C&WI 15th Street Tower

(no CRJ, Satellite, it was in the southwest quadrant of the intersection of 15th and Dearborn Streets.)
NorthAmericanInterlockings:  no entry
no Chicago and Northern Indiana Railroad Interlocking Towers

The 15th Street Tower was part of C&WI's route between 21st Street Crossing and Roosevelt Road, which as the route to Dearborn Station.

Dave Durham posted
Bob Lalich Interesting trackwork in the foreground!
Dave Durham Bob Lalich I agree. Its great to be able to see all of this trackwork as it looked at that time. Lots of respect for the old-time railroaders and their tenacity.
Dennis DeBruler Finally, a good photo of C&WI's 15th Street Tower. The few photos I have seen so far always had a train in front of it.

Dennis DeBruler commented on Dave's post
That track going across the front is raising a lot of questions in my mind. I don't see any gaps in the rails that cross it. So is it obsolete and they just cut through it? If it is obsolete, why didn't they just remove it? How did they cut rail back then? A big hacksaw? Now they use a cutoff wheel with hydraulic power from a service truck.

Dennis DeBruler commented on Bill's posting

[Excerpt from C&EI1964ChicagoDearborn-300lg.pdf file from Chicagoland Railfan Group or 1964 Dearborn Approach or .pdf]

Dennis DeBruler also commented on Dave's post

The five tracks that went to Dearborn Station are on the other side of the tower. The tracks leaving the frame in the lower-right corner went to the freight houses of some of the C&WI owners and Santa Fe. 

Bob Lalich commented on my comment on Dave's post
I wondered about those rails as well Dennis. I'm not sure what to make of them. Here is a crop of the Smoke Abatement book map of the area. It shows that there was a white lead plant and foundry next to the tracks. That may offer some clue.

Bob Lalich commented on a post for which I can't get a link

One of eight photos posted by Michael Dye concerning Erie's 14th Street Freight House
A 1972 photo, showing the tracks passing the SE side of the freighthouse, with the 15th Street Interlocking Tower, apparently closed but shown.

Dave Durham posted
Bob Lalich In later years the towers north and south of the NYC/Rock Island viaduct were called 15th St and 16th St respectively.

Bill Molony posted
Two Grand Trunk Western EMD GP9's at 14th Street on the Chicago & Western Indiana tracks with The Maple Leaf - June, 1967.
Dennis DeBruler There is a tower peaking above the train near its end. I need to study some maps to see if that is the C&WI 15th Street Tower. I've seen very few photos of it.
Stan Stanovich ...because of it proximity Mr. Dennis DeBruler, I would dare say it’s the tower at 16th and Clark!!!
Bob Lalich Yes, that is 15th St tower near the right edge of the photo. It was closed by this time. I'll double check but I believe 15th St was remotely controlled from the "new" Roosevelt Road tower when it was built in 1964.

Mike Breski posted
Chicago & Eastern Illinois FP7 #1608 departs Chicago with train #93, the combined southbound "Georgian"/"Hummingbird," circa 1966.
Bob Lalich This train is inbound at 15th St tower.
[Note the RI+NYC overpass in the left background.]

Chicago Odyssey 1 Screenshot @ -1:33

[Note the 15th Street Tower is closed because the windows are boarded up.]

C&EI Historical Society posted
According to the late Ray Curl, C&EI historian, the Georgian's last run was January 30, 1968, thus ending through Dixie-line service via the L&N at Evansville and other southern lines.
Mark Rickert Cant add photos but looking at the track chart and would say specifically the photographer was at the 14th st crossing with the truck trailer on the extreme right blocking the view of the C&EI freight house. I'd further say the engine is on the northbound main and the switch is the crossover from the east lead and the switch next to the engine being the crossover from the west lead to the Southbound main.
Bob Lalich Mark Rickert - you are correct, except the tower is 15th St. If I could post a diagram of 15th St interlocking, everything you described can be verified.
Dennis DeBruler The train is arriving at Dearborn and the tower is the C&WI 15th Street Tower. Or it was. In 1964, a new tower was built by Roosevelt Road that assumed control of this area. https://industrialscenery.blogspot.com/.../c-15th-street...

Mike Breski posted

Caption: “C&EI’s Georgian/Hummingbird arrives Chicago, February 1968.” Photo by Larry Sallee.

https://marmarinou.tumblr.com/.../caption-ceis...

Dennis DeBruler

Looking south from 14th Street. That is the C&WI 15th Street Tower peaking over the baggage cars.

Bill Raia Flickr Photo
ATSF train 19 at 15th Street 7-5-65

Jim Kelling posted
15th Street in Chicago, taken about 1915 (ICC Valuation)

Jon Roma commented on Jim's post
This was Chicago & Western Indiana's tower.

Jon Roma commented on his comment
Here's a later C&WI diagram after a few revisions were made.

IC Weldon and 18th Street Coach Yards

(3D Satellite)

(Update: an index of IC's Chicagoland yards and roundhouses, see also Weldon yard)

Whoops, a duplicate. See also IC Passenger Yards.

