I remember ads for the NYC showing a pig with a livestock car in the background and a caption stating “A pig can travel from Coast to Coast without changing trains, why can’t you?” Thien went on to expalin the through car from New York to Los Angeles.
There also were though sleepers between the B&O at Grand Central and Santa Fe at Dearborn I have no idea how they made the move. Your luggage would stay aboard and for the passengers.,a limo ride between the two was part of your ticket, with most people (as already mentioned) going down to the Loop in the limo for the layover. If you did, you rode a cab back.
Norman
According to my “old head” contacts in my Santa Few days, there was a way to get the sleepers from Dearborn to every other terminal/coach yard. The procedure as explained to me was that 4 switch engine crews would chase the train arriving at Dearborn with the passing cars; one for the train consist and three for the three different connecting railroad. After arrival, the forst switcher picked up the observation car and pulled back into the terminal plant. Then the switchers for the B&O, NYC, and PRR would each take their cars off in that order. (The cars were cut into line in that order from the rear of the train because of the respective departure time of the connecting trains and the distance to their coach yard.) The switcher handling the main body of the train would then tie back on with the observation car.
As each car was pulled back from Dearborn, the cars were washed (in good weather) and then turned around Santa Fe’s “balloon” track so as to have the sleepers facing properly for the connecting railroad. (Santa Fe and IC were the only Chicago passenger railroads that had balloon loops. The rest had more time consuming wyes.)
The B&O car was, after washing and turning, taken north toward Dearborn again; to the track connection with the station’s owner, the Chicago & Western Indiana. A short southward movement on the C&WI led to a track connection to the B&O terminal called “The Hole In The Wall;” so-called because it went underneath the high fill of the approach to the St. Charles Air Line bridge. (This vacant track space can still be seen today.) The car would either be spotted on a vacant platform track in the terminal, or pulled west for about 2 miles to the B&O’s Robey St. coach yard.
The NYC cars (There were two daily each way for most of the period of transcontinental operations.) would be pulled onto a connecting track right off the Sant Fe’s balloon track that went onto the NYC mainline for
There was a way for a car to get to the B&O. The “old heads” from the Santa Fe explained to me the procedure for getting the passing cars to the connecting railroads. When the Chief (or Super Chief in later years) arrived at Dearborn, four switch engine crews would chase the train. The first would pick up the observation car off the train and pull back into the station’s interlocking plant. Then, the 3 remaining switchers would pick up the B&O, the NYC, and the PRR cars in that order. The cars were blocked in that order from the rear of the train because of the departure times of the connecting trains and the distance to the respective stations/coach yards. After the passing cars were gone, the switcher chasing the train would double back with the observation car.
After picking up the car, the switcher would pull south to Santa Fe’s 18th St. coach yard; where (in good weather) they would be taken through the wash rack and then taken around the “balloon” track so as to have the car facing properly for the connecting railroad. The engine with the B&O car would go back north toward Dearborn to a track connection with the station’s owner; the Chicago & Western Indiana. It would then go south a short distance on the C&WI to a track connection leading to the B&O terminal known as the “Hole in the Wall;” so-called because it went under the high fill that was the approach to the St. Charles Air Line drawbridge. (This unoccupied track space can still be seen today.)
Upon emerging from the Hole in the Wall, the engine would either continue north if spotting the car in the B&O terminal, or pull west 2 miles to B&O’s Robey St. coach yard.
bo-Jack, this is great stuff. Thanks for sharing.
But the question remains: how did NYC cars get moved from LaSalle Street Station to Northwestern Station for the trip west since there was no direct north-south access to Northwestern Station from the other five downtown stations?
Rich
Bo-Jack, it is my understanding that the track under the SCAL near the river belonged to the RI. At one time they had a dock and freighthouse south of the SCAL on the river bank after it was straightened. I have a very detailed map from 1959 which shows no connection to the C&WI there but it may have connected, depending on the time frame. .
There was a track off the B&OCT at Grand Central that went under Clark and Roosevelt called the hole in the wall track which connected to the RI. So it is possible that the SF car off the Super Chief was pulled down to the SF coach yard, then onto the RI/NYC tracks and then to GC using the hole in the wall track.
The add referred to was a Robert Young administration C&O add, not a NYCentral add.
On pages 54-55 of the October 2004 issue of Trains magazine, there is a detailed track map of the 16th Street Interlocking.
Just south of the 16th Street interlock, there is a spur track running off of the Rock Island tracks heading southwest, and it is labeled “Balloon Track to ATSF”. It appears to be a different track than the one used by the Santa Fe to enter its coach yard from the C&WI mainline tracks.
A little north of the 16th Street interlock, there is a spur track runnning off of the Rock Island tracks heading northwest. That spur track is unlabeled, but it may be the B&OCT track that pullman jct. is referring to in his post. That would appear to explain the routing of the SF car from Dearborn Station to the ATSF coach yard and then to Grand Central Station.
