A Railroad Neighborhood

The expansion of rail lines radiating from Chicago figured prominently into the growth of new communities, along with the real estate speculation that accompanied this.  Two of the best examples of this are Beverly Hills and Morgan Park.  While they are separate neighborhoods that share a common border, the are co-joined and often referred to by residents as the "Village in the City".  Their common history is tied into the decision by the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad to construct a "suburban" branch line from their main track.  Originally running from 99th Street to the suburb of Blue Island, the line was later expanded north to connect with the main at Gresham.
 

The original Rock Island "Rocket".

The Rock Island's first train departed from Chicago to Joliet on October 10, 1852.  That line would later cross the tracks of the the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad (aka Panhandle) at a point known as "The Junction" that would become the Village of Washington Heights.  Much of the lands around Washington Heights were part of the vast estate holdings of one Thomas Morgan, English gentleman farmer, who had purchased 3000 acres from early Chicago settler John Blackstone in 1844 for his estate known as "Upwood".  Morgan would give the Chicago & Great Eastern Railroad (progenitor of the Panhandle) an easement through his property in 1864.  The seed was planted for development.

Real estate ads for the newly developing suburbs of Beverly and Washington Heights.

Left: Washington Heights map shows the original suburban line with the main track at connection at 97th Street.  Right: Map of the suburban line after the extension to Gresham.

Passenger train service was initially sparse, with the Panhandle providing a few "accommodation" trains, while the Rock Island deigned to not stop their trains there at all.  With the death of Morgan, his heirs sold their holdings to Fredrick H. Winston who helped to form the Blue Island Land and Building Company.  Its important to note that executives of the Rock Island also held positions in the Land and Building Company.  While initially know as the Washington Heights Subdivision, the area would become the Village of Morgan Park.  In the 1870's construction of branch line began from 97th Street west to a point below the glacial formation known as the Blue Island Ridge, which was completed in 1871.  The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 would accelerate the migration of residents away from the central city to newly platted suburbs.  The burghers of Morgan Park envisioned a sylvan enclave far removed from the bustle and cacophony of burgeoning Chicago.

A Rock Island Forney locomotive pulls a train towards Chicago.

An example of a "dummy" locomotive.  Some early newspaper articles speak of the Panhandle railroad operating a dummy train for the convenience of residents in Washington Heights.  This may have given rise to the name "Dummy Line" for the Rock Island branch line.

By 1883 the Rock Island was operating 10 daily suburban trains each way, mostly on the Suburban Branch between Chicago and Blue Island.  In 1889 the line was extended north through Beverly, and the new development of Brainerd, to a mainline connection at 89th Street.  Within a year there were 19 trains operating each day.  Like many early suburban commuter operations the trains were steam powered with diminutive locomotives known as Forneys, named after their inventor Mathias Forney.  The locomotives combined the steam engine with the coal and water carrying tender as one integrated unit.  They were designed to run boiler forward in one direction and tender forward in the reverse.  This arrangement negated the need to turn the locomotive so that it always ran in the typical boiler forward mode.  Turning required a either a turntable or wye track, and was time consuming.  The Forneys were uncoupled from the train at the end of a run, then run around the equipment and quickly coupled back on the the opposite end of the train.  Residents coined the nickname "Dummy Line" to describe the branch line, perhaps due to the slight resemblance of the locomotives to the early shrouded steamers, known as "dummies", designed so as not to scare horses (it didn't work).  Another theory put forth by local historians is that early train service to the area was operated by dummy locomotives on the Panhandle line.

The first Morgan Park Station.

Morgan Park residents unashamedly touted the quality of their mode of transportation versus that afforded city residents.  While the streetcar system did eventually expand to the area it was not a major factor in community development.

Morgan Park did indeed grow become a well-to-do suburb, the nexus of which was the business district around the 111th Street station.  Impressive mansions sprouted up along the two main streets of Washington and Prospect, particularly at the top of the Blue Island Ridge.  There were also more humble working man's cottages east of the tracks, and a small African American community grew in that area as well.  Beverly grew as well, and the early 20th Century saw the neighborhood become a solidly middle class community with a mix of housing that ran the gamut from mansions to bungalows.  The area attracted a number of notable architects who helped to create a leafy oasis of attractive homes on the edge of the city.