What the name Weldon Yard refers to depends on which century you are talking about and which railroader you are talking to. During much of the 20th Century, Weldon Yard was the western yard and it handled the intercity trains. The eastern yard was, and is, the 18th Street Yard and it handles the commuter (suburban) trains. [Larry Candilas' comment below]

David Daruszka posted
The 18th Street MU shop, with Soldier Field in the right and the Field Museum above it. All the land to the east of the tracks was created by landfill. This was NOT made with landfill from the Chicago fire. Much of the fill came from various construction projects including the new Union station and the straightening of the Chicago River. The Chicago Freight Tunnel ran to the lakefront as well, so the fill included debris from the various coal fired boilers in downtown office buildings.
Dennis DeBruler: MU means Multiple Unit? So this would be the electrified cars or suburban service yard?
Vanished Chicago posted
CHICAGO – RAILYARDS – AERIAL – SKYLINE BACKGROUND – 1958

David responded to my question
Yes. The shops were built when the line was electrified. Daily maintenance and inspections are still performed there. Heavy servicing was done at Burnside and later Woodcrest at Harvey yards. Metra built a new facility at KYD (Kensington YarD) at the junction of the Blue Island line.

 

Some evidently used the name 16th Street Yard for the 18th Street Yard.

Marty Bernard posted

Critter of the Day

Illinois Central Electric freight locomotive 10003 at the 16th Street shops in downtown Chicago. The Shops are still in use by Metra Electric.  The IC steeplecabs were sold to the South Shore Line in 1941. This one became South Shore 901. B&W print in my collection, photographer unknown.

Marty Bernard shared with the same comment

1938 Aerial Photo from ILHAP

Original Chicago posted via Dennis DeBruler
1942 track chart Chicago lakefront. Some of these tracks are still there, just underground now.
Ken Jamin shared

Calumet412
Looking north from [actually, toward] Grant Park, 1948, Chicago. Andreas Feininger 
Mike Breski shared
Tabitha Mira posted
Art Fischman: Dead center in that picture is an elevated walkway that went across the tracks. Walked across it one time as a kid. It was pretty awesome.
Matthew Chapman: Very much south of Grant Park, actually. This photo was taken from a place south of 18th St., perhaps from an upper floor of the RR Donnelly Printing Co bldg that was served by the tracks in the immediate foreground.
Paul Webb shared
John L Garcia shared
Matt McClure: I loved the 18th Street pedestrian Bridge in the foreground. Perfect for photography and never bothered by a soul.

 

History's Mirror posted
This iconic photograph, originally published in *Life* magazine, captures the incredible density of rail traffic converging toward Chicago—once the undisputed rail capital of America. With 42 different freight and passenger railroads using the lines shown, the image is a testament to the city’s status as a vital hub of commerce and transportation. Stretching across the foreground is the old 18th Street Pedestrian Bridge, a tar-covered wooden structure that for decades served as a lifeline for foot traffic over the sprawling rail yards. Built for the 1933 Century of Progress World's Fair, the bridge helped millions of fairgoers reach venues on Northerly Island and around Soldier Field. Long after the fair ended, the bridge remained a beloved and essential crossing for South Loop residents and sports fans alike. Anyone who used it remembers the creak of the boards underfoot and the panoramic view of the lake, skyline, and labyrinth of tracks below. In 2004, the old bridge was replaced by a modern, 1,400-foot pedestrian and bicycle bridge, offering even better access from neighborhoods to the lakefront. Though the original bridge is gone, the spirit of connection and movement it embodied continues in its sleek successor, still guiding Chicagoans across time and steel.
[42 railroads did not use these lines. There were five other major stations in town. Offhand, I can think of only Michigan Central and Big Four using this in addition to Illinois Central.]

Mike Roegner: Photo by Andreas Feininger.

Glen Miller posted

Chicago skyline in 1954. You can clearly see the old, rickety 18th Street bridge traversing the tracks. Remember going across this for the Bears games? Rahm replaced it in 2015

Frank Neilson: It was already rickety in the 70's and 80's.

Dennis DeBruler commented on Paul's share
The location of the photographer, Andreas Feininger, was significantly further south than Grant Park. It appears that it was taken from the tower the former RR Donnelly's Lakeside Press Building down at 22nd Street. The strong floors and electrical supply installed in the building to support printing presses makes the building a good fit for its current use of holding computers, routers and fiber optic cables.
https://calumet412.com/.../looking-north-from-grant-park...
https://www.google.com/.../@41.8519024,-87.../data=!3m1!1e3

Mike Breski posted

ANDREAS FEININGER

1906 - 1999

View from Donnelley's (350 E. 22nd St.), Looking North, Chicago, 1941

Date: 1941

Credit Line:

Andreas Feininger Archive, Rights and Reproductions

Description: [bird's-eye view of railroad yard; Chicago skyline in background]

Associated place: USA, Chicago

Nationality: United States

[Most of the comments were about Donnelley. One was about the Pabst Blue Ribbon sign so I added Jack Delano's photo of that sign.]

Andreas took more than one photo while he was on the Lakeside Press building.

Jim Arvites posted
View looking north toward Central Station of the Illinois Central Railroad freight, inter-city passenger and commuter train yards in Chicago in 1954.
(Andreas Feininger Photo)
Jim Arvites posted again with the same comment
Larry Candilas: The coach yard to the left was Weldon Yard and the suburban yard to the right was, and still is, 18th St.
Bob Hayden: Field Museum on the right?

