Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad

The Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad, often called the North Shore Line, was an interurban railroad line that operated between Chicago, Illinois, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, until its abandonment in 1963.

Early history

The predecessor of the Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee was founded in 1891 as the Waukegan & North Shore Rapid Transit Company, a street railway line in Waukegan, Illinois. As the company grew and made plans for expansion, it became the Chicago and Milwaukee Electric Railroad.

When the company exited reorganization in 1916, it was renamed to Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad. Chicago utility magnate Samuel Insull acquired a controlling interest in the railroad and served as its chairman. Insull, through a holding company, controlled two other Chicago-area interurban railroads — the Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railroad which connected Chicago with its west suburbs and the Fox River Valley, and the Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad or South Shore Line, which connected Chicago with northern Indiana and which continues to this day as one of the last interurbans in the United States.

Route

The North Shore Line of 1916 consisted of a main line whose southern terminus was at Church Street in Evanston, Illinois, somewhat north of the Chicago city limits. The line continued north through Chicago's wealthy north shore communities along Lake Michigan — Wilmette, Kenilworth, Winnetka, Glencoe, and......
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