Milwaukee West Line Started As Atlantic & Pacific Railroad

2 ON THE BI-LEVEL Milwaukee West line started On the Bi-Level Published by Metra’s Media as Atlantic & Pacific Railroad Relations Department. Send letters, questions or feedback to Most of this information is from ban service – in other words, a The one-way fare for the 34-mile On the Bi-Level, Metra, 547 W. Jackson, Chicago IL, 60661- “The Chicago & Pacific Railroad: commuter train operation – was trip was $1.25. 5717. Or e-mail onthebilevel@ A Description of The New Rail- envisioned from the very begin- In its original route out of metrarr.com. road Line Across the State of Il- ning, along with freight. Chicago, the line headed north- We can’t guarantee all letters linois” and articles that appeared “Arrangements are already west from Chicago and Larrabee will be printed or answered. Please keep letters to less than in The Milwaukee Railroader, making for building several sub- to Bloomingdale Ave, where it 200 words and include your first published by the Milwaukee Road urban towns along the line of the turned directly west. In 1879, the name, hometown and what line Historical Association. road between Chicago and Elgin Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul you ride. (Names are not re- The ancestor of today’s by the capitalists of Chicago, Railroad acquired a controlling quired but strongly encouraged.) We reserve the right to edit letter Milwaukee West line was char- which will at once make a large interest in the C&P and leased for length and grammar. tered as the “Atlantic & Pacific business for the suburban trains it in perpetuity a year later. That Railroad” on Feb. 16, 1865. Its which will be placed up the road was the name adopted by the Mil- Board of Directors name was more ambitious than and run regularly,” the description waukee & St. Paul in 1874 after Brad S. O’Halloran its stated goal of crossing Illinois, said. it entered the Chicago market by Chairman by way of Chicago, to the town of Included was a list of the sta- building what is now part of the Suburban Cook County Savanna on the Mississippi River tions or towns to be served and Milwaukee North line. One result Jack E. Partelow just south of Galena. brief summaries. Those stops of the acquisition was that some Vice Chairman By 1871, when the railroad was were Humboldt, Almira, Pacific, Elgin trains were rerouted; at the Will County finally organized and the name 46th St. crossing and Kelvyn crossing of the CM&StP and C&P was changed to the somewhat less Grove, Galewood, Mont Clare, five miles northwest of downtown Jack Schaffer Treasurer ambitious “Chicago & Pacific Orison (Elmwood Park), River they started using the CM&StP McHenry County Railroad,” it was ready to join a Park (River Grove), Roselle and route downtown. That intersection growing list of railroads con- Elgin. (It noted that Roselle would is still where the Milwaukee West Arlene J. Mulder necting Chicago to the rest of the be only one of several stops be- and North lines diverge. Secretary Suburban Cook County continent. To head out of Chicago, tween River Park and Elgin.) In The Bloomingdale segment it selected a route between two its description of River Park, the east of the junction, which eventu- Norman Carlson existing railroads, the ones now railroad again boasted about its ally was elevated, continued to be Director known as the UP West and UP suburban trains. used for freight and some com- Lake County Northwest lines. “The company have [sic] muter trains but eventually fell Paul C. Darley In a description of the route determined to run hourly trains, into disuse. There are now plans Director that seems to have been written by equipped with all the modern to turn it into a linear park. DuPage County the railroad to encourage invest- improvements, from the city to Commuter trains were added Don A. De Graff ment, the author boasted about River Park, stopping at every over the years, some of them Director the towns that would be reached station and carrying passengers at originating from closer-in stations Suburban Cook County by the line, including Jefferson, low rates of fare. They are assured and some from Elgin. (There was Leyden, Addison, Bloomingdale, of a large and paying business for even an express train from Elgin Larry A. Huggins Director Hanover and Elgin. their suburban trains at once, from by 1915.) By 1930 there were Chicago “These towns are thickly set- the fact that hundreds of families 14 round-trip trains from Elgin. tled by an intelligent, industrious are preparing to move on to the There are now 24 inbound and 25 Mike McCoy and thrifty population. The land is line of the road to avail them- outbound trains between Chicago Director Kane County cut up into small farms, which are selves of the advantages offered and the Elgin Station. not only well improved but fully by the company, as it is under- The route was operated by the Stanley C. Rakestraw stocked with everything which stood that one of the specialties CM&StP, known as the Milwau- Director makes agriculture profitable; and of the Chicago & Pacific Railroad kee Road, until 1982. That’s when Cook County nearly every acre of the ground is will be the accommodation of the the RTA and later Metra assumed William A. Widmer III under a high state of cultivation.” suburban travel…” control of the route from the Director The first tracks were laid on An 1874 timetable for the bankrupt Milwaukee Road. Suburban Cook County July 10, 1872, and by the time railroad shows that it was offering More information about the that description was published four round trips daily between Milwaukee Road in Chicago and Chief Executive Officer on May 1, 1873, the railroad had its Chicago passenger terminal at Milwaukee North line will appear Alex Clifford nearly reached Elgin. Subur- Chicago and Larrabee and Elgin. in next month’s issue. WWW.METRARAIL.COM.

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