![]() In October 1912, Rock Island worked with other railroads to build Joliet Union Station. By 1905 one could commute from Midlothian, New Lenox, Tinley Park and Mokena, and Oak Forest was added in 1911. The first decades of the century also saw the addition of service to towns between Blue Island and Joliet. That work continued into the first decades of the 1900s. In the 1890s, work began to elevate the tracks in Chicago, which allowed for a speedier operation but also resulted in the elimination of most of the closer-in stops. ![]() A year later, the railroad had 19 trains each way between Chicago and Blue Island. Rather than leaving the mainline at 97th, it now left the mainline at 89th and followed the route it still follows today to Blue Island. In 1889, the branch line was extended north to serve more of Beverly. Morgan Park was marketed as an exclusive residential community served by frequent train service.īy 1883 the railroad was operating 10 suburban trains each way every day, mostly on the branch line to Blue Island, and there were numerous stops between the branch line and LaSalle St. But it further increased demand for passenger service on the line, because outlying communities became more popular alternatives to city living. The Chicago Fire of 1871 burned down the Rock Island line’s LaSalle Street Station (the present station is the fifth at that site). The branch was completed in 1870, but even before then the appeal of train service was spurring development in the area. The new branch track left the mainline at about 97th St., ran west along 99th for about a mile and then turned south to rejoin the mainline at Blue Island. and what is now 103rd Street.Īt the same time that what is now Morgan Park/Beverly was being developed, a branch line of the Rock Island was built through the area. But the true commuter service can be traced to 1869, when the Blue Island Land and Building Company was set up to develop land centered on Prospect Ave. ![]() There was passenger service on the route from the very beginning, with a few stops between Joliet and Chicago, and maybe a small number of people used it for a daily commute north to the fast-growing city. The communities of Beverly and Morgan Park, for instance, would not exist as they do today if not for the Rock Island Railroad. While the Rock is famous for its Rocket locomotives, the popular folk song and its role in the development of the Midwest, its commuter service in Chicago is also notable for the part it played in Chicago history. Now, more than 160 years later, the Rock Island Railroad is gone, but that original route retains the Rock Island name, as Metra’s Rock Island Line. It was the first train on the first completed section of what would become the immense Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad. On October 10, 1852, a brightly painted locomotive coupled to six shiny yellow coaches chugged over new railroad tracks between Chicago and Joliet. Rock Island timetables are “Rocket Red” for the Rock Island’s Rocket trains. For a short time, service on the line was run by Chicago & North Western but eventually the RTA and then Metra started running it. The Rock operated service on the line until it went bankrupt. The branch was built in the 1870s and extended north in the 1880s. Train service to Joliet was begun by the Chicago and Rock Island Railroad in 1852.
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