User:SkokieValleyRoute/Chicago and Milwaukee Electric Railroad

Chicago and Milwaukee Electric Railroad

C&ME car 37 at Wilmette in the 1910s
Overview
Headquarters	Highwood, Illinois
Reporting mark	CME
Locale	Illinois and Wisconsin
Dates of operation	May 12, 1898 (1898-05-12)–July 16, 1916 (1916-07-16)
Predecessor	Bluff City Electric Street Railway
Successor	Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad
Technical
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Electrification	Overhead wire, 600 V DC
Length	89.63 miles (144 km)

The Chicago and Milwaukee Electric Railroad was an interurban that connected Evanston, Illinois and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was founded in 1898 and was reorganized in 1916, becoming the Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad.

Route

The Public Timetable of 1915 listed the following mainline stops:

• Evanston
• Linden Avenue
• Wilmette
• Kenilworth
• Winnetka
• Hubbard Woods
• Glencoe
• Ravinia Park
• Ravinia
• Highland Park
• Highwood
• Ft. Sheridan
• Lake Forest
• Lake Bluff
• North Chicago Junction
• Waukegan
• Edison Court
• Zion City
• State Line
• McKeown Road
• Kenosha
• Birch Road
• Klinkert Road
• Racine
• Five Mile Road
• Carrollville
• Grande Avenue
• Harrison Street
• National Avenue
• Milwaukee

Libertyville Division

• Lake Bluff
• Rondout
• Libertyville
• Area

History

From street railway to interurban

In the early 1890s the city of Waukegan granted a franchise to the Waukegan & North Shore Rapid Transit Company for the construction and operation of a local street railway, but this initial effort was thwarted by the Panic of 1893. At this time, the Chicago & North Western Railway was the sole provider of passenger rail service to the North Shore region, but residents reportedly desired the construction of "a new surface or elevated road" to provide an alternative to the steam-powered North Western service.

On July 3, 1894, local businessmen Dewitt L. Jones, S. D. Talcott and Charles Whitney founded the Bluff City Electric Street Railway Company, and on April 15 the following year the Bluff City Electric received a franchise to begin construction. Revenue service in Waukegan began on May 30, 1895, initially provided by two single-truck streetcars. At this time, the railroad consisted of an approximately two-mile-long, single-tracked route, originating near the intersection of North and Franklin Avenues, and proceeding south over County Street, Clayton Street, Genessee Street, Belvidere Avenue and Sheridan Road, before terminating at the Waukegan city limits on 10th Street. On September 7, New York financier Charles E. Loss was promoted to the presidency of the Bluff City Electric. Under the direction of Loss, the company began to seek franchises permitting further extensions of its rail line south, with the intended goal of reaching Evanston (and eventually, Chicago).

As the Bluff City Electric expanded, the Chicago & North Western attempted on several occasions to impede the progress of the competing electric line. In North Chicago, the steam road refused to permit the electric line to construct a level junction across its mainline, necessitating the construction of an underpass instead. At Highwood, the Chicago & North Western again objected to the electric line intersecting its right-of-way, this time going so far as to keep a locomotive stored on its Fort Sheridan spur to squirt Bluff City Electric construction crews with live steam as they worked to install a crossing. Despite these impediments, progress on the electric line continued undeterred. On May 12, 1898, Bluff City Electric was acquired by the newly incorporated Chicago & Milwaukee Electric Railway Company, putting it under the control of businessmen George A. Ball and A. C. Frost, with the new corporate identity of the railroad reflecting its ultimate goals for expansion. The Chicago & Milwaukee Electric proceeded to upgrade its facilities and purchase new rolling stock. By fall of that year, the railroad’s electrification system had been modernized by electrical engineer Bion J. Arnold. In August 1899 the Chicago & Milwaukee Electric had reached Evanston, constructing a southern terminus at Church Street. From Church Street, passengers could transfer to the Chicago & Evanston Line of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway. Regular rail service on the 28-mile line between Waukegan and Evanston commenced on August 13, 1899, attracting an estimated 3,000 riders on the first day.

Further expansion in Illinois

The Libertyville Division crosses beneath the Chicago and North Western Railway at Lake Bluff in 1906.