Dennis DeBruler commented on Bob's comment
The columns must have been part of Soldier Field. The "hat" above the columns is part of the Field Museum. This photo posted by David Daruszka helps show the sight lines between Cermak Road and the Field Museum. The photo was probably taken from the RR Donnelly Lakeside Press Building, now a data center.
 https://www.google.com/maps/@41.8520246,-87.618336,241a,35y,39.39t/data=!3m1!1e3

A different exposure:

Jeff Nichols posted
Tracks converging south of the Loop, June 1954.  Life Magazine.
Paul Webb shared

 

Bob Eisthen posted

Unlabeled slide by Joe Rogers, processed September 1974, of an IC coach yard.  

This is Chicago (electric service cars are slightly visible behind the main line of older cars).

Randy Bosma: The 1920s-era green Pullman coaches are being replaced by the new double-decker 'Highliners' delivered over the course of several years in the 1970s. Both were EMU powered by 1500 volt DC from overhead catenary. The 40+ year lifespan of the Pullmans was not matched by the Highliners; another generation of cars has replaced them.

Chuck Earley: Weldon yard.

Louie Giometti: This is the Illinois Centrals Weldon Yard worked there often in my early days with the ICRR The winters where tough wind snow knee deep my job was to stuff pillows into City of Miami train in the Material Dept warehouse and drive them up to 12th Street Station so they could load them for the trip to the south. That’s when it got rough driving in the snow and wind coming off the lake behind Soldiers Field home of the Bears.

Gene Purkhiser: I loved working on the old green tanks

David Charles Linberg posted
South Shore running through the ICG yards In March of 1978.

 

Mike Raia posted
The end is near for Illinois Central passenger service. Three IC trains at Central Station in Chicago on April 4, 1971. On May 1, the newly formed Amtrak would take over passenger service. Bill Raia photo.
Mike Raia shared
Steve Merriam: If this is morning, we probably have, from left to right: the Hawkeye (From Sioux City); the City of New Orleans, (to its namesake city); the Governor's Special (to Springfield).
Mike Raia shared
Derrick Hampton: To the far right, you can see "The Prudential" insurance building!

Paul Musselman posted
This small engine house SORT of looks like it could have been a small roundhouse-but I'm not familiar with the IC stuff down there-anybody have a clue as to what this was?

Joe Flens: Those are the 18th street shops and yard. They were built in 1925 for the Illinois Central electric line. The building was built temporarily for the shops but has lasted the test of time. Metra Electric uses the shops now……

Joseph Tuch Santucci: This is the 18th Street MU shed and yard. During the week during the off rush, this yard is full of MU electric cars. This is where they do running maintenance on them. There is also a wash rack here on the far right side of the building. It’s all still in business.

Marty Bernard posted
6. ICG GP8 7714 coming off the east end of the St. Charles Airline, Chicago, IL in March 1976. from Rick Burn's Camera.
[The ballast still being nice and white is a reminder that the southern connection of the St. Charles Air Line was added as intercity passenger train traffic was dying.]

Michael Brandt posted
A pic of an old Iron Horse IC from 1972. It appears they are still ruling the rails at this point. Nice shot of Solder Field in the background.

Illinois Central Railroad Scrapbook posted

On a beautiful fall September 29, 1970, afternoon, the southbound "Panama Limited" pulls out of Chicago's Central Station, embarking on its daily 921 mile overnight run to New Orleans. To the right is IC's Weldon Coach Yard, where IC cleaned and maintained its passenger car fleet (however, heavy repairs were done at the Burnside Shops at 95th Street).

For most of its history the "Panama Limited" was Pullman only, and was one of the finest passenger trains to be found on any railroads. However, by the mid-1960's the IC was losing approximately $1.5 million annually on the train. To help cut these losses, on October 29, 1967, coaches and a food bar were added to the train. But, to give the illusion that the "Panama Limited" was still an all-Pullman train, the coach section was identified in public timetables as the "Magnolia Star". This charade ended December 13, 1968, when the "Magnolia Star" name was dropped and afterwards the coaches operated as regular equipment on the train.

The "Panama Limited" made its last run on April 30, 1971, the day before Amtrak took over most intercity rail service in the U.S. The "Panama Limited" name was used by Amtrak between late 1971 and 1982 for its sole Chicago-New Orleans train, but Amtrak's version of the train simply was no match for the level of service offered by the IC's "Panama Limited".

David Charles Lindberg posted this March 15, 1978 photo
Mark Jones: 18th st footbridge— old Weldon St Coachyard in distance, now filled w/ stored boxcars.

I think this is a view across the south throat of the yard.

Marty Bernard posted
An outbound CSS&SB (South Shore) train just southeast of the Chicago Loop, August 18, 1982.
Marty Bernard shared
Jeff Lewis: You appear to be standing adjacent to Soldier Field. I briefly knew a woman who lived in the Lake Vista Apartments, the prominent building in the center of the image, at the time of this photo. I would occasionally look out her window at the activity in the yards and along the electric line. Cool shot. And thanks for the memory, I haven't thought of her in a very long time.

