We are travelling to Chicago from the United Kingdom at the end of this month and would love to travel on and see the street running section of the South Shore Line. Can someone let me know what would be the best stop to get off at? Should we ride it all the way to the end? South Bend Airport doesn’t seem to be too much fun for a rail fan and it seems to double the journey time from, say, Carroll Avenue. I am only going to get one shot of this and I have to overcome family resistance so all help and advice will be more than appreciated.
If you want to ride the entire length of the street-running portion of the line, you needn’t go beyond Carroll Avenue.
If you’d rather get off and photograph the line, the stop before Carroll Avenue (11th Street) lets you off in the center of town, right in the street. I don’t know how long you plan to hang around there, but you’re unlikely to see anything other than the trains you get off and on. The area is rather run-down, but a walk of a few blocks will bring you closer to the lake. I’ve never tried to kill time in Michgan City; perhaps someone who has can add to this.
The South Shore, enters Mchigan City at 10th street and Sheridan Avenue on the west side of the city. It then switches over to 11th Street. There are two stops in Michigan City: The first stop is 11th Street and Franklin Street (the main north-south street in michigan City) which is in front of the former South Shore Michigan City Station in the center of the city. The station is now boarded up, and they have a “bus” shelter in front of the station now. The other stop is at Carroll Avenue, a mile or so east of 11th Street and Franklin Street where the shops are located.
If you want to photograph the trains in Michigan City I suggest you get off and 11th Street and Franklin Street and walk east along 11th Street. The South Shore runs single track in the middle of the street, and parking is not permitted on 11th Street.
The area to the west of Franklin Street is run down as Carl pointed out so I would stay away from there, however, the east end of 11th Street looks a little better so it might be ok.
I think it might be worth the time to go all the way to the South bend airport. If you do you will ride through some northern Indiana open country and get a feel for some country running. Going to the airport with about a 45 minute layover will allow you to get a bite to eat or some coffee as well as a restroom before returning. You will also go by the shops on the north side of the train that way. My opinion is if I am going to pass this way but once I want to see as much as I can of something. I once followed an AMtrak train through Michigan City when a derailment caused it to detour. Naturally I had no camera with me.
as far as advice, i dont have much of that, but i CAN say i have rode the south shore line twice in my life and it’s very fun. lots of freight trains will pass you usually and the rides are rather scenic. i rode from beverly shores, Indiana to Chicago
Much as I would love to ride to the end of the line, the temptation to see some real street running is too great. I’ll get off at Carroll Avenue (and tell my wife there are some tasty shops there.
You’re right about that, Jim. Daughter and I did this trip a few years ago (including the Mickey D run), and were both relieved to get back onto railroad property. I doubt that things have improved much.
Not far (six blocks) from the 11th Street Station, and the street running, is the Lighthouse Place Outlet Mall. Part of it is situated in some renovated Pullman buildings and the parking lot is right next to the Amtrak Michigan Line.
Though the NICTD and South Shore Freight shops are located there, the Michigan City Carroll Avenue stop is not located in a great neighborhood. The 11th Street stop would be better.
As a South Shore regular (only to Hammond, though) I would suggest 11th Street is your best bet. In addition to Lighthouse Place Mall, there is also the Blue Chip Casino (shuttle is available from 11th Street) and if you are looking for South Shore Line memorbilia (posters, mugs, etc.), there is a little shop called The Framing Station on Franklin Street you may also want to check out.
If you go on the South Bend, you can make a visit to Notre Dame, the College Football Hall of Fame and the Studebaker Muesum. One word of advice, however, if you go to South Bend, make sure you ride on a weekend is there is more service (trains depart South Bend and Chicago every 2 hours) than on a weekday. Also, the ticket fares are lower on the weekend.
Here’s a few other spots worth checking out on the South Shore Line (on your way back of course):
-Beverly Shores - Original Insull Spanish-style station (a crown jewel station on the system)
-Dune Park - the Indiana Dunes State Park / Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore
-Hegewisch - the Burnham Yard is a short distance east and Norfolk Southern has a yard nearby serving the Ford plant (daytime only excursion suggested here)
In case you haven’t checked out the NICTD site, here it is: http://www.nictd.com
When I was at Lighthouse Mall several weeks ago the building that was called “The Works” that was the old Pullman car factory was gone. It was leveled and doesn’t exist any more. Fortunately the company I work for owns a good portion of the old Pullman Hammond plant where the Superliners were built. Nobody can figure what I am thinking when I am there but they do recognize I am deep in thought.
Hi, Gerry, I think you’ve been getting some excellent advice.
