Northwestern Elevated Railroad
Encyclopedia
The Northwestern Elevated Railroad was the last of the privately constructed rapid transit
lines to be built in Chicago, Illinois. The line ran from the Loop in downtown Chicago north to Wilson Avenue in Chicago's Uptown neighborhood
a with branch to Ravenswood and Albany Park that left the main line at Clark Street
. The line survives as the Brown
and Purple
lines and as the northern portions of the Red Line
of the Chicago 'L'
system.
and Wilson Avenue
was to begin by December 31, 1897. This franchise was altered in 1895 to allow the line to connect to the new Union Loop, and the deadline for completion was later extended to May 31, 1899.
Construction of the line started in February 1896 but the project experienced financial difficulties and work was paused later in the year and stopped completely in 1897. New financing was found, and construction began again in July 1899. In order to meet the franchise requirements an inaugural train ran north from the Loop on December 31, 1899, however, on January 1, 1900 City officials declared that the railroad was unsafe and that the franchise had expired. Defiantly, the company ran another train the next day, police stopped the train and arrested the crew, but company officials took the controls and managed to run the train in to the Loop. In order to stop its return, police opened the Wells Street bridge and blocked the track with railroad ties, but the officials managed to evade the police by having the train switched on to the Lake Street Elevated Railroad
. Eventually the company reached a new agreement with the city, and the first 6.41 miles (10.3 km) section of the railroad was officially opened on May 31, 1900.
. The new branch left the main line just south of Clark Street
and operated to Western Avenue
. An at-grade extension to the branch's final terminal at Kimball
occurred a few months later.
Service was extended 7 miles (11.3 km) north from the Wilson terminal
to Central Street
in suburban Evanston
on May 16, 1908. This route was over the electrified trackage of the Milwaukee Road's Chicago and Evanston line. Initially the elevated tracks at Wilson were linked to the street level tracks of the Milwaukee Road by a wooden trestle incline. The Milwaukee Road depots at Argyle Park
, Edgewater
, North Edgewater
, Rogers Park
, Birchwood
, Calvary
, Main
, Dempster
, Davis
, Noyes
and Central were demolished and the tracks spread to allow their replacement with new temporary island platform stations. New stations were also added at Hayes Street
and Howard Avenue
. The section of the line in southern Evanston between Howard Avenue and University Place was elevated onto an embankment by 1910, and the tracks between Lawrence and Howard were elevated between 1914 and 1922.
A short extension from Central to Linden Avenue
in Wilmette
occurred on April 2, 1912.
. The Chicago Transit Authority
took over the assets of the CRT in 1947.
Rapid transit
A rapid transit, underground, subway, elevated railway, metro or metropolitan railway system is an electric passenger railway in an urban area with a high capacity and frequency, and grade separation from other traffic. Rapid transit systems are typically located either in underground tunnels or on...
lines to be built in Chicago, Illinois. The line ran from the Loop in downtown Chicago north to Wilson Avenue in Chicago's Uptown neighborhood
Uptown, Chicago
Uptown is one of Chicago’s 77 community areas. Uptown has well defined boundaries. They are: Foster on the north; Lake Michigan on the east; Montrose , and Irving Park on the south; Ravenswood , and Clark on the west. Uptown borders three community areas and Lake Michigan...
a with branch to Ravenswood and Albany Park that left the main line at Clark Street
Clark Street (Chicago)
Clark Street is a north-south street in Chicago, Illinois that runs close to the shore of Lake Michigan from the northern city boundary with Evanston, to 2200 South in the city street numbering system...
. The line survives as the Brown
Brown Line (Chicago Transit Authority)
The Brown Line starts out in northwest Chicago, at the Kimball and Lawrence Avenue terminal in Albany Park, where there is a storage yard and servicing shop for the trains to the east of the passenger station...
and Purple
Purple Line (Chicago Transit Authority)
The Purple Line of the Chicago Transit Authority is a branch line on the northernmost section of the Chicago 'L' rapid transit network. Normally, it extends south from the Wilmette terminal at Linden Avenue, passing through Evanston to Howard Street, on Chicago's northern city limits...
lines and as the northern portions of the Red Line
Red Line (Chicago Transit Authority)
The northern terminus of the Red Line is Howard Street in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago , on the City Limits farthest north. The Red Line extends southeasterly on an elevated embankment structure about a half-mile west of the lakefront to Touhy Avenue then turns south along Glenwood...
of the Chicago 'L'
Chicago 'L'
The L is the rapid transit system serving the city of Chicago and some of its surrounding suburbs. It is operated by the Chicago Transit Authority...
system.
