NORTH SHORE LINE

NORTH SHORE LINE WEB SITE

Link to an excellent Web site with history, rosters, and other information about the Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad.

EXPLORING THE NORTH SHORE LINE

Included are lists of stations, track diagrams, and contemporary photos of right of way remains.

Shore Line Route (Wilmette to Waukegan)
Skokie Valley Route (Chicago to North Chicago)
Milwaukee Division (North Chicago to Milwaukee)
Mundelein Branch (Lake Bluff to Mundelein)

MAPPING THE NORTH SHORE LINE

North Shore Line (Illinois)
North Shore Line (Wisconsin)

Zoomable Google satellite views, showing which segments have been preserved as trails, and locations of preserved structures.

EXPLORING TIPS

Much of the North Shore Line right of way has been developed into the North Shore Path, or North Shore Trail, with various segments administered by agencies of the various counties. These trails are suitable for walking and bicycling. By exploring these trails, one can get a sense of the character of these old interurban lines, and occasionally see an old station or other artifact from a bygone era.

Detailed street maps or Google Maps are recommended to aid in locating these trails. These trails can be explored either on foot or by bicycle. With a bicycle, many of the trail segments are suitable for one day round trips. Bicycles are permitted on Metra trains and CTA rapid transit trains during off peak hours, except during certain festival periods. And all Pace and CTA buses are now equipped with bicycle racks.

For walkers, public transportation can be used to reach most of these trail segments. Most trail segments can be walked by riding a Metra train or a bus to one point on a trail, walking one way, and boarding a train or a bus at another location. One can thus avoid backtracking on a walk.

Interurban Buses

Not so well known among many, are the various bus operations which were operated by the North Shore Line or various subsidiaries, at various times during the railroad's history.