Chicago and Evanston Railroad

Rail line in Illinois, United States

Chicago and Evanston Railroad

Gauntlet track at Wilson station; both Chicago "L" trains and freight trains ran along this track (1968).

Overview
Status| Abandoned; partially ceded to the CTA and the CTM
Owner| Milwaukee Road (later SOO)
Locale| Chicago–Wilmette, Illinois
Termini|

* Chicago Union Station
* Llewellyn Park

Stations| 22 (pre-1908)
Service
Type|

* Commuter rail (pre-1917)
* Freight rail

History
Opened| May 1, 1885 (1885-05-01)
Commuter rail truncated| May 16, 1908
Commuter rail closed| June 1917
Closed| see § Abandonment
Technical
Line length| 13.59 mi (21.87 km)[1]

Route map (pre-1908)

Legend

| C&ME |  |

|  |

|
|
|
|

|  |

|  |
|  |

|  | Llewellyn Park
|  |

|  |  |

| Wilmette

Evanston

|  |

|  | North Shore Channel
|  |

|  | Central
|  |

|  | Noyes

| C&NW

to Milwaukee

|  |
Evanston |  |

|  | Evanston
Dempster Street |  |

|  | Dempster
Main Street |  |

|  | South Evanston
|  |

|  | Calvary

| C&NW

to Chicago

|  |
|  |

|  |  |

| Evanston

Chicago

|  |

|  | Birchwood
|  |

|  | Rogers Park
|  |

|  | North Edgewater
|  |

|  | Edgewater
|  |

|  | Argyle Park
Sheridan Park  |  |

|  | Wilson
Buena Park  |  |

|  | Buena
Verona  |  |

|  |

| Northwestern "L"

to Loop

|  |

|  | Addison
|  |

|  |

| Northwestern "L"

Ravenswood branch

|  |

|  | Belmont
|  |

|  | Lincoln
|  |

|  | Fullerton
|  |

|  | North Ave.

C&NW ( | Wisconsin

Milwaukee

|  | Larrabee
|  |

|  | Chicago River

C&NW (Geneva)

|  |

|  | Wells Street Station
CM&StP |  |

|  |
|  |

|  | C&OP
|  |

|  | Union Station
|  |  |  |  |  |
Source:[2]

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The Chicago and Evanston Railroad (C&E), later the Evanston Division of Milwaukee Road, was a rail line in Chicago, Evanston, and Wilmette, Illinois. The northern half of the line became part of the North Side main line and the Evanston branch on the Chicago "L".

## History

[edit]

### Early history

[edit]

Although the Chicago and Milwaukee Railroad (later a part of C&NW) provided passenger service between Chicago and Evanston, there was a need to provide alternative service between the two cities. In 1861, a charter was given to the Chicago and Evanston Railroad; however, the line began operation on May 1, 1885, after many years of funding and land acquisition problems.[3][4]

Initially, the line ran from the intersection of Chicago Avenue and Larrabee Street to a station at the Calvary Cemetery. On May 20, service was extended to Kinzie Street at Kingsbury Street near C&NW's Wells Street Station. In June, the line was extended further south to Chicago Union Station by crossing over the North Branch Chicago River and intersecting at-grade with C&NW tracks. By August 1886, the line was extended north to Church Street. By the end of 1888, the line was extended further north to Llewellyn Park (now Wilmette). Infill stations were constructed through the rest of the 19th century: Edgewater station, Birchwood station, North Edgewater station, and Sheridan Park station.[3][4]

The line went through a few ownership changes. On December 31, 1885, the Chicago and Evanston Railroad was merged with the Chicago and Lake Superior Railroad—the latter company was formed on October 6, 1883—to form the Chicago, Evanston and Lake Superior Railway. The combined company was eventually acquired by the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway in April 1900.[3][5][6]

### Chicago "L"

[edit]

Further information: North Side main line and Purple Line (CTA)

