Passenger Trains > Where is it... and tell us about it.

I doubt it will take long for people to name the location of this former station, so the challenge is to explain the details of it, when and why it was closed, and who uses the trackage now. I only know the answer to the last question.

---

C&EI 63rd street station on the south side of Chicago. Closed in '71, I think on Amtrak day, though I am not certain.
Nowadays it sees Metra SouthWest Service, Amtrak's Cardinal, and various UP movements go by. Who would want to stop here?
That's the CTA Green Line above.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/11/13 21:59 by TipsyMcStagger.

TipsyMcStagger Wrote:
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> C&EI 63rd street station on the south side of
> Chicago. Closed in '71, I think on Amtrak day,
> though I am not certain.
> Nowadays it sees Metra SouthWest Service, Amtrak's
> Cardinal, and various UP movements go by. Who
> would want to stop here?
> That's the CTA Green Line above.

I would be really interested in seeing photos from when this was in service. Where is the UP going to/from in going by here?

As for "who would want to stop here" - at present, likely not many, obviously. But since when is a station just a "stop?" What about "who would want to travel from here", i.e., the residents of Englewood? I teach children from the area nearby (I was on my way to work) and it is sad to hear how few of them ever even get out of their neighborhood, much less travel, owing to the poverty. There is a City College down the street, though.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/11/13 22:08 by inRVA.

Responding to TipsyMcStagger*, inRVA Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> TipsyMcStagger Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > C&EI 63rd street station on the south side of
> > Chicago. Closed in '71, I think on Amtrak day,
> > though I am not certain.
> > Nowadays it sees Metra SouthWest Service,
> Amtrak's
> > Cardinal, and various UP movements go by. Who
> > would want to stop here?
> > That's the CTA Green Line above.
>
> I would be really interested in seeing photos from
> when this was in service. Where is the UP going
> to/from in going by here?

I pulled my trusty old Chicago Terminal District Map (1978 ed), which I haven't looked at in 30+years. Can't say about UP, but C&EI (which UP picked up with its MoP purchase in the early 1980s), used the line for access to the yard at 51st Street, to Canal Street (another yard) further north, and, for their long-gone passenger service, to Union Station. Technically, the line was owned by CWI, Chicago and Western Indiana, which also permitted access to the aforementioned yards by L&N (which with MoP bought C&EI). I'm sure others can explain much more. [One recalls that Canal Street was recently closed off to UP intermodal traffic, but it used to originate freight going west via the Overland Route --ex-CNW.]

> As for "who would want to stop here" - at present,
> likely not many, obviously. But since when is a
> station just a "stop?" What about "who would want
> to travel from here", i.e., the residents of
> Englewood? I teach children from the area nearby
> (I was on my way to work) and it is sad to hear
> how few of them ever even get out of their
> neighborhood, much less travel, owing to the
> poverty. There is a City College down the street,
> though.

Unless things have changed markedly, one can still ride the Englewood El downtown from hereabouts. For the fearless voyeur, nice ride, paralleling the Dan Ryan and METRA (ex-Rock) downtown.

*Perhaps a Chicago city alderman???!!!...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/12/13 06:11 by billio.

The El ride downtown is one I made regularly for several years . . . never any problems and always things to look at and ponder.

I also remember when this station was functioning; I would sometimes pick up a friend who arrived there. Alas, no pictures (all his arrivals were after dark).

When I was living on the south side of Chicago, I several times met teenagers who, despite being within a mile or two of it, had never seen Lake Michigan.

billio Wrote:

> I pulled my trusty old Chicago Terminal District
> Map (1978 ed), which I haven't looked at in
> 30+years. Can't say about UP, but C&EI (which UP
> picked up with its MoP purchase in the early
> 1980s), used the line for access to the yard at
> 51st Street, to Canal Street (another yard)
> further north, and, for their long-gone passenger
> service, to Union Station. Technically, the line
> was owned by CWI, Chicago and Western Indiana,
> which also permitted access to the aforementioned
> yards by L&N (which with MoP bought C&EI). I'm
> sure others can explain much more.
>
Hm. I've never seen a freight movement, but I'm not around it much I was wondering if NS used the trackage for headroom switching their intermodal yard nearby. I didn't realize UP had stopped using Canal st. for intermodal.

> Unless things have changed markedly, one can still
> ride the Englewood El downtown from hereabouts.
> For the fearless voyeur, nice ride, paralleling
> the Dan Ryan and METRA (ex-Rock) downtown.
>

True. It will actually get alot busier soon, when they shut down the Dan Ryan branch of the Red Line for several months.

RevRandy Wrote:

> When I was living on the south side of Chicago, I
> several times met teenagers who, despite being
> within a mile or two of it, had never seen Lake
> Michigan.

Still the case. A few weeks ago in West Humboldt Park I took some of my students to try and get an exciting picture (I teach digital media) of Amtrak/Metra in the snow. They loved it, but even living right near Kedzie on the UP west and Western on MILW-N/W they had never been on Metra

Responding to billio, inRVA responded, in part:
-------------------------------------------------------
> >
> Hm. I've never seen a freight movement, but I'm
> not around it much I was wondering if NS used the
> trackage for headroom switching their intermodal
> yard nearby. I didn't realize UP had stopped using
> Canal st. for intermodal.

Could be. Regarding head room for switching, could be. NS owns the "east half" of 51st Street Yard, which they bought/inherited from Conrail/Penn Central/PRR. My guess, from reading other posts in these threads, is that their half of the yard is a working rail yard.
>
> > Unless things have changed markedly, one can
> still
> > ride the Englewood El downtown from hereabouts.
> > For the fearless voyeur, nice ride, paralleling
> > the Dan Ryan and METRA (ex-Rock) downtown.
> >
>
> True. It will actually get a lot busier soon, when
> they shut down the Dan Ryan branch of the Red Line
> for several months.

Thought the Dan Ryan Line had already been shut down for major rehab (for the benefit of those unfamiliar with CTA, the reason the Red Line is getting shut down is for a complete rebuilding/rehabbing, because since its opening in the 1960s(?), it has been, maintenance-wise, untouched by human hands. An extension of Red Line service down to 130th Street (?? -- the line now ends at 95th Street) has been proposed, and where that proposal now stands, I haven't the foggiest idea.

If I'm way off base on any of this stuff, please fill me in so I won't feel like a totally ignorant ass.

Cheers. --billio

billio Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Thought the Dan Ryan Line had already been shut
> down for major rehab

Not until later this spring.
>
(for the benefit of those
> unfamiliar with CTA, the reason the Red Line is
> getting shut down is for a complete
> rebuilding/rehabbing, because since its opening in
> the 1960s(?), it has been, maintenance-wise,
> untouched by human hands.

Not true, the crossovers were all rebuilt about 8 years ago. While it has suffered from less than ideal maintenance, the bigger issue is the track structure is not draining properly and this causes the limestone ballast to disintegrate.

> An extension of Red Line
> service down to 130th Street (?? -- the line now
> ends at 95th Street) has been proposed, and where
> that proposal now stands, I haven't the foggiest
> idea.

Still in the planning stages. Currently no funding exists for engineering or construction.