User:AlphaBeta135/sandbox/Chicago and Evanston Railroad

The Chicago and Evanston Railroad (C&E), later the Evanston Division of Milwaukee Road, was a rail line in the Chicago metropolitan area. The line ran and served Chicago, Evanston, and Wilmette.

Early history
A passenger rail service from Chicago to Evanston was granted a charter in 1861. Although the Chicago & Milwaukee Railroad (later part of C&NW) provided service from Chicago to Evanston years earlier, there was a need to build an alternative rail line. After issues relating to funding and acquiring property, the line began operation on May 1, 1885.

Initially, the line ran from the intersection of Chicago Avenue and Larrabee Street to a station at the Calvary Cemetery. On May 20, service was extended to Kinzie Street at Kingsbury Street near C&NW's Wells Street Station. In June, the line was extended further south to Chicago Union Station by crossing over the North Branch Chicago River and intersecting at-grade with C&NW tracks. By August 1886, the line was extended north to Church Street. By the end of 1888, the line was extended further north to Llewellyn Park (now Wilmette). Under pressure from developers, infill stations were constructed through the rest of the 19th century: Edgewater station, Birchwood station, North Edgewater station, and Sheridan Park station.

Chicago "L"
On May 31, 1900, the Northwestern Elevated Railroad, part of the Chicago "L", opened the North Side main line from the Loop Elevated to Wilson station. Consequently, the frequency of the C&E line was reduced from 54 trains to 14 trains running during rush hour. On May 16, 1908, the elevated railroad company extended its main line north from Wilson station to Central station along the existing C&E tracks. The extension replaced commuter service along the C&E except for a section south of Sheridan Park/Wilson; commuter service as a whole was eventually discontinued in 1917. The extension was electrified using overhead wire; a section between Wilson and Lawrence was embanked.

Within the next two decades, more stations were constructed on the "L": Loyola and Howard stations in 1908, Linden station in 1912, Thorndale station in 1915, Edgewater Beach station in 1916, Lawrence station in 1923, and South Boulevard station in 1931 (replacing Calvary "L" station). Also, most of the line north of Wilson was in the process of being elevated along an embankment structure: a section from Howard Street to University Place in 1910, another section from Lawrence to Howard in 1922 (construction began in 1914), and another section from University Place to Isabella Street in 1931 (construction began in 1928).

Freight service and abandonment
After passenger service on the C&E ceased in 1917, freight trains continued to use the line. Earlier in 1907, the Northwestern Elevated Railroad Company made an agreement with Milwaukee Road to operate "L" service to Evanston, which opened in 1908. Under the agreement, the company and later its successors (the Chicago Rapid Transit Company and later the Chicago Transit Authority) assumed the role of providing freight service along the extension, with Milwaukee Road covering the expenses of freight; this assumption of freight service occurred in 1920. Because both "L" and heavy freight trains used the North Side main line north of Wilson, the main line was elevated using embankment, rather than an elevated structure the "L" typically used. Gauntlet tracks were added to avoid damaging freight trains, station platforms, and third rails.

In 1953, the Chicago Transit Authority bought out the remaining section of the North Side main line and the Evanston branch from Montrose Avenue in Uptown, Chicago, to Linden Avenue in Wilmette. Up until then, Milwaukee Road had ownership over this section of the main line.

In the second half of the 20th century, the need for freight rail service, including the C&E, was declining. As a result, freight service was being abandoned incrementally. In April 1973, with Lill Coal Company being the last freight customer on the "L", freight service on the "L" ended.

Legacy
The right-of-way of the C&E in Lincoln Park and Lakeview is fairly visible.

The North Side main line uses two different methods of elevation. Historically, south of Wilson, the line used an elevated structure akin to most old elevated lines on the "L". North of Wilson, the line used an embankment structure as it originally had to accommodate heavy freight trains as well. In the 2010s and the 2020s, long after freight service ceased on the "L", the Red & Purple Modernization project is in the process of replacing a section of embankment structure with a box girder structure.

On top of that, before Wilson station was rebuilt from 2015-2017,  the station had an unusual track configuration whereby the southbound express track briefly shifted away from the main line before returning. This shift was designed so that freight trains along the C&E can enter/exit the North Side main line.

Route
At its greatest extent, the C&E started at Chicago Union Station and crossed the North Branch Chicago River north of Kinzie Street to Kingsbury Street. The line headed northwest along Kingsbury Street and then north along Lakewood Avenue before reaching Belmont Avenue. The line then traveled north-northeast before passing by Wrigley Field north of Addison Street. The line then traveled north along Seminary Avenue, even finding itself sandwiched between Graceland Cemetery and the North Side main line (Red Line and Purple Line Express). From Wilson onwards, the line traveled north all the way to Wilmette via the North Side main line and the Evanston branch (today's Purple Line).