On May 31, 1900, the Northwestern Elevated Railroad, part of the Chicago "L", opened the North Side main line from the Loop Elevated to Wilson station.[7] Consequently, service on the C&E was reduced from 54 trains to 14 rush-hour trains. On May 16, 1908, the elevated railroad company extended its main line north from Wilson station to Central station along the existing C&E tracks. The extension replaced commuter service along the C&E except for a section south of Sheridan Park/Wilson; commuter service as a whole was eventually discontinued in 1917. The extension was electrified using overhead wire; a section between Wilson and Lawrence was embanked.[3][4][8]

Within the next two decades, more stations were constructed on the "L": Loyola and Howard stations in 1908, Linden station in 1912, Thorndale station in 1915, Edgewater Beach station in 1916, Lawrence station in 1923, and South Boulevard station in 1931 (replacing Calvary "L" station). Furthermore, the section between Wilson and Isabella was being elevated piecemeal along an embankment structure; the elevation project was completed in 1931.[9][10][4]

In 1953, the Chicago Transit Authority bought out the remaining section of the North Side main line north of Montrose Avenue and the Evanston branch; both sections were owned by Milwaukee Road beforehand.[4]

### Freight service

[edit]

After passenger service on the C&E ceased in 1917, freight trains continued to use the line. Earlier in 1907, the Northwestern Elevated Railroad Company made an agreement with Milwaukee Road to operate "L" service to Evanston, which opened in 1908. Under the agreement, the company and later its successors (the Chicago Rapid Transit Company and later the Chicago Transit Authority) assumed the role of providing freight service along the extension, with Milwaukee Road covering the expenses of freight; this assumption of freight service occurred in 1920. Because both "L" and heavy freight trains share tracks north of Wilson, the North Side main line was on an embankment structure, rather than a typical elevated structure present throughout the "L".[11] Gauntlet tracks were added to avoid crashing into freight trains, station platforms, and third rails.[4]

### Abandonment

[edit]

Remnant of the C&E track at Belden Avenue west of Lakewood Avenue

In the second half of the 20th century, the demand for freight rail service was declining. In the case of the C&E, freight service was incrementally being cut as the number of customers decreased. On April 30, 1973, with Lill Coal Company being the last freight customer on the "L", freight service on the "L" ended.[11] In many years since, more sections of the C&E were removed, including a river crossing to/from Chicago Union Station (demolished in 1973) and much of the street-running track.[12][4]

In 1985, the Soo Line Railroad (now a subsidiary of the CPKC Railway) acquired the bankrupt Milwaukee Road, including its Evanston Division (C&E).[13] In 2007, the Chicago Terminal Railroad (CTM) acquired the remaining segment of the C&E between Division Street and Diversey Parkway.[14][15] In 2010, the City of Chicago requested an adverse abandonment on the Kingsbury Street section between the Halsted Street/Division Street intersection and Willow Street as well as the Lakewood Avenue section between Clybourn Avenue and Diversey Parkway.[16] The track south of North Avenue was removed in 2012 as part of a beautification project at Kingsbury Street.[12] The City of Chicago eventually acquired the C&E tracks from CTM in 2019 after the latter ceased operation a year earlier.[17][18] The track along Lakewood Avenue was eventually removed in December 2024 to replace the sewer main below the avenue.[18]

### Remnants

[edit]

The C&E's right of way is fairly visible in the neighborhoods of Lincoln Park and Lake View.

The North Side main line uses two different methods of elevation. Historically, south of Wilson, the line ran along an elevated structure akin to most old elevated lines on the "L". North of Wilson, the line ran along an embankment as it originally had to accommodate heavy freight trains too.[11] In the 2010s and the 2020s, long after freight service ceased on the "L", the Red & Purple Modernization Phase One Project is in the process of replacing a section of embankment structure with an elevated box girder structure.[19][20]

On top of that, before Wilson station was rebuilt from 2015 to 2017,[21][22][23] the station had an unusual track configuration whereby the southbound express track briefly shifted away from the main line before returning. This shift was designed so that freight trains along the C&E can enter or exit the North Side main line.[24][4]

