The Impending Demise of a Chicago Railroad Club

The NRHS and R&LHS represent the two largest and oldest railroad history organizations in the United States.

Rail fans are a ubiquitous part of railroading, and they come with a variety of interests.  Some can be found track side taking photographs while others haunt junk shops and specially organized rail ephemera shows looking for collectibles.  Much like birds of a feather, these fans flock together in special interest groups who have meetings where they can fraternize with like minded individuals.  Among these groups are umbrella history organizations, the two largest being the Railway and Locomotive Historical Society (R&LHS) and the National Railway Historical Society (NRHS).  The national groups hold annual member conventions that provide a variety of activities including excursions and social events for attendees.  These groups also publish periodicals and newsletters that cover various aspects of railroad history.

Photography continues to be a popular aspect of rail fanning.

These national organizations are subdivided into local chapters which have regular meetings with speakers and presentations that cover various aspects of the railroad industry.  Some of the chapters publish informative newsletters for their membership.  Aside from these main group chapters in Chicago there are at least four other smaller rail history groups that call the city home.  In some cases these groups began their lives as rail charter trip operators.  By offering a unique opportunity to ride behind vanishing steam locomotives or over tracks that passenger service vanished from, the groups thrived and maintained healthy memberships and ample volunteers.  For decades the nation was blessed with a plethora of railroads operated by fan friendly management.  That landscape has changed.

Rail Camp is an NRHS sponsored program that introduces young people to railroad history and operations.

Through mergers and consolidations the number of railroad operations have been winnowed down to a few major corporations.  Passenger service disappeared from private operation and is now under the purview of the quasi-governmental entity known as Amtrak.  The cost of operating rail charters has driven most groups out of the business.  Add to that the fact that many of the corporate railroad operators are adverse to having fan trips on their rails.  The issues of liability and interference with the money making operation of freight trains have diminished the opportunities for these types of private excursions into the category of rarity.  Most railroads that previously operated their own heritage excursion trains have left the market as well.  Paranoia since the attacks of 911 has created cadre of overly zealous railroad employees, security and even municipal police who view everyone with a camera as a terrorist.

 Common interests and camaraderie have long been a driving force of rail fan organizations.

This has left many fan groups and clubs with the monthly meeting model of operation.  A member or special speaker will show up with slides or a digital presentation.  It may be a program about a certain railroad, an aspect of history, or occasionally an aspect of modern railroads from an expert.  These meetings tend to attract a smaller audience and are often attended by what I term the "know-it-all" fan.  These people can suck the joy out of any gathering by interrupting a presentation with a litany of facts and figures and a desire to debate anyone about them.  To these individuals it is less about the social aspects of a gathering and more about a convenient soapbox for their rantings.  This in turn convinces any new attendees that their time might be better spent with more singular activities.

Railroad museums are another way history groups help interpret railroading to the general public.

Some chapters maintain historic structures to house their collections.  Others may own static equipment displays, such as locomotives or cars, or assist in their maintenance.  A select few may own operating locomotives that are used on special occasions or in museum service.  This requires members willing to underwrite the cost of maintaining those physical assets, and volunteers to staff and maintain collections, equipment and museums.  Volunteers are at a premium and those groups who have chosen this model often struggle with maintaining an active volunteer base.

Historic railroad equipment is a another example of preservation work by rail history organizations.

The aging demography of these organizations also factors in to their decline.  While rail fandom is still a poplar hobby, attending group meetings is not.  The internet is now the preferred social platform for the photographers and history buffs.  A wide variety of groups exist on Facebook alone that cater to a specific railroad, method of operation, or collectable ephemera.  No annual dues are required to join an internet group, and if you run into an obnoxious know-it-all you can always block them.  The end result of this shift to the "unsocial" media is a shrinking membership base for physical groups and clubs.  This in turn means fewer individuals willing to accept leadership roles to keep these groups going.  In certain instances the groups can shoulder some of the blame themselves.  Certain members hold leadership positions for decades and do little to groom leaders for the future.  When they are willing to give up the reins of leadership no one is there to take them up.

