 |
| «
Back to The Loop
« Back to Transport Facilities |
|
| «
Back to The Loop
« Back to Transport Facilities |
| The
primary terminal of the Illinois Central in Chicago was the monumental
Central Station at the southern end of Grant Park. From here, Chicagoans
could board Illinois Central trains bound for, among other places,
Memphis, New Orleans, Mobile, and sunny Florida. The most famous named
trains included The City of New Orleans, The Panama Limited,
and The City of Miami, all of which helped set the decidedly
southern feel of the station.
Additional passenger service was provided by the station's secondary tenant railroads. Michigan Central offered service to its home state and beyond via trains such as the North Shore Limited, the Niagara, and the Motor City Special. The New York Central's "Big Four" augmented the Illinois Central's service to the South with its James Whitcomb Riley to Cincinnati, Carolina Special to Asheville, Charlotte, and Charleston, and its Royal Palm and Ponce de Leon trains to Georgia and Florida. A good deal of suburban traffic also passed through the station, but most commuters preferred to catch their after-work trains at the Illinois Central's Randolph Street or VanBuren Street stations. Both were located north of the station and provided shorter walks to and from downtown shopping and office buildings.
Culturally speaking, one of the most important periods in the history of the station began during World War I and continued through much of the 1920s and 1930s. During these years, thousands of African-Americans, many of whom had spent many hard years sharecropping in the cotton fields of Mississippi and Louisiana, migrated north to Chicago in the hopes of finding a better life. Encouraged in their decision to relocate by the Chicago Defender and dozens of black Pullman porters who manned the trains between Chicago and the Delta region, they would scrape together just enough cash to purchase a coach seat aboard a northbound Illinois Central train. For them it was a journey of a lifetime, comparable to the transatlantic passages of the millions of European immigrants who likewise left their childhood homes in search of new economic and social opportunities. But it could also be a disconcerting experience, especially for those who knew only one or two people in Chicago. Unfair housing practices, for instance, made apartments a scarce commodity for African-Americans living in Chicago; finding a place to live was not always easy. Others arrived with little more than the address of a family member scratched on a piece of paper. Upon their arrival at Central Station, they would locate a porter or redcap who could offer them directions or other forms of helpful advice, the sort of information not available at the station's white-oriented Traveller's Aid booth. Despite or perhaps because of its prominent location near Grant Park, many Chicagoans considered the Victorian-era station an eyesore and privately campaigned for its replacement. Sensitive to those questioned the railroad's right to operate alongside the lakefront, Illinois Central proposed a new Central Station in the 1920s. Planners envisioned a neo-classical station in the mode of Daniel Burnham's Plan of Chicago with train service on two levels, the lower reserved for electric, suburban trains. But the large price tag of the new station, and the city's general reluctance to help foot the bill, ensured that the plans were never put into action. In the end, Central Station continued to serve passengers through the 1960s, and was finally disused only after the consolidation of intercity service at Union Station by Amtrak in 1972. A few years later, the aging building and its enormous train shed were demolished. |
|
||||
|
Page authored: 2 July
1997 -
|
||||