Top L-R: 91st Street (Beverly Hills), 95th Street (Longwood), 99th Street (Walden).  Middle L-R: 103rd Street (Tracy), 107th Street (Belmont).  Bottom L-R: 111th Street (Morgan Park), 115th Street (Raymond).  The original station names are noted in parentheses.  Photos from the Ridge Historical Society.

Preliminary report recommending landmark status for the train stations.

In 1889 the original 111th Street Station was moved and converted to a residence.  In its place rose a Romanesque style depot designed by architect John Long, the construction cost of which was shared by local residents, businessmen and the railroad.  In all, 7 stations were built between 91st and 115th Streets during the late 1880's.  Each station was unique in it's design and were exemplary of the architecture of small town train stations of the late 19th Century.  The majority of the stations lasted into the 21st Century, save for Longwood (95th Street), Tracy (103rd Street) and Raymond (115th).  Each station was built with second floor living quarters for the station agents and their families.  Small business districts grew up around each station, adding to the small town charm of each area.  The City of Chicago recognized the unique nature of these stations by creating a landmark district that encompassed 6 of the 7 stations.  The luck of their survival is much owed to the fact that the tracks through the area were not part of Chicago's track elevation ordinances.  The tracks remain at grade level.  103rd Street was not included in the district as it was built to replace the original station in the 1960's, and is an unremarkable brick structure.  The 111th Street Station was damaged by a tornado in 1909, but was rebuilt as it stands today.  Metra undertook a program that saw the 95th, 99th and 111th Street stations undergo historic restorations.  Funding for the program ran out and the other stations languish waiting for the necessary funds for their turn at renewal.  115th Street (Raymond) Station was the luckless victim of a fire set by vandals on Memorial Day weekend in 2017.  It was badly damaged and demolished, with no apparent plans or funds to provide a suitable replacement.

The Rock Island began to dieselize their commuter service in the late 1940's.  Perennially cash poor, the railroad would re-purpose older locomotives from intercity passenger service or purchase used equipment from other railroads.  The steam engine pulls a set of "Capone cars" while preparing to pass an Alco RS-1 diesel used in commuter service.  The railroad did purchase some new bi-level coaches which allowed for the introduction of "Push-Pull" service.  Photo by John Humiston from the Classic Trains Collection.

The branch line was primarily used for commuter service.  Some businesses at 111th Street, such as a coal yard, required minimal freight service which would have originated at the Rock Island's Blue Island freight yard.  The Rock Island continued to provide service until its bankruptcy and liquidation in 1980.  At this point the Regional Transportation Authority bought the commuter service and some of the assets of the Rock such as tracks, yards and stations.  By this time the physical plant of the railroad had deteriorated to the point that a massive rebuilding program was required to restore the railroad to an adequate level of safety and efficiency.  So to, the tired and worn locomotives and passenger cars needed replacement.  Now, almost 40 years after assuming the operations and upgrading the service, Metra (the commuter rail division of the RTA) faces the same dilemma of the Rock Island with the specter of diminishing funds to maintain aging equipment and the physical infrastructure.

An Metra commuter train departs the 111th Street Station inbound to Chicago.  Photo by David Daruszka.

Beverly Hills was annexed, as part of Washington Heights, by Chicago in 1890.  Morgan Park became a city neighborhood in 1914 after a protracted battle between residents for and against annexation.  Both communities remain desirable places to live, thanks in part to the excellent railroad transportation that greatly factored into their creation and development.  Residents still consider the branch line as "their railroad".

Roundhouses and Backshops - Part 2

In my last post I discussed the functions of the roundhouse in the role of steam locomotive maintenance.  Where the roundhouse was the location of "light" and daily servicing, the backshop was where the heavy rebuilding of steam engines and rail cars took place.  Some railroads, like the Norfolk & Western and the Pennsylvania actually manufactured their own locomotives and cars from the ground up.

C&NW's 40th Street Shops

Unlike roundhouses, which could be found at almost every railroad yard, the backshops were only found in a limited number of locations.  The usually served a whole railroad, for smaller lines, or a central to a number of operating districts, for larger ones.  The most notable backshop in Chicago was owned by the Chicago & North Western Railroad and was located on the far West side of the city.  Known as "40th Street", as it was 4000 west in the city's street numbering system,  it was bounded by Crawford Ave. (later renamed Pulaski) Chicago Avenue, Lake Street and the Belt Railway.  It was adjacent to the railroad's classification yard at that location.  The Illinois Central also maintained a large shop on the city's south side know as Burnside.

