Lumber District
In the Pilsen area of Chicago, the eastern end of BNSF's out-of-service Lumber District trackage has slowly been removed, only several years after it was bought back from the Central Illinois Railway. A couple years later, the last remaining customer- Colonial Brick- moved the bulk of their facility elsewhere and switched to trucks for the remainder of their shipping needs. Currently, the end of track is here at Laflin Street, one block east of Ashland Avenue. This has been left in place for movements needing headroom at Sims Metal Management. Further west, the only other customer on the line is Domino Sugar, reached by an interestingly winding spur that ends up alongside the Chicago Sanitary & Ship Canal.
Lumber District
In the Pilsen area of Chicago, the eastern end of BNSF's out-of-service Lumber District trackage has slowly been removed, only several years after it was bought back from the Central Illinois Railway. A couple years later, the last remaining customer- Colonial Brick- moved the bulk of their facility elsewhere and switched to trucks for the remainder of their shipping needs. Currently, the end of track is here at Laflin Street, one block east of Ashland Avenue. This has been left in place for movements needing headroom at Sims Metal Management. Further west, the only other customer on the line is Domino Sugar, reached by an interestingly winding spur that ends up alongside the Chicago Sanitary & Ship Canal.