The Care and Feeding of the Steam Locomotive

The steam locomotive has often been portrayed as a living beast, with steaming breath and a voracious appetite for coal to feed it's fires.  The steam locomotive was an intricate piece of machinery with thousands of moving parts that required constant servicing and maintenance.  To accomplish this the railroads established facilities and shops that employed hundreds of employees with specialized skills.  These shops dotted the landscapes in cities and towns across the country and Chicago being the focal point of so many railroads, was no exception.

The essential component of any servicing facility was the roundhouse.  They varied in size and number, depending on the volume of locomotives using the rail yards they operated from.  The roundhouse was a semicircular structure that surrounded a pivoting piece of track mounted on something similar to a bridge girder.  The turntable could rotate 360 degrees to line up with any track that led into an individual stall in the roundhouse.  It also allowed for the locomotive to be "turned" so that the front of the locomotive faced the desired direction pf travel.  The tender, that part of the locomotive used to store the coal to fuel it, was meant to be behind the the locomotive when it was attached to the train.

The roundhouse was used for basic servicing, such as inspection, cleaning and lubrication.  Located near the roundhouse were water tanks, coaling and sand towers.  The locomotives were moved around the servicing area by employees known as "hostlers".  The hostler would move the locomotive in and out of the roundhouse and position it to take on water, coal and sand.  Sand was critical for giving the locomotive traction on the steel rails, especially when starting the train from a standing stop.

Larger servicing facilities also included "back shops".  This collection of buildings was used for heavy repairs and rebuilding.  Many of the larger railroads modified locomotives to modernize them.  Some even had the facilities to build their own locomotives.  The back shop would include buildings with heavy duty overhead cranes used to disassemble a locomotive.  There were boiler shops where boilers were "retubed" to extend their life.  New steel tires were added to the drivers to replace the worn ones.  The final step in the heavy servicing would be a trip to the paint shop for a fresh coat.

Steam locomotives required frequent service.  Upon the return from each trip on passenger or freight the locomotive would receive the required service.  There was a prescribed maintenance schedule the railroads followed set forth by the Federal government.  Federal inspectors insured that the railroads adhered to the scheduled maintenance.  Each locomotive represented a major investment on the part of the railroad.  Many locomotives would be modified and rebuilt to extend their life and improve their performance as new technologies were developed.

All this work amounted to a huge specialized workforce: sheet metal workers, machinists, boiler makers, carpenters and so on.  The advent of the diesel locomotive changed this.  The diesel did not require the constant maintenance the steam engine did.  They could operate for longer periods of time with little more than refueling and minimal inspection.  The railroads embraced the new technology once it was shown to improve the basic bottom line of operations.  Those facilities and people that were needed to take care of and feed the great iron beasts were no longer needed.  The railroad drastically reduced their work forces and would abandon and eventually demolish the acres of buildings once dedicated to steam engines.

The Grandest Station of All

 

Grand Central Station in Chicago is now a distant memory to many of the remaining few who may have used or seen the station.  In its place there is a vacant lot that is a reminder of the fortunes of railroads and passenger trains in the years following World War II.  It is also a reminder of the lack of civic appreciation for those grand structures that have outlived their original purpose.  Grand Central was not Chicago's busiest train station, but was the most architecturally significant of the 6 major terminals that helped to define the railroad capital on the nation.  It hosted a group of minor players in the railroad passenger market and was relatively small in terms of the number of loading tracks (6).

Construction of Grand Central was begun in 1889 for the Wisconsin Central Railroad (WC) on the southwest corner of Harrison and Wells Street (then called Fifth Avenue). It was located adjacent to the South branch of the Chicago River and built to replace a temporary station near that location.  Architect Solon S. Beman was chosen for the project, likely based on his designs of the Pullman factory complex and town built between 1880 and 1881.  Beman chose a Norman Castellated style for the structure featuring an immense 247 foot bell and clock tower.

Built of brick, brownstone and granite it featured imposing arches, crenellations and a profusion of turrets along its walls.  An arched carriage court faced Harrison Street.  Confronted with the city's swampy soil conditions Beman placed the tower on a floating foundation supported by pilings sunk 55 feet deep.  This foundation supported the weight of the tower, including its 11,000 pound bell that was designed to ring on the hour.  The tower included a 15 foot clock, at one time one of the largest in the United States.  The station headhouse was 228 feet wide by 482 feet long.  The interior was finished with the finest materials, including marble and stained glass.  The building also included a 100-room hotel that only lasted until 1901.