Partnerships with governmental organizations can be useful in preserving and restoring stations and other structures.

This is the situation one of the organizations I belong to finds themselves in.  With 36 local members no one appears to be willing to step in to take on the Chairmanship, and the Chicago chapter may cease to exist as of the end of 2016.  Having volunteered as a board member and program director for another rail organization I do not see myself as a candidate.  I'm sure the Chicago chapter is not alone in this dilemma. The national organizations are struggling with declining membership rolls and treasuries as well.  Railroad history groups and clubs may disappear just like the many things that attracted people to the genre have as well.  If these entities are to survive they will probably take a new form more suitable to the internet.  Some groups who maintain historic collections continue to thrive and have well-attended annual meetings.  Other small groups of fans gather for image presentations and socializing.  This still requires an active group of volunteers to help make the events a success.  And in the end, that is probably the critical element for survival.

Membership dues help to pay for publications that highlight the history of railroading.  Many of the articles are well researched and academic in nature.  This important service would be lost if the organizations who support it were to disappear.

Dinkies, Dummies, Scoots & Plugs

 A "dummy" train on Chicago's North side.  The word "dummy" became synonymous for many early commuter trains.

The lexicon of railroading is filled with unusual words that constitute a foreign language to those outside of the industry. This post's title refers to the various names associated with commuter service in Chicago.

At a point early in the history of Chicago, railroads large and small provided some sort of "accommodation" trains for the convenience of city and suburban residents. These all-stop locals were at first the only efficient means for people to travel longer distances within the urban area. As more residents moved out of the city proper the demand for more frequent and faster service arose. To meet this demand the railroads developed special purpose locomotives and passenger cars specifically for commuter service. Rather than subject suburbanites to an arduous journey of the train stopping at every station, express services were offered.

Early commuter train in suburban Oak Park.

The railroads never turned a great profit from commuter trains. Many of the smaller carriers dropped their commuter trains early in the 20th Century to focus on freight and/or long distance passenger trains. The larger players: the Illinois Central, Burlington, Milwaukee Road, North Western, Wabash, C&WI and GM&O stayed in the market. The last three on that list were minor players, but the first four developed robust operations that moved thousands of passengers on a daily basis. There were also three major electric interurban operations that provided a sort of competitive service to the steam railroads. Many city stations disappeared as horse cars, then cable cars and finally streetcars pushed further out and the city annexed suburbs. The Elevated train lines further sapped passengers who opted for a longer ride and cheaper fares. The suburbs became the bread and butter of commuter operations.

A Rock Island suburban train powered by a Forney-type locomotive in the late 1800's. The locomotive was designed to run in either direction, eliminating the time consuming task of turning the locomotive to face forward.

Each small village with a train station blossomed into bedroom suburbs in the 1920's as families sought to move away from the crowded city to more idyllic surroundings. The Great Depression upended this movement, and the railroads sought to economize their operations. The resulting decline in the quality of service became a constant source of complaints for those who still depended on the trains. World War II brought back the passengers, but the railroads continued to rely aging and outdated equipment. With the focus being the movement of freight for the wartime effort, commuter service became the ugly stepchild or railroading.

This typical post-World War II scene shows Chicago & North Western trains during rush hour. The steam locomotives and single level coaches would soon be replaced during a spate of fleet modernizations.

Postwar saw the pent up need for housing blossom into a mass exodus from the city, but now the interstate highway and expressway system became the driving force. Unlike other cities that saw their commuter rail succumb to the supremacy of the private automobile, the Chicago railroads modernized in an attempt to stem the flow of patrons. Steam locomotives were replaced by diesels, new bi-level commuter cars entered service on a number of lines. In reality, the expressway system would never have been able to handle the volume of traffic if the railroads were to have discontinued commuter operations. A certain clientele continued to enjoy the convenience of riding the train during rush hour, and the hourly frequency of non-peak trains by the major carriers allowed people to conveniently travel downtown or between suburbs.

