This is the former Chicago & North Western passenger line between Chicago and Milwaukee. Waukegan historically was, and still is the primary terminal of the commuter rail service. But with the gradual decline of intercity passenger service, Kenosha emerged to greater significance, as a terminal for commuter service. Intercity passenger service north of Kenosha was discontinued with the formation of Amtrak in 1971, but there are now proposals develop a new commuter rail service between Kenosha and Milwaukee. Meanwhile, the double track high speed line with automatic train stops north of Kenosha has been downgraded, to a single track unsignaled line. Between Chicago and Clybourn, the line is shared with the Union Pacific Northwest Line. And in the Ravenswood area, CTA's Brown Line parallels this line to the west over a 1 1/2 mile stretch. The first suburb on this line is Evanston, home of Northwestern University. Many local stops existed in Chicago and Evanston until 1958, when they were discontinued as part of a streamlining of the commuter service. And CTA's Purple Line parallels this line through Evanston. Trains of the Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad (North Shore Line) once operated over this CTA line. North of Evanston is Wilmette, the first of a series of some of the wealthiest suburbs in the country. The North Shore Line had its own line north of Wilmette, paralleling this line the entire distance between Wilmette and North Chicago. That electric interurban line was abandoned in 1955, and segments of the right-of-way were made into the North Shore Trail. Ravinia Park was originally developed by the North Shore Line as a destination amusement park, but now is an outdoor concert venue. The best North Shore Trail segment here is the 6 1/2 miles between Fort Sheridan and Great Lakes, with intermediate stations at Lake Forest and Lake Bluff. Great Lakes is the location of a major naval traning center. The closest this line actually gets to Lake Michigan is in Waukegan, in an industrial area. Waukegan is the county seat of Lake County. Most Metra trains at present operate only as far north as Waukegan, with a few trains continuing all the way to Kenosha. The $7 weekend pass would be attractive for going all the way to Kenosha, but the weekend schedules usually are not convenient for that. At Kenosha, bus connections are available to Milwaukee via Wisconsin Coach Lines. The Milwaukee Without A Car Web site contains additional information on public transportation in Southeastern Wisconsin. The weekend pass is nice for those interested in walking parts of the North Shore Trail. Freight action is light, with all activity north of Lake Bluff, location of a junction with a connecting line from the UP's "Skokie Valley" freight main line. Much of the freight activity consists of coal unit trains serving various power plants in the area.
Radio Frequency - 160.890 (AAR Channel 52) (Chicago-CY)
Radio Frequency - 161.040 (AAR Channel 62) (CY-St. Francis)
Direction is northward from Chicago to Kenosha
0.0 CHICAGO
0.2 Lake Street (tower)
0.3 Clinton Street
0.5 Northwest Jct.
0.9 Erie
2.2 North Ave. Yard.
2.7 CY (tower/junction)
2.8 CLYBOURN
3.3 Deering Bridge
6.5 RAVENSWOOD
9.4 ROGERS PARK
10.6 RP (remote-CY)
11.0 MAIN STREET
12.0 EVANSTON
12.7 Canal
13.3 CENTRAL STREET
14.4 WILMETTE
15.2 KENILWORTH
15.8 INDIAN HILL
16.6 WINNETKA
17.0 WK (remote-CY)
17.7 HUBBARD WOODS
19.2 GLENCOE
20.5 BRAESIDE
20.9 RAVINIA PARK
21.5 RAVINIA
23.0 HIGHLAND PARK
24.5 HIGHWOOD
25.7 FT. SHERIDAN
28.3 LAKE FOREST
30.2 LAKE BLUFF (junction-UP/remote-dispatcher-Omaha)
32.2 GREAT LAKES
33.7 NORTH CHICAGO
35.9 WAUKEGAN
42.1 ZION
44.5 WINTHROP HARBOR
51.6 KENOSHA
60.0 Racine
64.5 Ives
69.3 Oak Creek
74.7 South Milwaukee
78.2 Cudahy
79.9 St. Francis
4 tracks from Clinton Street to CY, signaled for both directions with a Controlled Block System.
2 tracks from CY to WK, CTC in use, controlled from CY.
2 tracks from WK to Kenosha, signaled for normal left hand operation.
Automatic Train Stop in use between Clinton Street and Kenosha.
1 track from Kenosha to St. Francis, Track Warrants in use.
Speed Limit: 70 mph
Chicago-Clybourn: 35 mph
Kenosha-St. Francis: 40 mph
(Click for diagram of Chicago Terminal*.)
(*The former Chicago & North Western terminal at 500 W. Madison St. has been known by many different names through its history. Including "North Western Station", "Madison Street Station", "Chicago Passenger Station", "Metra Passenger Terminal", and currently "Ogilvie Transportation Center". This lack of a consistent name has resulted in many confused passengers over the years.)
Portion of line between Chicago and Highland Park, prior to removal of third track between Chicago and Evanston during the 1980's, and installation of CTC between Chicago and Winnetka during the 1990's. Between Highland Park and Kenosha, the line has largely remained unchanged since the 1930's.