Chicago Surface Lines

The Chicago Surface Lines (CSL) was the operator of the street railway system of Chicago, Illinois, from 1913 to 1947. The firm is a predecessor of today's publicly owned operator, the Chicago Transit Authority.

History The first streetcars in Chicago were horse cars run by the Chicago City Railway Company and the North Chicago City Railway Company around 1858-1861. This method was slow and expensive, and the companies began substituting cable cars in the 1880s. Chicago City Railway was the first in (1881), and with the addition of the Chicago Passenger Railway (1883) and the West Chicago Street Railroad Company (1887), Chicago had the largest cable railway system in the world. The north and west side cable car systems were constructed by an investment syndicate under the direction of Charles Yerkes.

It was also in the 1880s that electric-powered "trolleys" first became practical. The Chicago companies hesitated at first to install these faster and more efficient systems because of their heavy investment in cable cars. But the smaller Illinois cities and the Calumet Electric Street Railway of the South Side built successful systems, causing the Chicago companies to feel themselves dropping behind. By the mid-1890s most of them had begun the conversion to electricity, which was completed in 1906.

A political conflict dubbed the Chicago Traction Wars arose concerning the franchise and ownership of the city's streetcars.

The 1890s saw the consolidation of many of the Chicago companies, and this reorganization continued into the next century. In 1907 to 1909, the companies were granted franchises pursuant to various ordinances, under which the city reserved the right to purchase the systems.In re Chicago Rys. Co., 160 F.2d 59, 61-62 (7th Cir. 1947). The Settlement Ordinance of 1907 imposed various operating requirements on two of the underlying companies, the Chicago City Railway Company and Chicago Railways, and established a new bureau, the Board of Supervising Engineers (Chicago Traction), a board of engineers and accountants with responsibilities for assuring compliance with the ordinances, and setting standards for equipment and construction.

Through Routes over the lines of several companies were instituted in 1910, and, for instance, resulted in joint service by the Chicago City Railway Company and Calumet and South Chicago Railway between downtown and 119th Street via Cottage Grove. There was also joint service operated by the South Chicago City Railway and the Hammond, Whiting, and East Chicago Electric Railway into Indiana, with each company collecting its own fare, which continued until the Hammond company converted to buses in 1940.

The continuous reorganization was finally completed by the Unification Ordinance of 1913,In re Chicago Rys. Co., at 62. which stipulated that all lines would come under the management of a single operating association called the Chicago Surface Lines (CSL), and unified operations commenced in 1914. Four companies formed the CSL: the Chicago Railways Company, Chicago City Railway, Calumet and South Chicago Railway, and Southern Street Railway. In re Chicago Rys. Co., at 61. At this time, Chicago had the largest street railway system, the longest one-fare ride, the longest average ride, and the most liberal transfer privileges in the world. By its peak in the 1890s, Chicago's cable-car system operated over of track.

The 1920s saw continued growth despite the increasing competition from the automobile, and while the 1933-1934 World's Fair and wartime demand supported ridership, the underlying companies were bankrupt. Creditors' bills were filed against the Chicago Railways in 1926 and the Chicago City Railway and Calumet and South Chicago in 1930, resulting in the appointment of receivers and bringing their property into the custody of the Federal District Court. In 1944, the proceedings were converted to those under the Bankruptcy Act, and trustees were appointed.In re Chicago Rys. Co., at 62. By June 10, 1958 (line 22), the Chicago Transit Authority, which took over the Chicago Surface Lines in 1947, had abandoned the remaining streetcars lines, which were "bustituted." Before that, CSL had introduced gasoline buses for light routes in 1927, and trolley buses to the northwest side starting April 17, 1930. Trolleybus system of Chicago scrapped March 25, 1973.

