North Shore Line 1945 HD merged

As part of its 125th Anniversary, CTA released vintage footage from its archives. The sound track was replaced with music. This movie was previous released in low res with narration and sounds. I took the CTA HD video and replaced the music with the narration and sounds.
The North Shore Line, formed in 1916, was a railroad that traveled from Roosevelt Road in the Chicago Loop, through the northern suburbs, and ended in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Due to increased automobile ownership and the opening of the Edens Expressway, ridership began to decline in the post World War II years, resulting in the abandonment of the Shore Line route in 1955. Ridership continued to decline and along with it, revenue, resulting in the discontinuance of all passenger service during the early morning hours of January 21, 1963.
CTA operates the Howard-Dempster segment as the Yellow Line. This is the only portion of the railroad that remains in service.
This video, filmed in 1945 by Charles E. Keevil, highlights the routes and communities served by this high speed electric railroad.

[@superomegamkiii2313]

Because of the flourishing industry of automobiles and airplanes and the idealization that trains were now caveman technology everyone thought that rail passenger service was no longer needed. Now, with an ever growing population our roads are overcrowding and eroding away from overuse. Airports can now take hours waiting for a flight and the ticket price is not practical for a short or moderate range trip. All because one generation thought they had reinvented the wheel, indeed cars and airplanes were magnificent additions to our society. But where they got it all wrong is in the belief that these new technologies could completely replace railroads. Now you see the consequence of tearing up 2/3rds of America's original rail network. We need these rail lines back more than ever.

[@maas1208]

Agreed and Chicago needs to grow some balls of steel to improve its public transportation and ignore all the NIMBYs since NIMBYS tend to be idiotic Karens.

[@tux_the_astronaut]

Ye its crazy to to see we have basically progressed backwards with our infrastructure compared to other first world countries

[@kanderson1945]

I was born in 1945 in FL but "felt" the thrill as if I've been there. What a wonderful experience. Thank you so much for making my day

[@VolumedMusicMan]

I was looking at Google maps the other day especially at the Skokie Dempster (cta end of the line ) stop. A portion of the NS (route)tracks are still intact north of the station all the way up to Libertyville and Lake Bluff.

[@areizman]

Kudos to the CTA for making this historical look at the full NS operations at their peak available on-line. There is a color Sunday River productions video available for purchase that covers much of the run to Milwaukee and Mundelein but alas was created too late to show the Shore line route. There are a lot of factors and fingers to point as to why the NS folded up. The bottom line though is after WWII Americans flocked to automobiles and new expressways turning away from what was then perceived as antiquated technology. Today it would be financially impossible to build or restore such service. Just look at the CTA readying to spend a billion dollars to extend the red line only a couple miles south.

[@artransitmemories9640]

@Albert Carello Sort of, it took nearly 50 years and there are coming phases that are still many years away from completion. It took a generational affair with automobiles to weaken before So Cal got serious about public transportation.

[@ericn9vjg]

Good job. Any clue if an unedited version of his Skokie Valley footage exists? It jumps from Howard street to Dempster with nothing in between. I'm hoping that exists out there somewhere.

[@edliss6306]

The CTA version is the most complete and clearest that I have seen. There were a few other versions but they were so butchered, blurry and/or silent.

[@rogercarlin446]

I have the original VHS of this and it too skips Evanston Asbury and Dodge stations....

[@ericn9vjg]

That's too bad. Well, it's better than nothing. Thanks.

[@robertgambling502]

Of course, we are all spoiled rotten by today's high resolution video technology. Back during the CNS&M days, consumer video technology did not exist and only expensive and primitive consumer movie filming was available. So a full run cab ride was not feasible.

[@1974rail]

@@robertgambling502 Some people had 16 milameter film cameras.

[@eyreland]

WHAT COUNTRY? WHAT STATE or PROVINCE? WHAT COUNTRY? WHAT STATE or PROVINCE? WHAT COUNTRY? WHAT STATE or PROVINCE?

[@spindalis79]

Illinois (my home state) mostly Cook and Lake Counties.

[@indyrat500]

Really, eyreland? Did you bother to read the description below the video? Or perhaps they didn't mention Chicago and Milwaukee often enough in the narration.

[@badguy1481]

I rode the North Shore to Milwaukee on the last day of operation. Sad..one of the last "inter urbans" in the Chicago Milwaukee area. Thank goodness my old man was a train enthusiast and made sure we honored the North Shore on its last day of service.