Jeff Nichols posted
Passenger train leaving the Illinois Central Station. Cataloged as c. 1952. Source: Museum of the American Railroad, Dallas, Texas
Paul Jevert: That is no doubt #303 "The James Whitcomb Riley" departing about 3:55 pm. It looks like it has a I.C.R.R. "stand-in 2600 doing the honors to KKK due to a failure of NYC power on arrival from KKK on the northbound trip. The Big 4 had a big Roundhouse at KKK and they were no doubt lending them a I.C. race horse to be cut off at KKK for their own motor or steamer !
The Riley was an all stainless steel train put on after WW II !
I incidently fired the Riley in 1968-71 since I.C. Engine crews did the running from KKK-Chicago-KKK ! The Big 4 train crews worked through to Chicago and return.
Paul Jevert shared
New York Central Big 4 trn. #303 James Whitcomb Riley departs Central Station Chicago with I.C. 4-8-2 2600 Class Mountain on the point from Chicago to Kankakee, Ill. where NYC power will swap out to Indianapolis/ Cincinatti, OH.

Michael Brandt posted
What a great shot of an old Iron Horse IC running along side two aluminum can IC's.Notice big Stan, the Standard Oil building under construction in the background.
Bill Mildaus: Must of been before the horable crash, after crash the IC painted the ends of cars bright orange.

1916,1994 Navy Pier

(Satellite)

Michael Wesolowski posted
Navy Pier - 1920

A different exposure.

Mike Tuggle posted

Navy Pier, looking west in 1920.

Navy Pier opened to the public on July 15, 1916. Originally known as the "Municipal Pier", the pier was built by Charles Sumner Frost, a nationally known architect, with a design based on the Plan of Chicago (1909) by Daniel Burnham and Edward H. Bennett. It's original purpose was to serve as a dock for freights, passenger traffic, and indoor and outdoor recreation; events like expositions and pageants were held there.

In the summer of 1918 the pier was also used as a jail for draft dodgers. In 1927, the pier was renamed Navy Pier to honor the naval veterans who served in World War I.

In 1941, during World War II, the pier became a training center for the U.S. Navy; about 10,000 people worked, trained, and lived there. The pier contained a 2,500-seat theater, gym, 12-chair barber shop, tailor, cobbler shops, soda fountain and a vast kitchen and hospital.

In 1946, as the Navy was winding down from its mission, the University of Illinois at Chicago held classes at the pier. Though the maximum capacity was exceeded the school outgrew the pier and the university relocated to Circle Campus.

After the university left, the Navy Pier became underutilized.

In 1959, the St. Lawrence Seaway opened and increased commercial shipping activity at the pier for a short time, though business died down and left for more modern facilities at Lake Calumet.

In 1976, the East End buildings were renovated and for a brief period the pier was alive again, home to summer events like ChicagoFest. But maintenance was not done and the pier went into decline.

In 1989, the City of Chicago had the Urban Land Institute (ULI) reimagine uses for the pier. The Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority (MPEA) was created; its responsibility was to manage and operate Navy Pier as well as McCormick Place. The MPEA undertook the redevelopment, incorporating some of ULI’s recommendations.

In 1995, Navy Pier was redesigned and introduced to the public as a mixed-use venue incorporating retail, dining, entertainment, and cultural spaces.

Starting in 2014, the redevelopment plan called The Centennial Vision was implemented. The purpose of this plan is to fulfill the mission to keep Navy Pier as a world-class public space and to renovate the pier so it will have more evening and year-round entertainment and more compelling landscape and design features.[9] The Centennial Vision was completed in summer 2016. The Polk Family Foundation (founded by Sol Polk) donated $20 million to the redevelopment effort; the park and fountain at the entrance to the pier was named the Polk Brothers Park and Fountain.

Philip Wizenick: The Port of Chicago Navy Pier was active with foreign flag shipping from 1959 to 1979. It ended because containerized freight took over and unloaded at salt water ports transferring the containers to rail to continue inland.
Paul Jevert shared

Historic Chicago posted
Chicago - Navy Pier when it was called Municipal Pier. (1921)

 

Jim Hamby posted
Municipal Pier Built in 1915. Before it was called Navy Pier. Name was changed to Navy Pier in 1927.
Paul Webb shared

Zavier Quintana posted

From Vintage Tribune:

Municipal Pier (now Navy Pier) is seen from the air on Sept. 7, 1927. Municipal Pier opened to the public on July 15, 1916, on the shore of Lake Michigan. The pier originally had a docking place for frieghters, passenger boats and an indoor and outdoor space for recreation for the public. By 1927, the pier was renamed Navy Pier to honor the naval veterans who served in World War I. Navy Pier was redesigned in 1995 and became a retail, dining, and entertainment hotspot. It is one of the most visited attractions in the Midwest. 

