What's Left of Chicago's Lost "L" Stations?

Рет қаралды 90,164

Күн бұрын

Get 50% off your first order of CookUnity meals - go to cookunity.com/history50 and use my code HISTORY50 at checkout to try them out for yourself! Thanks to CookUnity for sponsoring this video!
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Chapters:
00:00 - Introduction: Unveiling the History of Chicago's L
01:39 - Inception: Chicago's First L Line Story
04:16 - Formation of CRT & CTA: Unraveling Their Origins
06:24 - Demolition Era: Chicago's CTA Terminals Vanished
07:04 - Forgotten Heritage: Exploring Chicago's Lost Wells Street Terminal
10:44 - Relics of the Past: Rediscovering Chicago's Lost Douglas Park Station
12:55 - Evolution of Service: Impact of Skip-Stop System on CTA
13:19 - Vanished Hub: Recounting Chicago's Lost Main Street Station
14:34 - Resilience Amidst Crisis: How the Great Depression Shaped CTA
16:03 - Echoes of the Past: Discovering Chicago's Lost Ravenswood Station
17:49 - Forgotten Route: Tracing Chicago's Lost Stock Yard Branch
23:14 - Present-Day Chronicles: Chicago L System in the Modern Era
IT’S HISTORY - Weekly Tales of American Urban Decay as presented by your host Ryan Socash.
» CONTACT
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» CREDIT
Scriptwriter - Dillan Aultimate
Editor - Patrycja Klimczuk
Host - Ryan Socash
Music/Sound Design: Dave Daddario
» NOTICE
Some images may be used for illustrative purposes only - always reflecting the accurate time frame and content. Events of factual error / mispronounced word/spelling mistakes - retractions will be published in this section.

Пікірлер: 121

@ITSHISTORY 7 ай бұрын

Get 50% off your first order of CookUnity meals - go to cookunity.com/history50 and use my code HISTORY50 at checkout to try them out for yourself! Thanks to CookUnity for sponsoring this video!

@LanceGrey 6 ай бұрын

Never buys food from Woke vendors using names with "unity" . . . Sounds New Age/ Vegan.

@Channel567-7 5 ай бұрын

Great upload! Sadly, as soon as this endless advert started, I switched to another channel! It’s not in my zone, and I can’t fast forward it so a quick goodbye 👋

@ronkemperful 7 ай бұрын

Until I was five in the 1950s I lived in Los Angeles. Overhead the streets, often fastened between buildings were an extensive array of wires. Asking my parents about this I was told that they were all what was left of the tram system. Years later I read that Los Angeles had the most extensive electric tram system in the nation with over 127 miles of track. Sad that was all ripped up for buses!

@edwardmiessner6502 7 ай бұрын

Was that just the Los Angeles Street Railway or was the Pacific Electric interurban system included?

@Jordantmori 7 ай бұрын

I would say it was ripped up for cars not busses. The rail system was literally purchased by car companies and dismantled in order to increase car sales.

@michaelhoule2134 7 ай бұрын

Vancouver was the same. Huge interurban electric tram system from Vancouver to Chilliwack. All ripped up for diesel buses. :(. So sad.

@galeschool 7 ай бұрын

The Chicago Surface Lines was the largest streetcar system in the world operated by one company. NYC had a larger network, but it was operated by several smaller companies. The same is true of those claiming LA had a larger system -- they are including both LARY and the Pacific Electric. The PE was technically an interurban railway, NOT a city streetcar.

@joeblow5214 7 ай бұрын

@degrassifreek100 I love this conspiracy because in order for it to be true the GM buyout would have had to happen 15 years before it did for it to as sinister as it is made out to be by crazy urbanists. The GM buyout happened because of lack of demand for transit and most systems being far into debt. The demand for cars was skyrocketing even during the depression. GM buying out the systems and selling busses reduced plant costs which was a major reason why transit was in the red and enabled far more flexibility in transit. Urbanists can't on one hand complain about keeping services that consistently operate in the red, while complaining about people moving to the suburbs decreasing tax revenues costing thier precious cities money in excess plant. They also cannot complain about induced demand why trying to do that very thing for urban lifestyles.

@gilbertoavina6156 7 ай бұрын

I'm a Chicago native and I love seeing old pictures and videos on Chicago's history. Great work with this one Ryan.

@ITSHISTORY 7 ай бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it!