[@xXNP4CNuclearXx]

Sad I'll never get to see some of that classic train action. The old days had everything

[@trainsupporter9088]

I so enjoyed this video. To me, it's a terrible shame that the North Shore Line was abandoned - it is really needed today. I wish I had been alive in that era to have ridden the entire system. This was great!

[@daniellautenslager8359]

Very nice remembrance of inter urban city to city travel. Watching this was better than watching TV show. Wish we still had the degree of rail passenger service we once had in the USA.

[@damuphillips9188]

Great film could use some ot those lines today everywhere cut down on passenger cogestion

[@exempligratia101]

I have to admit, I wish that we still have many Interurbans running today, aside from the South Shore Line.

[@intercityrailpal]

Well the Koch brothers worked hard to kill all this and keep it dead.

[@northshoreline6704]

Don't forget the old P&W and the Shaker Heights lines.

[@brushcreek42]

@@intercityrailpal The Koch brothers? More like General Motors and the highway lobby. The nail in the coffin was the construction of Edens Expressway.

[@trijet200]

@@brushcreek42 Yeah and the Firestone tire and Standard oil companies.

[@captainmorgan757]

Thank you so much, for posting! It's like visiting with an old friend.

[@jerryhayes2351]

Thank you, Mr Keevil, for this lost footage. My dad rode the Indiana Interurban from Dayton to Richmond to Muncie. I wish I could go back and ride it with him.

[@tjurgis]

I loved it!! I wish we had a Chanel of old or very old documentaries like this!! Thank you for sharing!!!!

[@davidrasch3082]

This is my parent's Chicago, both born in the middle twenties.

[@edgetaker]

When my parents were married in Chicago in 1946, they took the North Shore to Mundelein - my mom's aunt ran a hotel there they stayed at for their honeymoon.

[@tombarnes7196]

Outstanding trip in a Time Machine to experience interurban trains!

[@schwarzalben88]

Fascinating Video. As someone from the UK where there were very few ( I can think of only 2 Interurban Railways in the UK, only one of which still operates, the I.O.M Electric Railway) and who has an interest in railroads in the USA ( should I say an interest in Railways full stop) Ive always found the Interurban Railways fascinating. It was a shame ( and very short sighted in my opinion) to close the North Shore Down

[@oldenweery7510]

It was all down to economics: ridership dwindled after the war, when car ownership burgeoned. America became a Car Culture in a matter of a decade and a half, causing short line and major railroads alike to drop unprofitable passenger service. (Also, our roadbeds _still_ aren't up to the smooth standards of those in the UK.)

[@ChinaAl]

I used to ride the North Shore to Milwaukee when I went to high school in Delafield. 1955-1959. Fond memories.

[@AdiposeExpress]

16:30 "We're going a mile a minute!" I guess that was remarkable in 1945, but it doesn't sound nearly as impressive compared to freeways where cars can maintain that speed for basically there entire journey. I can understand why the public wasn't nearly as excited about trains (though I would have loved to have been able to ride the North Shore Line).

[@bluesharp59]

I love the old footage, Nice video and a Thumbs Up !

[@usmale4915]

Outstanding video, you did a great job of editing both video and audio! Thank you for sharing!

[@DavidLWhite-fs4jo]

Is that Lake Avenue on the south side of Milwaukee at about 17:57. It greatly resembles what I remember from 1962.

[@robert3302]

People still run in front of the trains as they come into the station.

[@SteamCrane]

At 4:49, 5:13, notice the gauntlet tracks to let freight trains clear the station platform.

[@SteamCrane]

@Albert Carello Not from Chicago, does South Shore still run freight, or are they for work trains? Pretty neat video!

[@Wingnutcaseman]

I almost didn’t notice them. When they’re rusted over, they blend in in this black and white film.

[@granskare]

I recall that while driving ,we picked up a sailor and dropped him off at the naval station.

[@hartmutlorentzen9659]

A wonderful video, Thanks, from Germany

[@carltonpoindexter2034]

This railway was a legacy of the German-Americans!

[@maas1208]

Back when Americans had manners

[@moparluvrsgagarage2898]

Would love to see more of the old lines ?? POSSIBLE????

[@F6HemiCharger]

Dempster St. Station is now a Starbucks

[@davedragan1959]

Boy does that bring back memories. I was stationed at the Lakes in 1958-1959, road those old trollies a lot.

