On the Southeast Side, a long abandoned grade level railroad line lives on in the gentle rise of certain streets over the grade. Along the former route, there are some right-of-way remnants and infill housing. Seemingly little information is available about this line; we know it was built by the Baltimore and Ohio railroad (B&O) and that it was likely abandoned sometime in the 1950s. The B&O is one of the nation's oldest railroads, but was extended west to Chicago much later than many others. This abandoned line may have been the B&O railroad's first entrance to the city when it first came west to Chicago in the 1870s. The line originally connected to the Illinois Central (IC) tracks near 71st Street, but once the IC tracks were elevated sometime in the early 20th century, a connecting ramp was not built for the B&O line, which then terminated as a stub.

The B&O's main routing into the city (and Grand Central station) from the southeast became much more confusing and convoluted after this connection was terminated. The route involved using the Belt Railroad of Chicago, Rock Island, Pennsylvania Railroad, and the Burlington Route to finally enter Grand Central Station from the west.

Image: Cervin Robinson, Historic American Buildings Survey, HABS ILL,16-CHIG,18-1, 1963.

Grand Central Station was B&O's Chicago terminal until the company ceased passenger operations in 1969. Designed in 1890 by Solon S. Beman of Pullman fame, it was torn down in 1971 to make way for new high-density housing. Only River City has been built over the former lead-in trackage, however, the land on which the station itself sat has remained vacant since being razed. Amusingly, the plot of land is currently used as a dog park of sorts.

Left image: USGS aerial survey, 1937.

Left: The B&O yard near 86th and Ewing. To date, this land has not been built over after having been abandoned for nearly half a century. Nature has taken its course and most of this swath is now covered with trees and brush. The roundhouse visible at the right of the image was removed in the 1940s.

Right: A well-rusted, nearly illegible 'No Trespassing' sign located at the edge of the yard.

Left: A view of the remains of the B&O freight yard, facing west from Ewing Avenue near 86th Street. Note the old streetlight in a neighboring parking lot, also abandoned.

Right: Another view of the old yard. Part of it was also used by the electrified IC South Chicago branch, and thus contains overhead catenary wire supports.

Left: This part of the right-of-way near 83rd and Commercial is still apparent as it hasn't been built over.

Right: Starting in the early 1970s, infill housing has been built over much of the former right of way.

Image: Google Earth, 2007.

These infill houses are curiosities as they are oriented horizontally along the old right of way instead of facing the street on which they are located. This is especially apparent in this aerial view.

The positioning of these images corresponds to the alignment of the aerial view. The houses in the left image, located to the west of Colfax, orient north-south along a diagonal alley. The houses in the background of the right image are located east of Colfax, and run directly parallel with the former rail line. Also, the two-story houses at left are newer than their more diminutive counterparts at right, having been built in the 1990s.

Perhaps one reason the branch remained for so long after being disconnected from a mainline railroad at its north end, is that it served many industries. A building materials yard was served at its north end near the IC embankment. Soon after crossing 71st street, the railroad served a coal yard. A sewage pumping station near Stony Island and 73rd also received coal deliveries from the line. Perhaps most significantly, the Solo Cup factory was served by this line. This factory was known as the Paper Container Manufacturing Company in 1951. Interestingly, the same site (and likely the same building) was being used for an ice factory in 1923, also served by the railroad.

Left: An old sign on the side of the Solo Cup factory. Here we see an odd juxtaposition of the old phone number shown for the police and the modern 7-digit number shown for the South Shore Chamber of Commerce.

Right: A view of the former right-of-way, now paved, behind the Solo Cup plant.

Farther down the line, another large coal yard was served on Euclid south of 75th Street, on what is now Rosenblum Park. The park opened in 1953, bisected by the B&O line until this portion of track was purchased by the Park District in 1980.

The right-of-way is still visible and undisturbed at 75th and Constance. These are views northwest (left) and southeast (right). Rosenblum Park, formerly bisected by the line, is visible in the image at right.

Left: A view of the right-of-way facing southeast toward the intersection 76th and Jeffery.

Right: The B&O route facing northwest to Stony Island from 74th and East End. A sewage pumping station was formerly located on some of this land.

Several more coal yards, building material yards, and small factories were served on the way to South Chicago. In South Chicago, a large freight yard for the line existed just west of the large South Works steel mill. The line then served the South Works mill itself, and connected to the Pennsylvania Railroad and other lines in the South Chicago area.

Along 72nd Street west of Stony Island, new housing was just recently built on the right-of-way. The gentle rise in the grade, a remnant of the right-of-way, is clearly visible in the left image.

The route ends here, just short of the IC embankment near 70th and Kenwood. A ramp was never built to the IC tracks when they were elevated around the turn of the 19th Century. This tunnel under the IC embankment was never used by the B&O line; it was built for the IC South Chicago branch, and it still used for Metra service on that line.

We have yet to discover definite reasons for the abandonment of the line, but we can speculate. For one thing, the line ran at grade level at an angle to most streets, resulting in numerous grade crossings. While this may not have been a great concern in the early history of the line; once the South Shore neighborhood was built up, it was likely a tremendous annoyance to local residents. Secondly, and perhaps more to the point, the line was relegated to branch status early in its life, and it was dependent on industrial customers to survive. Once the neighborhood was built up, the building material yards had little reason to stay open. Also, the use of coal for heating purposes declined rapidly in the 1950s. Without these two uses, which proliferated along the line, the old B&O route had become obsolete. These factors likely contributed to its closure in the 1950s.

Page authored 3 May 2008.
Written by Jacob Kaplan.