the Addison Recorder

Pop culture dispatches from the Great Lakes

  • About
    • Authors
      • Travis J. Cook
      • -J.
      • Meryl Williams
      • Karen Martin
      • Christopher Walsh
      • Christina Brandon
      • Alex Bean
      • Andrew Rostan
      • PK Sullivan
    • Round-Ups
    • Submit to the Recorder
  • Arts
    • Films
    • Television
    • Music
    • Theatre
    • Games
    • Culinary Arts
  • Books
    • Books and Literature
    • Comics & Graphic Novels
  • Sports
    • Baseball
    • Basketball
    • Football
    • Hockey
    • Other Sports
  • Chicago
    • Events
    • History
    • Op/Ed
  • Podcasts
Pop culture dispatches from the Great Lakes

Bloomingdale Line

Railroad Track Elevation in Chicago: A Modern Marvel

February 3, 2015 by John Gramila Leave a Comment

“How few know even the names of the men who design and execute the work and in whose care the public safety is placed.  How vigilant and resourceful they must be is little appreciated by the passengers who are almost lifted as they ride.”

-M. K. Trumbull, Engineer of Track Elevation of the City of Chicago, 1908

1911 map of all track elevation projects

The 1890 census confirmed Chicago had become the second largest city in the United States. Driven by immigration, the population had more than doubled in 10 years. 41 percent of residents were born in foreign countries. The Civil War, ending 25 years before, vaulted the geographically northern Chicago past traditional rivals St. Louis and Cincinnati as the Western hub of rail transportation and manufacturing. By 1889, thousands of trains were entering and leaving the city every day. More than 2,000 miles of track ran directly through Chicago neighborhoods, all at ground level.

[Read more…]

Posted in: Chicago, History Tagged: 606, Bloomingdale Line, Chicago, history, Railroad, Track Elevation

Share

Tweet about this on Twitter
Twitter
Share on Facebook
Facebook

Addison Recorder on Twitter

Addison Recorder
  • Andrew pays tribute to George Martin, producer without peer, and keyboard maestro Keith Emerson. https://t.co/I3N5iKiMXY 01:00:56 PM March 14, 2016 ReplyRetweetFavorite
  • 90 minutes to #Oscars so one more time - Alex, Andrew, and Travis make their picks. https://t.co/X23YYQ4J3i 06:59:57 PM February 28, 2016 ReplyRetweetFavorite
  • The annual Oscar Picks column is up! Alex, Andrew, and Travis tell the cold, hard truth about the nominees. https://t.co/X23YYPN7EI 01:21:01 PM February 26, 2016 ReplyRetweetFavorite
  • T-minus two hours to the @TheGRAMMYs - more than enough time to revisit Andrew's Album of the Year recap. https://t.co/BhUdmb97Wi 05:59:46 PM February 15, 2016 ReplyRetweetFavorite
  • Andrew previews the @musicboxtheatre 70mm Festival starting 2/19 and recommends some essential films! https://t.co/C2S6y3gkgq 01:04:12 PM February 12, 2016 ReplyRetweetFavorite
@addisonrecorder

Recent Posts

  • The Smartest Guys in the Room: Remembering George Martin and Keith Emerson
  • Oscar Picks 2016
  • Mr. Rostan at the Movies: 70 Millimeters of Sheer Adventure
  • The Claustrophobic Folklore of The Witch
  • 2666 at the Goodman Theater

Archives

Follow Us!

Follow @addisonrecorder

Recent Comments

  • Mr. Rostan at the Movies: 70 Millimeters of Sheer Adventure on Alex and Andrew Debate the Sight & Sound List: Part One
  • The Claustrophobic Folklore of The Witch on The Horror of Metaphor in It Follows
  • Mr. Rostan at the Movies: Catching Up With Oscar on Our Month in Pop Culture: May 2015
  • Mr. Rostan at the Movies: Catching Up With Oscar on Oscar Nomination Reactions – 2016
  • War Damn Peter on Celebrating 50 Years of “A Charlie Brown Christmas”

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Copyright © 2023 the Addison Recorder.

Church WordPress Theme by themehall.com