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| David Daruszka posted Van Buren Street. The depot was demolished when the tracks along the lakefront were depressed below grade. Bob Lalich I can't seem to find a definitive reference at the moment, but I believe the tracks remain at original grade, just a few feet above nominal lake level. The surrounding area of Grant Park was raised which gives the appearance that the tracks were lowered. |
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| David commented on his photo This photo supports you. Mea culpa. Bob Lalich No need to apologize. We are all here to share and learn. An interesting side note - the grade of the entire central business district was raised in the mid-1800s. George Pullman made a name for himself raising buildings at this time, before he got into the sleeping car business. |
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| David commented on his photo |
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| David commented on his photo And the new and current station. |
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| David commented on his photo Another shot of the original station. A bit worse for the wear. The pedestrain walkway in the background was built for the Columbian Exposition to transfer passengers from lake steamers to the railroad. |
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| David commented on his photo The same walkway. Dennis DeBrulerGroup Admin Since the exposition was on the lakefront, I wonder why there wasn't a dock down there so that the steamers could take their passengers directly to the exposition. Now that I'm thinking about it, it was probably because of the draft of the docking facility. The IC had built far enough out into the lake that it was easy to dredge the needed draft. Down by 63rd, they would have had to do a lot more dredging. David DaruszkaGroup Admin I'm assuming that people who planned to stay in a hotel brought luggage and would have stayed either downtown or in one of the many hotels built on the south side near the fair. People wouldn't want to go directly to the fair and walk around with their luggage. The Hyde Park hotels were close to the train. Dennis DeBrulerGroup Admin David Daruszka Good point. I forgot about the hotel infrastructure that was also built for the fair. |
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| David commented on his photo And the docking pier. |
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| Michael Brandt posted A busy day at Van Buren Street in 1893, a lot of them are probably heading to the World's Fair. [Note the IC Central Station in the left background.] |
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| One of 24 Lakefront images posted by David Daruszka Looking north from approximately 12th Street. The tents are an encampment for the troops called out during the Haymarket riots. The park ground they are camped on was created with debris from the Chicago Fire. That area was once a small lake that was created when the IC built their tracks into Chicago. Dennis DeBruler I went back and looked at your photos for the walkway between a lake dock and the Van Buren Street Station. The truss in the background appears to be part of that walkway. And we can see boats at the pier by the dock. |
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| Jim Arvites posted View from a bygone era of crowds at Chicago's lakefront boarding Illinois Central trains for the 1893 Worlds Fair. Lawrence Smith looks like before track depression ? Matthew Chapman Chuck Roth Looks so very weird with freight cars WEST of the passenger/commuter tracks! Chuck Roth Seems the freight and long distance trains flip flopped with the commuter trains since then. |
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| BRHS posted The Illinois Central Railroad's 63rd Street suburban platform for the 1893 World's Fair. [The comments indicate this was at the Van Buren station rather than at the fair.] Stuart B. Slaymaker Look at those nutty looking coaches!!! David Daruszka Built by the IC shops, much like English coaches with doors to each compartment. They were later converted to box cars. Charlie Vlk Note the cars built specifically to carry the Worlds Fair Traffic between downtown and the grounds. A number of railroads did the same for such events, basing the cars on box cars so they could be easily converted for use after the fairs. Wisconsin Central had similar cars as they thought they would have heavy fair traffic. Curt Seeliger At the end of April 1893 The "L" on 63rd Street was only completed to Madison-(Dorchester) It was not ready for trains to go into Jackson Park. Fair goers had to get off the train and walk on a special walkway from Dorchester to the park, over the ICRR Bridge until around May 12th. I even thought when I saw this picture on an earlier post it was 63rd St , but I too had doubts...Until someone recognized it was Van Buren.. |
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| Jim Kindred posted Anyone familiar with this photo? Suppose to be Chicago and appears to have Illinois Central on the car in the lower right corner. [There were a lot of wrong answers. I saved what I believe to be the correct answers.] Paul Jevert: "Chicago Day" 1893 Columbian Exposition train with "Sullivan cars" at Van Buren Street 1893 ! David Harrison: Well, first of all, the bridge in the background is not the Alley 'L" Dorchester bridge at E. 63rd St.. The RR in the picture is on the ground, the Illinois Central in the vicinity of the Columbian Exposition was elevated on an embankment. This picture is of the Van Buren suburban station in downtown Chicago. Paul Jevert: The Chicago Terminal "Grade Separation Project and Suburban Electrification did not commence construction until 1919 and this photo was shot in in the 90's !I guess I might be qualified to speculate on its location and content since I grew up on the Illinois Central, my Family's history of employment goes back to 1912, 1918, 1932, 1934, 1965 ! My service in Operating Department was 21 years with 42 years total counting AMTK ! Your right, it is Van Buren since the bridge has pedestrians and the long platform was two blocks long . No problem David, we all like any photo that depicts the "flanged wheel " in action ! Paul Jevert shared Bruce Moffat: Van Buren Street 1893 shuttle trains to the Columbian Exposition. |
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| Mike Tuggle posted Van Buren Street Illinois Central (now Metra) southbound platform in 1956. Dennis DeBruler shared |
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| Marty Bernard posted South Shore at Van Buren Street Station, Chicago, IL on December 15, 1972. An ICG Electric is also making a station stop. Marty Bernard shared |
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| Larry Candilas commented on Marty's post A few years earlier - 1936 |
Paul Petraitis posted "Anyone seen any interior photographs of the Van Buren ICRR station in the 1950's?" David Daruszka provided the following with the comment: "I believe these are more recent images, but not much has changed over the years."
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The lower-right corner must be the platforms for this station.
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| safe_image for Chicago Skyline 1910s Print |
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| Historic Chicago posted We are giving away this amazing print for free to all our followers, simply go to www.shopcitymerch.com/vanburen Steve Schwertfger shared David Daruszka: Those are the Illinois Central tracks prior to electrification of the suburban service. The tall building is the headquarters of Montgomery Ward. It still stands, minus the spire. Paul Musselman: This shot was used as a cover for the magazine First & Fastest years ago.....Van Buren....... |
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| safe_image for Riding the Rails of History, The History of the South Shore Line - Final |
The terminal at the fair to which many of these steamboat passengers were headed.
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