Friday, May 08, 2009

CTA Yellow line train at the Dempster Street terminal. Skokie Illinois USA. August 2007.

CTA Yellow line train at the Dempster Street terminal. Skokie Illinois. August 2007.

I took this photo one afternoon in August of 2007, at the Chicago Transit Authority's Dempster Street Yellow line / Skokie Swift terminal. We are looking north from the pedestrian sidewalk that crosses the tracks at the terminal. This train has just arrived at Dempster Street according to the red tail or marker lights that are still lit. Soon the motorman will change ends and switch over to the west platform track. Prior to the January 21st 1963 abandonment due to bankruptcy, this was originally the Skokie Valley Mainline of the Chicago, North Shore & Milwaukee electric interurban railroad. The Dempster Street station was originally known as Niles Center station. The CTA salvaged a 5 mile segment of the C,N,S & M Skokie Valley mainline from Howard Street in Evanston Illinois, to Dempster Street shown here. It opened in April of 1964 under the new name the "Skokie Swift"line.

The origianl Niles Center station is preserved, and moved east across the parking lot in 2004. The line itself was converted to 100% third rail operation in 2004.

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