An Electric Train on the Streets? South Shore Line

[@merryjane2095]

Woohooo!!! Born and raised here!!💓

[@jedendwatrzy4189]

I live in South Bend and I love taking the South Shore to Chicago to spend a day there. It’s fun!

[@MichaelCook-bw4mr]

Of course my favorite part is the street running in Michigan City! A True interurban!

[@mrsurfliner149]

Not anymore after they tear the tracks up

[@MichaelCook-bw4mr]

I love the South Shore Line! I've ridden it many times!

[@fairportrails107]

Gotta love those interurban street cars

[@markmanz8897]

So, you need to go to East Troy, WI. They have a museum where they have a bunch of South Shore cars that are used on a regular basis. They even have a dinner train that uses old South Shore cars. Honestly, I think there are more retired South Shire cars in East Troy, WI than in Indiana and Illinois, combined.

[@Thom-TRA]

This is the first time I’m hearing of this place. Thanks for the tip, I’m definitely checking that out!

[@palingoebel4361]

Drive to South Chicago and try the Metra Electric District.

[@Thom-TRA]

Did it a few months ago! kzbin.info/www/bejne/pZnQqYSJmMyrr5Y

[@Phantom1963]

Thank you for sharing your adventure Thom. Hope you had a bunch of fun. been on South Shore many times and after 210 trips to Chicago it is still invigorating.

[@Thom-TRA]

Wow 210 trips??

[@Phantom1963]

@@Thom-TRA I live in Michigan City Indiana, $21 round trip to Chicago ! It is photography heaven ❤️

[@Phantom1963]

Thom you need to come back this way and see what 700 million dollars has done to what you recorded years ago.

[@cats0182]

South Shore Freight (the orange diesel engines) is a separate, private company that operates the old CSSB freight services. The NICTD owns and operagtes ONLY the passenger service.

[@ByzantineCalvinist]

I took the South Shore Line between South Bend and Chicago a couple of times when I was living in South Bend in the 1980s. At the time they were still using the old Insull-era cars from the 1920s, but these would soon be replaced with the cars we see here. They are in the process of taking the trains off of 11th Street in Michigan City and moving them to a dedicated right of way. I have no idea what happened to the old Michigan City station which was a carbon copy of the former Wells Street Terminal of the Chicago Aurora and Elgin (1902-1957/1959). The South Shore used to run down the street in East Chicago until 1956 and in South Bend until 1970.

[@drewleach2199]

The South Shore Train use to go down the city streets of South Bend with the final stop at LaSalle and Michigan. The train would then go over the LaSalle bridge in to a train car holding area. This took place until sometime in the 70's. Now the South Shore to South Bend International Airport,

[@8avexp]

I remember that, too!

[@AnimeMusicProfessor]

One of the best train lines in the country! :D

[@jg-7780]

In case you were curious, here are all the electrified passenger rail lines in the us (excluding metro and light rail type systems) Northeast US: -Amtrak Between Boston and DC -Amtrak between Philly and Harrisburg -All of Septa -Much of NJT, Metro North, and LIRR Midwest: -Metra Electric Lines -South Shore line West: -Denver Commuter rail -Caltrain in a few years I think that’s all.

[@nolantherailfan5048]

Lirr canceled there battery electric M7 program because they realised it's not the best option to go 100% 0 emissions by 2050 they're just gonna electrify the rest of there lines

[@redstonerelic]

Brightline west when that gets built

[@ozarkharshnoisescene]

the Metrolink in STL is a commuter rail/metro hybrid and is electrified

[@LibertyRailfan]

Great video the street running will surely be missed, but at least the service capacity will be increased once the construction is done, great video!

[@Thom-TRA]

Definitely the end of an era… glad you enjoyed the video! Do you know if the branch line to Dyer is still on track?

[@justinanderson181]

@@Thom-TRA Yes it is! They broke ground just a couple months ago.

[@jeff7597]

A few other electrified US systems outside of NEC tracks - Denver's commuter rail and Philly's SEPTA commuter rail are both fully electrified (catenary), as are some other bits of New Jersey Transit (beyond just the NEC). A lot of New York's Metro North and LIRR networks are also electrified, but with third rail. There's also an overhead electrified freight line in Arizona that exists solely to move coal from a mine to a power plant, completely separated from the US rail network.

[@Thom-TRA]

That line in AZ sounds cool!

[@jeff7597]

@@Thom-TRA 3 months later I notice the reply lol. Unfortunately I heard that line stopped running last month, due to the coal plant it supplied being set to shut down in favor of other energy sources..... Good reason I suppose

[@uhlijohn]

The South Shore is the last surviving interurban once owned by Samuel Insull, a traction and electrical power generation magnate who died penniless in a Paris subway!

[@CRStoller]

I used to live in Michigan City, Indiana and I would take the South Shore pretty frequently to Chicago.

[@catherinebenson3525]

Great video i rode the whole line before south bend airport aka sbn to Chicago and/or millunimm staition

[@johnsmart964]

Thank you for bringing us this excellent and very interesting video. It is like a mixture of a train and a tram. It is a great system.

[@GreenRC24]

Great video, very enjoyable to watch.

[@cooltrainsinmontreal4883]

MEKTRA ELECTRIC DISTRICT, from Illinois Central also runs in Chicago unless it was discontinued

[@kevinhoward9593]

The street running in Michigan City is actually being discontinued. The line is being reroute a different way by the end of the year. LAFAYETTE INDIANA used to have a station in the middle of the road too, until they rerouted it to a new alignment in 1994.

[@michaelglass4701]

I'm a Model Railroader & I love the South Shore, i wish the South Shore Railroad came in HO or N Scale

[@rexjamison2170]

this was interesting---just great!