If I may add a few grace notes: South Bend is indeed difficult to do as a round trip, particularly since, as had been said, the CSS&SB terminus is on the edge of town and that surprisingly small airport has no commercial service that I know of; and getting into town requires a cab.
South Bend certainly has its share of civic pride, but (as has unfortunately happened with so many American cities 1960 to present) the downtown is a shell of the commercial center it once was, now that cheap cars, good roads and cheaper gas have encouraged so much commerce to move away from the center city. Mishawaka, a northern suburb, has a knockout climatized shopping mall with a Macy’s, and there’s a pretty good strip center toward the east side of town. These destinations are doable by bus, but it is more difficult than with a car.
My own best use of downtown South Bend was to use it as a transfer point since all the local bus routes “tie up” there, and are scheduled as such to permit simultenous transfer – thus eliminating the chance that one would have to wait for the next bus on the next route. This is especially a good thing because bus routing, while fairly comprehensive as to geography, is skeletal time-wise: about once an hour on Saturdays if I recall correctly. I had a very plesant weekend there using the lines but I was alone, at that time had no car, the weather was beautiful, and it was a perfect time for larking about. Even then, I couldn’t make it to the most historic houses or the old Studebaker works.
Unlike so many larger American universities with their “fraternity rows” or “student ghettoes” that abut the high streets, Notre Dame has no periphery of privately-owned pubs or taverns and is pretty much an entity unto it
Hi again. I’d like to add a little more than my 2 cents worth. By now you have seen the initials NICTD;that stands for the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District which took over the passenger service and the tracks from the South Shore Line (the Chicago SouthShore and South Bend Railroad) in 1990. The South Shore still runs freight over trackage rights over the NICTD.
Starting from Chicago the NICTD runs over trackage rights on the Metra Electric (former Illinois Central) to 115th Street Kensington where it reaches its own track. The NICTD’s line is double track between 115th Street Kensington and Gary Indiana. Back in the early 1970’s Gary had a small yard a little west of the station to store cars from trains that terminated there or cars taken off thru trains to Michigan City or South Bend. The South shore’s station in Gary was next to a joint station that the then B&O and New York Central used.
Continuing east from Gary the NICTD becomes single track with passing sidings, and it crosses the CSX, the former B&O, at Miller, IN. Later on it runs along the Norfolk Southern (former Conrail and former New York Central) for several miles passing the Dunes that others have mentioned.
Sheridan [Avenue] siding at the west end of Michigan City is frequently where eastbound and westbound trains meet, and this is close to where the street running through Michigan City, which is single track, begins. The South Shore still runs freight service over the line, and it also runs freight trains through Michign City’s streets although finding one to photograph during the middle of the day might be more a matter of some very good luck. However, I did manage to photograph a South Shore Line freight train being hauled by a “Litte Joe” nearly 40 years ago.
Michigan City is another turn back point for trains from Chicago, and the trains run east to the Carroll Avenue station whe
since you are coming all the way from the UK, might it not be a good idea to ask in advance if you can tour the CSS&SB shops? If you get permission, you might be met directly at the Carrol Avenue stop at a specific time with a specific train and thus not worry about the neighborhood.
Note Dame has a new concert hall and excellent concerts are performed there if you like classical music. I don’t know the schedule. So you might actually want to spend a night in Soouth Bend.
Firstly thanks to all of you for your excellent advice which we acted on or took note of.
We bought return tickets from Millenium Station to Carroll Avenue and, for me the ride was all I hoped for. My wife was a bit put out that we did not get a view of the dunes or Lake Michigan as we rode along but she did get vicarious pleasure wathcing me (she says). With a little apprehention we got off at Carroll Avenue and made a sprint for the Subway opposite MacDonalds. This was after the South Shore Conductor had kindly offered to take us in his car to the outlet mall. The area was a little run down admittedly but in comparison to parts of East London it was positively genteel. We made it back in time to catch the Up working which we took as far as 11th Avenue. We were just taking stock of where we were when I heard another train hooting. I dashed back in time to see two South Shore locos (2003 and 2005) ‘deadheading’ down the middle of the road. Joy! You certainly can’t miss them in that orange color scheme. We had a look at the outlet mall, which was everything we had been warned about but still enjoyed.
If you are at 11th Avenue, we unreservedly recommend the Half Full Cafe (Savannah’s Cafe) next door to the old Michigan City South Shore Depot. They were friendly and fun, if somewhat mystified as to why people should come all the way from England just to look at trains rolling down the middle of the street. I tried to explain the romance of street running and how it is vanishing everywhere but they just smiled and wished me well with my next, stronger, medication.
That’s it. Loads of photos and video clips. The weather was perfect. Sunny and warm just like my memory of riding the last interurban in the USA.