@rileymilkman 4 ай бұрын

@@ITSHISTORYsame here, theres always something funky about this city

@mdf3530 7 ай бұрын

You missed three on the Jackson Park branch of the Green Line. University, Dorchester and Jackson Park.

@AnalytiKroll 7 ай бұрын

The pictures shown for the Skokie (then called Niles Center) Main Street Station are not of the station along what is today the Skokie Swift, but of the Purple Line Main Street Station in Evanston which is still in operation. You also don't not how in 2012, a new station was built on Oakton Street just a block south of the Main Street Station. This is also a very odd pick for as not only is it not a significant station, with many infill stations like it closing too, but not located within Chicago.

@throttleblip1 7 ай бұрын

Keep it up socash, I need my daily Chicago fix. Have you done one on the tunnels used during prohibition? North side they stretched

@theScrupulousBerserker 7 ай бұрын

The Fugitive: "that sounds like an L" - classic! 🎬

@salty6pence672 7 ай бұрын

If you look up where the old stockyard line crossed the east side of the expressway, You will see that there are people living on the old elevated sections.

@dannyhernandez2203 Ай бұрын

Cool. What streets could I see the old line? I stay by 47th and Western amd find Chicago history fascinating

@boduke6073 7 ай бұрын

Great video. Wish you would have talked about the Kenwood branch line that shared track with the Chicago junction railway. Maybe a part 2 in the future?

@YeOldeGeezer 6 ай бұрын

I believe there is still a remaining station that is a stub end track. The door is set into concrete if I'm not mistaken. Hopefully you get what I'm aiming for.

@boduke6073 6 ай бұрын

@@YeOldeGeezer i have seen the doors closed off for the old stations.

@johnfritz1164 7 ай бұрын

Hopefully there will be a part 2. There are the removed stations from the east end of the Jackson Park line, the abandoned stations along I290 on the Forest Park line, and the removed stations on the Douglas Park line.

@beaniemac 7 ай бұрын

Yup. Jackson park was destroyed in the 90's

@whitetailani 6 ай бұрын

I've always wondered about the abandoned blue line stations on 290

@YeOldeGeezer 6 ай бұрын

Always wondered about the Douglas Park line now the pink line. Always heard the end was at oak park Ave and traveled over Ridgeland too which was a block away from my childhood home.

@KSoloLoso 6 ай бұрын

@@whitetailani I can tell you about it, mayor Daley Sr closed the 3 stations in 1973 due to ridership. 1973 was the ugliest of a lot of stations closed in '73.

@acmelka 6 ай бұрын

As late as the early 1990s they had conductors with belt slung change counters collecting fares on some lines. Seems like a hundred years ago.

@cocoaorange1 19 күн бұрын

I know, the 90's were 30 years ago! As a kid in the 70's getting a Super transfer on Sundays was a treat. We would ride all over Chicago. I grew up in Garfield Park.

@davidmontville4885 7 ай бұрын

8:03 It was the Chicago, Aurora & Elgin RR (CA&E)

@SynchroScore 6 ай бұрын

It was founded as the Aurora, Elgin, & Chicago, declared bankruptcy in 1918, and was reorganized into the CA&E in 1922.

@davidmontville4885 6 ай бұрын

@@SynchroScore Before my time - LOL. Thanks

@johnalder6028 7 ай бұрын

So much history so much detail ! Excellent ! We too often take note only of what is , never considering how much more there was before today.

@markwilliams6746 7 ай бұрын

Thanks for the content, all your videos are interesting! I work in the loop and it’s fun to tell my coworkers what I learned watching your videos.

@michaelmcmeel914 7 ай бұрын

The CRT never made a dime. Operations never met costs, even before WWI when their only competition was electric streetcars and horses. However, there was a ton of money to be made in bond issues for construction and expansion. Every neighborhood and town wanted to be the place where the train stopped, so marginal lines to wealthy areas like Normal Park, the North Shore, and Forest Park were built even though they never had adequate ridership. As automobiles grew more affordable and popular starting in the 1920's, ridership fell even further, until finally after WWII they managed to sell the entire system to the rubes down in Springfield just before the 50+ year old infrastructure collapsed completely.

@SynchroScore 6 ай бұрын

It's funny you say that, considering that the now 100-year-old infrastructure is now just as solid as they day it was built. Meanwhile, we've got crumbling street overpasses throughout the city, to the point of nets being put up to catch the falling concrete.

@Mrhalligan39 6 ай бұрын

⁠@@SynchroScoreMost of the overpasses are long gone already. The surface streets will still have to be rebuilt so that the proletariat can pedal their bicycles to work.

