On I94 (Bishop Ford) as it curves from N/S to E/W just east of the old Jay’s Potato Chip plant there is an NS yard. It is referred to as 97th Street Yard on the CORA map.
Tracing that line south from 97th Street Yard it rambles thru the industrial South Side and thru the east side of the Pullman District, continuing south. There appear to be small yards (both on CORA and Google Earth) at 115th and 125th streets.
Then the line turns eastward, crosses Bishop Ford, and turns back north, parallelling the expressway. There are always cars in a yard near the large port terminal.
Now the questions…does NS operate this entire branch? What are the main industries on the branch? What are the functions of the yards on the branch? It is not that far from Calumet Yard, so I assume all traffic moves to and from Calumet. Has this branch seen a decline in business over the years?
I remember driving by there 3 times a week for 5 years or so in the early 90’s. At one time I recall seeing (new Metra?) passenger cars wrapped in blue in a yard at a building southwest of the I-94 bridge over the NS. It might have originally been the Pullman Works? On occasion, I used to deliver in the industrial park NE of that overpass, and NS usually switched in there at night. I always wondered if they had an interest in that business park because of the number of Triple Crown trailers backed against various customer’s docks.
A large Sherwin Williams paint factory stood south of here at the next I-94 exit E of the Stony Island cut-off. Its been gone for a few years now, but I remember seeing tank cars in there. A bottled gas dealer jogs my memory also in that stretch along the west frontage road, but I don’t recall rail service. More of a charge for me was seeing WICT trains in the yard on the east side of I-94 near the grain elevator.
It’s been a while since I’ve been by there, wonder how much more it’s changed. Somewhere, there’s a group that follows the Chicago area branch and industrial trackage that has a regular publication, they may know more.
I had forgotten about the blue wrapped passenger cars. The TC trailers in the Industrial Park would make sense as it is only about 10 minutes from Calumet Yard. The drayage charge would be minimal.
There is a railcar repair shop on the east side of I94, thus the concentration of cars at the yard just north of the port terminals.
if we are talking about the same line, i believe this is called the pullman branch. i believe the chicago rail link also switches this branch, although NS owns it. I think it used to be a rock island line before the rock went down.
anyone correct me if i’m wrong, i am also intrested to know more about this line.