not just remembered, but still very much alive. 🛤️💙

Foxtrolley.org

IPP.org

Fox River Trolley Museum shared

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BeHistoric posted
The video of the talk at the Wheaton Public Library regarding the History and Artifacts of the CA&E Railway is now available. It was a fun evening, with a great turnout and audience participation, The video can be found on the Wheaton Public Library's YouTube channel or at the City of Wheaton's Community Page. Links are given below. Thank you to the Wheaton Public Library, the City of Wheaton Historic Commission and the City of Wheaton, Illinois for hosting this event and producing the video of the talk.
Wheaton Public Library YouTube link:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yh_oe50kwlw
City of Wheaton, Illinois Community Page link: https://vimeo.com/725861197

 

1:42:12 video @ 7:58

 

1:42:12 video @ 9:29

1:42:12 video @ 20:13, 1902

A lot more stations, some creating new towns. And it was linked to the Fox Valley System.

1:42:12 video @ 21:03, 2904

1:42:12 video @ 41:28, 1911

 

1:42:12 video @ 1:10:10

1:42:12 video @ 1:42:12

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While railfanning the UP/C&NW in Glen Ellyn, I also checked out the old CA&E RoW that ran just south of the C&NW tracks. To the west of Main Street, it is a normal looking trail. Behind the "Glen Ellyn" sign in this street view is this sign about the CA&E. To the east of Main Street the right-of-way (RoW) went through what is now a parking lot so they moved the trail south of the parking lot.

Note the high-tension line has its poles in the parking lot. That marks the CA&E RoW. The 4-disc voltage (66kv) of this line was state-of-art back when interurban railroads first started failing. So power companies would buy their RoW at bankrupt prices and build a power line along that RoW. Even though the state-of-art for voltages was a lot higher that 66kv in 1957 when the CA&E gave up, power companies seem to stick with these lower voltage high-tension lines in urban areas.

On my way home, I went south on Finley Road. When I saw this bridge above the road, it struck me that was a trail bridge, so I found a safe place to park and walked back to take a picture. Note the high-tension line is still using the RoW. Looking at a satellite image confirms that this is the Illinois Prairie Path - Main Stem. The Illinois Prairie Path was built on the CA&E RoW.

Update: Railroad Glory Days

A series of YouTube videos about the stations and  artifacts along the CA&E. (source)

55 pages of the valuation maps