[@Robbi496]

Just one minor point, the Shore Line Trains went down the middle of GREENLEAF Avenue, not Linden :)

[@jimwalsh233]

Narrator said Linden

[@irishsox1]

In the 1980's in Wilmette Greenleaf Avenue was repaved and when they stripped off the asphalt it exposed the old rail lines. This video shows Greenleaf Avenue going into downtown Wilmette. I had seen photos but never actual footage. Fascinating stuff.

[@fnihp30]

Crazy how there is no crossing grade at the the crossings back then. That’s got to be dangerous.

[@sydney4911]

When you watch this and see all the open land in-between the villages, none of that open land exists today. It is all filled in along the varying routes shown in this film.

[@rokuthedog]

The human tumor continues to spread

[@dmann3042000]

I been fasinated about this route for days now since watching this. Sad the Chicago Rapid Transit had tro shorten their routes, but if you use google maps, at the Skokie location "Demster". You will see remains of trach in patches that sit today from this era. Very interesting to see where this route once ran. Kinda of scary maybe ghost trains who knows. But of course Metra uses modern rails or ones that were somewhere, but not these?

[@EB-gg2hd]

There was a plan, decades ago, to extend the yellow line to Highland Park. CTA decided to only try to extend to Old Orchard Mall instead. Even that never happened. Too bad.

[@maas1208]

​@@EB-gg2hd We need push for an extension and if the NIMBYs protest against it then counter protest agianst them.

[@stripervince1]

Awesome video. When the country was better place

[@maas1208]

I guess

[@danielgannon9502]

Thank you!

[@jmac2031]

lovely historic record of a time now long gone, terrific video

[@MegaZsolti]

I like it, especially the manned gates and the detail on them at the end.

[@lynndemerski6212]

I love this film; have watched it countless times and always see something new! Love the trains, the cars and the people (especially all the sailors!).

[@beepbeep3000]

This was released on VHS in the 1980's by Interurban Press.

[@emjay5577]

Became a big fan of the North Shore when I moved to Milwaukee. Knew a few guys who both rode it and modeled it. Even though I no longer live there, I have DVDs and models. It is one of my favorite railroads. Many wonder if it should still be around today? My answer would be yes, although in a modified form with reduced service. If it had limped into the 1970's and the gas crisis, maybe it would have become part of a regional network like the South Shore. Unfortunately at its end, it needed massive investment in new equipment, etc. A lot of odds were stacked against it at the time.

[@emjay5577]

@Albert Carello It would be interesting to see what type of equipment would have replaced the old rolling stack as a first generation replacement. Would they be in married pairs? Or would have they borrowed the concept of the Electroliners and had a three car married set like the CTA once had? Between 1963 and now, I;m sure they woyld have gone through at least two or three generations of new cars.

[@emjay5577]

@Albert Carello Albert, my thoughts (fantasy) on how the North Shore would developed as the years would be: 1. Reduction of service due to competition from cars, the Milwaukee Road and Chicago North Western service at that time. 2. Relocation of the Milwaukee station with trains running along I-94 with stops at National Ave. and Greenfield before rejoining the original right-of way. 3. Catenary completion. 4. Relocation of the Harrison St shop/closing the Highwood Shop and relocation to shared property with the CTA on the Skokie Line. 5. Single tracking the Mundelein Branch with a passing siding. 6. Grade crossing elimination due to increased vehicle traffic. 7.Gradual changing low-level to high-level platforms with handicapped access. 8. Airport station/College stop on south side.

[@mikeobrien901]

Is a north shore line needed today due to traffic?

[@areizman]

I thought about this for some time. The fact is Metra Milwaukee and Up north lines pretty much parallel the old NS service. The only advantage the NS had was it's direct connection over CTA trackage to the loop. However the CTA can barely keep up with it's own service and modern narrow short L cars with their uncomfortable seating would not be very attractive to lure customers away from Metra or personal cars. Also the CTA has had little traction with proposals extending the Yellow line Skokie swift to Old Orchard and possibly Lake Cook Rd. My take the CTA needs to figure out how to build a station for under 50 million dollars for this to happen.

[@scoobycarr5558]

It probably is overdue for a rebirth

[@intercityrailpal]

@@scoobycarr5558 Not if the oil and highway people can stop it. Look what Walker did to the rail service improvements in Wisconsin. They got Foxcom instead! And more billions and billions for unsustainable highways.

[@scoobycarr5558]

@Albert Carello I guess there's more incentive to work from home if your job can allow it ...

[@maas1208]

@@areizman why not have Metra handle the rest of the north shore line and CTA partially run the track up to old orchard and these tracks would've been great for regional rail in Chicago.