Beginnings
The Northwestern Elevated Railroad Company was incorporated on October 30, 1893, and on January 8, 1894 was granted a 50-year franchise by the City of Chicago. The original franchise stipulated that service between a downtown location to the south of the Chicago RiverChicago River
The Chicago River is a system of rivers and canals with a combined length of that runs through the city of the same name, including its center . Though not especially long, the river is notable for being the reason why Chicago became an important location, as the link between the Great Lakes and...
and Wilson Avenue
Wilson (CTA)
Wilson is a station on the Chicago Transit Authority's Red Line, part of the Chicago 'L' metro system. It is located in the Uptown neighborhood at 4620 North Broadway in Chicago, Illinois . It is the closest station to Harry S Truman College. The station has a large central island platform serving...
was to begin by December 31, 1897. This franchise was altered in 1895 to allow the line to connect to the new Union Loop, and the deadline for completion was later extended to May 31, 1899.
Construction of the line started in February 1896 but the project experienced financial difficulties and work was paused later in the year and stopped completely in 1897. New financing was found, and construction began again in July 1899. In order to meet the franchise requirements an inaugural train ran north from the Loop on December 31, 1899, however, on January 1, 1900 City officials declared that the railroad was unsafe and that the franchise had expired. Defiantly, the company ran another train the next day, police stopped the train and arrested the crew, but company officials took the controls and managed to run the train in to the Loop. In order to stop its return, police opened the Wells Street bridge and blocked the track with railroad ties, but the officials managed to evade the police by having the train switched on to the Lake Street Elevated Railroad
Lake Street Elevated Railroad
The Lake Street Elevated Railroad was the second permanent elevated rapid transit line to be constructed in Chicago, Illinois. The first section of the line opened on November 6, 1893, and its route is still used today as part of the Green Line route of the Chicago 'L' system.-Beginnings:The Lake...
. Eventually the company reached a new agreement with the city, and the first 6.41 miles (10.3 km) section of the railroad was officially opened on May 31, 1900.
Expansion
On May 18, 1907 the Northwestern opened a branch to RavenswoodRavenswood, Chicago
Ravenswood is a neighborhood located in the north side of the city of Chicago, Illinois in the Lincoln Square Community Area . According to the Realtors Association, Ravenswood's approximate area is bordered by the north at Foster Avenue, Montrose Avenue on the south, by the west at the Chicago...
. The new branch left the main line just south of Clark Street
Clark (CTA)
Clark was a station on the Chicago Transit Authority's Howard Line, which is now part of the Red Line. The station was located at Clark Street and Roscoe Avenue in the Lakeview neighborhood of Chicago, at what is now the junction between the Red and Brown lines. Clark was situated north of Belmont...
and operated to Western Avenue
Western (CTA Brown Line)
Western is an 'L' station on the CTA's Brown Line. It is an elevated station with two side platforms, located in the Lincoln Square neighborhood. The adjacent stations are Rockwell, which is located about one quarter mile to the west, and Damen, about one half mile to the east...
. An at-grade extension to the branch's final terminal at Kimball
Kimball (CTA)
Kimball is the 'L' station at the terminus of the CTA's Brown Line. It is located in Chicago's Albany Park neighborhood. From Kimball trains run south and then east to Kedzie, which is about one third of a mile away...
occurred a few months later.
Service was extended 7 miles (11.3 km) north from the Wilson terminal
Wilson (CTA)
Wilson is a station on the Chicago Transit Authority's Red Line, part of the Chicago 'L' metro system. It is located in the Uptown neighborhood at 4620 North Broadway in Chicago, Illinois . It is the closest station to Harry S Truman College. The station has a large central island platform serving...
to Central Street
Central (CTA Purple Line)
Central is a Purple Line station of the Chicago Transit Authority 'L' system. Located at 1024 Central Street in Evanston, Illinois , the elevated platform sits above Central Street, half a block west of Ridge Avenue...
in suburban Evanston
Evanston, Illinois
Evanston is a suburban municipality in Cook County, Illinois 12 miles north of downtown Chicago, bordering Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, and Wilmette to the north, with an estimated population of 74,360 as of 2003. It is one of the North Shore communities that adjoin Lake Michigan...
on May 16, 1908. This route was over the electrified trackage of the Milwaukee Road's Chicago and Evanston line. Initially the elevated tracks at Wilson were linked to the street level tracks of the Milwaukee Road by a wooden trestle incline. The Milwaukee Road depots at Argyle Park
Argyle (CTA)
Argyle is a station on the Chicago Transit Authority's 'L' system. It is situated between the Berwyn and Lawrence stations on the Red Line, which runs from Rogers Park at Chicago's northern city limits, through downtown Chicago, to Roseland...
