Nomad of Mid-America
Where the Streets Have No Name
It breaks from conventional wisdom to consider a bustling city thoroughfare to be a domain for freight diesel locomotives. A 184-ton hunk of steel seems out of place rolling mere feet from the front porch steps of dwellings and mere inches from the front bumper of your automobile, obeying traffic signals and sharing the pavement with confused drivers just trying to make their way across town. But such an atypical situation has been a typical facet of life in Michigan City, IN, since 1908, when the Chicago, South Shore, and South Bend interurban railroad claimed its stake smack-dab in the middle of downtown streets. Michigan City grew with the railroad and they have coexisted quite literally through a shared corridor stretching 1.8 miles down 10th and 11th Streets for the past 114 years. The CSS&SB and its successor NICTD have modernized their transit network over the course of time and freight business for contract operator Chicago South Shore has blossomed, but the iconic street running has remained maintained but largely unchanged since its inception. The buried flangeways in 10th and 11th have endured long after most of their comparable street running tracks across the nation--a signature staple of interurban railroading--were ripped up in the early years of the previous century.
On February 6, 2022, CSS's pair of SD38-2s made a late afternoon departure from the Carroll Street shops and headed west through the streets of Michigan City, sending the echoes of horn blasts reverberating off residential structures as motorists hugged the curbs tightly for cover. A normal Saturday scene perhaps, save for the fact that this occasion was anything but normal, as come Monday the street would be closed, vehicular traffic detoured onto parallel routes, and interurban traffic temporarily suspended through Michigan City in favor of busses. The culprit: capacity improvements and an emphasis on public safety under the guise of a $500 million double-track project. Freight traffic will continue mostly-nocturnal operations as construction phasing plays out over the coming weeks, but 11th Street's nostalgia will be permanently lost as work commences to reconfigure the corridor to host separated two main tracks and one-way road through downtown Michigan City. Safety and efficiency will come undoubtedly, as will the comfort and ease for residents, commuters, and motorists who use this street regularly, but the cost will come at the expense of a historical landmark that harkens back to traditions of a forgotten era in railroading history.
Remarkably, the South Shore Line has defied the odds and greatly outlasted its electric railroad counterparts that essentially all evaporated well over a half-century ago. But for it to continue to thrive as a viable and competitive transit option built for the 21st Century, its signature attraction at the heart of Michigan City must be sacrificed. So while "The Last Interurban" prepares to write the next chapter in its lasting history, we watch as these two SD38s rumble down unadulterated 11th Street for one of the final times and take with them the memories of 114 years into the setting sun.
Where the Streets Have No Name
It breaks from conventional wisdom to consider a bustling city thoroughfare to be a domain for freight diesel locomotives. A 184-ton hunk of steel seems out of place rolling mere feet from the front porch steps of dwellings and mere inches from the front bumper of your automobile, obeying traffic signals and sharing the pavement with confused drivers just trying to make their way across town. But such an atypical situation has been a typical facet of life in Michigan City, IN, since 1908, when the Chicago, South Shore, and South Bend interurban railroad claimed its stake smack-dab in the middle of downtown streets. Michigan City grew with the railroad and they have coexisted quite literally through a shared corridor stretching 1.8 miles down 10th and 11th Streets for the past 114 years. The CSS&SB and its successor NICTD have modernized their transit network over the course of time and freight business for contract operator Chicago South Shore has blossomed, but the iconic street running has remained maintained but largely unchanged since its inception. The buried flangeways in 10th and 11th have endured long after most of their comparable street running tracks across the nation--a signature staple of interurban railroading--were ripped up in the early years of the previous century.
On February 6, 2022, CSS's pair of SD38-2s made a late afternoon departure from the Carroll Street shops and headed west through the streets of Michigan City, sending the echoes of horn blasts reverberating off residential structures as motorists hugged the curbs tightly for cover. A normal Saturday scene perhaps, save for the fact that this occasion was anything but normal, as come Monday the street would be closed, vehicular traffic detoured onto parallel routes, and interurban traffic temporarily suspended through Michigan City in favor of busses. The culprit: capacity improvements and an emphasis on public safety under the guise of a $500 million double-track project. Freight traffic will continue mostly-nocturnal operations as construction phasing plays out over the coming weeks, but 11th Street's nostalgia will be permanently lost as work commences to reconfigure the corridor to host separated two main tracks and one-way road through downtown Michigan City. Safety and efficiency will come undoubtedly, as will the comfort and ease for residents, commuters, and motorists who use this street regularly, but the cost will come at the expense of a historical landmark that harkens back to traditions of a forgotten era in railroading history.
Remarkably, the South Shore Line has defied the odds and greatly outlasted its electric railroad counterparts that essentially all evaporated well over a half-century ago. But for it to continue to thrive as a viable and competitive transit option built for the 21st Century, its signature attraction at the heart of Michigan City must be sacrificed. So while "The Last Interurban" prepares to write the next chapter in its lasting history, we watch as these two SD38s rumble down unadulterated 11th Street for one of the final times and take with them the memories of 114 years into the setting sun.