(Vintage Tribune)

 

History’s Mirror posted
The original panoramic image of Charles Sumner Frost's Navy Pier from 1927, courtesy of the bldg. 51 archive, offers a breathtaking window into a defining era of Chicago's urban landscape. Captured just a decade after the pier's 1916 opening and the same year it was renamed in honor of the Navy, this photograph is a vital historical document. It showcases the pier in its prime, not as the recreational hub it is today, but as a bustling, multi-functional facility central to the city's identity. The view from the pier perfectly frames the dramatic Chicago skyline of the late 1920s, a period of explosive architectural growth and prosperity just before the Great Depression. We see the formidable, classically-inspired head house and the long freight sheds, symbols of the city's commercial might, juxtaposed against the rising towers of the Loop in the distance. This panorama does more than just document a place; it captures the spirit of Daniel Burnham's Plan of Chicago made manifest. It is a testament to civic ambition, architectural vision, and the vibrant, industrial energy of a city firmly establishing itself as a global metropolis.

MWRD posted
A view of Municipal Pier, now Navy Pier, from Lake Michigan on April 9, 1920.

 

Raymond Kunst posted three photos with the comment: "University of Illinois at Navy Pier opened in 1946 to serve WWII veterans."

Nicholas J Vetrovec:  Its got an interesting origin and history. https://chicagology.com/skyscrapers/skyscrapers123/

1

2

3

Historic Chicago posted

Navy Pier Under Construction (1915)

In 1915, construction was underway on what was then known as Municipal Pier, designed to serve both commercial and public purposes. The massive pier, stretching 3,300 feet into Lake Michigan, was envisioned as a docking hub for cargo and passenger ships, as well as a recreational space for Chicagoans. When completed in 1916, it featured a promenade, restaurants, and even a dance hall. Though originally built for shipping and military use, the pier’s role evolved over the decades, becoming a central gathering place for fairs, events, and entertainment, eventually transforming into today’s Navy Pier.

In the 1960s, after the St. Lawrence Seaway opened, Navy Pier was a cargo pier.

Early 1960's
Anton Wenzel posted , this is an enhanced version by Jerry Jackson

Kenneth Andresen provided three more views of some ships using the pier from postcard pictures.

1961

1966

1964

Dennis Popiela posted
Navy Pier • Late 60s
[This posting has some interesting comments.]

Chicago & North Western Historical Society posted
This is Chicago's "Navy Pier" when it really was a shipping pier. Note the tank cars along the big "boat". They got there courtesy of the C&NW which ran a line from Kinzie Street west of the north branch of the Chicago River all the way out to the pier. Isn't that a City of Chicago fire boat in the foreground?
Don Walsh Even though tank cars were smaller then, it's crazy to see how tiny they look next to the ship.
Makingsalembetter CHICAGO fire academy was located in a building at the eastern end of this pier... actually on the west end of this line of ships.... Logival for it to be moored here... I believe there were rails (two tracks - INSIDE the center of the building as well as on the outside edges that we see here.... The 'auditorium' is just out of the image on the right..... Nice pic.. Nice memory... thanks! ....
Jeff Bittner: In 1937 3 fire boats were built for Chicago. 1 of them is at the maritine museum in Sturgeon Bay. This tug looks a bit smaller.
Historic Chicago posted
Navy Pier, Chicago (1961)
Andrew Roth shared
I believe the boat at the bottom of the photo is a Chicago Fire Department firefighting boat.
Ke Nesius Roeger: https://doorcountypulse.com/fire-boat-41-from-chicago.../....

Dennis DeBruler commented on a post

Here is a photo from its glory years (from an industrial history perspective) after the St. Lawrence Seaway opened.

https://www.facebook.com/.../a.86990496.../1052946118135115/

"This is Chicago's 'Navy Pier' when it really was a shipping pier. Note the tank cars along the big "boat". They got there courtesy of the C&NW which ran a line from Kinzie Street west of the north branch of the Chicago River all the way out to the pier. Isn't that a City of Chicago fire boat in the foreground?"

Are those sailing masts on the foreground ship?

William Moyer

The masts are part of the ship's cargo handling equipment. At the base of each mast, you can see about four booms sticking up and out from the mast at an angle. Each boom can be independently controlled to hoist cargo between the ship and the pier. You can barely make out the cables that are used to move and secure each boom and to hoist cargo with each boom.

Junior Farmer

Notice the tank cars are grouped along side almost every ship . This is for refueling the ships .

I thought this was just a cropped version of the above, but the smoke out of the stack is different.

Johnny Conlisk shared his web page
Navy Pier, possibly in the early 1960s, with 5 ocean-going ships along side. Note the skyline and the FDR Lake Shore Drive Bridge in the distance. This was just after the opening of the St Lawrence Seaway, a system of locks & canals that allowed ships from the Atlantic Ocean to go to the far reaches of the Great Lakes. Only a few years later, the advent of container shipping made it far cheaper to ship containers of goods from foreign ports to US coastal cities and on to Chicago by truck or rail. When that happened the Pier fell into disuse until the 1980s, when it was turned into an entertainment venue. It is currently one of Chicago's most popular tourist destinations. Photo: A Pictorial History of the Great Lakes - Read more about it here http://johnny-sells.com/when-chicago-was-an-international-…/
[The is lots of discussion of post port history in the comments.]

