Chicago and Evanston Railroad

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)
Route map (pre-1908) 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:

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

Early history

Although the Chicago & 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.

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.

Chicago "L"

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. Consequently, the frequency of the C&E line was reduced from 54 trains to 14 trains that only ran during rush hour. 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.

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). Not only that, the section between Wilson and Isabella was being elevated piecemeal along an embankment structure; the elevation project was completed in 1931.

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.

Freight service

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". Gauntlet tracks were added to avoid crashing into freight trains, station platforms, and third rails.

Abandonment

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. 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.

In 1985, the Soo Line Railroad (now a subsidiary of the CPKC Railway) acquired the bankrupt Milwaukee Road, including its Evanston Division (C&E). In 2007, the Chicago Terminal Railroad (CTM) acquired the remaining segment of the C&E between Division Street and Diversey Parkway; however, 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. The track south of North Avenue was removed in 2012 as part of a beautification project at Kingsbury Street. The City of Chicago eventually acquired the C&E tracks from CTM in 2019 after the latter ceased operation.

Remnants

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. In the 2010s and the 2020s, long after freight service ceased on the "L", the Red & Purple Modernization project is in the process of replacing a section of embankment structure with an elevated box girder structure.

On top of that, before Wilson station was rebuilt from 2015 to 2017, 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.

Route

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).

See also

• 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