Chicago Terminal Day One of Operation Jan. 2 2007 #5
I was invited by Iowa Pacific President Ed Ellis to document the first two days of his new Chicago Terminal Railroad as it took over operations from CP Rail on the remnants of former Milwaukee Road trackage on Chicago's North Side.
The first day got off to a slow start as the Chicago River drawbridge had to be opened into place, two switches cleared of mud in the General Iron Industries area along Kingsbury Street, then two cars had to be towed blocking the progress of the train at the Lakeshore Athletic Club on Fullerton.
Eventually we made it to Peerless Confectionary running light to retrieve two empty cars left there by CP the previous week. It featured rare street running on the former MILW "Chicago & Evanston" or C&E Line in the middle of Lakewood Avenue. It started raining too hard to get pictures after the hopper was pulled out. The crew was taking one car out at a time, unsure of how much room they had on the stub of track that extended into Diversey Boulevard that was retained as a tail when the rest of the C&E was abandoned in 1984 from that point north. CP was able to pull two cars out at a time.
A few months later Peerless closed down and Chicago Terminal lost its first customer. This operation was rarely photographed to Peerless under Chicago Terminal operation as it only lasted from January into April of 2007 and service was infrequent. This area looks totally different now.
Chicago Terminal Day One of Operation Jan. 2 2007 #5
I was invited by Iowa Pacific President Ed Ellis to document the first two days of his new Chicago Terminal Railroad as it took over operations from CP Rail on the remnants of former Milwaukee Road trackage on Chicago's North Side.
The first day got off to a slow start as the Chicago River drawbridge had to be opened into place, two switches cleared of mud in the General Iron Industries area along Kingsbury Street, then two cars had to be towed blocking the progress of the train at the Lakeshore Athletic Club on Fullerton.
Eventually we made it to Peerless Confectionary running light to retrieve two empty cars left there by CP the previous week. It featured rare street running on the former MILW "Chicago & Evanston" or C&E Line in the middle of Lakewood Avenue. It started raining too hard to get pictures after the hopper was pulled out. The crew was taking one car out at a time, unsure of how much room they had on the stub of track that extended into Diversey Boulevard that was retained as a tail when the rest of the C&E was abandoned in 1984 from that point north. CP was able to pull two cars out at a time.
A few months later Peerless closed down and Chicago Terminal lost its first customer. This operation was rarely photographed to Peerless under Chicago Terminal operation as it only lasted from January into April of 2007 and service was infrequent. This area looks totally different now.