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 Cincinnati Car Company interurban 700 operating westbound in Lake Bluff circa 1958. | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Highwood, Illinois |
| Reporting mark | CNSM |
| Locale | Illinois and Wisconsin |
| Dates of operation | 1916–1963 |
| Predecessor | Chicago and Milwaukee Electric Railway |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
| Electrification |
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| Length | In 1954:
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The Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad (reporting mark CNSM), also known as the North Shore Line, was an electric railroad that operated in the U.S. states of Illinois and Wisconsin. The railroad also provided bus and trucking services throughout its history.
The North Shore Line operated interurban service over parallel mainlines south from the city Waukegan, Illinois, which converged at Howard Street station in Chicago, where trains continued on to the Loop over the North Side "L". A third interurban mainline extended north from Waukegan and into Wisconsin, where trains terminated in downtown Milwaukee. An interurban branch line operated between the villages of Lake Bluff and Mundelein, Illinois, and a small network of streetcar lines was operated in the neighboring cities of North Chicago, Illinois and Waukegan. Additional streetcar service was provided over the interurban line in Milwaukee.
The North Shore Line employed relatively high standards in the construction and maintenance of its infrastructure, which permitted the regular operation of trains at speeds in excess of 80 miles per hour (130 km/h). To compete effectively in the Chicago–Milwaukee passenger market, the railroad provided amenities comparable to those on the neighboring steam railroads, and was the first to offer an interurban streamliner service with its Electroliner trainsets. In freight operations, the railroad was a pioneer in the adoption of mechanical refrigeration and also operated an early form of piggyback service. Writing in retrospect, author and railroad historian William D. Middleton opined:
If any interurban could have been called the "standard interurban" in the same sense that the Pennsylvania Railroad once called itself the "standard railroad of the world" it would have to have been the North Shore Line ... For me, as for many others, the North Shore Line represented the electric interurban in its finest form.
— North Shore: America's Fastest Interurban (1964)
Today, the Chicago Transit Authority operates the Yellow Line from Chicago to Skokie, Illinois over a short segment of former mainline. Several examples of North Shore Line rolling stock are preserved in railroad museums or private collections, and the former Dempster Street Station is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.