While the roundhouse was a circular or semi-circular building with a turntable located in the center, the backshop buildings were linear.  In the case of the erecting shops, this was necessary to accommodate the heavy traveling cranes that traveled across the length of the building.  These buildings were two to three stories tall to accommodate lifting large components, such as boilers and driving wheels from location to location in the repair or erection process.
 

 An overhead crane rated for 258 tons lifts a locomotive.

The backshops were more than one building.  Each structure in the complex served a specific function: boiler making and repair, paint and varnish, metal machining, carpentry, etc.  They were in essence factories unto themselves, very often supplying the power necessary to accomplish the work.  In some cases the buildings allowed locomotives, components and cars to move in and out of either side of the structure.  Movement between buildings was accomplished via "transfer tables", a linear version of the roundhouse turntable.

Transfer table

The backshops were hives of activity with hundreds of laborers and skilled craftsman working around the clock to keep up with the everyday tasks at hand.  The steam locomotive required constant rebuilding, replacing boiler tubes corroded by steam was a common job.  Wheels were removed and worn "tires" replaced, moving parts inspected and replaced as necessary.  Each locomotive tended to be unique, with no "off the shelf" components available for repairs.  Parts would be cast and then machined.  Locomotives could be periodically upgraded with newer technologies to extend their working lives.  Some entered the shops and came out radically different machines.  The Illinois Central converted a number of their older freight locomotives for use in suburban commuter service.  The C&NW upgraded passenger locomotives with streamlined shrouding to present a modern and sleek appearance.

 40th Street shop forces working on a locomotive conversion.

In the case of freight and passenger cars, their constant use required frequent maintenance and rebuilding.  Cars damaged in wrecks could be rebuilt and returned to service.  The railroads saw this as a sound return on their initial investment.  As with locomotives, rail cars could be modified and improved or rebuilt for a completely different function.  Diesel locomotives and changes in the industry ended the primacy of the backshop in the railroad industry.  In many cases they were not suitable for diesel maintenance, which like automobiles had standardized parts from the manufacturer that could easily be replaced.  The necessity of having a huge workforce to cater to the steam engines disappeared almost overnight.  Thousands of skilled craftsmen lost their jobs as a result.  Those shops that did hang on were more modern and now functioned as a single point of repair for the whole railroad as opposed to segments of it.

Working in a locomotive smoke box.

When railroads began to merge with their competitors many railroads found themselves with more shops than they needed to efficiently maintain their equipment.  In the case of 40th Street it was supplanted by the former Chicago & Great Western shops in Olwein, Iowa when the C&NW merged with that carrier.  Burnside was eventually replaced by new facilities at Markham Yard in South suburban Harvey.  The growing reliance on leased freight equipment places the burden of heavy repairs on the lessor, and outside firms are making inroads into the car and locomotive repair and rebuilding business.  The former IC shops in Paducah, Kentucky are now operated by a locomotive rebuilding firm.

Former Rock Island steel car shops.

Little remains of these expansive facilities that can be found or recognized by the casual observer.  One shop building at 40th Street remain, now re-purposed for other non-railroad uses, although the M19A diesel shop is still used to service commuter locomotives.  One building at Burnside remains and in use by Chicago State University which now occupies the site of the former shops.  Rock Island's steel car shops in Blue Island are now in use by a plumbing firm, but the terra cotta herald still proudly shows its former life.  The exception to the rule in Chicago is Metra's 47th Street Shops, formerly owned by the Rock Island Railroad.  The former "Rocket House" is currently engaged in a rebuilding program to upgrade the commuter railroad's locomotive fleet to become compliant with Federal pollution standards for diesel engines.  The car shops have undertaken upgrades to the fleet of commuter cars to extend their usable lives as a cost effective way to prolong the increasingly costly proposition of replacing them with new equipment.  So, a bit of history continues on the city's south side.

Metra's 47th Street diesel shop.  Dan Marinellie photo.

Roundhouses and Back Shops - Part I

 Chicago & North Western Roundhouse at the 40th Street Yards.

