THE GS TRAM SITE

CHICAGO

ILLINOIS, UNITED STATES

flag.us

25 Feb. 1951

The Chicago system on the inauguration of the second Chicago subway line (the Milwaukee-Dearborn line) by the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA).


Chicago 
    streetcar Chicago loop junction Chicago elevated train

Chicago tram map – 1951

FIRST INSET: DOWNTOWN CHICAGO

Chicago downtown tram map – 1951

SECOND INSET: INTERURBAN NETWORK AROUND CHICAGO

Chicago interurban tram map – 1951



I created the above maps by overlaying OpenStreetMap (OSM) maps with my own data. Copyright on the OSM maps is © OpenStreetMap contributors, licensed under a CC-BY-SA (Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 licence).

Please note that the OSM maps used as templates for these maps correspond to the situation at the time the maps were downloaded and may show features that did not exist at the time the GS Tram Site is supposed to show. In particular, they may show bridges and highways that were built later.

ABBREVIATIONS ON THE MAPS

BM Belmont Station ISM Illinois Steel Co. Mills
Bu Buffalo Av. MF Marshfield Station
CA Commercial Av. VB Van Buren St.
HA Harvard Av. WR W Randolph St.

ROUTES

STREETCAR ROUTES

Operator: Chicago Transit Authority (CTA)

  3 Lincoln - Indiana Peterson Av. & Lincoln - Lincoln Av. - State St. - [Lake St. - Wabash Av.] [back: State St.] - Indiana Av. - E 47th St. - Illinois Central RR.
  4 Cottage Grove W Randolph St. & N Wabash Av. - Wabash Av. - Indiana Av. - Cottage Grove Av. - 115th St.
  6 Van Buren State St. - Van Buren St. - S Kedzie Av.
  8 Halsted Grace St. & Broadway - Halsted St. - W 79th St.
  9 Ashland Irving Park Blvd. & Clark St. - Ashland Av. - W 95th St.
12 Roosevelt Austin Bvd. (City limits) - W Roosevelt Rd. - E Roosevelt Rd. - Grant Park
16 Lake Austin Bvd. (City limits) - Lake St. - State St. - Downtown (Van Buren St.)1
20 Madison Austin Bvd. (City limits) - W Madison St. - W Madison St. [back: W Monroe St. - Clinton St.] - S. Dearborn St.
20X* Madison - 5th Avenue Pulaski Av. - 5th Av. - W Madison St. - W Madison St. [back: W Monroe St. - Clinton St.] - S. Dearborn St.
21 Cermak Kenton Av. (City limits) - Cermak Rd. - Burnham Park
22 Clark Howard St. (City limits) - Clark St. - S Wentworth Av. - Vincennes Av. - W 81st St. & S Halsted St.
28 Stony Island W Randolph St. & N Wabash Av. - Wabash Av. - Indiana Av. - Cottage Grove Av. - E 47th St. - Stony Island Av. - E 93rd St.
35 35th S Kedzie Av. - 36th St. - California Av. - 35th St. - Cottage Grove Av.
36 Broadway N Clark St. - Devon Av. - Broadway - N Clark St. - N State St. - S State St. - Indiana Av. - S Michigan Av. - 119th St. - S Morgan St.
38 Indiana W Randolph St. & N Wabash Av. - Wabash Av. - Indiana Av. - E 51st St. - S Parkway
38X* Indiana - 43rd St. W Randolph St. & N Wabash Av. - Wabash Av. - Indiana Av. - 43rd St. - Illinois Central RR.
42 Halsted Downtown Lake St. - [State St.] [back: Polk St. - Dearborn St.] - State St. - Archer Av. - S Halsted St. - W 79th St.
43 43rd S Halsted St. - Root St. - 43rd St. - Illinois Central RR.
44 Wallace - Racine W 87th St. - S Racine Av. - W 47th St. - S Halsted St. - Pershing Rd. - S Wallace St. - Archer Av. - State St. - [Polk St. - Dearborn St.] [back: State St.] - Lake St.
45 Ashland - Downtown W 95th St. - Ashland Av. - Archer Av. - State St. - [Polk St. - Dearborn St.] [back: State St.] - Lake St.
47 47th S Kedzie Av. - 47th St. - Illinois Central RR.
49 Western Berwyn Av. - Western Av. - W 79th St.
50 Damen Fullerton Av. - Damen Av. - Blue Island Av.
52 Kedzie - California Roscoe St. - N California Av. - W Chicago Av. - Kedzie Av. - Marquette Park (W 67th St.)
53 Pulaski W 31st St. - Pulaski Rd. - Pulaski Av. - Bryn Mawr Av.
54 Cicero W 26th St. - Cicero Av. - Montrose Av.
56 Milwaukee Imlay Av. (City limits) - Milwaukee Av. - W Washington St. [back: W. Madison St. - N Clinton St.] - N Dearborn St.
56X* Milwaukee Armitage Grand Av. - Armitage Av. - Milwaukee Av. - W Washington St. [back: W. Madison St. - N Clinton St.] - N Dearborn St.
58 Ogden S Laramie Av. - W 25th St. - Ogden Av. - W Randolph St. [back: W Washington St.] - N Dearborn St.
60 Blue Island - 26th Kenton Av. (City limits) - 26th St. - Blue Island Av. - Harrison St. - S Clinton St. - W Monroe St. [back: W Adams St.] - S Dearborn St.
63 63rd Narragansett Av. - W 63rd Pl. - 63rd St. - Stony Island Av.
65 Grand N Harlem Av. (City limits) - Grand Av. - Municipal Pier
66 Chicago Austin Bvd. (City limits) - W Chicago Av. - E Chicago Av. - Lake Shore Drive - Municipal Pier
67 67th - 69th Marquette Park - W 71st St. - S Western Av. - W 69th St. - E 67th St. - S Shore Dr.
73 Armitage N Clark St. - Armitage Av. - Grand Av.
79 79th S Western Ave. - 79th St. - Lake Michigan (Rocky Ledge Beach)
81 Lawrence Austin Av. - Lawrence Av - Broadway
87A 87th Vincennes Av. - 87th St. - Commercial Av.
95E 93rd - 95th S State St. - E 95th St. - Cottage Grove Av. - E 93rd St. - S Chicago Av. - E 92nd St. - Buffalo Av. - Illinois Steel Co. Mills