Rich
I’ll be darned.
I have had a detailed track map from Alton Junction to Dearborn Station for years, but I never noticed one almost insignificant feature.
Coming out of the south end of the ATSF coach yard is a single track labeled “CRI&P” (Rock Island RR). Aha, the infamous ATSF Balloon Track that I mentioned in my previous reply.
It may be a little hard to pick it up on the following diagram, but the balloon track is in the lower left portion of the diagram headed out of the ATSF coach yard. The Rock Island/ NYC tracks are also visible in the diagram.
I did a little checking last night. The hole in the wall track is a somewhat of a leftover from the days before the South Branch of the Chicago River was straightened. Prior to that project, the RI had small facility in the NW quadrant of the intersection of Wells and Roosevelt Road. I mistakenly identified that intersection as Clark and Roosevelt in a previous post. Sorry for the confusion.
There was no connection at that time from the RI to the B&OCT at Roosevelt Road as that was the location of the old B&OCT bridge. The project resulted in a major reconfiguration of B&OCT trackage, after which the hole in the wall track connected to the GC station lead tracks in GC Tower interlocking.
So, are you saying that there never was a track running off of the Rock Island track to Grand Central Station?
Or, was there a track that ran from the Rock Island track to Grand Central Station at a later date?
Rich
Prior to 1930, the B&OCT bridge across the South Branch was located north of Roosevelt Road. There was no connection to the RI on the east bank of the South Branch.
After 1930, the B&OCT crossed the South Branch on a new bridge at 16th St. New main tracks were installed from the new bridge to Grand Central. At that time a connection was also established between the B&OCT and the RI just NW of Roosevelt and Wells, using the so-called hole in the wall track, which previously had served a RI freight facility at that location.
I hope that clarifies what I was trying to say. Here is a photo of the area during the river straightening project.
Yes, pullman jct, that does clarify what you said before. Thanks.
That photo of the area during the river straightening project is a great one, really one of the best since you can do a variety of things with it including close-in views of specific areas. I have had that photo for years now and refer to it constantly.
Rich
The Historic American Engineering Record details the history of the SCAL and B&OCT bridges. Highly recommended if this topic is of interest to anyone.
http://www.historicbridges.org/illinois/sbrr/haer-il-157.pdf
Take a look at this link.
http://forgottenchicago.com/features/bridge-out-for-good/
If you scroll down the page on that link, you will come across a pair of photos, one photo showing the 16th Street bascule bridge before the South Branch of the Chicago River was straightened and another photo next to it showing the old BOCT bascule bridge that crossed the Chicago River diagonally at Taylor Street, That bascule bridge at Taylor Street was later removed and a new bascule bridge was built at 16th Street next to the SCAL bascule bridge. Today, the BOCT bascule bridge at 16th Street is locked permanently in an upright position.
Rich
Where can I find such track maps? I am looking for the cb&q as well as the atsf maps for chicago.
If you want the greatest track plan known to man for the Santa Fe in Chicago, here is the link:
http://www.railsandtrails.com/Maps/Chicago/index.htm#Dearborn
The map is the third one down the page, and it is titled:
Chicago & Western Indiana Railroad
Harrison Street to 22nd Street Track Map
Dearborn Station
When you first look at the map on that web page, it looks to be a very small and very old map. That is deceiving. The map is actually quite large and detailed, but it requires a special browser to view it properly. The browser is free.
The map format is known as DjVu.
It requires a DjVu Plug-in Browser.
I use a browser provided by a firm called Lizard Tech which you can Google. The actual program required to view a DjVu file is called LizardTech DjVu Control DjVuViewer.exe. You can download it free. Try it. It sounds more complicated than it really is. Let me know if you are able, or unable, to view it. It shows every inch of track from Alton Junction at 22nd Street to Dearborn Station at Polk Street, including the ATSF coach yard at 18th Street.
Rich
I’m quite sure they used the SCAL and over to Western Ave., since that’s where the C&NW’s coach yard was (still is, now used by Metra) anyway. It actually wouold have been more drawn-out for the eastbound cars, since the switcher would have to take them from North Western Station out to Western Ave., then down and over to the SCAL to the NYC yard. Either way, the cars would have gone through CNW’s Spud Yard, now UP’s Global 1 intermodal facility.
Union Station is one story below street level, while North Western is one story up from the street or two stories up from Union. (Okay, actually, both stations lie between Canal and Clinton Streets. Canal is elevated to match the level of the streets in the Loop, while Clinton is at ground level. All the east-west streets passing the stations slope down in that block. When I say Union is below and NW is above, I’m referring to the level of Canal.)
David
Great update, David, thanks for the info.
Rich
ALL:
Regarding the B&O and C&O; why didn’t they use the CUS instead of the round about run to/from the CNW Terminal? What would have been their routes to/from the CUS?
Ed Burns