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  • LS&MS commuter service in Chicago?

  • Discussion relating to the NYC and subsidiaries, up to 1968. Visit the NYCS Historical Society for more information.
Discussion relating to the NYC and subsidiaries, up to 1968. Visit the NYCS Historical Society for more information.

Moderator: Otto Vondrak

 #1245212  by NKP1155
 
Did the LS&MS operate commuter service in and out of LaSalle St. Sta? If they did, how long did it last? I don't see any in old Official Guides, but several Vanderbilt lines did not show commuter service in that big book.
 #1245265  by NYCfan0711
 
Sure did. McLellan and Warrick in their book The Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway mentioned commuter service starting between Chicago and South Chicago (at the time Chicago's downtown passenger terminal was referred to as the Van Buren St. Station) in July of 1872. Droege's Passenger Terminals and Trains indicated 88 suburban trains out and 87 such trains in on a daily basis in 1912-1913. The CRI&P by comparison operated twice that number in and out of LaSalle during this period . The Lake Shore's daily passenger counts were not insignificant during 1912-13 with over 4,000 "commuters" traveling each way along its lines. Some forty years later In the early fifties the NYC was still running trains out from LaSalle St. Station to Gary, Porter, and Chesterton - the latter forty plus miles out on the main line before turning for a later trek back. The number of trains would of course dissipate and ultimately dry up over the next few years.
 #1245365  by NKP1155
 
Well, that was a big time operation!

What prompted the question was that LS&MS ward Nickel Plate scheduled 5 to 6 commuter trains a day between Osborn & LaSalle maybe until WWI. I had wondered if the LS&MS had flogged off the money losing service onto the NKP. But it sounds like the NKP trains were supplement to the LS&MS fleet.
 #1246658  by Otto Vondrak
 
Too lazy to find the thread, but here's my timetables :-)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ottomatic7 ... 2001651610" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ottomatic7 ... 2001651610" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

-otto-