[@boggy7665]

17:12 - Approx modern-day address: 2300 16th Place, Kenosha, Wis. The tall white oil tanks in the distance is the site of the former 'Lockwood Oil Company', now Lockwood Self-Storage

[@denniscrane9753]

I drive by those and never knew that! Thank you!

[@aaronfriedman7065]

Skipped too much footage through Chicago.

[@mynorthshore]

This film was produced by the Chicago rapid Transit Co. and the North Shore Line. It was to familiarize "L" employees in general about service and territory of the NSL as the "L" was then operating the NSL trains over the Rapid Transit portion of the run. This wasn't intended for the fan market.

[@WesternOhioInterurbanHistory]

21:32 Chicago and Northwestern Wig-Wag at right.

[@xaenon]

I spotted that as well. My grand daughter had never seen anything like that. There are a couple more in the video, too

[@boggy7665]

@@xaenon This is a little fuzzy but gives the whole thing... watch?v=5kD9jKvI4Gw

[@hifijohn]

those are some seriously sharp curves.

[@duggydugg3937]

my gsh.. he pronounced route as root !!! in 1956 in the navy i used to ride the north shote line on liberty to waukregan to go skating.. also milwaukee snd Chicago

[@redbarnz]

What a little gem of a film! Very sharp and accurately exposed. A time machine to those halcyon days!

[@Robbi496]

Also, the abandonment date was Januray 21, 1963! (Sorry for 2 posts)

[@RiisPark99]

I did see this without narration and low res---this is much better. Question---what do the numbers represent under the C. and M. on the station name signs?

[@davidmontville4885]

0:05 Good that you merged them TOGETHER instead of apart

[@jess.hawkins]

Really cool reminder that the Chicago L started out as a glorified interurban!

[@youzzername]

The train horns sound sick ...literally, sick like an elephant with gastritis. Electroliners were beautiful though.

[@youzzername]

@Albert Carello Yeah, it all sounds over-dubbed. I figure it is a silent film with low quality audio effects added for the viewers benefit. The sick horns kind of grow on you though! I've re-watched this a few times.

[@MA-wq2ih]

It's a low-quality dub of the "long" track on the old Audio Fidelity album "Interurban Memories". The original recording is much cleaner, though the horns don't sound much better. Those were Leslie "Tyfon" horns unique to the baggage cars. The conventional Westinghouse AA2 horns used on many of their other cars sound MUCH better.

[@douglasjackson5007]

@@MA-wq2ih I have copies on both vinyl and CD - packed away 'somewhere'. If I remember correctly, the 'B' side of the album featured the Pacific Electric around Los Angeles. Now THOSE were some odd sounding horns coming from traction equipment.

[@TomZ23]

You can still ride along these routes but on a bicycle. What's cool is a lot of these lines are now Rails-to-Trails.

[@denniscrane9753]

Yeah I ride the north shore path from Winthrop Harbor to Kenosha regularly!

[@maas1208]

But who would risk heat stroke in the summer? I say we restore this rail line.

[@billconserva1461]

Great job!!

[@jamessullivan9992]

Ike really screwed up .

[@Brian_rock_railfan]

great video liked 🚋🚋also marry Christmas 🎄

[@civlyzed]

You want us to marry Christmas? Cheers!

[@collinrieck4939]

3:52 - Now, Greenleaf Avenue - Right next to Panera Bread

[@oakcreekrailroadproduction3907]

17:51 the old ryan tower i wish i saw that before it got demolished

[@NormalFerrari]

Is there a way we can get raw videos of this?

[@robertgift]

Thank you for sharing this. Are the tracks removed?

[@MarceloBenoit-trenes]

Yes, but right of way is preserved with electric lines outside of the small section still in service.

[@boggy7665]

@Albert Carello From Dempster Street in Skokie southward, it's still in use. 'Skokie Swift' line.

[@WesternOhioInterurbanHistory]

Yes. Mostly. Howard Street to Dempster is still in operation. There are ties and some rail from Dempster to Deerfield Road.

[@AharonDov]

Thank you.

[@georgen9755]

Great lakes Business schools

[@georgemurphy2579]

Thanks so much, Ed! Very wonderfully done!

[@Interscope100]

Does this still exist 😳⁉️

[@georgen9755]

Shore line route .......

[@andyengels1343]

Mundelein is pronounced Mun-de-line, not lane...

[@HSMiyamoto]

Well done!