Xavier Quintana posted

Ships line the dock and warehouses are filled to overflowing at Navy Pier in one of the busiest weeks in its history on Nov. 10, 1962. The closing of the 1962 St. Lawrence seaway season is about three weeks away, and the activity reflects the heavy end of the season rush. Ships in line, from left, are the Sanmar (Greek), Gilsand (English), King City (English), Fair Head (North Ireland) and Takeshima (Japan) 

(Vintage Tribune, Chicago)

Joanne Kirkpatrick: Where do they dock now? or do they?

Dennis DeBruler: Joanne Kirkpatrick They don't. Just a few years after the St. Lawrence Seaway opened, shipping cargo in containers was developed. Now ships carring general cargo dock on the west and east coasts, and it is shipped to the Midwest using container trains.

Andrew Roth shared
The C&NW railroad spotted box cars at Navy Pier in Chicago so their cargos could be transfered to the outbound ships.

Xavier Quintana posted
From Vintage Tribune:
Cargo at Navy Pier, Chicago's lake front harbor facility, spills over on the docks, with steel lined up on the adjacent street as a surge of shipping fills warehouses on Nov. 18, 1961. The last vessel from the Chicago area is expected to be gone by Thanksgiving Day. (Vintage Tribune)
Ke Nesius Roeger shared
From back in the day when salties would dock at Navy Pier in Chicago.

 

Back when boats actually used it: 1962, 1962, 1963, 1965, and (barely used) 1981.

Jeff Nichols posted
Navy Pier. From the 1966 Circle Campus yearbook. University of Illinois at Chicago
Jennifer von Springhorn I remember my Mom taking me down to watch them load the ships. The cranes lifting netted crates and pallets to be stored in the hold.

Xavier Quintana posted
From Vintage Tribune:
Navy Pier when University of Illinois classes were held there, 1964. It was also a working dock. (Vintage Tribune)

Lou Gerard posted
Chicago & North Western train going into Navy Pier in 1975.

A photo of the early construction of the pier showing the many pilings that had been driven from a posting.
Stan Nettis When I went to University of Illinois at Navy Pier we were told it was built on 18,000 pilings.

After construction when passenger boats used the pier as a pier. The Encyclopedia of Chicago has a brief history of the pier.

Frank Pajak commented on the above posting
1915

Nelson Herrera also posted

The construction of Navy Pier in 1914

Cost 4.5 million dollars

James McKay That's $107M in 2016 dollars.
[Some comments indicate that it could not be built today for $107M.]

Matt McClure Streetcar in the center. C&NW line on the south side of the pier.

Jeff Nichols posted
May 1916 photo of men working on train tracks on Navy Pier (which, of course, was then known as Municipal Pier). Chicago History Museum, DN-0066200

Glen Miller posted
Municipal Pier in 1919.
Martin Trombetta Before the warehouse days smile emoticon

Sylvia Rzeminski shared a post by Jack Spatafora
Navy Pier in one of its many lifetimes , 1940
Bruce Gordon: Very few people remember how it was used. Train tracks ran down the lower level into the docks. Trucks would go on the ramps to the upper level to unload. Freight would go into the building and go from train to truck, etc.We drove over the tracks so many times in the 1950's. What memories. In my semi-adult year's I was there working at ChicagoFest and Taste of Chicago from 1979 on.

 

John Martin posted
Anyone remember when Navy Pier was an industrial site? Here is a photo of a CNW crew coming west after spotting freight cars at Navy Pier. Looks like Danny Fryar on the left and Robert Vaughn on the right.
Edward Kwiatkowski shared

Dale Windhorst: Any photos of the CNW grain elevator operation down around 118th and Torrence?

Dennis DeBruler: Dale Windhorst https://industrialscenery.blogspot.com/.../crlc-irondale...

Historic Chicago posted

We are giving away this amazing print for free to all our followers, simply go to

www.shopcitymerch.com/municipalpier

Navy Pier Streetcars 1921 Print

Nelson Herrera posted
Navy Pier 1931
[The "white line" is a plane flying by blowing smoke.]

Jeff Nichols posted
Navy Pier, c. 1933. University of Alabama.

Jamie Moncrief commented on Jeff's posting
The City of Holland was a Goodrich boat and regular visitor to the pier...but the stern doesn't look the same.. The Christopher Columbus as well, but her stack was pushed back more towards the stern...

Mike Tuggle posted

Navy Pier, circa 1947.
The University of Illinois had a branch here from October 1946 until February 1965 when the new University of Illinois at Chicago Circle (now University of Illinois at Chicago) opened.

Georgia Rasmussen posted
Are any of you survivors of the University of Illinois ay Navy Pier? When
It rained the roof leaked, hall floors flooded, ceiling material fell down...
It was chilly and to top it all off...occasionally a freighter would run into
It. We worked hard for our education before the Chicago Circle campus
Was built. I was there from 1959-61 before transferring to the Urbana
Campus.
[The comments talk about waves coming in on the classroom floors, asbestos, and ice water dripping down the back.]Bob Wolfberg Don't forget the rail cars running down the center of the pier.
Mike Haislet Bob Wolfberg Thats right!!!
Thank you for bringing that to our attention.
Robert Holzer I was there from 1956 to 1958 the roof didn’t leak then And we had great instructors. Then finished up in Champaign . Aski wa wa!
Mitch Simon I was at the "Pier" for the last year 1964-65.