@SynchroScore 6 ай бұрын

@@Mrhalligan39 "Most of the overpasses are long gone already." Have you actually been to Chicago? But yes, the surface streets need work too, to deal with all the potholes, and more bike lanes would be wonderful.

@Mrhalligan39 6 ай бұрын

@@SynchroScore Pretty sure I’ve lived here longer than anybody who thinks we need more bike lanes. All the overpasses built by the WPA that Chicago was supposed to maintain are long gone, the ones over the expressways are someone else’s problem, and potholes will be a yearly occasion until global warming puts us in a subtropical zone. Which is one thing to look forward to, I guess.

@MacAttackCobra77 7 ай бұрын

Thank you for the video. Being from the Nw area from O’Hare… YOU have taught me more about Chicago than anyone I have ever met in person. You are the best!!!!! 🤟🤟🤟🤟🤟🤟🤟🤟🤟🤟🤟🤟🤟

@roberthansen2008 7 ай бұрын

Well some lines closed and other lines were expanded in a new one was opened up in 1993. And another line was separated away from the blue line and created the pink line.

@JumBean 7 ай бұрын

I’ve been waiting for a video like this on KZfaq for a while

@Robbi496 6 ай бұрын

The Evanston Main Street Station still exists, it is on the now called the Purple Line

@MikeT-TheRetiredColonel 7 ай бұрын

Very cool, Ryan - great job and something I didn't know about. Keep up the awesome work!

@kendavid891 7 ай бұрын

Very cool ,I could hear train horns in the distance on cool nights good memories,my dad rode trains to work for 33 years NJ shore transit to Penn station Newark NJ,I rode trains from Atlantic City NJ to Philadelphia early 2000s,😢miss them,none here in FL west coast,

@Jpkjr52 7 ай бұрын

Thanks again John in Chicago

@nicholaspruitt9032 7 ай бұрын

“Next stop, Merchandise Mart.”

@Minelaughter 7 ай бұрын

This is a Blue Line train to Midway

@johnfritz1164 7 ай бұрын

“This will be an express train to State and Lake.” I heard that several times over the years with the beeping of the horn as it bypassed many stations but not the likely cursing from the people waiting at the bypassed stations.

@jenniferferguson1517 4 ай бұрын

@@Minelaughterblue line goes to o’hare. Orange line goes to midway

@ChristopherElli-cc1ly Ай бұрын

My childhood memories of growing up in Chicago in the 70s. It was decay. My dad would drive around and point out "That great Department Store, That was a beautiful Theater." To boarded up, collapsing buildings. Aw, those were the days.

@roberthansen2008 7 ай бұрын

I've seen CTA maps from the late '40s 1950. A lot of those stations look like they were like two blocks apart so it's really no loss that they got rid of a lot of that stuff. You know it's going to be cool when the red line gets extended out to 130th Street and they can put up a big bus terminal and you can probably have a whole bunch of South suburban Pace buses pull into it. That'll be cool it's in modern system now. It's not pokey and slow. So you know what they should just keep modernizing it. It's a slick system it's got brand new cars. It's not junky and dirty anymore. They don't have the graffiti and the slop all over the place. So I'm glad they modernized it. I use it a lot.

@mrlaw711 6 ай бұрын

I took the Ravenswood L from it's end point, or start point, to the loop week days in the middle 1960s (66-67) when I worked on IBM mainframe computers downtown. Then, we bought a home in the suburbs, and took the Northwestern RR downtown. One day, I was slopping through the melted snow wearing my galoshes, and decided that was it. I now had a few years of computer programming experience, and headed to the San Francisco area after conducting a few interviews. Love the historic photos.

@mariofernandez-zh5su 5 ай бұрын

8:33

@thpass 6 ай бұрын

Great video but please use more accurate stills for some of the segments. Most of the stills for the Metropolitan El segment and the Stockyards were excellent. Here are some interesting stills (some) out of context to the CRT-CTA topic: 6:47 A view of the demolition in progress of the Halsted station of the Met line looking southwest. Approx 400 S. Halsted 8:07 A vintage look north on Clark st. probably from the Lasalle /Van Buren station during the 1950s 10:03 a sign announcing the closing of the Grand Central Station, possibly adjacent to the passenger concourse. B&O trains were moved to the C&NW terminal (now Ogilvie Trans Center) 13:06 A view of the old Grand Central station train yard looking north. This was run by B&O rail up through the 1960s

@Robbi496 6 ай бұрын

Chicago, North Shore And Milwaukee was the name of the electric interurban

@pacificostudios 5 күн бұрын

Under CRT there were two branches at Indiana station on today's Green Line. The junctions are marked by the big S curve the Green Line makes on its way through the South Side.

