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North Shore Line
Posted by:
Vern H
()
Date: September 22, 2013 11:09PM
Took a drive yesterday tracing this old rail line. The Lake Shore branch ran pretty much right next to old C&NW line, now the Union Pacific north Metra line. My question is why would they build right next to another line? I also noticed a similar thing with the old CA&E out west. Does anyone know why they did this?
Re: North Shore Line
Posted by:
Jeff_Weiner
()
Date: September 23, 2013 01:18AM
The NSL ran mostly in the street where it paralleled the C&NW, so they had more apparent stops, and more frequent service. Problem was, they ran in the streets, so they had to deal with increasing interference from auto traffic. This was one of the incentives for thr North Shore to build the Skokie Valley Route, which also paralleled a C&NW freight line, but eliminated street running (except for grade crossings. North of North Chicago, the lines diverged, and the NSL was roughly mid-way between the C&NW North Line, and the freight line that ran near Route 41. It was common in the earlier days of the railroads for competitors to parallel each other: The C&NW was alongside the North Shore and the Milwaukee Road Evanston Division, as well as the Northwest Rapid Transit Company tracks (who would later allow the North Shore an entry to downtown Chicago, and take over the Milwaukee Road's freight operation on the North Side).
If the North Shore had relocated its shops from Highwood after the Skokie Valley line was in operation (the north side of Waukegan has been mentioned as the most likely place) the line from Wilmette to Lake Bluff probably would have been totally abandonned. As it was, service was cut back, and then everything south of Highwood was removed, with only equipment and crew moves, in 1955. All was removed in 1963 with full abandonment to give the Susquehanna Corp. their big tax break.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/07/2016 04:42AM by Jeff_Weiner.
If the North Shore had relocated its shops from Highwood after the Skokie Valley line was in operation (the north side of Waukegan has been mentioned as the most likely place) the line from Wilmette to Lake Bluff probably would have been totally abandonned. As it was, service was cut back, and then everything south of Highwood was removed, with only equipment and crew moves, in 1955. All was removed in 1963 with full abandonment to give the Susquehanna Corp. their big tax break.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/07/2016 04:42AM by Jeff_Weiner.
Re: North Shore Line
Posted by:
trainutlen
()
Date: September 23, 2013 04:22PM
Also don't forget that as part of a WPA project, the Shore Line Route was relocated through Winnetka,Glencoe and such,along with the North Western tracks to a recessed private right of way, which is now a bike trail.
Re: North Shore Line
Posted by:
Jeff_Weiner
()
Date: September 24, 2013 12:16AM
trainutlen Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Also don't forget that as part of a WPA project,
> the Shore Line Route was relocated through
> Winnetka,Glencoe and such,along with the North
> Western tracks to a recessed private right of way,
> which is now a bike trail.
Quite true, but the grade separation was predated by the Skokie Valley Line. From the pictures I've seen of the Winnetka cut, the North Shore stops were the latest thing, with high-level platforms and an elevator at one station. And all abandonned in 1955, eight years before the plug was pulled on the rest of the railroad. Sad.
-------------------------------------------------------
> Also don't forget that as part of a WPA project,
> the Shore Line Route was relocated through
> Winnetka,Glencoe and such,along with the North
> Western tracks to a recessed private right of way,
> which is now a bike trail.
Quite true, but the grade separation was predated by the Skokie Valley Line. From the pictures I've seen of the Winnetka cut, the North Shore stops were the latest thing, with high-level platforms and an elevator at one station. And all abandonned in 1955, eight years before the plug was pulled on the rest of the railroad. Sad.
Re: North Shore Line
Posted by:
Mr Downtown
()
Date: September 24, 2013 02:35AM
New railroads often found the easiest place to acquire a right-of-way was right next to another railroad. In the case of the North Shore, they expected to provide a different kind of service (frequent stops, several trains per hour) at lower fares. One of the factors hastening the demise of the North Shore and other interurbans was when state regulators set fares per mile the same for the steam roads and the interurbans. If the North Western would take you downtown faster and more comfortably for the same price, why spend twice as long rattling along on the lightweight trolley cars?
Re: North Shore Line
Posted by:
trainutlen
()
Date: September 24, 2013 04:01PM
But remember, Shore Line trains met Skokie Valley trains at North Chicago junction, so one could transfer. Once the North Shore line was granted permission to travel into downtown Chicago via the EL, its advantage over the Northwestern was that North Shore trains traveled directly into downtown Chicago via the Loop El.
Re: North Shore Line
Posted by:
Jeff_Weiner
()
Date: February 07, 2016 04:47AM
There were actually [u]three[/u] railroads paralleling each other on the Shore Line: the CNS&M, the C&NW, and the Milwaukee Road. The CMSP&P eventually cut back and abandoned service, turning their R-O-W to the L, and the suburban service to the CNS&M.
