# South Shore Line



## raleets (Jan 2, 2011)

Just curious, is there anyone else on this forum who is familiar with the South Shore Line?
It was an overhead-wire electric passenger train that ran between South Bend, IN and Chicago, IL between the 1940's and late '70's, maybe later.
I used to ride it when I was a little kid to go visit my Grandmother in Michigan City, IN. Those were the days when you could do that sort of thing without fear of kidnappers or child molesters.
Let me know if you've ever heard of the South Shore.
Bob


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## morrjr (Dec 20, 2012)

I remember it, although I never rode it. The full name of the railroad was Chicago, South Shore and South Bend Railroad. It still operates today as part of the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District (NICTD). Here's a link to a Wikipedia article:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Shore_Line


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

There was an article about it in Trains magazine a couple of years ago. There is an article index on their website, and if it's not available on line, you can order a reprint by calling Kalmbach Publishing's customer service.


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

As Wiki says, it's still running today as part of the Chicago area
public transport. The trains no longer go into downtown South 
Bend, they stop in the burbs.

I had the good fortune to ride it back in the 70s when the
big old heavy weight cars were in regular service.

I had relatives who lived in South Chicago so I also
had many rides on the then Illinois Central Electric that ran
out of the same Randolph St. station in the loop that
served the South Shore.

Don


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## morrjr (Dec 20, 2012)

I remember the old heavyweights.


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## raleets (Jan 2, 2011)

morrjr said:


> I remember the old heavyweights.


Yes!
Those are the cars I remember riding when I was somewhere between 10 & 14 years old.
My parents would put me on the train in downtown South Bend and I would get off at the 
11th Street station in Michigan City, which was about two blocks from Granny's house.
Great memories from MANY years ago. 
Bob


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

Releets

Do you still remember the deep growing sound they made
as they started out, the pitch increasing with
speed. It's distinctive of the old electrics.

Another traction sound factor that some have a deep interest
in is wheel squeal rounding those city corners.

I was on one of the antique streetcars running on the San Francisco
tracks one day. There were a couple of older gents
sitting in the seat in front of me. I was amused
at their intense discussion of that car's wheel
squeal as it rounded a corner. I guess they are the
rivet counters of the traction world.

Don


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## raleets (Jan 2, 2011)

Don,
I don't recall the "growling" sound, but I actually DO remember the "squealing" going around bends. Too bad we can't replicate that with our model railroads, right?
I now have a South Shore office building, a South Shore brill trolley, and a South Shore city bus on my layout, along with a few South Shore time schedules from the early '50's and some South Shore coasters for "refreshments" in my train room. 
I also have my eye on a South Shore baseball hat now listed on eBay.
It's stuff like this that can make the hobby so much fun for old farts like me! 
Bob


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## mtoney (Oct 6, 2012)

The growling sound that you sometimes can hear is the pinion and bull gear meshing together. With no prime mover sound to mask it, you can hear it much better than on a diesel. Mike


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

Ypu really got a good dose of the 'growl' on the old streetcars that
predated the PCCs. On some of the 'county' lines where the motor
man could open it up a little, you'd hear them taking the load and
then relaxing, sort of a grrowl..grrr...gerrowl..grr grr...grr as he
maintained the speed limit flipping the throttle lever back and forth.

You young guys missed so much, pshaw.

Don


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## daveh219 (Sep 16, 2012)

My wife and I took this a number of time when we were both stationed at the Navy hospital in Great Lakes Illinois


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

raleets said:


> Don,
> I don't recall the "growling" sound, but I actually DO remember the "squealing" going around bends. Too bad we can't replicate that with our model railroads, right?
> I now have a South Shore office building, a South Shore brill trolley, and a South Shore city bus on my layout, along with a few South Shore time schedules from the early '50's and some South Shore coasters for "refreshments" in my train room.
> I also have my eye on a South Shore baseball hat now listed on eBay.
> ...



Hurry get yours today, http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Sou...914?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a9e823672 he thinks he has some gold huh?

Did they have tokens to ride?
A few old ones might be nice for your trolley collection?
I can find North Shore tokens, but no South Shore tokens.


Maybe they used the North Shore tokens, read what this seller says here,
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Chicago-Nor...829?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cd9b7db2d


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

I went through my small collection of train tokens, I don't have any North or South Shore tokens.

Closest I have for that area is a Detroit & Canada token, and a Indianapolis token, and a Indiana RR Anderson, Indiana token, and 2/ Rock Island Illinois/ Mo Line, Illinois to Davenport, Iowa tokens.

The furthest token I have is an old Honolulu, Hawaii token.:thumbsup:

They also made trolley lapel pins I have a few of those, no South Shore.

How about a South Shore hat?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Cap-Hat-Chi...935?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1e7854371f


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## raleets (Jan 2, 2011)

Big Ed,
Thanks for looking for tokens. I really don't recall if they used them in the 1950's or not.
That was a helluva long time ago!  I'm pretty sure I can't live without that hat.
Bob


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## morrjr (Dec 20, 2012)

daveh219 said:


> My wife and I took this a number of time when we were both stationed at the Navy hospital in Great Lakes Illinois


You probably took the Chicago, North Shore and Milwaukee (CNS&M) interurban rather than the South Shore. The North Shore was the line that went by Waukegan, North Chicago, Great Lakes, Lake Bluff, Lake Forest, Fort Sheridan, Highwood, Highland Park, and other northern Chicago suburbs.


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

raleets said:


> Big Ed,
> Thanks for looking for tokens. I really don't recall if they used them in the 1950's or not.
> That was a helluva long time ago!  I'm pretty sure I can't live without that hat.
> Bob


I found some info that stated the guy who owned the North Shore line owned the South Shore too. He owned one other. 
I can't find the info now. Did not note the guys name. 