Two of the lost physical elements of Chicago's railroads are the roundhouse and the back shop.  These structures played different roles in the care and maintenance of steam locomotives.  Some of these structures survived into the diesel era, but diesel servicing presented a different set of requirements that the roundhouse was not suited for.

The first railway roundhouse was built in 1839 at Derby, England by the North Midland Railway, although some private workshops may have previously been laid out in a radial pattern.  The roundhouse's primary function was for the storage and maintenance of steam locomotives. However since most locomotives operated in only one direction, forward, turntables were placed in the front and center of the roundhouse. The buildings served as light maintenance facilities and also allowed the locomotives to be turned as needed.  The familiar semi-circular design simplified that task.

 Turntable at Chicago & North Western's Proviso Yards.

The turntable itself was a sort of pivoting bridge operated by an electric motor (smaller turntables operated by manpower were know as "armstrongs".  The locomotive would be placed into the roundhouse front or "smokebox" first.  The smokestack would be placed underneath an exhaust hood known as a "smoke jack" to vent exhaust gases from the locomotive out of the work area.

Jack Delano photo of the interior of a Chicago & North Western Roundhouse.

Once servicing was complete an employee known as a "hostler", whose duties involved moving locomotives around the servicing areas, would back the locomotive onto the turntable where it would be turned to face the desired direction of travel if necessary.  Servicing at a roundhouse would include lubrication of all working parts and an inspection of the boiler and firebox.  If the engine was allowed to go cold, a new fire would be built to return the locomotive to steam.

 Coaling and sanding towers at Chicago & North Western's 40th Street Yard.

Ancillary to the roundhouse were facilities to dump ash from the firebox, water spigots, as well as coaling and sanding towers to replenish the locomotive and tender.  Woe be to the employee wandering around in the dark who fell into an ash pit, as they could be filled with water along with ashes.  Water, coaling and sanding (for traction) were performed by the hostler and hostler helper prior to the locomotive being placed on the "ready track" where the engine crew would pick it up to move to their train.

Pere Marquette locomotive taking on water at the B&O Robey Street Yards.

There were some 35 roundhouses within the city limits servicing locomotives for the various railroads.  Needless to say they were a ubiquitous part of many city neighborhoods.  They varied in size depending on the railroad operations they served.  Railroads with both freight, passenger and/or commuter service would have the largest or multiple roundhouses at one location.  Every major freight and passenger yard had a roundhouse.

The Pennsylvania's Railroads roundhouse at 55th Street is a good example of a smaller roundhouse.  
Many workers lived close by in the surrounding neighborhood.

As locomotives grew in size so to did the roundhouses.  Old ones were torn down and replaced by more modern facilities; turntables were lengthened to accommodate the larger engines and tenders.  The exception might be a roundhouse that only serviced yard switch engines which tended to be smaller than road engines.  The roundhouse was, at many times, a 24 hour hive of activity with locomotives being quickly serviced to return to duty.  An army of trained craftsmen were responsible for machining and replacing worn parts, as each locomotive was a unique machine.  Aside from machinists there were boiler makers, pipe fitters, sheet metal fabricators, welders, electricians, and painters.

 Illinois Central roundhouse workers pose on the turntable in Champaign, IL.

That uniqueness, and the manpower that was required for their maintenance, was the eventual downfall of steam power on American railroads.  The diesel locomotive required minimal daily servicing and any needed replacement parts came from the original manufacturer.  The need for a phalanx of workers waiting to tend to the needs of a custom made machine disappeared.  The mass production techniques pioneered by the automakers had been grafted on to the design and manufacture of the railroad locomotive.

 Former Rock Island Railroad diesel shop at 47th Street, now used by Metra

While the roundhouse lingered on into the diesel era, it was not suitable for the type of servicing the new locomotives required.  New diesel shops were built that were often "run through" affairs, with doors on both ends.  The wreckers ball was the ultimate fate for all but a few roundhouses, some were re-purposed and others historically restored perhaps as part of a museum.  The closest surviving roundhouse to Chicago is in Aurora, IL where it was converted into a bar and restaurant.  There are no survivors in Chicago, and scant visible evidence of their presence.  Some turntables have managed to hang on for the mere fact that turning the locomotive to face the direction of travel still has its advantages.

The Rock Island Railroad's roundhouse in Blue Island survived well into the diesel era.  It was subsequently demolished, but the turntable is still used by Metra.

Next post:  The Back Shop... coming soon.