Beyond the station was the 6 track train shed covered with a self-supporting steel and glass structure, among the largest in the world and an engineering marvel in its own right.  Opened on December 8, 1890, the final cost upon completion was 1 million dollars.  During its construction the station and trackage were purchased from the Wisconsin Central by the Northern Pacific Railway, who sought access to the Chicago market.  Their ownership was equally short-lived as the railroad went bankrupt in 1893 and was forced to sell the station and their Chicago trackage to one of the station's tenants, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O).  The B&O created a subsidiary called the Baltimore and Ohio Terminal Railroad to control the tracks from Forest Park to Blue Island, including the stations tracks.

The station would eventually be host to the B&O, the Minneapolis, St. Paul and St. Marie (aka Soo Line, successor to the WC), the Pere Marquette and the Chicago & Great Western.  At its peak it saw only 40 daily intercity trains.  These roads comprised the smallest share of the railroad passenger market in the city.  Political leaders in Chicago began to agitate for a consolidation of railroad passenger operations into one terminal, a project that never came to fruition.  Stations like Grand Central were perceived to be obsolescent white elephants rather than the grand palaces of transportation envisioned by their builders.  The contraction of intercity rail passenger service in the late '50s and '60's would do what the city planners could not.  The railroads were forced to consolidate their trains into Union and Northwestern Stations for reasons of economy.  Intercity passenger trains began operating under the auspices of Amtrak in 1971.  In 1969, the year Grand Central closed, an average of only 210 passengers passed through its doors on a daily basis.

B&O closed the doors of the station on Saturday November 8, 1969.  The building would stand abandoned until it met its date with the wrecker's ball in 1971.  People may question the wanton destruction of an obviously valuable landmark and it comes down to this simple explanation: taxes.  Land with a building is considered improved land and taxed at a higher rate than vacant land.  Railroads are a business, and that does not include architectural preservation of an unused asset.  The City of Chicago has been notably shortsighted in the preservation of its architectural heritage, and no one stepped forward to preserve the station for future generations.  It appears there may have actually been an agreement between the railroad and the South Park Commission to turn the area into parkland.  This never happened and the land is still languishing and waiting for development.  A portion of the land formerly occupied by tracks is now the site of a housing complex known as River City, designed by noted architect Betrand Goldberg.

Numerous ideas have been proposed for the land, including a casino.  One of the more interesting pipe dreams is a plan to build a station for high speed rail service.  The architectural renderings evoke the memory of the old station and its clock tower.  For now, all we have are weeds and memories.

Proposed High Speed railroad station at the site of Grand Central Station

A Little Railroad in a Big City

The design of this Illinois Northern steam engine was typical for switch
engines that operated at lower speeds and required greater tractive effort.

Being the historic railroad center of the nation, Chicago hosted many of the major players in the railroad landscape.  The city was also home to a number of smaller industrial and transfer railroads that played an equally important role in the movement of raw materials and finished products for interchange with the larger railroads.

Illinois Northern's McCormick freight transfer station.
 

The Illinois Northern was one of those railroads, only 8.45 miles in length including main and yard tracks, it was incorporated on May 15th in 1901.  It was initially owned by the International Harvester Corporation, who would eventually go on to lease the railroad to a consortium of other railroads.  Built to service the massive McCormick works on the city's near-South side, it eventually included other industries that located in the immediate area.

A partial aerial view of International Harvester's McCormick Works.

In 1902 portions of the railroad were leased to the Atchinson, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, the Chicago & Illinois Western Railroad and the Chicago Junction Railway.  Each railroad paid a proportionate share of taxes and maintenance as part of the lease agreements.  Aside from International Harvester a number of industries were enticed to locate along the tracks, attracted by rail access and proximity to the South branch of the Chicago River.  Water was often an essential element in manufacturing and this ad for the railroad touts proximity to both the river and the Chicago drainage canal, built in the late 1800's to reverse the flow of the Chicago river system to remove the city's sewage from the lake.  Notable as well is the number of railroads the IN interchanged with.

