Ode to a City

CHICAGO

     HOG Butcher for the World,
     Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat,
     Player with Railroads and the Nation's Freight Handler;
     Stormy, husky, brawling,
     City of the Big Shoulders:

Thus begins poet Carl Sandburg's ode to the great City of  Chicago.  By good fortune of location, and the bravado of it's citizens and leaders, the city would become the Railroad Capitol of the United States.  The rails that radiated away from it's location at the southern tip of Lake Michigan would reach every corner of the country.  It's packinghouses and grain elevators would transport food to a growing nation.  It's manufacturers would ship machinery and goods to eager customers on the twin steel rails of progress.  The railroads would alter the city's landscape, bisecting neighborhoods and creating massive yards and servicing facilities to meet their demands.  Thousands of men and women labored in a multitude of jobs to ensure that the railroads remained an efficient transporter of raw materials, finished goods and passengers.  Grand temples of transportation sprouted up around Chicago's downtown, those great stations that ebbed with the daily flow of travelers and commuters.  With Chicago at it's heart, the veins and arteries of the railroads flowed with the movement of trains day and night.

The purpose of this blog is to explore the history of Chicago and its relationship with the railroads.