At the time, I photographed Julian Tanney
as
These whimsical animals were part of the interior styling of the Electroliners, produced by the design firm James F. Eppenstein Associates, and were used on promotional materials as well. COLLECTION OF J.J. SEDELMAIER
a motorman on the
Mundelein local from North Chicago Junction to Mundelein, not knowing who he was until a friend of his asked for his picture. He died only a few months after the North Shore itself ended. I did not know about a com- plaint he made to the Lake County board of supervisors (the line served many Lake County communities) and others about proposed competing Grey- hound bus service, reported in the Chicago Tribune on April 17, 1960. An- other, and unrealized, downside was the Susquehanna Corporation’s (North Shore’s holding company) board of di- rectors was dominated by Greyhound Bus and Milwaukee Road officials. The first cutbacks in service came in 1955, when the North Shore successful- ly campaigned to shut down the money- losing Shore Line route. It seemed that the rest of the system might continue, but in 1958 the North Shore announced its intention to abandon all passenger service. After years of hearings, protests, and delays, the Interstate Commerce Commission approved the North Shore’s petition in late 1962. January 20, 1963, would be the last
full day, and I rode on regular trains seeing all the lines, and (since there was no rail service) rode a bus to visit the offices and shops at Highwood. On the last Electroliner (Train 809, Elec- troliner 802-801) into Milwaukee, I met ticket collector John Horachek in the tavern-lounge car, working with motor- man
Bill Keller and conductor
TOP: Motorman Julian Tanney blows the whis- tle and works the air brakes on a Mundelein to Lake Bluff local train. ABOVE: An Electroliner picks up speed on the railroad’s private right of way on the south side of Milwaukee. LEFT: Lounge attendant Leslie Johnson, Jr., gets a little help on the final day of service from off-duty motorman Don DeVuysem (in background). Despite the circumstances, there were friendly, talkative crowds on the last runs.
Earl Hansen. In true North Shore tra- dition, it arrived on time at 9:52 p.m. Waiter Leslie Johnson, Jr., concluded his service with the others that night. The lounge was crowded and Orin Schmidt, Electroliner foreman, and motorman Don DeVuysem (who had al- ready made his last run) helped. It was a friendly, talkative crowd, but there was sadness in the background. Ho- rachek rode 502 miles, paid and un- paid, riding the trains on the last day and into the morning hours. The Milwaukee Terminal at Sixth and Michigan was crowded, providing wonderful opportunities for “last- night” photographs. Soon after mid- night, the last train left Milwaukee. It crossed the Sixth Street viaduct on its way to Chicago, arriving for the final time at Roosevelt Road on the Chicago “L” in the wee hours of the morning on January 21. After final flash bulb expo- sures of the final crew, it was all over. Years later, Horachek helped identi-
fy people in the photographs I had made in 1960-’63 and invited me to the reunions. Beginning as a company em- ployee picnic in 1898, they have long outlasted the railroad itself. The re-
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