Fleet The Chicago Surface Lines was primarily a trolley operation, with approximately 3100 streetcars on the roster at the time of the CTA takeover. It purchased small lots of motor buses, totaling 693 at the time of the CTA takeover, mostly consisting of smaller buses used on extension routes or to replace two-man streetcars on routes such as Hegewisch and 111th Street, because conductors were required to flag streetcars across mainline railroads where there was not a watchman at the crossing. Most postwar PCC cars were scrapped and parts reused in the 6000-series and 1-50 series rapid transit cars for the CTA. The trolley bus fleet consisted of 152 vehicles.See Bill Vandervoort's Chicago Transit and Railfan for Streetcar Roster, Chicago Surface Lines Bus Roster 1927-1939, 1941-1948, and Trolleybus Roster, generally based on Lind.

Streetcars A table of passenger railway cars in use during the CSL era is shown below. Ownership resided with one of the underlying companies: Chicago Railways (CRY), Chicago City Railway (CCR), Calumet & South Chicago Railway (CSC) or Southern Street Railway (SSR). Other predecessors include Chicago Union Traction (CUT), absorbed into Chicago Railways in 1908, and Chicago & Southern Traction (C&ST), absorbed into Chicago City Railway in 1912. Following unification many car orders (e.g. 169 Cars, Sedans, PCCs) were split between the various underlying companies.

Fleet No. Qty Owner Builder Year Nickname Notes Photo 101-700 600 CRY Pullman 1908 Old Pullmans 144, 225, 460 preserved 144 701-750 50 CRY Pressed Steel 1909 Pressed Steels 741 751-1100 350 CRY Pullman 1910 New Pullmans 1101-1423 323 CRY St. Louis 1903-1906 Matchboxes Ex-CUT 4630-4952; 1374 preserved 1386 1424-1428 5 CRY Brill 1903 Ex-CUT 4625-4629 1429-1505 77 CRY CUT 1899 Bowling Alleys Ex-CUT 4475-4554; 1467 preserved 1506-1720 215 CRY CSL 1911-1912 Turtlebacks 1532 1721-1785 65 CRY CSL 1923 169 Cars 1800-1899 100 CRY CSL 1913-1914 Flexible Flyers 1818 1900-1949 50 CRY American 1913-1914 Flexible Flyers 1950-1999 50 CRY Southern 1913-1914 Flexible Flyers 2000-2005 6 CRY Brill 1920 Birneys 2001 2006 1 CRY CSL 1921 Birney 2006 2501-2625 125 CCR St. Louis 1901 St. Louis Rebuilds 2530 2701-2780 80 CCR St. Louis 1903 St. Louis Rebuilds 2741 2801-2815 15 CSC St. Louis 1901 Ex-C&SC 701-715 2816-2823 8 CSC Brill 1903 Ex-C&SC 801-808 2819 2824-2840 17 CSC Kuhlman 1904-1908 Ex-C&SC 809-825 2839 2841-2845 5 CSC Jewett 1903 Ex-C&SC 826-830; 2843 preserved 2846-2856 11 CSC SCCR 1907 Interstates Ex-C&SC 831-841; 2846 preserved 2857-2858 2 CSC Kuhlman 1910 Ex-C&SC funeral cars 1-2 2859 1 CSC CSL 1924 2859 2900-2903 4 CCR Brill 1920 Birneys 2901 2904-2922 19 CCR CSL 1922 Sewing Machines 2913 3000-3089 90 CRY Brill 1914-1915 3090 1 CRY American 1918 3091 1 CRY CSL 1919 3092 1 CRY CSL 1921 Sewing Machine 3093-3118 26 CRY CSL 1922 Sewing Machines 3100 3119-3160 42 CRY Brill 1923 169 Cars 3142 preserved 3161-3178 18 CRY Cummings 1923 169 Cars 3179-3201 23 CRY CSL 1923 Sun Parlors 3182 3202-3231 