Thursday, February 22, 2007

The now abandoned Indiana Harbor Belt Stockyards Industrial Branch. Chicago Illinois USA. April 1989.

I took this photo back in early April of 1989, near Chicago's Midway Airport. This old railroad crossbuck and partially dismantled trackage, is from the Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad's Stock Yards industrial branch. This scene is around west 52nd Street approximately one block west of south Keeler Avenue. The stockyards branch was in poor shape with operating speeds about 5 MPH and occasional slow speed derailments due to rotted ties and kinked rails. This branchline was abandoned in December of 1988, and the IHB switching locals were diverted to the adjacent Belt Railway of Chicago track, just to the south.
This line was redeveloped into the CTA Orange Line rapid transit to Midway Airport, and for various real estate housing developments.

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