[@tsrailfan6402]

One thing that I noticed is that they use a wch mechanical bell (used mostly on crossings) as a locomotive bell. It's pretty odd but i'm not against it.

[@atomstarfireproductions8695]

Unfortunately, they may soon remove the street running tracks in a few years later as they want the entire line double tracked.

[@dart157]

Im gonna ride this train someday

[@Thom-TRA]

Definitely do it! I recommend it

[@chrisbeck8182]

I took the day and rode Metra from Harvard to OTC and then hopped the South Shore #7 from Millennium to South Bend and #18 on the way back. First time on the South Shore as I have no reason to ride it otherwise but we had at least a 10 car train and it was pretty full. Very impressed with the quality of service and their ticket app totally rocks compared to Metra’s tragic fail.

[@christopherradel3965]

Great video. Love the south shore line. Used to take it to Chicago in the summer when I lived in northern Indiana

[@Thom-TRA]

Recently it’s been a bit of a mess with replacement bus service. I’m covering it all in a video soon. But the improvements will be worth it!

[@uhlijohn]

The South Shore joins the Illinois Central (now Canadian National) lines at Kensington.

[@quijibosimpson1381]

It just crosses them for about 100 yards to get to the Metra Electric tracks.

[@christopherchhoeun8245]

Yess

[@jacojasso9901]

When I was in the bathroom the train was shaking and then it messed me up

[@fermitthekrog6318]

Kinda reminds me of the arrow 3s I've ridden over here in New Jersey

[@Tom-gy5ii]

This is like when I go to EWR. People take Amtrak which is 38$ however it’s better to take NJ transit which is 9$. My grandpa used to fall for the trick until he began taking Nj Transit which was cheaper. Great video!! :)

[@Thom-TRA]

When you take NJT or Amtrak, don't you also have to pay for the AirTrain? I've never understood why...

[@quijibosimpson1381]

Ha! Occasionally we get passenger at South Bend Airport try get on with Amtrack tickets they paid $70 for. Out ticket to Chicago is $14.25.

[@jbreezy101]

SEPTA in Philadelphia all it's lines are electric. NJ transit in northern NJ has a few lines electric. Half of Marc Penn line trains in MD are electric. Denver and SEPTA use electric emus.

[@bobpeg7457]

From South Bend IN. airport to Millennium Station. Then Metra to O'Hare. But United Limo (bus) is quicker.

[@briansivley2001]

I take it you like trains lol. I'm the same way. I have been trying to plan a trip on the South Shore Line but real life issues is preventing me from doing it. I would take it from Millennium Station to South Bend Airport and back while making a video of it. As if it wasn't obvious I'm from Chicago.

[@uhlijohn]

In the olden days, a flag stop was initiated by a passenger lighting a newspaper on fire and waving it at the oncoming train so that the engineer would know to stop and pick up a passenger!

[@Thom-TRA]

That’s wild! I had no idea!

[@ericstevenson1903]

I don't believe any of those rails Blanca Metra they may have a sighting where they Park their trains at that whole thing from Michigan City to downtown Chicago is the South Shore Line has been that way since 18 something

[@albertcarello619]

North Shore Line trains were much much faster making the South Shore Line trains look like they're standing still by comparison

[@johnarnehansen9574]

Well, they could use Natural Gas, Thermoelectricity, Wind and Hydro Power plants for railroad electrification!..

[@streettrain4114]

In Yakima, WA, is a heritage-interurban line running in the streets ! Unique. And in 🇨🇭 Electric Street Running Passenger Trains are very common ! World~Wide overview on : www.coasttram.info/street running trains !

[@Thom-TRA]

Yakima reminds me of that one iCarly episode 😂

[@catherinebenson3525]

NiCtD

[@miguelsalami]

My best friend got killed by one of these South Shore trains he tried to beat it but didn't. They go faster than you think❗R.I.P. Joey ❤

[@mrsurfliner149]

Your friend is very stupid no offense but also rip joey

[@cats0182]

Japanese? Yes. Very sad. American companies that built those kinds of trains are long gone.

[@Thom-TRA]

Japanese companies build the best trains by far

[@HannahHäggAutisticTransWoman]

Oh yes the train that belives it's a tram

[@bhavyful]

Why does every coach have a pantograph?

[@fermitthekrog6318]

I do believe these coaches are a married pair and each has its own motor.

[@gethighonlife11]

@@fermitthekrog6318 These coaches are not a married pair. They sometimes run South Shore trains with 3 or 5 cars. I believe that some of the coaches are dummy units, or trailers, but still utilize the pantographs anyway.

[@atomstarfireproductions8695]

I have no clue why each car has 2. However, trailer cars (which have no motors) have only one, which is for power for lights, air conditioning, etc.

[@quijibosimpson1381]

@@atomstarfireproductions8695 I have your answer! The reason these particular ones have two, is that we use the pantograph on the leading end of each car as the joint on the pantograph gives easier or puts less pressure on the wire along the ride. It does reduce the chances of taking down wire. It can be the difference between chipping the contact strip and taking down a quarter mile of wire.

[@HannahHäggAutisticTransWoman]

A bad timetable compared to europe

[@world-wide9136]

Do they allow bicycles?

[@Thom-TRA]

They have bike cars sometimes I believe

[@mistypiker466]

There is currently no bikes from South Bend to Gary Metro currently because of the double tracking construction project and the current busing situation. I take the South Shore quite often at least three times a week. It is annoying but the double tracking will be done in 2024. There’s a think tank group that is trying with the City of South Bend leadership and county leadership to bring the South Shore back downtown. We currently take the train from South Bend to Michigan city and then we are bussed from Michigan City to Gary metro . Then we currently get back on the train to Chicago. There are bikes cars on South Shore trains from Gary metro to Chicago . This is a seasonal service. So from like late April to fall.