The Santa Fe would later become the sole owner of the IN which would eventually transfer to the Burlington Northern Santa Fe via merger.  As industry slowly disappeared along the line the BNSF petitioned the Interstate Commerce Commission for abandonment in 1999.  Two shippers protested the petition, which was declined by the ICC.  In 2001 the Central Illinois Railroad leased and assumed operations of the IN which continued until they declared financial losses in 2010, whereupon the BNSF resumed operation and subsequently abandoned the service.

Illinois Northern swing bridge over the Sanitary and Ship Canal.

While the tracks have since been removed, one reminder of the line still exists and is designated as an official Chicago landmark.  The double track swing bridge, one of the few of this type remaining in the city, was built by the Sanitary District as part of construction of the drainage canal and today known as the Sanitary and Ship Canal. The Pratt through truss bridge, built in 1897 by the Keystone Bridge Company, stands as a testament to a small railroad that played a major role in Chicago's industrial history.

Death Rides the Rails

Henry Keckeisen's death certificate

Railroading can be a dangerous profession.  When I worked for the railroad I had a number of what I would call "near death" experiences where my life could have been forfeit if not for luck or a quick thinking coworker.  I recently received an email from someone who had read this blog and wanted to share the story of her great grandfather.  It is a story that has been repeated all to often over the years.

Pere Marquette locomotive taking on water

Henry Keckeisen was a locomotive engineer for the Pere Marquette Railroad in Chicago in 1909.  The Pere Marquette operated passenger trains out of Grand Central Station.  On August 11th, 1909 Keckeisen was backing his locomotive down to the station in poor visibility.  This movement required him to put his head out of the locomotive cab window to improve his visibility.  It's first important to understand that the steam locomotive did not afford much opportunity for good visibility when operating it in either direction.  The boiler to the front and the coal/water tender to the rear were large obstructions to the engineer's sight lines.  Both the engineer and fireman would be sticking their heads out the cab windows to watch for interlocking signals and the proper positioning of switches for their movement.  Given the poor visibility of the day Keckeisen's attention would have been focused on that task.

Water spout

What he did not see was the water spout that had been left in the lowered position rather than stored in an upright one.  Steam locomotives required copious amount of coal and water, and it was the responsibility of the fireman or locomotive hostler to fill the tender with these commodities and safely stow the chutes and spouts after use.  I would assume that Keckeisen was in the engine terminal where these supplies were found.  In that case all the switches that he would have to safely move his locomotive over were hand operated and could be left lined in any position.  One of the cardinal rules of railroading is to ensure that all switches are properly lined for safe movement.

Typical track arrangement in a railroad yard with hand operated switches

Keckeisen was struck in the head by the lowered water spout and died of his injuries two days later.  We do not know if the spout had been inadvertently left down by a distracted employee or if there was a mechanical problem that would not allow it to be raised into a safe position.  He left a widow, Francis, and a young child.  The tragedy was compounded 13 days later when his wife Francis succumbed to tuberculosis.  Henry was 28 and his wife was 29.  Five year old Earl Edward was left an orphan in the care of his 85 year old grandfather, and later his aunt.

On August 17th a lawsuit was filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County against the Pere Marquette and the Chicago Terminal Transfer Company, owner of the tracks for the amount of $10,000 by Francis.  After her death the lawsuit was pursued by Keckeisen's father and sister. Henry Sr. also petitioned for burial expenses which were paid.  In 1910 the railroads offered a $3,000 out-of-court settlement which the lawyers urged the family to accept.  After court and legal expenses they received a little over $2,000.

In an era before the Federal Railroad Administration and National Transportation Safety Board, there appears to be no more than a cursory investigation into the cause of this fatal accident.  Today, private law firms specializing in railroad injury and death claims are available to employees and their survivors.  Railroad Retirement provides death and survivor benefits.  Federal regulatory agencies carefully monitor railroad safety and will levy fines against railroads for violations.  Despite all this, the job remains inherently dangerous.  Railroads still continue to try to coerce employees and families into settlements to avoid costly litigation.  Many railroaders today still define a good day at work as when you can come home and haven't gotten fired or killed.

Special thanks to Cathy Keckeisen Razor for the information used in this post.