With a rudimentary connection from Waukegan to Chicago complete, the Chicago & Milwaukee Electric turned its attention to further expansion and improvement of its existing physical plant. In order to lessen the cost of these projects, the railroad purchased a large gravel deposit in the town of Libertyville, providing the company with its own source of gravel and crushed rock. On April 11, 1902, a contract was drawn up to begin construction of a branch line that would connect this gravel deposit to the mainline at Lake Bluff. This new Libertyville Division was initially an isolated section of railroad, as it was separated from Chicago & Milwaukee Electric mainline by the Chicago & North Western Railway, who once again refused to permit the construction of a level junction across their mainline. Service over the line began on July 15, provided by a steam locomotive hauling passenger trailers. The Libertyville Branch also provided a track connection to both the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway and the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul at Rondout, which in turn enabled the Chicago & Milwaukee Electric to engage in freight interchange service with those roads. On December 30, 1902, A.C. Frost became president of the railroad, having bought out the interests of George A. Ball.

In 1903, construction began on a new north/south route which diverged from the Libertyville Division at Lake Bluff and turned north, paralleling both the adjacent Chicago & North Western and Chicago & Milwaukee Electric mainlines into North Chicago where it rejoined the mainline at North Chicago Junction, just west of the Chicago & North Western underpass. This "West Line" would permit Chicago & Milwaukee Electric freight trains to travel between North Chicago and Rondout, while avoiding the main line through village streets in Lake Bluff. After the Lake Bluff portion of the Libertville Division was lowered into a cut, construction began on a viaduct beneath the Chicago & North Western, enabling a direct connection between the branch and the mainline. Both the viaduct and the "West Line" were completed in July 1904. In October, work began on extending the now-electified Libertyville Division west from its namesake community. While an initial franchise had been acquired to extend the branch line as far west as Wauconda, it was ultimately decided to extend it only as far as the village of Rockefeller, where an interchange connection was made with the Wisconsin Central Railway. Service between Lake Bluff and Rockefeller began over this new extension on March 25, 1905.

To avoid the repeating the difficulties that had been encountered when constructing the main line through the built-up communities south of Waukegan (as well as the frequent stops and low speeds required on such a route), the Chicago & Milwaukee Electric management decided to construct a route between North Chicago and Milwaukee away from the lakefront and along private rights-of-way. In 1904, the railroad had negotiated with John Alexander Dowie for a franchise to operate through Zion City. The route was constructed south from Zion, reaching Waukegan in the summer of 1905. Simultaneously, construction was underway in North Chicago. The new trackage was to run parallel to Commonwealth Avenue, continuing onward in a straight line through western Waukegan, eventually meeting up with the line from Zion City This routing required the Chicago & Milwaukee Electric to cross the Waukegan, Fox Lake & Western Electric Railway, a 1.5-mile streetcar line on Washington Street, between downtown Waukegan and Lewis Avenue. On October 13, 1905, A.C. Frost purchased the Waukegan, Fox Lake & Western and leased it to the Chicago & Milwaukee Electric. Trains between Evanston and Zion City were initially routed exclusively over the Waukegan, Fox Lake & Western, until a connection was made between the original mainline and the new North Chicago to Zion route at North Chicago Junction (where the West Line from Lake Bluff also joined the mainline).

Construction of the line to Milwaukee

As early as 1899, the Chicago & Milwaukee Electric had been planning its eventual route to Milwaukee. A Waukegan Sun article from April 11 of that year claimed that the Chicago & Milwaukee Electric planned on utilizing the route of the Milwaukee-Racine-Kenosha Street Railway Company to reach the city, as that road had initially planned on expanding into Waukegan. By 1901, however, the Chicago & Milwaukee Electric had begun to acquire its own right-of-way between Waukegan and Kenosha. On June 22, 1904, the Chicago & Milwaukee Electric Railroad Company of Wisconsin was incorporated to handle the construction and operation of a rail line from the Illinois-Wisconsin state line to the city of Milwaukee. During the Summer of 1905, construction had continued north of Zion City, towards the city of Kenosha. In November of that year, the Chicago & Milwaukee Electric acquired the Kenosha Electric Railway from Bion J. Arnold , and on December 2, service was inaugurated between Evanston and Kenosha.

On September 2, 1906, the Chicago & Milwaukee Electric began operating into Racine. The M-R-K interurban line had since been acquired by the Milwaukee Electric Railway and Light Company and abandoned its plans to expand into Illinois. It still, however, operated interurban service between its namesake cities. Thus, with the northward expansion of the Chicago & Milwaukee Electric, the Milwaukee-Racine-Kenosha region was served by two competing electric interurban lines.

See also

• Ravinia Festival
• Shore Line Route
• Waukegan city service