If the North Shore Survived....

[classicalman114]

 What do you speculate the North Shore would exist like if it survived to the present day? I assume it would bear many similarities to the South Shore, including that lines usages of modern MU cars. I could also imagine the trackage going through many relocation, upgrades to the track bed, and, with freight service, dieselization. 

If only the North Shore did survive; trips to Milwaukee would be so much faster and funner.... 

[CSSHEGEWISCH]

This topic has been hashed over multiple times in the past.  If North Shore survived, it would have probably been as a suburban rapid transit service to Mundelein and Waukegan, connecting with CTA at Howard Street, maybe with through trains to the Loop during rush hour.  The nearest comparison would be SEPTA's Norristown line, the former Philadelphia & Western.  All freight service and passenger service north of Waukegan would have been discontinued.

[aricat]

I think that it would have been virtually impossible for either the North Shore Line or the CA&E to have survived unless C&NW would have been allowed to drop all commuter passenger service. I don't think the powers that be would have allowed that to happen. The Metra umbrella would have taken over both lines anyway. I frankly think that Chicago commuters have received much more reliable service with the C&NW (Metra) than they would have if the North Shore had been the survivor instead.

[daveklepper]

The North Shore would have survived if its program to locate industries on line had brought better results.  The freight business was profitable, and fi there had been more, it would have subsidized the remaining passenger service until it came under Mertra's wing.

1.   There would be no Skokie Swift service.   The North Shore would get the business.

2,  Metra or an intelligent management previously would have combined as much operation with the CTA as possible.   Including sharing shop and maintenance facilities.   One track of the Mundelein line would be sufficient for the service (it would have been sufficient more nearly all the lines history except for that Roman Catholic huge outdoor service that was the best one-day showing of any interurban anywhere), and the other track would have been used as a layup track so that rush hour Skokie stopping trains would not have to operate nearly emtpy all the way to Waukegan or Kenosha after their last homebound passengers dismbarked.   Ticket collection and pass inspection would have been modernized with several possibilities to reduce the number of rush hour trainment required.  Rather than replacing the equipment, it would have undergone considerable modernization, since it was already suitable for the service, until Metra and subsidies were available .  This would include off-peak one-man operaton with across or same platfrom connection at Howard Street, and thorugh trains with conductors operated only during heavy traffic periods when one car would not suffice.   One-man one-car operation would permit more frequent off-peak operaton and the more frequent operation would compensate for the need to change at Howard Street.   The Electroliners would have undergone modernization and would be used regularly during periods of the day when traffic would support them, including the snack and drink service.

The line into Milwaukee would have eventually be relocated possibly sharing one of the steam railroad's ROW to avoid stret running.   This probably would have involved some government expenditures.

 

But all this only if the freight business had really taken off.

[gbrewer]

 I agree that much of the NS and CA&E service was duplicated by the C&NW, and therefore, it is unlikely that these two interurbans would have survived. If they had, they most likely would have lost most of their charm as has the SS, and they would probably resemble it more than what they once were. Still I miss them and wish they were still with us.

Glen Brewer

Riding the Electroliner

Remembering the 'Ror'n' Elgin