#Chicago red line full

With funding from the Federal Works Agency-part of President Franklin D. The iconic riveted steel-plate form resembles that of the Eiffel Tower (1889) and the original Ferris Wheel (1893).Īll of Chicago’s trains were either elevated or at street grade until the 1940s. Its steel structure was designed by bridge designer John Alexander Low Waddell.

#Chicago red line full

The first full circuit of the Loop was completed in 1897. Yerkes essentially created the Loop L we know today. Despite his sometimes illegal business practices, he had a lasting impact on Chicago by building elevated tracks above downtown streets to connect train lines together. A wealthy and controversial financier named Charles Tyson Yerkes soon changed all of this. However, these trains deposited people just outside the central business district-an area referred to as “the Loop” due to the cable cars that once created a loop around several blocks. Multiple privately-operated train lines transported Chicagoans in the 1890s. Today, this section of track is still part of the Green Line. By 1893, the Chicago and South Side Rapid Transit Railroad extended this line to Jackson Park, the site of the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893.

On June 6, 1892, the first elevated-or “L”-train ran from 39th (now Pershing Road) and State streets to Congress Parkway and Wabash Avenue. But this form of transportation couldn’t handle a high volume of passengers and it added to street congestion. In the 1880s, these horse-drawn trolleys were replaced by cable car services. History of the Līeginning in the 1870s, as Chicago grew at an incredibly rapid pace, private companies laid rail tracks downtown and began introducing streetcars pulled by horses.

that still has elevated trains in its downtown area. Today, Chicago is the only city in the U.S. While Chicago has two subway lines, the majority of our trains are either elevated or at grade (at ground level). In most cities, those elevated systems were eventually replaced by subways. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, many American cities used elevated trains to transport their residents. But it’s also an iconic symbol of the city. This network of elevated trains and subways is how Chicagoans get around.