Was Chicagos elevated system ever used for any kind of freight service?
Yes. When the Northwestern “L”TM was extended north from Wilson to Evanston in 1908, it was done so over the grade-level tracks of the Chicago Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad, who carried both passengers and freight. The CM&StP diverged from the “L”TM at Wilson and their right-of-way went south along its own route to Union Station.Until the North Side “L”TM north of Wilson was elevated in the 1910s and early 1920s, the St. Paul had their own freight track. The elevation eliminated that track and thereafter freight service became the responsibility of the “L”TM. The Northwestern Elevated bought two steeplecab locomotives, S-104 and S-105, in August 1920 to run the service. They were both originally lettered for the “Northwestern Elevated Railroad Company”, changed to “Chicago Rapid Transit Company” after the 1924 consolidation of the elevateds. The continued into CTA® days, painted over in the standard utilitarian work-car yellow, but always retaining their original car numbers.
Yes. When the Northwestern “L”TM was extended north from Wilson to Evanston in 1908, it was done so over the grade-level tracks of the Chicago Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad, who carried both passengers and freight. The CM&StP diverged from the “L”TM at Wilson and their right-of-way went south along its own route to Union Station. Until the North Side “L”TM north of Wilson was elevated in the 1910s and early 1920s, the St. Paul had their own freight track. The elevation eliminated that track and thereafter freight service became the responsibility of the “L”TM. The Northwestern Elevated bought two steeplecab locomotives, S-104 and S-105, in August 1920 to run the service. They were both originally lettered for the “Northwestern Elevated Railroad Company”, changed to “Chicago Rapid Transit Company” after the 1924 consolidation of the elevateds. The continued into CTA® days, painted over in the standard utilitarian work-car yellow, but always retaining their original car numbers. The spli
