Canalscape. The Chicago Sanitary and Shipping Canal. Late November 1988.

I was on lopcation on a sunny but cold day in November of 1988. I had photographed this view looking west from the South Kedzie Avenue bridge at approximately 33rd street. The railroad swing bridge is from the Illinois Northern Railroad industrial shortline, wich at that time was operated by the Atchinson, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad. The large factory with the striped smokestack, is the Commonwealth Edison Crawford Generating Station. This electrical power plant supplied electricity to the Little Village and Brighton Park neighborhoods on the near southwest side of the city. Just behind the railroad swing bridge is an overhead gantry crane for unloading coal from river barges. The clamshell bucket from this crane would deposit the coal onto a large conveyer belt, wich in turn would forward the coal into the electrical power plant, or to the outdoor coal storage area on the east side of the power plant. The hill to the right of the photograph, has since been redeveloped and now has a halfway house institution for criminals being rehabilitated.
Definately ads to the phrase..."Up the river".