@ToallpointsWest 6 ай бұрын

An Excellent Well researched video!! Thank you!

@mynorthshore 6 ай бұрын

That's not the Main St station that was on the NSL. You're showing the one that was on the Evanston (Purple) line.

@TwistedVixn 6 ай бұрын

Hope you will be doing a part two to include the branches on the south side and west suburbs.

@edmctug8800 6 ай бұрын

Gerneral motors (GM Detroit diesel Buses) ! had a hand in killing off trolly lines and elavted trains across the country

@beaniemac 7 ай бұрын

A shame we lost so much L infrastructure. I wish we had all the lost stations and lines

@frederickschulkind8431 7 ай бұрын

At 7:00, he referred to the Chicago L as the 2nd largest and 2nd busiest rail system in the US. Pre-pandemic at least, the Washington DC Metro carried more riders. From what I see on web sites, that has become true again. New York is far ahead of course.

@luislaplume8261 7 ай бұрын

Only Washington D.C. and the New York City subway systems have more passengers than the Chicago L. My old hometown of NYC has the largest subway system in North America. 😊

@davidw7 7 ай бұрын

Chicago's L dates back to the 1800's and of course early 20th century and so does NYC's. DC's was built in the 1970s and for Federal employees was a key to subsidize it. DC is our special city and treated differently... its museums subsidised as belonging to us all vs other cities and most are free vs other cities. DC's Metro construction required billions of federal dollars, originally provided by Congress under the authority of the National Capital Transportation Act of 1969. The cost was paid with 67% federal money and 33% local money. AGAIN SPECIAL. Even today ALL Federal employees are provided free moneys to pay their fare IF they ride.... it is a use it or lose it voucher. Chicago's nor NYC's has no such SUBSIDIZATION by our tax dollars. DC did pass a free transit ride for this year to all residents basically providing $100 of monthly travel free. I cannot seem to get updates but for all those links saying it passed. I ask google and yahoo if it is fully in effect and get crickets of just older links saying it passed. SO WHAT THE HECK IS TRUE? All the links saying it passed or just not implemented fully yet or only for low-income riders as Federal ones already are free?

@WAL_DC-6B 7 ай бұрын

Perhaps Chicago's 14 or so commuter rail lines have a lot to do with the Chicago L system not being as big and busy as Washington D.C. which has fewer commuter rail lines.

@tortellinifettuccine 6 ай бұрын

@@luislaplume8261 This is factually false, not only do most Chicagoans not even own a car unlike D.C, but Chicago has a MUCH MUCH MUCH higher ridership.

@tortellinifettuccine 6 ай бұрын

@@WAL_DC-6B don't listen to people without verifying things yourself. Even giving the D.C metro the most liberal ridership number, Chicago's lowest ridership cta numbers beat it by 4x. These people are quite literally just saying things. Most Chicago residents don't even have a car lmao, they use their metro or commuter rail.

@empi1290 6 ай бұрын

Really enjoy this. Especially the Chicago history

@flygirlfly Ай бұрын

Route maps would be helpful. You could do a section of the construction of the Eisenhower Expressway...and the extension of the Blue Line to Forest Park. Dozens of homes were demolished.

@johngrantham5508 5 ай бұрын

Thank you for your videos.

@ITSHISTORY 5 ай бұрын

Glad you like them!

@luisreyes1963 5 ай бұрын

A fascinating lesson in Chicago public transportation history. Now if only there was a follow up with the brief existence of Chicago's street cars.

@LanceGrey 6 ай бұрын

Long bygone Station at Wrightwood & Sheffield was close to the demolished Car Barns, and Electric transformer bldg still on Lill street visible from Jonquil park.

@johngrantham5508 5 ай бұрын

Today you can take the cta yellow line on the formerly old NorthShore line skokie valley route. At the end of the line on demspster street you can have coffee in the old NorthShore line station. Starbucks is there in the station.

@davewallace8219 7 ай бұрын

Chicago is far more relative than New yourk city. Today!