OK no hat, but how about that genuine, rare, one of a kind, RR marker I found for your wall?
It was only a $100 bucks or so.
Rare....hard to find....purrrfect for your wall.:thumbsup:


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## morrjr (Dec 20, 2012)

big ed said:


> I found some info that stated the guy who owned the North Shore line owned the South Shore too. He owned one other.
> I can't find the info now. Did not note the guys name.


The third line was the Chicago, Aurora and Elgin (CA&E), known affectionately as the "Roarin' Elgin". It was Samuel Insull who owned the three railroads. When I was a young child my parents and I rode the CA&E to Chicago from my home in Elmhurst until the line was abandoned in 1963 (the CA&E Elmhurst station was only about three blocks from my house).


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## raleets (Jan 2, 2011)

Big Ed,
The guy with that "rare" $100 beat-up sign will have it for awhile. Guaranteed it's not on it's way to Flint, MI anytime soon!  :smilie_daumenneg:
Bob


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## Howard1975 (Jan 6, 2014)

I live in the Chicago area (northern suburbs), and once in a while, I get to see a South Shore Line train. I have never been on it, just watched from the road. The South Shore line still runs from downtown Chicago to Michigan City, IN. I saw the train recently, during the Thanksgiving holiday, when I went to visit my brother, who lives in the suburbs near Detroit. 

I actually live about 2 or 3 miles away, from where the North Shore line used to operate. 

I get to see so many different rail lines, living here in Chicago all my life.


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## raleets (Jan 2, 2011)

Last year the wife and I took the Amtrak California Zephyr to Salt Lake City. I spotted a couple of South Shore trains when we were coming thru south Chicago toward Union Station to hook up with the Zephyr.
Sure brought back some memories. 
Bob


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## Chet (Aug 15, 2014)

I used to ride it from time to time over the years. My grandmother lived in Michigan City, IN. We would take either the Northern Pacifics North Coast Limited or the Milwaukee Road Hiawatha to Chicago and then the South Shore to Michigan City. This was back in the 50's and early 60's. I also used to south Shore line when I was going to electronics school in Great Lakes, IL to visit relatives in Indiana. 

What really blew my mind was when I first saw the South Shores Little Joe. I rode in the Milwaukee Roads Little Joes with relatives in Montana and had no idea that the South shore had them. 










The south shore line is still alive and well in Indiana.

The noise you are talking about are the electric motors. Some call it a growl, some call it a hum. I can well remember the Milwaukee Roads Little Joes making the same sound.


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

Chet

The 'growl' I was referring to is just plain old fashioned
gear sing. When the car was 'coasting' there would be
both forward and back lash that caused it to come 
and go giving off the Grrr, grrr, grrr sound...and when
the motor was pulling the grrr changed to a low pitched
continuous whine.

The original street cars had it and the Interurbans
like South Shore grew out of them. 
That was before the days of worm gears that
brought quiet running to the PCCs and today's
various electric trains.


Someone asked about tokens on the South Shore. I always had to
buy a ticket. It made no stops from Randolph St. station in the
loop until the Indiana border. There may have been tokens used
around South Bend. I don't know.

Don


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## Chet (Aug 15, 2014)

OK, now I know what you are talking about. When I rode the SS, all the cars were the old heavy weight cars. I haven't ridden the south shore since the mid 60's, but always enjoyed the railroad, especially the street running as in Michigan City. I have seen the new cars riding on I-80 east from Chicago. Brought back many memories. 

Here's a scan from a slide of a truck off of a Milwaukee Road electric. I have no idea what it is from, but I am guessing that it could be a box cab, and there are the gears that would cause the growling. 










I always liked the hum of the Little Joes. Here's this humongus locomotive pulling who knows how many freight cars and there was no noise except for the hum of the electric motors, while if you were in a diesel or steam locomotive, there would be all sorts of racket.


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## morrjr (Dec 20, 2012)

Here's a pic of the "Roarin' Elgin" I rode as a kid. This particular station was one stop further west from mine.


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## Chet (Aug 15, 2014)

That sure looks familiar. Sort of has its own kind of charm.


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

What line was the Roaring Elgin on? I see
that it's running on 3rd rail, the pole is
down and there is no overhead.

Don


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## morrjr (Dec 20, 2012)

DonR said:


> What line was the Roaring Elgin on? I see
> that it's running on 3rd rail, the pole is
> down and there is no overhead.
> 
> Don


Unlike most interurban railroads of its time, the Chicago, Aurora and Elgin (CA&E), also known as the Roarin' Elgin and The Great Third Rail, used third rail for power for most of its operations. According to Wikipedia, the only areas it used overhead was when it ran along city streets. I know that I never saw overhead being used when I rode it.

As a side note, in 1963 the CA&E right of way became the Illinois Prairie Path, the first successful rails-to-trails bike and walking path in North America. It has 61 miles of trails.


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

Oh yes, my memory failed me. Do remember the line but never
had the pleasure.

In addition to these interurbans, Illinois had one other electric
line, The Illinois
Terminal Railroad that ran the Electroliners akin to those run
by the North Shore line. The Illinois terminal ran from an
underground terminal in downtown St. Louis, across the McKinley
bridge (still there) over the Mississippi, and thence to various cities in central and
central north Illinois including Alton, Springfield, Peoria, and
Decatur. They ran double ended PCCs from St. Louis to Granite
City Illinois. Two of those reside in streetcar museums today.
They also had a busy freight operation. I did ride it from
St. Louis to Alton and back. 

Don


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