Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railroad

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Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railroad
logo
System map
Map of the Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railroad from a 1936 public timetable folder
Reporting marks CAE
Locale Chicago, Illinois and western suburbs
Dates of operation 1901 – 1957
Track gauge 4 ft 8½ in (1435 mm) (standard gauge)
Headquarters Wheaton, Illinois

The Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railroad (CA&E), known colloquially as the "Roarin' Elgin", was an interurban railroad that operated passenger and freight service on its line between Chicago, Illinois and Aurora, Batavia, Geneva, St. Charles, and Elgin. The railroad also owned a branch line to Westchester.

Wounded by the increased use of automobiles after World War II, the CA&E quite abruptly ended passenger service in 1957.

Contents

[edit] The Aurora Elgin and Chicago Railway

By 1902, the Aurora Elgin and Chicago Railway (AE&C) had constructed an electrified railroad between 52nd Street (now Laramie Avenue) in Chicago, and Aurora. Branch lines connected Wheaton with Batavia and Elgin. By 1910, the railroad had added a branch from near Wheaton to Geneva and St. Charles. Most of the interurban's lines used a third rail for power collection, which was relatively unusual for interurban railroads. While third rail had become the standard for urban elevated railroad and subway systems, most interurban railroads used trolley poles to pick up power from overhead wire; the AE&C only used trolley wire where necessary, such as in the few locations where the interurban had street running.

Originally, the railroad's Chicago terminus was the 52nd Street station that it shared with the Garfield Park elevated railroad line of the Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad, and where passengers transferred between interurban and elevated trains. Beginning on March 11, 1905, Metropolitan's Garfield Park service is extended west of 52nd Street, providing local service over the interurban's surface-level trackage as far west as Desplaines Avenue in Forest Park. At the same time, the interurban gained operating rights on the Metropolitan's "L" tracks, allowing AE&C trains to directly serve downtown Chicago. The interurban's trains terminated at the stub-ended Wells Street Terminal, adjacent to Chicago's Loop. The interurban continued to use the "L" tracks through the years of Chicago Rapid Transit Company (CRT) ownership and into the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) era.

[edit] The Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railroad

World War I was tough for the AE&C, and the railroad entered bankruptcy in 1919. Having shedded lines paralleling the Fox River, the reorganized company emerged from bankruptcy as the Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railroad on July 1, 1922.

A branch from Bellwood to Westchester was built in the 1920s. CRT's elevated train service was extended onto the branch in 1926; the "L" company was the sole provider of passenger service on the branch and this new service replaced the CA&E's own local service on its main line east of Bellwood.

CA&E public timetable dated February 2, 1936. The railroad ran enough service to fill most of a 12-page folder with train schedules.
CA&E public timetable dated February 2, 1936. The railroad ran enough service to fill most of a 12-page folder with train schedules.

Utilities magnate Samuel Insull gained control of the CA&E in 1926. Insull and his corporate interests had already taken over and improved the property of the Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad. Insull's plans to make similar improvements to the CA&E were scrapped as the result of the Great Depression. With the collapse of his utilities empire, Insull was forced to sell his interest in the CA&E, and the railroad was once again bankrupt by 1932. The line connecting West Chicago with Geneva and St. Charles was abandoned in 1937.

[edit] Postwar years of decline

The railroad was unable to exit from bankruptcy until 1946. Even though the railroad suffered from low revenue, high debt, and shortage of capital, wartime revenues and hopes for a stronger customer base in the growing west suburban region led the railroad to undertake an improvement of its service. The railroad made substantial improvements to its physical plant and acquired ten new all-steel passenger cars in 1946 and made plans for eight more, with the intention of retiring the oldest wooden cars that had been on the railroad's roster from its earliest years.

However, the postwar years saw increasing shifts of passengers away from rail traffic and into automobiles, and then the CA&E found the rug pulled from beneath the railroad. The plans for construction of the Congress Street Expressway (now known as the Eisenhower Expressway) in the early 1950s not only loomed as a source of further drain on CA&E traffic, but the right-of-way of the new highway necessitated the demolition of the CTA's Garfield Park elevated line, which the CA&E depended upon to reach its downtown terminus.

The expressway's construction plans provided a dedicated right-of-way for trains in the highway's median strip — the first of its kind in the world. However, during the estimated five years to complete the superhighway, both "L" and interurban trains would need to use a temporary street-level right-of-way. When the plans circulated in 1951, CA&E objected to the arrangement, citing the effects on running time and scheduling of its trains as they negotiated the streets of Chicago's busy West Side at rush hour. The railroad estimated that the delays would cost the railroad nearly a million dollars a year, to say nothing of the long-term effects of the new superhighway on the railroad's revenue. Another long-term concern was the railroad's downtown terminal; the new median strip line would eliminate access to Wells Street Terminal.

As a compromise, the railroad gained approval to cut back its service at the Desplaines Avenue station in Forest Park — the westernmost terminus of CTA Garfield Park service, after the CTA ended its unprofitable elevated train service on the CA&E's Westchester line in 1951. At the new Forest Park terminal, riders would transfer from the CA&E interurban to a CTA train to complete their commute into the city. This terminal consisted of two loop tracks (one for CA&E and one for CTA) where passengers could make a cross-platform transfer between the interurban and trains of the CTA operating over the temporary street-level trackage — and presumably the eventual new median strip Congress line. Unfortunately, with the change being put into effect on September 20, 1953, CA&E riders lost their one-seat ride to downtown Chicago.

[edit] Service comes to an end

Already depleted by highways, the loss of one-seat commuter service devastated the interurban. Passenger service ended abruptly on July 3, 1957 at noon. Commuters who had ridden the Roarin' Elgin into the city found themselves stranded when they returned to take the train home. The corporate entity disappeared entirely in 1961. The real estate became part of the Aurora Corporation of Illinois, a small conglomerate, which slowly sold off the right-of-way and other properties. Portions of roadbed are now operated as a hiking trail called the Illinois Prairie Path.

[edit] Preservation

Car 308 in operation at the Illinois Railway Museum
Car 308 in operation at the Illinois Railway Museum

Besides the right-of-way, most of which has been retained as the Illinois Prairie Path, there are two depots, two combination depot/substations, and 19 pieces of rolling stock from the CA&E that still exist.


Rapid transit and Commuter rail in Chicago, Illinois:
Operating

Metra | The 'L' | South Shore Line | Metra Electric Line
Defunct

Chicago Surface Lines | Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railroad | Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad | Chicago City Railway | Regional Transportation Authority
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