@williamerazo3921 7 ай бұрын

Can you do a video of Brooklyn BRT/BMT Els And Park Row

@SArtisto1 7 ай бұрын

18:50 so Thaaaats whats behind the clock tower and its buildings! Always wondered that as a kid

@mr.pickles810 6 ай бұрын

Chicago rail road museum in union IL have a few old city railcars. Including the CNW few others

@0fficialdregs 6 ай бұрын

i love the chicago oriented videos

@bryant07681 6 ай бұрын

You should check out the Illinois Railway Museum in Union Illinois. A lot of railway history and historic stations

@warbird1e1 Ай бұрын

Can you cover Allis chalmers and or AMC?

@arthurkallansrud1950 Ай бұрын

I would ride the L to Wriggle Field from the Illinois Central station on 3 day weekends from Ft Dodge ,Iowa on the Land of Corn .

@ethanlittle776 7 ай бұрын

Such a smooth transition into todays sponsor 😅

@montananerd8244 5 ай бұрын

I used to love to just ride the L when I visited. Can you still see into apartments and go by the old turkish baths?

@byronbenguche 6 ай бұрын

I lived i. Chicago all my life and i never knew Normal had a.L branch now i knew Kenwood and Stockyard had a L branch

@theodoretaylor5228 7 ай бұрын

🌅🌅🫱🏽‍🫲🏿Thank you for updating/adding on the Redline extension to 130th and the orange line extension to Ford City, (I'm assuming the Ford City Mall), was a surprise too. Mannn your channel is amazing. I grew up in Pittsburgh and lived in Jersey and Newyork Metro Areas as a youth and always thought that it was the pinnacle of American railroading until my folks moved us boys to Chicagoland following 9/11. When I finally saw how expansive the Rapid Transit and commuter rail lines were out here, I knew I wanted to live up here for many more years.😂😂

@Thom1560 6 ай бұрын

I worked on the Orange Line on opening day.The mis-led promo was the station at Ford City.It’s terminal is across from Midway Airport.I think there was a difference of opinion between the CTA and Belt Line Railroad for the use of property.

@TheBrainSquared 7 ай бұрын

I go through the Main St. Station several times a day..

@Soundbrigade 7 ай бұрын

Lost your way?! (Irony)

@TheBrainSquared 5 ай бұрын

@@Soundbrigade ?

@Soundbrigade 5 ай бұрын

@@TheBrainSquared Actually a comment of irony. Had a boss who commuted to work for a period, but as the bus stop was next to a cemetery he “he walked through the cemetery for three years” and got the question “did you get lost?”. Never intended to be rude, just remembered our boss. PS Which is the Main Station by the way. Had planned to travel on the L today but it’s too cold, else going north on brown/purple lines had been …. coold.

@turnsoonest 4 ай бұрын

The Main stop was not demolished, it's still standing.

@loganfrancel9275 6 ай бұрын

UTAHS INTERURBANS!!!! PLEASE!!!! (Bamberger, salt lake & utah, utah idaho central, saltair route)

@BobG127 7 ай бұрын

It's not "L" -- it's "El" (for Elevated).

@SynchroScore 6 ай бұрын

It's "L". The "El" was in New York.

@BobG127 6 ай бұрын

@@SynchroScore I was born in Chicago and have lived in or near it for over 65 years. It's "El."

@douglasb9105 6 ай бұрын

@@BobG127 Like you, I have lived in Chicago for all my 67 years. I was brought up with it being called the "L". In fact, in this very video, there are pictures where the signage clearly reads "Ride the L". Maybe it was a neighborhood thing?

@brj_han 7 ай бұрын

Growing up in Chicago, I had to ride the CTA all through my childhood. Couldn't wait to get my first car and get out of that rat trap of a system. The L was overly noisy, uncomfortable, and the cars literally stunk. The busses were undependable, irregular and also uncomfortable to ride in, lol. If you were local to the transportation you needed, it probably worked. But if you were in an area that wasn't well served, it could take forever to get somewhere due to having to transfer busses and/or trains...

@asintonic 7 ай бұрын

@@davidkepley4396you rode the cta you didn't even have a car let alone a home. You couldn't afford to live in Chicago

@floydrobinson8847 5 ай бұрын

I'm mixed with Italian, AL Capone might be my daddy, blood. ❤ 😊 😂 it's there business not mine. I also be like the n.b.a. sport player. Dress up in a jersey, just to have some one to jock me, in the gear.

@darknessofevil117 7 ай бұрын

just a quick question. Why do you say the dates like this: May the 4th or april the 19th instead of just saying may 4th or april 19th. Dont know why but it bothers me lol