Note: * Route numbers with an X extension were not used for the official numbering of these routes. Streetcars on these routes had the normal number designation, the X is simply for the convenience of users of this site.

1 Putting the downtown terminus of line 16 (State) at the intersection of Van Buren St. and State St. is pure guess - but it must have been somewhere!

Service discontinuation dates between 1 Oct. 1947 and 25 Feb. 1951 (corresponding route numbers in brackets):

RAPID TRANSIT ROUTES (ELEVATED RAILROADS AND SUBWAYS)

Operator: Chicago Transit Authority (CTA)

Note: The one and two-character codes used to identify routes below and in the maps are for convenience only, and were not used by the operating company.

  1 State Street Subway Roosevelt Rd. - State St. - Division St. - Clybourn Av. - North Av.
  2 Milwaukee-Dearborn Subway La Salle Stn - Dearborn St. - Lake St. - Milwaukee Av. - Damen Stn. - Logan Square / Humboldt Park
DP Douglas Park Line Loop - (Garfield Park Line) - Marshfield - Douglas Park - Oak Park
EH Englewood - Howard Englewood - Pershing Rd. Station - Roosevelt Rd. - State Street Subway - Belmont - Howard St.
EL Evanston - Loop Linden (Evanston) - Howard St. - Belmont - Pershing Rd. Station - Loop [Rush-hour express service]
EW Evanston-Wilmette Branch Howard Street - Linden (Evanston) [Shuttle]
GP Garfield Park Line Loop - Marshfield - Garfield Park - Columbus Park (Austin) - Bellwood - Westchester
JH Jackson Park - Howard Jackson Park - Pershing Rd. Station - Roosevelt Rd. - State Street Subway - Belmont - Howard Street
KI Kenwood - Indiana Av. Kenwood - Indiana Av. [Shuttle]
L Lake Street Line Loop - Lake Street - Forest Park
NH Normal Park - Harvard Av. Normal Park - Harvard Av. [Shuttle]
RL Ravenswood - Loop Kimball Stn. - Belmont - Loop
SI Stock Yards - Indiana Av. Stock Yards - Indiana Av. [Shuttle]

INTERURBAN ROUTES

Operator: Chicago Aurora & Elgin Railroad (CA&E)

   AE&C Line Wells St. & Jackson Blvd Terminal - Garfield Park Elevated Line - Bellwood - Wheaton - (Elgin) / (Batavia Jnctn. - Batavia) / (Batavia Jnctn. - Aurora)

Operator: Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railway

   Skokie Valley - Mundelein Route Chicago - Dempster (Skokie) - Lake Bluff - Libertyville - Mundelein
   Shore Line Route Chicago - Linden (Evanston) - Lake Bluff - North Chicago - Waukegan
   Skokie Valley - Milwaukee Route Chicago - Dempster (Skokie) - Lake Bluff - North Chicago - Kenosha - Racine - Milwaukee

Operator: Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad

   South Shore Line Randolph Street Terminal - Roosevelt Rd. Station - 63rd St. Station - Kensington 115th St. - East Chicago - Gary - South Bend

ELECTRIC COMMUTER ROUTES (IC ELECTRIC)

Operator: Illinois Central Railroad

   Blue Island Branch Randolph Street Terminal - Roosevelt Rd. Station - 63rd St. Station - Kensington 115th St. - Blue Island
   Main Line Randolph Street Terminal - Roosevelt Rd. Station - 63rd St. Station - Kensington 115th St. - Riverdale - Harvey - Richton Park
   South Chicago Branch Randolph Street Terminal - Roosevelt Rd. Station - 63rd St. Station - South Chicago (E 93rd Street)


CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SYSTEM

NETWORK LENGTH



HISTORY

GAUGE


TRAM PRESERVATION

The Illinois Rail Museum, in Rockford, IL, about 100 km. NW from Chicago, has about 10 preserved Chicago streetcars, and a large number of preserved interurban and rapid transit vehicles that used to run in the Chicago area. Many of them run regularly on the museum tracks.


SOURCES

PRINT

WIKIS

WEB SITES


Also, thanks to Emmert Clevenstine of Ferney-Voltaire, France, for relevant documents he has given me over the years, as well as to Russell Powers from Denver CO and Peter Zondag from the Netherlands for their kind suggestions sent over the Internet.


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Disclaimer: Everything on this site was written and/or prepared at the author's discretion. The author has tried to be accurate where facts are presented, but this does not mean that these facts are necessarily accurate. People needing more reliable information should refer to appropriate sources presented, on the Internet or elsewhere, by authoritative professional or academic bodies.

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