, Edgewater
Bryn Mawr (CTA)
Bryn Mawr is an 'L' station on the CTA's Red Line. It is an elevated station located at 1119 West Bryn Mawr Avenue in the Bryn Mawr Historic District of the Edgewater neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. The adjacent stations are Thorndale, located about one half mile to the north, and Berwyn, about...
, North Edgewater
Granville (CTA)
Granville is a station on the Chicago Transit Authority's Red Line, part of the Chicago 'L' metro system. It is located at 1119 West Granville Avenue in Chicago, Illinois . It is in the Edgewater neighborhood, close to the Rogers Park border...
, Rogers Park
Morse (CTA)
Morse is an 'L' station on the CTA's Red Line. It is located at 1358 West Morse Avenue in Chicago, Illinois . The station was formerly known as Rogers Park or Morse-Rogers Park. There is an automated entry/exit from the north end of the platform onto Lunt Avenue...
, Birchwood
Jarvis (CTA)
Jarvis is a station on the Chicago Transit Authority's 'L' system, on the Red Line at 1523 W. Jarvis Avenue in Chicago, Illinois...
, Calvary
Calvary (CRT)
Calvary was a station on the Chicago Rapid Transit Company's Evanston Line, now the Chicago Transit Authority's Purple Line. The station was located at 400 N. Chicago Avenue. Calvary opened on May 16, 1908, and closed in 1931; it was replaced by South Boulevard. After its closure, Calvary stood...
, Main
Main (CTA)
Main is a station on the Chicago Transit Authority's 'L' system, on the Purple Line at 836 Chicago Avenue in Evanston, Illinois...
, Dempster
Dempster (CTA Purple Line)
Dempster is a station on the Chicago Transit Authority's 'L' system, on the Purple Line at 1316 Sherman Avenue in Evanston, Illinois .The current station has been in place since 1910...
, Davis
Davis (CTA)
Davis is a station on the Chicago Transit Authority's 'L' system, on the Purple Line in Evanston, Illinois. It is located at 1612 Benson Avenue , in the middle of downtown Evanston, and next to the Davis Street stop of Metra's Union Pacific/North Line...
, Noyes
Noyes (CTA)
Noyes is a station on the Chicago Transit Authority's 'L' system, on the Purple Line in Evanston, Illinois. It is located at 909 Noyes Street , just a few blocks west of the north end of Northwestern University's Evanston campus. The Noyes Cultural Center is also nearby...
and Central were demolished and the tracks spread to allow their replacement with new temporary island platform stations. New stations were also added at Hayes Street
Loyola (CTA)
Loyola is a station on the Chicago Transit Authority's 'L' system, served by the Red Line. It is located at 1200 West Loyola Avenue in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. The station sees heavy use by students from its nearby namesake, the Lakeshore Campus of Loyola University...
and Howard Avenue
Howard (CTA)
Howard is a station on the Chicago Transit Authority's 'L' system in Chicago, Illinois. It is the northern terminus of the Red Line and the southeastern terminus of the Yellow Line; it also serves the Purple Line, for which it is the southern terminus outside of weekday rush hours...
. The section of the line in southern Evanston between Howard Avenue and University Place was elevated onto an embankment by 1910, and the tracks between Lawrence and Howard were elevated between 1914 and 1922.
A short extension from Central to Linden Avenue
Linden (CTA)
Linden is an 'L' station and the northern terminus of CTA's Purple Line. It is the only 'L' stop in Wilmette, Illinois, and is located at 349 Linden Avenue...
in Wilmette
Wilmette, Illinois
Wilmette is a village in New Trier Township, Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is located north of Chicago's downtown district and has a population of 27,651. Wilmette is considered a bedroom community in the North Shore district...
occurred on April 2, 1912.
Consolidation
In 1913 Chicago's four elevated railroad companies came together to form the Chicago Elevated Railways Collateral Trust establishing crosstown services for the first time, and in 1924 all four companies were formally united to form the Chicago Rapid Transit CompanyChicago Rapid Transit Company
The Chicago Rapid Transit Company was a privately owned firm providing rapid transit rail service in Chicago, Illinois and several adjacent communities between the years 1924 and 1947...
. The Chicago Transit Authority
Chicago Transit Authority
Chicago Transit Authority, also known as CTA, is the operator of mass transit within the City of Chicago, Illinois and some of its surrounding suburbs....
took over the assets of the CRT in 1947.