Jay DiDomizio commented on Georgia's post
[A view of Ogden Slip before the west end was filled in.]

Eddie Yung posted
The good old "S" curve on LSD. Lake Shore Drive.
Ginny Teister Morton This definitive S-Curve photograph, was taken from the Prudential building in 1963 by the venerable Charles Cushman.
Bob Lalich The white buildings along Ogden Slip were known as North Pier Terminal.
[Note that some of the Illinois Central freight houses still exist on the south side of the river and that there is still some heavy industry on the north side of the river.]

Dennis DeBruler commented on William's comment
I just remembered that this was what freight ships looked like before container shipping was developed. In fact, I've read that it was container shipping that killed the Navy Pier freight traffic. It was cheaper to offload containers at the coasts and ship to the Midwest using rail rather than run a ship up the Seaway. And if the freight is too big to fit in a container, they now use pedestal cranes.
Paul R. Murry posted the photo with the comment:
"MUNTGRACHT - Upbound Port Huron, Michigan 5-14-2017"

Chris West posted
Chicagofest, 1981 - Navy Pier
[You can see tracks are still running along the side of the pier.]

Xavier Quintana posted

When Navy Pier was open air: A crowd of more than 125,000 gathered at the Pier for fun, food, and music at ChicagoFest in August 1981. Photo by Mario Petitti 

(Vintage Tribune)

Kirk Pagels: I was there. Check out this setlist, legends of Blues, R&B and Rock music all in one place in Chicago for the price of No.2 meal at McDonalds today. 

https://www.setlist.fm/festival/1981/chicagofest-1981-2bd7d0d2.html

John Gronkowski: Before Navy Pier became Disney-fied.....

Susan Pfeuffer-Powell: Was a great time!! Thought of doing this today makes me horrified.

Chicago now and then posted

Gene Majka: NO, NO, NO, THE FIRST WAS ON MICHIGAN AVE BTWEEN OHIO AND THE WRIGLEY BUILDING. DO SOME RESEARCH AND NOT HERESAY. I WAS THERE.

Kat Moller Martz: Gene Majka The first ChicagoFest was held from August 4–13, 1978 (with some sources citing the run through Aug 21), at Navy Pier in Chicago. Initiated by Mayor Michael Bilandic, the 10-day summer festival featured over 600 performances across 16 stages, including rock, blues, and jazz, serving as a predecessor to the Taste of Chicago. There is your needed research.

Tina Sifrer posted
Navy Pier
Daniel Bovino posted
Aerial of Navy Pier back when the University of Illinois Chicago was located there c. 1962.
Paul Jevert shared

Chicago & North Western Historical Society posted
WE at the C&NW Historical Society archives bet that today's tourists and young people cannot believe that this is a photo of Chicago's Navy Pier (about where the wheel is today). It is a "Port of Chicago" photo taken on August 17, 1963. The SW-8 was, according to Stephen Timko, a C&NW one of a kind.
Sunny Dhillon shared

Jerry Hund posted
American Freedom Train at Chicago's Navy Pier in 1975.

Mike Raia posted
The Freedom Train at Navy Pier in Chicago in August of 1975. Bill Raia photo.
Mike Raia shared

Jerry Hund posted two photos with the comment:
I took this photo at Chicago Navy Pier, 1975. American Freedom Train. The 4449 was taken at Proviso the day before. Not sure how the cars made their way through the “Chicago underground” and into Navy Pier.
Franklin Campbell It was the Reading T1 2101 that derailed several times on the Navy Pier line near the Merchandise Mart I think the train was handed off to 4449 at Proviso soon thereafter.

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Terry Hund posted
Navy Pier, Chicago
The year was 1975. The American Freedom Train was making stops all over the U. S. In celebration of our country’s 200th birthday. I took this photo at Chicago’s Navy Pier. I sure do miss the railroad siding that went right down the length of the pier. In my opinion, this was an opportunity lost that today could have been a trolley running between Union/Northwestern stations and back.

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Comments on a post

Sunny Dhillon posted two photos with the comment: "Freedom Train Navy Pier    1975 ... found on the internet"

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Mark Llanuza posted
Its Aug 1975 the great American Freedom train is on display on the CNW tracks at Navy Pier in Chicago IL.
[The steam locomotive was not part of the display. Comments are conflicting about weather or not it derailed on its way to the pier. Two said it did and one said it wasn't attempted.]
Paulene Spika: I used to do work for the City out at the Navy Pier Auditorium. The tracks in the picture ran along the outside length of the pier. They were for loading/unloading cargo from rail cars to ships docked at the pier. They were there all through the 1980's, until they turned Navy Pier into the amusement park that it is now.

Grace E. Kennings-Kwiatkowska posted
Navy Pier, 1914.
Pierre Hamon shared
Construction of Municipal Pier in 1914.
Later renamed Navy Pier in 1927.

