Secrets of the Chicago L Part 2

[@nicholasballay496]

The old viaduct structures heading East from Indiana were 100% the Kenwood branch. You can even follow them all the way to the lines old terminus. It is also true, however, that the original right of way the branch was on, was constructed by a railroad connecting up to the stockyards. The city ended up creating a holding company whose rights ended up being transferred to the transit services, leading to its elevation and transition into a rapid transit line.

[@docjanos]

Good, I was going to write much the same. The only other point, I may be wrong, but I believe that the old steam railway was already built on that elevated embankment. As a kid I rode the Kenwood line several times and the Stock Yards once.

[@a81517]

Noyes is pronounced "noise"

[@meepthegreat]

when I heard that I cringed so hard

[@diegomunoz1006]

and Paulina is Paul-lie-na

[@notthatmatterhornmatt]

@@meepthegreatI cringed at mid 1900s

[@themirrorsofmymind]

I said _"Noyes"_ (like noise) to a young guy when discussing Northside apartments for rent and he looked confused. I either showed him the word or pointed to it on my phone and he said, _"Oh, no-yezzz..."_ 🤦🏽‍♂

[@nickbanas3102]

Pls make a part 3!

[@FrancesBedoya89]

Watching this as a Chicagoan born and raised, I can't help, but correct your pronunciation of both Chicago (shuh-kaa-gow), Noyes (pronounced like the word "noise"), Paulina (pronounced Paul-eye-nuh) otherwise both videos are overall pretty good and informative. Thanks for making these.

[@docjanos]

Great! Some extra points: There used to be a track to the west of the Wilson station tat dropped to the ground where it continued south all the way to around Armitage where it connected to a main line railway. It may have been owned by the Milwaukee Road. There were several storage tracks under the L from Wilson to Irving that were never used. It was spooky area full of trash, abandoned cars and unsavory characters. One or two track conitnued to Wrigley Field, along the first base side where there was a grain elevator and usually a couple of box cars parked there. The access to the L was used primarily by coal delivereies (lots of homes used coal for heating). There were two coal yard west of the embankment north of Lawrence, one between Argyle and Berwyn, the other between Thorndale & Granville. They were accessed by a short stub track. The link from Wilson was one of 4 access points to other railroads. Another, also a drop down track (does it still exist?) was at 61st St on the Jackson Park branch, It was where the L had its cars delivered, often from the St Louis Car Company. The other two connection were intdirect though the L's links with the two interurbans, the Aurora & Elgin and the North Shore Line. They in turn linked to freight railroads. There was another branch line, long, long gone, Normal Park. It left the Englewood Branch at Harvard and went south to 69th. As a kid I recall a piece of structure there. What your call the Cermack Branch is called by old L people the Douglas Park Branch. Its history is convoluted. It was one of the branches of the Metropolitan, which included Garfield (now Congress), Logan Square, and Humboldt. Before the Congress (now Eisenhower) Expressway was built the Met ran fairly close its right-of-way. It began at the Loop and also had its own stub terminal which it shared with the Chicago Aurora & Elgin. The Met went west to Marshfield Junction, not far from where that now unsued ramp exists. At the Junction trains went north, west or south. North was to Damen and then either Lawndale or Logan Square. There was no Milwaukke Ave-Dearborn St Subway before 1953. .West from Marshfield was the old Garfield line which terminated neart the current Des Plaines station. The CAE also leased the Garfield tracks before entering their own lines west of Des Plaines. The Douglas Park branch went much further west than it does now. In fact there was even an L branch west of Des Plaines that went all the way to Mannheim & 22nd in Westchester! Things were all fragmented in the 1950s. After the Milwaukee Dearborn subway was completed the Logan Sqaure trains used it down to a temporary subway terminus at La Salle. The elevated connection from Damen down to Marshfield was taken out of revenue service but left intact. Garfield and Douglas Park were now served from the loop only (still elevated). The Expressway cut was made and the L lines over it were torn down. There was a temporary street level service along Van Buren Street from the Loop to about California (?) where it ramped up to meet the part of the Garfield that was not yet demolished as it did not run along the expressway r-o-w. The Aurora & Elgin interurban never used it as they cut back service to Des Plaines and then abandoned service altogether [unannounced in the middle of the day, leaving home bound commuters stranded] Douglas Park was completely changed. It too used the loop but went west on the Lake Street line and connected to the intact Damen southward link--effectively today's Pink. (a ramp had to be newly built as the Metropoliian & Lake Street lines were originally built by separate companies). Once the Expressway was finished both the Douglas and the renamed Congress Line used the median with the Douglas line branching off on that ramp you showed. Both the Douglas and Congress used the Dearbon - Milwaukee subway to Logan Square. It was then called the West-Northwest Line. It was expanded in stages onto the Kennedy median, first ending at Portage Park before going all the way to O'Hare BTW, you must not be a nitve" Teh city is "shi-cago" not "chi-cago" It is "paul-line-a" not "paul-leen-a" and "noise" not "noy-es"

[@arc4705]

1:14 I used to work for Target and did a bit of my training at this one. The store's actually known as Wilson Yard, like the train yard! Crazy crazy shit happens in that Target lol, like people just getting naked and dying their hair in the middle of an aisle...

[@jeffjay2323]

lived in the area in the late 80's. think its bad now? 🤣

[@arc4705]

@@jeffjay2323 Yes, yes I do, because it's bad now. You being here in the 80s doesn't make it good now.

[@GregKulevich]

Quick nitpick here. It's pronounced "shuh-cago" not "cha-cago" Thanks for the video

[@WRS3DRUM]

i was headed to a halloween party the night of the fire at the wilson yard i remember that night very well

[@brianberthold3118]

playform on north side is Chicago Junction Railway ROW it ran the same way as EL to lake and connected to IC

[@xpdev0]

63rd on the Red Line needs a transfer to the Green Line, since this is another East 180th Street situation where the (2 - Broadway 7th Avenue) & (5 - Lexington Avenue) - IRT, split off to their own terminals (Wakefield 241st Street & Eastchester Dyre Avenue) without any free transfers to either of them, the same happens here in Chicago but with the Red & Green Lines, with the Green Line having 2 Branches after Garfield & the Red only having one branch

[@joshuafajardo5697]

I wished they could rebuild all the lost lines/branches & Ⓜ️ both on the mainline & branches

[@Zions_Awesome_YouTube_Show6381]

I live in chicago

[@TMD3453]

It had to be more complicated, taking the old when they were all those branches.

[@themirrorsofmymind]

Dude, where are you from? *_Chohio or Chabraska?_* I'm sorry, I couldn't resist...

[@thelastcontest]

You need a briefing on how to pronounce Noyes and Paulina.

[@francisjsantana]

Why does the L trains feel so slow, it’s convenient if you don’t have car but I’m from Boston and Bos & nyc trains feel sm faster even though they’re older systems! idk why

[@angusb99]

Why are you pronouncing Chicago like that?

[@joshuafajardo5697]

Quadrupled 🛤️ on three 🌳 Park Branch probably explains y I saw 2️⃣ closed tunnels just ➡️ of UIC-Halsted

[@bloodraven3]

Noyes is pronounced "noise"