30 CRY CSL 1924 Multiple Unit Cars 3232-3261 30 CRY Lightweight Noiseless 1925 Multiple Unit Cars 3250 3262-3281 20 CRY Brill 1926 3267 3282-3301 20 CRY St. Louis 1926 3302-3321 20 CRY Cummings 1926 3311 3322-3341 20 CRY CSL 1929 Sedans 3337 3342-3361 20 CRY Brill 1929 Sedans 3349 3362-3381 20 CRY Cummings 1929 Sedans 3381 4000 1 CRY CSL 1925 Articulated; rebuilt from 1101 to 1102 4000 4001 1 CRY Pullman-Standard 1934 Preserved 4001 4002-4051 50 CRY St. Louis 1936 Blue Geese PCC cars; 4021 preserved 4052-4061 10 CRY St. Louis 1947 Green Hornets PCC cars 4062-4371 310 CRY Pullman-Standard 1946-1947 Green Hornets PCC cars 4121 4372-4411 40 CRY St. Louis 1947-1948 Green Hornets PCC cars; 4391 preserved 5001-5200 200 CCR Brill 1905 Little Brills 5201-5600 400 CCR Brill 1906-1908 Big Brills 5555 5601-5621 21 CCR Brill 1910 5614 5622-5650 29 SSR Brill 1910 5637 5651-5665 15 CCR Kuhlman 1907 Crete Suburbans Ex-C&ST 126-140 5701-5702 2 CCR CCR 1910 5702 5703-5827 125 CCR Brill 1913 Nearsides 5721 5900-5999 100 CCR Brill 1913 6000-6137 138 CCR Brill 1914-1915 6072 6138-6146 9 CCR American 1918 Odd Seventeen 6139 6147-6154 8 CCR CSL 1919 Odd Seventeen 6153 6155-6158 4 CCR CSL 1923 169 Cars 6159-6186 28 CCR Brill 1923 169 Cars 6169 6187-6198 12 CCR Cummings 1923 169 Cars 6194 6199-6218 20 CCR CSL 1924 Multiple Unit Cars 6199 6219-6238 20 CCR Lightweight Noiseless 1924 Multiple Unit Cars 6224 6239 1 CCR CSL 1924 6240-6252 13 CCR Brill 1926 6251 6253-6265 13 CCR St. Louis 1926 6260 6266-6279 14 CCR Cummings 1926 6280-6293 14 CCR CSL 1929 Sedans 6283 6294-6306 13 CCR Brill 1929 Sedans 6303 6307-6319 13 CCR Cummings 1929 Sedans 6310 7001 1 CCR Brill 1934 7001 7002-7034 33 CCR St. Louis 1936 Blue Geese PCC cars 7021 7035-7274 240 CCR St. Louis 1947 Green Hornets PCC cars 8000-8030 31 CRY CSL 1921 Trailers 8031-8060 30 CRY Brill 1921-1922 Trailers 8036 9000-9019 20 CCR CSL 1921 Trailers 9020-9039 20 CCR Brill 1922 Trailers; 9020 preserved 9040-9046 7 CCR CSL 1923 Trailers

Electric Trolley Buses A table of electric trolley buses owned by CSL is shown below. In 1952 all trolley buses still in service were renumbered by Chicago Transit Authority by adding "9" to the beginning of their number (e.g. 193 becoming 9193).

Fleet No. Builder Model Year Photo Notes51-79 Twin Coach40193051 80-85 Brill T40 1930 83 84 preserved 86-91 St. Louis 1930 86 92-98 Twin Coach 40TT 1930 99-105 Brill T40 1930 106-107 ACF E1 1930 107 108-114 Twin Coach 40TT 1930 115-122 Brill T40 1930 118 123-124 Cincinnati 1930 125-129 Twin Coach 40TT 1931 127 130-134 Brill T40 1931 132 135-139 St. Louis 1931 138 140-149 Twin Coach 40TT 1931 142 150-160 Brill T40 1931 161-164 Cincinnati 1931 161 165-170 Pullman 1935 170 166 preserved 171-185 St. Louis 1936 177 186-202 Brill T40S 1937 198 192, 193 preserved

Motor Buses A table of motor buses owned by the CSL is shown below. In September 1944 all existing buses, previously numbered in separate series depending on corporate owner, were renumbered into a unified series.