BDBRCPC posted
The building of Municipal Pier (Navy Pier) 1914.
Raymond Kunst shared
Moss Tornero: How..HOW?? It’s to complicated..
Is that behemoth built on wood ??
Is mud holding it up?
I need answers!!!
David Hodson: Moss Tornero wood piles are driven by large (and heavy) weights into the bed of the lake. These weights are continually dropped, while advancement of the pile after each blow recorded. Generaly this continues until "refusal"; the point at which the advancement of the pile is below the required design point.
The weight with which the pile is driven, and the height from which it is dropped, and the amount of advancement with each blow, can then be used to calculate the bearing capacity of each installed pile. With the necessary design loading already known, it is the calculated how many piles are needed.
It should be noted that a significant portion of a driven pile's bearing capacity is derived from friction as the soils surrounding the length of the driven pile consolidate.
Underlaying much of the surface soils of Chicago is a layer of "fat clay"; a clayey soil with a very high silt content, generally greyish blue in color. This type of soil is relatively impervious to water infiltration, thus minimizing subsurface pile rot, as well as providing frictional support when these clays (relatively quickly) re-consolidate after being disturbed by the driven pile.

...but Im sure this is clearer.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/.../engineering/pile-capacity

Raymond Kunst posted
Construction of Municipal Pier in 1914.
Later renamed Navy Pier in 1927.
Walter Walas: Kinda knew this about the wooden pillar’s, but never seen a picture like this before …
When I was scuba diver for the Chicago Fire Department I was stationed on the large fire boat that was stationed there Eng . 41 … ( back in the mid 1970’s ) .. & one night did some practice night diving and went under the pier , not real far because I seen these .. at the time not knowing exactly what I may get into . Stopped …
Raymond Kunst shared
Mike Jackiw: It’s always astounded me that it’s sitting on wood. How the heck isn’t it rotting away and dropping into the lake?
Mo Cahill: Mike Jackiw no bugs or oxygen for rot. depending on the wood, can last a lonnggg time,. i believe there r jacaranda piers in the thous of yrs old, still in use. or at least, that‘s what the guy who sold me my jacaranda glider told me.
Andrew C. Martin: Mike Jackiw The whole city of Venice, Italy is on wood.
Bill Utermark: Amsterdam canal houses on wood. 100's of years. No contact to air.

Diane Bassman posted
University of Illinois, Navy Pier
Howie SilverHowie and 63 others joined Windy City Historians within the last two weeks. Give them a warm welcome into your community! I went to “The Pier” (Navy Pier) and then moved over to “Circle” (as UIC was called).Pat Howe I went to school there. Cold cold winter mornings out on the lake with ice jams grinding away at the foundations.

Sunny Dhillon shared
David M Laz posted
And there were freight trains running at Navy Pier to exchange goods with the docked freighters!
Michael Bose Engine 1241 is a Baldwin VO660M built in 1945. It was rebuilt in 1958, along with all of CNW's other Baldwin switchers, with an Electromotive 1200 hp 8-567 prime mover and a new long hood that is the same as the SW1200, NW2, SW1201, SW1300 & SW1500. So the looks are deceiving!
Robert Burnett Those guys looks fake. whats going on with this pic? look how long the red guys left arm is, it looks like an HO train locomotive and people, but the background looks real.
Sunny Dhillon I'm guessing someone at the warehouse behind had some manikins and decided to put them on the engine for the fun photo.
Bill Barden Robert Burnett real people I worked that job with them.
Patrick King Robert Burnett ... that’s what I thought.... look like a couple a Ken dolls.
[I don't follow this group. Is Bill Barden a troll? I'm going with the manikin theory.]

William Shapotkin posted
We are the east end of C&NW's Navy Pier Line in Chicago. Loco #1018 is seen near a boat alongside the dock -- presumably having just picked up a load (of what appears to be a bulldozer (?)). View looks east in this July 1973 photo by Jim Bartke. William Shapotkin Collection. (aac532)

  

Sarah Johnson posted
When the Taste was Chicago Fest at Navy Pier!

 

Growing up in Chicago posted
1981 - When Navy Pier was open air: A crowd of more than 125,000 gathered at the Pier for fun, food, and music at ChicagoFest.

Historic Chicago posted
Chicagofest (1979)
Rell Walker: I remember our parents taking us to Chicago Fest as a kid. Fond memories.
Unfortunately politics and the insensitivity of Chicago Mayor Jane Byrne to social justice issues related to public housing killed it leading to boycotts of the event. Her successor Mayor Harold Washington canceled it. It lasted from 1978 (started by Mayor Michael Bilandec) and ended in 1983 never to return. 

Grand Ballroom
"Now named the Aon Grand Ballroom, its interior has an 80-foot, half-domed ceiling and an 18,000-square-foot floor space. The room holds up to 1,400 people."

Ed Zoller contributed the following photos as comments on a post. If any of them are new, leave a comment and I'll make it bigger.

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Carey Wintergreen posted

Anyone remember when Navy Pier was just front and rear towers and nothing in between?

Chicago Tribune, Wed, Apr 03, 1991

John McKevitt: This was during the reconstruction. It literally only looked like this for a matter of weeks during demolition.

More pictures of the interior thanks to Chicago Fest 1981.

During the 1970s and 1980s there was a concerted effort to move shipping and industry south to the Calumet Lake area. C&NW tracks were removed from the Ogden Slip and thus the pier. The pier has now been redeveloped a couple of times as a tourist attraction, and it has been a successful draw of tourists. Now passenger boats dock along the south side instead of freighters.