With the advent of dieselization, the concept of "Push-Pull" service was implemented.  The bi-level coaches included some with operating cabs, which allowed the Engineer to operate the train pushed from the rear by the locomotive.  Both the CB&Q and the C&NW were pioneers in this form of operation.

 The Rock Island experimented with an Italian railcar designed by Fiat with the idea of lowering operating costs.

Other problems loomed large in the rail industry that would eventually impact commuter service. As profits dropped in intercity passenger and freight, the bottom line that allowed the railroads to fund commuter trains eroded. The new equipment of the 1950's and 1960's began to show their age, and no private money existed to replace them. Maintenance of the physical plant of the various railroads became virtually non-existent. The railroads exited the intercity passenger market with the establishment of Amtrak, and a few railroads teetered on the brink of bankruptcy. Two of the electric interurbans went belly up. In the 1960's and 70's the voters of six counties formed the Regional Transportation Authority to serve as a conduit for public funding of the commuter railroads.

The Blue Island station on the IC Electric is a good example of the deteriorated state of the commuter rail system by the 1960's.

The defining moment of change was the bankruptcy of the Milwaukee Road.  The Regional Transportation Authority stepped in to assume the Milwaukee Road's commuter operations. The Rock Island was the next domino to fall.  Eventually the RTA would assume operation of all the commuter lines, save the North Western and the Burlington. In the case of those two railroads the RTA provided operational funding while the railroads provided crews and initially equipment. Today the region's commuter operations are under the purview of Metra, the RTA's commuter rail subsidiary. The RTA has funded new equipment, physical upgrades and extensions of service on existing lines and new startups.

Prior to the RTA, Suburban communities formed Mass Transit Districts in order to qualify for Federal funding for new equipment.  Both the Milwaukee Road and the IC benefited from this arrangement.

 The RTA began to replace the older locomotives used by the railroads, many of them refugees from the defunct intercity passenger fleets.  The EMD F40 was designed specifically for commuter as well as Amtrak service.

Counties and communities that are part of the service area contribute a percentage of Metra's operating budget. That budget also includes other sources of tax revenue and cash recovery from the fare box. Commuter rail continues to struggle with funding issues due to an unstable State economy, parsimonious politicians in Washington, and an economic decline that led to a loss in passenger revenue.  Fares have been raised to help defray operating costs as well a fund new equipment and other necessary upgrades to the system.  The unfunded mandate for Positive Train Control carries a multi-million dollar price tag that saps resources from other needs.

So, whether you ride a Dinky, Dummy, Scoot or Plug you are a participant in the ongoing story of commuter trains in Chicago.

Electrification

On February 12, 2016 Metra, the Chicago area commuter rail agency, retired the last set of "Highliner" electric powered multiple unit rail cars.  In honor of this auspicious occasion Player With Railroads revisits the why and how of Chicago's only electric commuter rail service.

On July 21, 1919 the City of Chicago passed the "Lake Front Ordinance" providing for electrification of the Illinois Central Railroad's suburban commuter service by 1927, freight service north of Roosevelt Rd by 1930 and south between Roosevelt Rd. and the city limits by 1935.  The eventual goal was the electrification of both the IC's and the Michigan Central Railroads' freight and intercity passenger service by the 1940's.

Steam era image of IC's Randolph Street commuter terminal.

The impetus for the ordinance was the smoke generated by thousands of steam locomotives operating in and out of the city as well as the numerous switch engines working in yards and industries scattered around the city.  It was felt that eliminating steam locomotives along the lakefront would go a long way to improve the air quality in the city.  No other railroad was made a party to the ordinance.

Track elevation.

