I normally don't do "L" stations, but Indiana Avenue was no ordinary station. It used to be the origin of the Stockyards (to the West) and Kenwood (to the East) Branches. The following photo looks East along the Kenwood Branch.
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| Mike Tuggle posted CTA 385 is at the Indiana Avenue station in July 1948, signed as a Wilson Avenue local via the elevated instead of the State Street subway, which opened in 1943. The following year, the CTA introduced A/B “skip stop” service to North-South and the Kenwood and Stockyards ranches became shuttles. Mike McDermott: I think the church in the distance is the Blackwell Memorial AME Zion Church still standing at the SW corner of Oakwood Blvd and Langley. The pointy top of the steeple has changed, but otherwise the profile is the same. Paul Webb shared |
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| Ron Murnieks commented on Mike's post So this is looking east? |
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| Dennis DeBruler commented on Ron's comment Yes. You can see the "wiggle" in the Kenwood Branch in this 1938 aerial photo. As your map shows, the Stockyards Branch left this station to the West. |
I spent some time trying to find a link for the source of Mike's photo. I could not find that photo. But I did find a photo looking west along the Stockyard Branch: search for "running parallel" in part three. And a photo looking east after the Kenwood Branch was converted to a shuttle: search for "#810" in mystery photos.
In the background of Mike's photo we can see some tracks north of the Kenword Branch that are weedy. That would have been the Chicago Junction. Overpasses still exist over Federal, Dearborn (both tracks), Michigan (both tracks), Prairie and Calumet. Instead of having weeds, the tracks now have trees.
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| Mike Tuggle posted 40th and Indiana elevated station in the late 1950s. Perhaps Paul Jevert can identify the train. Paul Jevert: Yes Mike, That's the North Shore Line train [Chicago North Shore & Milwaukee Railway] heading north from the 63rd & Stony Island Terminal on the Jackson Park El to downtown stopping at 40th St., Roosevelt Rd., Wabash & Madison, Wabash & Randolph St. Lake St., Merchandise Mart, Wilson Ave., Uptown, Howard St. and on their own private electric right- of- way with third rail and overhead wire to Skokie, North Chicago, Waukegan, Zion, Kenosha, WI., Racine, and on the street to Downtown Milwaukee, WI. The total train ride took 2 hours and 25 minutes from Woodlawn to Milwaukee. What a FAST schedule! This thru service from Jackson Park ended in 1959 and the North Shore abandoned their railroad operation on January 21, 1963. The railroad equipment was scrapped although many cars were bought by R.R. Museums for preservation and operation. The entire electric railroad, rail, wire, equipment, buildings, material, etc. were sold to scrapper Hyman Michaels Scrap Dealer for $3,000,000.00. Today you can't even build 1 mile of Electric railroad for that price ! What a crying shame. The NSL car # 746 in the photo was built by Standard Steel Car Co. in 1926 and refurbished in 1950 by the North Shore at their Shops at Highwood, Illinois with a total rebuild and new "Silverliner" paint scheme to show shadowed silver accent lines on the car sides to give the illusion of a fluted stainless steel car body. North Shore trains were "very fast" and ran on a minute to minute tight schedule on the El and their own R.R. The maximum authorized track speed on their R.R. was 79 MPH ! The North Shore Line also offered a Dining car service on their trains on certain specific runs between Chicago and Milwaukee in mid-day and evening. So thusly you didn't have to catch the Chicago Northwestern or Milwaukee Road at Union Station to get to Wisconsin Cities and Milwaukee from the South Side. You had North Shore Line Fast, Clean, Efficient Electric service, direct to points north, one train, one seat from 63rd and Stony ! Philip Wizenick: The CNS&M did run trains to east 63rd street pre WW II. This I suspect is a rail fan trip. Paul Jevert shared North Shore at 40th St. L Staion on Southside Chicago for a Fantrip Chris Goepel: Cool photo. Most folks forget that some North Shore Line trains once operated in revenue service on the South Side “L” beyond the Roosevelt Road terminal to 63rd and Stony Island on the Jackson Park Branch. Bruce Moffat: The train is working a CERA charter. Silverliner scheme came years after North Shore stopped serving stations south of Roosevelt Road. Chris Goepel: Bruce Moffat, agreed. Would you happen to know the date of the fantrip? Bruce Moffat: Chris Goepel 5/15/1960 Andre Kristopans: Saw a train sheet from Indiana dated 1940s once that had a couple of NSL moves. Until 1949 there was very little storage room at Roosevelt so apparently a couple of AM rush layups went down to 61st for the day then came back as putouts in the PM. Glen Olbermann: Some old folks told me about the Train to Milwaukee always came to the south side back then. These are people that I knew that lived by the 58th st L station. |
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