Posted September 27, 200816 yr South Shore & Metra Electric September 15 -16, 2008 The South Shore web site carried a notification that trains were running approximately 20 minutes late because of high water in the Gary, Indiana area following the passage of the remnants of Hurricane Ike. By late in the day on September 15th, delays cascading through the system had accumulated so that a train from Chicago was about 45 minutes late at Carroll Avenue. A freight train passed over the mainline to do some switching, and then remained in the clear until the passenger train came through. Westbound Train #20 arrives from South Bend. Train #20 proceeds westbound. Train #109, terminating at Carroll Avenue, arrives from Chicago. On Tuesday morning, allowing plenty of time in case of storm-related delays, I caught an early train to Chicago. On arrival I had plenty of time to spare, so instead of detraining at 57th Street Metra Station as usual, I rode on to Van Buren and took some photos, and then rode the Green Line back south. The rush-hour crowd hadn't yet arrived, and only a few people detrained here. Both South Shore and Metra Electric trains serve Van Buren. South Shore trains may only discharge passengers inbound from Indiana and pick up passengers outbound to Indiana. On Tuesday evening after watching the sun set over Lake Michigan from the beach at Indiana Dunes State Park, I drove a short distance to the 1929 Beverly Shores station on the South Shore. It's the last survivor of the Spanish-styled stations built in the 1920s along the Samuel Insull-owned electric interurban lines. When built, it incorprated a ticket office, waiting room, and residence for the station manager. It was in severe disrepair when restoration was undertaken in 1998. Beverly Shores is now a flag stop for both eastbound and westbound trains. I'm surprised it's still in service in any form, considering the very limited amount of parking and the movement by the railroad toward tightening schedules. On this evening I had hoped at best to get a good night shot of the depot with the blur of a train speeding by at 70mph. I was pleasantly surprised when Train #117 slowed and pulled to a stop to discharge several passengers.
September 27, 200816 yr Rob, I am sure you know...but for other folks, the history of Beverly Shores...a developer was trying to lure folks to a resort community there and brought five homes from the Chicago Century of Progress fair by barge and plopped them down to spur interest. It failed and the "future" homes are still there but in not such good shape. I highly recommend to anyone that finds themselves in that area to check them out. http://www.nps.gov/archive/indu/History/Century_of_Progress_homes.htm
September 28, 200816 yr Wow! "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
September 28, 200816 yr Awesome! Night turned out to be a terrific time to grab Beverly Shores. I've wanted to get that shot for a long time, but recently part of the neon wasn't working. As my train from Chicago passed the station earlier I noticed that it was fixed, so I drove back to get the shot. Rob, I am sure you know...but for other folks, the history of Beverly Shores...a developer was trying to lure folks to a resort community there and brought five homes from the Chicago Century of Progress fair by barge and plopped them down to spur interest. It failed and the "future" homes are still there but in not such good shape. I highly recommend to anyone that finds themselves in that area to check them out. http://www.nps.gov/archive/indu/History/Century_of_Progress_homes.htm I've seen those before, but I need to go back and get photos. It's difficult to get around those little beach communities because the folks are really territorial. Even though they can't fence off the beach, they don't want a bunch of outsiders invading what they consider their private paradise, so there's virtually no on-street or other public parking anywhere within decent walking distance and "no parking" and "no trespassing" signs are everywhere. I should put my bike in the back of my station wagon, and then park at the station and explore.
September 29, 200816 yr Fabulous! I love the Beverly Shores. I bet a bunch of sassy waitresses with filthy mouths work there!
October 6, 200816 yr Fabulous! I love the Beverly Shores. I bet a bunch of sassy waitresses with filthy mouths work there! Prob'ly not. :|
October 6, 200816 yr Fabulous! I love the Beverly Shores. I bet a bunch of sassy waitresses with filthy mouths work there! Prob'ly not. :| Aww. It looks like a place where the staff has been there forever and everybody has a story.
October 6, 200816 yr Fabulous! I love the Beverly Shores. I bet a bunch of sassy waitresses with filthy mouths work there! Prob'ly not. :| Aww. It looks like a place where the staff has been there forever and everybody has a story. The building with the neon sign is the 1920s South Shore station, and that's what's shown in the interior photo. There's a sparsely-furnished waiting room because the trains run on-time and regular customers know what time to arrive. The back part that used to be the station agent's residence is a sort of on-again, off-again local museum/gallery. Neat idea, though; if South Shore ever eliminates that stop (and they just might), an interurban-themed short-order grill would be a nifty use for the station. Beverly Shores is the name of the dunes/beach community that was developed in the 1920s to take advantage of easy connections to Chicago via the railroad. It's mostly high-dollar real estate. I think part of it spills over into National Park Service property.
Create an account or sign in to comment