## Route

[edit]

Map of the C&E and the North Side main line

At its greatest extent, the C&E started at Chicago Union Station and crossed the North Branch Chicago River north of Kinzie Street to Kingsbury Street. The line headed northwest along Kingsbury Street and then north along Lakewood Avenue before reaching Belmont Avenue. The line then traveled north-northeast before passing by Wrigley Field north of Addison Street. The line then traveled north along Seminary Avenue, even finding itself sandwiched between Graceland Cemetery and the North Side main line. From Wilson onwards, the line traveled north all the way to Wilmette via the North Side main line and the Evanston branch (today's Purple Line).[4]

## See also

[edit]

* Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad, also known as the North Shore Line
* Purple Line (CTA) and Red Line (CTA), parallel rapid transit lines on the Chicago "L"
* Union Pacific North Line, a parallel Metra commuter line operated on Union Pacific (ex-C&NW) tracks

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Poor, H. V. Poor's Manual of the Railroads of the United States, p. 652, at Google Books
2. ^ "Blanchard's Map of Chicago". www.davidrumsey.com. 1906. Retrieved August 17, 2023.
3. ^ a b c d "Edgewater's Second Railroad | Edgewater Historical Society". www.edgewaterhistory.org. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Chicago L.org: Operations - Freight Service on the L". www.chicago-l.org. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
5. ^ "Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway" (PDF). LaBelle Woodworking. Retrieved 5 January 2025.
6. ^ Interstate Commerce Commission Reports, p. 556, at Google Books
7. ^ "New "L" Road is Opened". Chicago Daily Tribune. June 1, 1900. p. 2.
8. ^ "Chicago L.org: History - Northwestern L Chronology (1893-1924)". www.chicago-l.org. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
9. ^ "Chicago L.org: Operations - Lines -> North Side Main Line (Howard branch)". www.chicago-l.org. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
10. ^ "Chicago L.org: Operations - Lines -> Evanston". www.chicago-l.org. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
11. ^ a b c "Why is our L on an embankment". Edgewater Historical Society.
12. ^ a b "Crews Removing Old Railroad Track In Effort To Beautify Near North Side". CBS News. 6 April 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2024.
13. ^ Glischinski, Steve; Ingles, J. David. "Soo Line history remembered". Trains. Retrieved 25 November 2024.
14. ^ "Iowa Pacific Holdings". Iowa Pacific Holdings. Retrieved 26 November 2024.
15. ^ "Chicago Terminal Railroad Unofficial Web Page". www.illinirail.com. Retrieved 26 November 2024.
16. ^ "The City of Chicago, Illinois-Adverse Abandonment-Chicago Terminal Railroad in Chicago, IL". Federal Register. 23 February 2010. Retrieved 26 November 2024.
17. ^ "City of Chicago-Acquisition Exemption-Chicago Terminal Railroad". Federal Register. 2 August 2019. Retrieved 26 November 2024.
18. ^ a b Filbin, Patrick (2 January 2025). "Century-Old Railroad Tracks In Lincoln Park Are Being Removed, But Their History Remains". Block Club Chicago. Retrieved 5 January 2025.
19. ^ "CTA tears down wall for new Purple/Red Line tracks". Engineering News-Record. 10 May 2023. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
20. ^ Laurie, Logan (8 May 2023). "CTA Reveals Plan to Open 1-mile of Community Space as Beginning Stages of Red and Purple Line Modernization Project Commence". Rogers Edge Reporter. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
21. ^ "Wilson Station Modernization Project to Begin Next Construction Phase in March". Chicago Transit Authority. 25 February 2015. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
22. ^ "CTA Opens New, Modern Main Stationhouse at Wilson". Chicago Transit Authority. 4 October 2017. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
23. ^ "Mayor Emanuel, CTA Announces Completion of Transformational Wilson Station Reconstruction Project". Chicago Transit Authority. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
24. ^ "Rapid Transit Map" (PDF). Chicago Transit Authority. December 1965. Retrieved 17 December 2023.