Chicagoland and the I- 290 .

[Anonymous]

Hello everyone , longtime reader and this is my first post. I grew up in the west suburbs of Chicago and I am interested in which railroads used the frieght line that runs along the I 290 from around Laramie Ave to where it crosses over around Des Plaines Ave. I recall a B&O plaque on the bridge back in the day.Did the Chi. Great Western use this? Was this B&OCT trackage? Last I recall I saw some Wisc. Central on it. Any info would be great , Thanks in advance.....Clyde21.

[artpeterson]

Hi Clyde 21 - yes B&OCT (now CSX) Altenheim Sub.  WC's used to run over it to get to BRC-Clearing.  CGW and Soo trains also used the line in years past (CGW had a yard around Central Avenue).  Today's open-cut alignment replaced at-grade track, just as was done for the CTA line.  The two RRs were on paralleling double-track alignments through Oak Park in pre-expressway days.  CA&E operated freight service over the CTA line, and interchanged with B&OCT at Central Avenue.  That ended when CA&E was cut back to a terminal at Desplaines Avenue, Forest Park in September of 1953.  Hope this helps! Art

[artpeterson]

Hi - Got your question about B&OCT ownership and operation - I believe the ownership extended to Desplaines Avenue and then the B&OCT had rights on the CGW-owned track west of there to Bellwood, where there was an interchange with the IHB (around 25th Avenue).

There was an at-grade crossing of CA&E/CTA with the B&OCT (with CGW and Soo as tennants) east of Desplaines Avenue.  That arrangement was superseded by the grade-separated alignments you see in place today.  During the construciton of the expressway through Oak Park there was quite a bit of operation on temporary rights-of-way for both the "L" and the freight roads, with these arrangements shifting depending on where the expressway construction was.  A new bridge for the CA&E over the Des Plaines river was installed to the north of the expressway, but was never used by them.  It was finally removed several years ago.

West of Desplaines Avenue, the CA&E/CTA right-of-way strayed a bit south of the B&OCT/CGW alignment, and then came back parallel to it around 17th Avenue (if I remember correctly!).   The CTA trains diverged south off the CA&E to the east of Mannheim Road to run on the Westchester Branch, while the CA&E also had a freight-only line in this general area, refered to as the "Cook County Southern."  This interchanged with the IC, but also served on-line industries.  It lasted to the end of CA&E freight operations, and operation over it was included in many of the later-day fantrips.

Hope this helps - have a great weekend! Art

[CSSHEGEWISCH]

The Cook County Branch lasted into the 1980's as a spur from the IHB at Bellwood.  I'm not sure if the connection from the IC remained.  The bridge over I-290 just west of Mannheim Rd. remained in place until the massive road re-building of the 1990's that moved the inbound congestion further east.