The scope of the project was enormous.  It was what today we might call an "unfunded mandate" as the majority of the costs were borne by the railroad.  The tracks between 67th Street and the end of the line in Richton were elevated above street level.  In some cases the fill used to construct the embankments came from other improvement projects the IC had undertaken along their route south of the city.  At grade crossings with other railroads were eliminated for reasons of both safety and efficiency.  The grade level crossing to the South Chicago branch was eliminated and replaced by a tunnel that ran underneath the freight and passenger main line tracks and descended to the grade level tracks of the branch.  The largest and most complicated of these grade separation projects was at Grand Crossing, dubbed "the most dangerous railroad crossing in the world".

Grand Crossing grade seperation project.

The right of way was widened and additional tracks added with provisions for even more tracks to accommodate future growth.  A massive modern classification yard called "Markham" was built between Harvey and Homewood, IL, and designed to replace a number of smaller yards in Chicago.  Markham, located far outside Chicago's city limits, remained a bastion of steam until the advent of diesel electric locomotives.

Markham Yard (click on image for a larger view).

The electrical distribution was achieved by a 1500 volt DC system delivered to the overhead wires that powered the trains via 7 electrical substations owned by Commonwealth Edison.  High voltage Alternating Current was fed into the substations where it was "rectified" to the lower voltage Direct Current.  The substations also provided for the low voltage AC needs of the railroad such as lighting for stations and facilities, wayside signals and electrically operated switches at interlockings.  Steel "cantenary" structures were erected every 300 feet to support the overhead wire system that delivered power to the cars.  The cantenary supported not only the wires for DC and AC systems, but also the new signals and circuit control systems and communication lines.

Brookdale Substation

Right of way near 43rd Street.

Many of the IC's Victorian stations used during the steam powered commuter days were demolished and replaced with more utilitarian structures more suited to urban rapid transit use.  The new cars were designed for high level platforms rather than ground loading.  Rather than having passengers climb steps into the cars, the high level platforms allowed for direct entry into the cars cutting down loading times and speeding up schedules.

The 22nd Street Station was one of many stations that disappeared after electrification.

There was minimal electrification of the freight yards in the downtown Loop business district and yards on the near south side.  There were also some nascent diesel locomotives employed on the South Chicago branch for switching online industries.  The rapid development of the diesel locomotive would bring an end to any idea of further electrification beyond the suburban commuter service as they satisfied the requirements of the Ordinance.

Electric freight locomotive near 35th Street.

The new multiple unit cars (MU), so called because coupled units of multiple cars could be controlled by the motorman from a single control cab, were built by the Pullman Company in their south side plant along the IC mainline.  The cars were designed as motor car and trailer sets, with pairs coupled into longer trains of up to 8 cars.  The motor cars were equipped with a pantograph that drew electricity from the overhead wires when raised.  The pantograph could be lowered or raised by the engineer in the cab, or with a special insulated pole in the event failure of the automatic system.  The cars were equipped with special couplers that carried the electrical connections for control as well as the air connections for brakes.  The cars could be coupled and uncoupled by the engineer in the control cab as well as manually outside the train.  Despite not being powered, the coaches had a duplicate control cab making the cars bi-directional without having to turn them.  The IC had briefly considered the idea of using electrically powered locomotives with unpowered coaches, but eventually chose the MU equipment.

Pullman Multiple Unit motor car and trailer.

What the new Pullman cars did not have was air conditioning and bathrooms.  When they were replaced by the new double-decked "Highliner" cars beginning in 1971 air conditioning was included, but not bathrooms.  Commuters would have to wait for the delivery of the latest version of the Highliners to have someplace to take care of business.

Electrification Day celebration.

August 27, 1926 was a day of celebration as electric service was initiated.  The massive civil engineering project that was undertaken brought fast, efficient and clean mass transportation to Chicago.  The retirement of the second series of equipment by Metra, successor to the Illinois Central, marks the ongoing improvement of a system that has served commuters from the the south side and southern suburbs for 80 years.  Much of the physical system remains in place and will continue to be upgraded as public funds permit.  This is a credit to the quality of design and construction built into the original project.