LaSalle Street Station

LaSalle Street

Platform of LaSalle Street Station
Location 414 South LaSalle Street,
Chicago, IL 60605
Coordinates (400 S/140 W)
41°52′32″N 87°37′57″W / 41.87553°N 87.63239°W / 41.87553; -87.63239Coordinates: 41°52′32″N 87°37′57″W / 41.87553°N 87.63239°W / 41.87553; -87.63239
Owned by Metra
Line(s)
  Rock Island District
Platforms 2 side platforms, 3 island platforms
Tracks 8
Connections

CTA "L" Lines:

  Brown Line
  Pink Line
  Orange Line
  Purple Line Rush Hours Only

(At LaSalle/Van Buren, 1 Block North of station)

  Blue Line At LaSalle, 1/2 Block East of station

CTA Buses:
ChicaGo Dash

Construction
Disabled access Yes
Other information
Fare zone A
History
Opened May 22, 1852
Rebuilt 1903, 1981–1985, 2011
Services
Preceding station   Metra   Following station
toward Joliet
Rock Island DistrictTerminus
  Former services  
Rock Island Line
toward Denver or Colorado Springs
Main LineTerminus
New York Central Railroad
TerminusWater Level Route
Danville Branch
toward Danville
Location

LaSalle Street Station is a commuter rail terminal at 414 South LaSalle Street in downtown Chicago. It was a major intercity rail terminal for the New York Central Railroad until 1968, and for the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad until 1978, but now serves only Metra's Rock Island District. The present structure became the fifth station on the site when its predecessor was demolished in 1981 and replaced by the new station and an office high-rise for the Chicago Stock Exchange. The Chicago Board of Trade Building, Willis Tower and Harold Washington Library are close by.

History

The first station on the site opened on May 22, 1852 with the completion of the Northern Indiana and Chicago Railroad. On October 1, 1852, the Chicago and Rock Island Railroad began using the station. The two railroads later became the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway (New York Central Railroad) and Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad. North of a junction at Englewood Station, both companies' lines ran parallel to the terminal.

In December 1866 a new station opened. The Great Chicago Fire of October 1871 destroyed the station, which was rebuilt shortly afterwards. The post-fire station was demolished to make way for a new station that opened July 1, 1903 and stood until 1981. This station was a set for Alfred Hitchcock's 1959 North by Northwest, starring Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint, and in the 1973 movie The Sting starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford.

From its completion in 1882, the New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad (Nickel Plate Road) ran over the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway from a junction at Grand Crossing neighborhood north to downtown Chicago, where it had its own terminal south of LaSalle. The LS&MS quickly gained control of the Nickel Plate, and later allowed it into its LaSalle Street Station as a tenant. In July 1916 the LS&MS sold the Nickel Plate to the Van Sweringens, but it continued to operate into LaSalle until the end of Nickel Plate passenger service.

From July 31, 1904[1] to August 1, 1913,[2] LaSalle Street Station was also used by trains of the Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad, which reached it via trackage rights on the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific from Ashburn.[2]

On January 18, 1957 trains of the Michigan Central Railroad started to use LaSalle, running over the New York Central Railroad's Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway from their former crossing at Porter, Indiana to Chicago. LS&MS and Michigan Central trains (both part of the New York Central system) last used LaSalle on October 26, 1968 (soon after the merge into Penn Central); the next day they began running into Union Station via a connection in Whiting, Indiana and the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railway.

Most intercity rail service at La Salle ended on May 1, 1971 when Amtrak consolidated long-distance services at Union Station. Rock Island opted out of Amtrak and continued to operate intercity service from LaSalle until 1978.

A connection at Englewood Station was completed October 15, 1971 to allow the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad to also operate over the PFW&C to Union Station, but the failing Rock Island decided to continue using LaSalle. Now only commuter trains on Metra's Rock Island District serve the station.

From 1972–75 the Rock Island operated a restaurant called Track One using two former railroad cars parked on track 1 at the station. The two cars, the dining car Golden Harvest and the club-lounge Pacific Shore, had previously served on the Golden State Limited.[3][4]

Although only Metra's Rock Island District trains now use LaSalle, additional service is planned. Metra's proposed SouthEast Service would terminate at LaSalle, and Chicago's massive CREATE infrastructure improvement program would allow trains from Metra's SouthWest Service to use the terminal.[5]

In June 2011, The Chicago Department of Transportation opened the LaSalle/Congress Intermodal Transfer Center alongside the station as a bus terminal to serve people transferring to CTA buses as well as Blue Line trains at LaSalle[6]

Services

LaSalle was a terminal for the following lines and intercity trains:

Among the most famous name trains that terminated at LaSalle were the New York Central's 20th Century Limited from 1902 until 1967 and the Rock Island-Southern Pacific Golden State Limited from 1902 until 1968.

LaSalle still serves commuter trains on Metra's Rock Island District. Approximately 17,000 people board Metra trains at LaSalle each day.[7]

Bus connections

CTA

ChicaGo Dash

Gallery

References

  1. ↑ Official Guide of the Railways, September 1904, p. 707
  2. 1 2 Goss, William Freeman Myrick, Smoke Abatement and Electrification of Railway Terminals in Chicago. Report of the Chicago Association of Commerce, Committee of Investigation on Smoke Abatement and Electrification of Railway Terminals, Chicago Association of Commerce and Industry, 1915, p. 505
  3. ↑ Davis, Robert (17 July 1975). "Track One diner hits end of line". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on 7 February 2015. Retrieved 6 February 2015.
  4. ↑ Randall, W. David (1974). Railway Passenger Car Annual, Volume I, 1973-1974. Park Forest, IL: RPC Publications. p. 73.
  5. ↑ "Metra Moving". Railway Track & Structures. 12 September 2009. Retrieved 21 April 2012.
  6. ↑ "Officials unveil new LaSalle intermodal station". Redeye. 17 June 2011. Retrieved 1 August 2011.
  7. ↑ On the Bi-Level, October 2007.

External links

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