Wacker Drive now extends east all the way to Lake Shore Drive.
South Water Street is a two block stretch running east-west between Michigan Avenue and Columbus Drive. It is a block north of Lake Street as CSSHEGEWISCH said. Wacker Drive turns northeast at Michigan Avenue and then runs parallel to the Chicago River down to Lake Shore Drive. South Water Street is actually the eastern extension of Wacker Drive had it continued due east.
On the north side of the Chicago River is North Water Street, running in an east-west direction from Rush Street on the west to just short of Lake Shore Drive on the east. North Water Street is actually the eastern extension of Kinzie beginning at Rush Street.
Chicago loves to give multiple names to its streets.
Grand Central Station was on the other side of the Loop at Harrison and Wells.
Central Station was south of the Chicago River by one and one half miles at Roosevelt Road and Michigan Avenue. The IC terminus was a so-so station at South Water Street. After the Prudential Building was erected in 1954, IC commuter trains used the sub-basement of the Prudential Building as its station. The platforms extend all the way to South Water Street to this day.
Rich, I thought that maybe the C&A ran up the east side of the river just west of the CWI tracks, but that’s definitely out.
On an old map, there’s a West Water running sort of North/South just west of the river and stops at Madison Street, about a half block or so east of Canal with a station a half block below. So this is probably the station ‘at the foot of Water Street’. This same street shows on today’s Chicago map as NW Water Street and still stops at Madison.
The track continues north, crosses the Northwest track that goes east to the station on Kinsie, then crosses the river and continues north along N. Kingsbury. This of course, is an old Milwaukee spur that ran along side the Northside “L”, but looks like it was an early Milwaukee entrance into Chicago.
The map is a Chicago Tribune map but the stations are listed, and it’s serving the 5 railroads that used the first Union station when it was built.
That is one cool map. I must have MDD, Map Deficit Disorder. Where do you guys come up with these maps and diagrams. I love it !
West Water Street, well I’ll be ! That map shows Market Street east of the river which is now Wacker Drive. I am surprised they didn’t name it East Water Street. So, is that what wanswheel was referring to?
The photo can be manipulated to get some very nice close in views. It shows the area from 18th Street north al the way to LaSalle Street. Dearborn Station and the tracks leading to it can also be seen east of Clark Street.
The photo is looking north. Those bridges at the bottom of the photo span the C&WI, IC and ATSF tracks at 18th Street. Two blocks farther north is 16th Street and the St. Charles Air Line. Four more blocks farther north is the Roosevelt Road overpass where railfans could watch trains coming and going to five of the six passenger stations in downtown Chicago.
Great photo, Rich. I just a wee lad when that was taken. I was six when my folks took me and my brother to see the worlds fair in Chicago. I kept gazing at locomotives and trains while my parents went on towards other things. Richard came running up to me and saved me from being lost.
Sure wish this map continued further south and west.
Did you notice the Tribune map said depot number 3 serviced the Panhandle but it doesn’t show the Panhandle’s route to the depot? Some sources say the Panhandle wanted to use the Milwaukee’s route next to the Northwestern, and other sources said the Milwaukee wanted to use the Panhandle’s route along side the Northwestern. It came from the south and went up the west side of Western because Western was the Chicago’s city limit so land on the west side wasn’t subject to Chicago’s charges.
Art, I wouldn’t dismiss the Alton using a depot at South Water St. on the IC for a short time. Remember that the Alton preceded the PFW&C by a few years. It was very straightforward for the Alton to continue NE along the route of the mystery tracks and join the SCAL at 16th St.
The connections to the Rock Island and SCAL from the Alton tracks can be clearly seen in the photo that Rich linked. Zoom in on 16th St.
Let me correct something that I have been misstating. I have referred to a map that I have from 1931 detailing the trackage from Polk Street to 21st Street showing the C&WI as well as ATSF and IC.
The correct date is actually December 1953.
Here is a link to the map which is the third one down on the page:
West Water Street ran along the west bank of the South Branch of the Chicago River. It ran in the current location of the north approaches to Chicago Union Station and was vacated years ago. As far as I know, the predecessor to Wacker Drive along the South Branch was always Market Street.
Somebody asked earlier in this thread which railroad serviced the Cuneo Press which was located on the northwest corner of Alton Junction.
That got me curious about the Cuneo Press building(s), the railroad that served the facilities, and the surrounding area. I found some great photos and other useful information at the following link:
Grove Street is a small diagonal street that runs southwest, starting east of Canal street north of Cermak, ending at the Illinois Central railroad embankment opposite Archer. The street used to connect to the intersection of Archer and Normal. Long-disused rails cut through the middle of Grove Street, which continue west along the embankment after the street ends. The street was once longer.
Rich, I checked a document in my collection that lists all Chicago Switching District freight customers and the railroads that served them, dated December 1956. Cuneo was served exclusively by the GM&O. The track that serviced Cuneo and other GM&O customers along the river connected to the yard west of Halsted.
Alton/GM&O’s main freight yard was Glenn Yard. They also had a small yard west of Halsted to serve the industries along the river east of Bridgeport, such as Cuneo. There were several others.
I believe that Glenn was also the servicing point for GM&O’s passenger trains in the immediate pre-Amtrak era, which meant a long back-up move to or from Union Station.
Either way, Glenn Yard or California Avenue was a long way away from Union Station. Since GM&O used PRR tracks to reach Union Station, I wonder why GM&O did not bargain to use PRR facilties for passenger cars. The PRR facility was right there north of the lift bridge.
The definition of long depends on money, I suspect. The book “Chicago Union Station” by Edward M. DeRouin tells about that when the Alton was a ward of the B&O, road power would back the passenger trains out of Union down past the Brighton Park crossing, then pull them up the B&OCT tracks to their facilities at Lincoln St /Robey St. After servicing and restocking, they would take them back the same way. (Robey is along side the St. Charles Air Line, a stone’s throw from Union. Go figure.)
The diagram in the book shows a connector track only in the northwest quadrant, but to reverse the train and back it into Union, they would have to use a connector in the southwest quadrant. The Google aerial view shows that there were, at one time, connector tracks in both quadrants, as do maps of that time period and earlier.
The book further states that in 1942, Brighton Park resumed those activities. Diesel maintenance, however was done down south, E’s at St.Louis and F’s at Venice Yard.
As a measure of long, to turn its passenger trains, the Milwaukee used the wye at Pacific Junction, 5.4 miles from Union and west of their yard facilities near N. Sacramento Blvd.