[@KevinReedAlbion]

My parents, aunt and uncle rode this line. My Mom grew up in Hubbard Woods, my Dad in Glencoe and my aunt and uncle (at that time, no cousins yet) lived in Evanston. This is an eye-opening visual account of what they experienced as normal, day-to-day life before, during and after WWII. To see people casually crossing in front of the trains as well as cars and trucks. I guess they were slow enough and were going relatively slow so as not to pose too much of a threat.

[@1974rail]

at 22.53 on left lambs farm!

[@lylecosmopolite]

This is the Chicago celebrated in the novels of Saul Bellow (Augie March) and James Farrell (Studs Lonigan) and Vivian Mayer. Grey skies much of the year, and snow on the ground for at least 3 months of the year. The electric railcars probably dated from the early 1920s.

[@vondumozze738]

Neat!

[@LeonWick526]

There is not enough video footage of the Lake Shore Line. Thanks for posting this.

[@phildralle4526]

From st Charles lll

[@joshuakeller7525]

Was there some music at the very beginning of the video

[@spalkin]

Some of the most absolutely dangerous crossings and interchanges I've ever seen.

[@scoobycarr5558]

Yeah, when you have people doing the very same thing in their cars and on the move as in today's modern era, disobeying rail crossings and signals, danger was lurking along the North Shore Line at practically every turn especially in places like Kenilworth, Wilmette and Glencoe.

[@brushcreek42]

It wasn't that the crossings were dangerous, but the auto drivers were in a big hurry and didn't want to be delayed.

[@ArtStoneUS]

If you knew the crossings had no gates or signals you would look carefully before you would cross them

[@drpsionic]

It was a time when even the members of the criminal underclass wore suits and hats.

[@nowake]

They still do, but they don't call themselves the underclass

[@rodneymaennling5963]

Location, location, location, please. Good footage, but details are hard to comprehend with knowing which " North Shore" line your referring to. there is a North Shore line (railway) in Canada, UK, Ireland, and many in Europe.

[@robertgambling502]

This is the North Shore out of Chicago, Illinois. Known as the Chicago North Shore & Milwaukee. This was an electric interurban line running between Chicago and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Unfortunately this was abandoned in January 1963.

[@maas1208]

@@robertgambling502 its southern brother the South Shore line managed to survive.

[@davidkling4663]

Question? Was this the train that I knew as the "Tooterville Express? I joined the Navy in 61 and took a train trip from the Great Lakes Naval Training Center into Chicago on liberty one weekend day at that time. It was a "HOOT" and I remember it with a good feeling.

[@luis_ayala_134]

Great video. Please post some more.

[@Mullikia]

Getting a kick out those weak-sounding horns

[@lylecosmopolite]

This interurban line mostly paralleled the Chicago Northwestern commuter service, which still runs to Waukegan. Amtrak does Chicago-Milwaukee. The Shore Line was slow because it made many stops.

[@maas1208]

Bro if the rest of the trackage survived the RTA could've made a regional rail line out of the tracks

[@ArtStoneUS]

Most of the people that I've bumped into who rode this were people who were sent to the naval training station in World war II

[@jimvetromila4562]

Typical cold crappy Chicago weather. Uck.

[@stratkiller86]

My city at 18:00

[@billbutler5754]

Z2

[@intercityrailpal]

People stand in the aisles of the peak hour Milwaukee Corridor Amtrak trains today. They even avoid all the populated Shoreline Cities to discourage use.

[@boggy7665]

We had the Southeast Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission planning to restore service between Kenosha and Milwaukee on the UP (ex-C&NW) Lakeshore Line. The state Repuglicans outlawed even the planning.

[@maas1208]

​@@boggy7665 Can't Metra extend the UP-N line to Milwaukee?

[@johnstone7697]

@@maas1208 Metra is an Illinois agency that has no jurisdiction over Wisconsin.

[@cats0182]

Is that office building at Highwood still standing? Just wondering.

[@cliffburnstein8816]

No, it and the shops were torn down and replaced by a Ramada Inn, which fell on hard times and is gone, too. Rumor had it for years, that NSL tracks were under the lobby floor. A real expert assured me it was not true. ,

[@MA-wq2ih]

Demolished around 1968. The railroad abandoned in 1963, but a few wrap-up office activities continued there until the mid-60s.

[@viatger]

I miss it!

[@scoobycarr5558]

That Electroliner kind of looked very futuristic, didn't it?

[@waynegray1702]

..you beat me to-the-punch, thanks! What you've done here would have been my next project. Good job on 'cleaning-up' the video!