Nostalgia & History > mundo: CNW Chicago commuter trains, 1956

Sixty years ago, Ed Von Nordeck (mundo) braved the chill of Chicago, IL in March 1956 to record Chicago & North Western steam on commuter trains (along with a few diesels).  According to this old thread, the "official" last day for steam in regular service on C&NW came just two months later on May 22, 1956:

http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?10,2185183

I failed to note the frame numbers on the slides when I was at Ed's house scanning these, so these won't be in chronological order. I've tried to group them based on where I think they were taken. These first three appear to have been taken on the fill carrying the main line for trains on the North and Northwest commuter lines above the intersection of Halsted and Erie St. north of downtown Chicago.  

1. Classy Class-E 4-6-2 #663 leads an inbound commuter train in the morning.  The Joseph T. Shuflitowski Company was located at 816 West Erie St., and the 1952 aerial photo on historicaerials.com shows the billboard on the right for southbound motorists on Halsted.

2. Another inbound at the same spot behind another Class-E, C&NW 598.  

3. This looks to be an afternoon shot on the opposite side of the tracks at the same location, with CNW's three RDC cars comprising an inbound commuter train.  CNW had these cars for seven years before deciding they weren't right for the job, selling them off to C&O in 1957.

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4. CNW's Erie St. coachyard looking northwest from the Grand Ave. overpass as CNW 503 approaches.  The truss bridge spanning the yard is Erie St., and the elevated main line where we saw the commuter trains in the previous post is off to the left.  The bright yellow end of the building advertising the Jos. T. Shuflitowski Co. can be seen directly above the word "Soo" on the boxcar.  A freight house is to the right.  Grand is now at street level at this spot:

https://goo.gl/maps/bZ4y1hitiNs

5. CNW 657 at the same spot.

6. Steam generator-equipped "torpedo-boat" GP9 #1718 was just six months old in March 1956.




 

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7. North of the coachyard, CNW had a roundhouse shoehorned in between Halsted St., Chicago Ave., and the North Branch of the Chicago River.  Forty-seven-year-old Class-E #524 rides the table as four-month-old SD9 1722 lurks nearby.

8. On the other side of Halsted St. was the coal chute and what looks to be the ready track.  A sea of Pacifics engulfs a single row of green and yellow Geeps.

9. The engine that started the thread, CNW 663, approaches the coachyard past a different set of 4-6-2's at the same spot.

If I got anything wrong or missed something important, please don't hesitate to speak up.  Thanks again Ed for suffering the chill in 1956 and sharing these views with us in 2016. 

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These are amazing. Thanks again to the team of Ed and Evan.

The roundhouse shot is superb!  The lighting really shows off the drivers!

One more I forgot to add - a roster shot of C&NW 503 taken between Grand and Kinzie St., with the Merchadise Mart visible on the right and a building that still stands at Illinois and Kingsbury St. on the left.

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Thanks, Evan and Mundo.  That's a great show.  Gerry

WOW!

Wow is right!
So much information contained in these photos!
What a great look back into the past!

What a treat to see these! Brings back memories of being 10 years old and watching the parade in and out of the station from the coach window of the Peninsula "400" waiting for departure to Upper Michigan. I still remember some commuters sitting on the coach steps.

Thank you so much for posting these wonderful shots.

B&OBill

Outstanding images!

Chicago is not normal mundo territory, he being a Southern California boy.  I wonder what brought Ed to Chicago where he was able to record these shots?

The quality and content are so rare that I'm speechless. For an old English teacher, that is rare. THANKS for posting these.
Bob

What an amazing selection of shots!  I can't wait to see more, please!

Love that picture of # 503 !    Quite an interesting colection of photos you posted. Much appreciated

SInce other rail lines found RDC's to be useful does anyone know why CNW found them unacceptable ??

Evan_Werkema Wrote:
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> Sixty years ago, Ed Von Nordeck (mundo) braved the
> chill of Chicago, IL in March 1956 to record
> Chicago & North Western steam on commuter trains
> (along with a few diesels). 

Thanks for the vivid memories. We left the city (for you Californians, no, not The City) for La Grange when I was 5. My dad worked at Montg'y Ward (pronounced Monkey Ward) on Chicago Ave. We would periodically go to meet him at work. I would eagerly anticipate getting a glimpse of the roundhouse and coach yard and maybe even a train above us on the main line. These look so familiar, it's like stepping out of a time machine.

I would also be hoping to see a train on the MILW Kingsbury line, but the switch job was already long gone by that time of day and all there was to see was the box cars spotted up at the dock where his office was.

TAW


TAW

Terrific post! Absolutely fantastic. Thanks so much for sharing these incredible images.

Ahhhh.   Dirty workaday steam in its element.  Thank you very much.

What a treasure, thanks.

Bob

I join in thanking you for posting these great photos.