The Dune Park Branch

The un-Official Gary & Western Railway Company Blog

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G&W Dune Park Construction: Part Two

This section was a lot harder to research, being that after a certain point in time there is almost zero publicly available data.  Information tapers off significantly until the 1980’s and early ’90’s — but we’ll get to that later.

First, let’s pick up where we left off… kinda.

From a New York Central PDF located HERE the G&W’s main track assembly began in March of 1907 and was completed December 19th, 1910.  As of June 30th, 1917 there were:

7.529 mi. of main track

0.869 mi. of secondary track  

4.007 mi. of yard tracks and sidings

The G&W did not own any equipment on the line.  It was under the control of Chicago, Lake Shore & Eastern Railway (CLS&E) - previously known as Indiana Harbor Railroad.  The CLS&E will later be merged with the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railroad (EJ&E).  Of course, CI&S (NYC) operated trains on the G&W as well.

Let’s talk about the easternmost end of the DPB, which is a subject of particular fascination in the forums I’ve researched, starting from the north-running portion.

I mentioned that initial construction of the DPB ended December 19th, 1910.  Gary Union Station was completed in 1910.  The DPB had a spur that broke away from the main line and curved west about 41-44 yards beyond the Dune Park over B&O (now CSX) bridge (now dismantled).  It sloped down to grade and continued due west until it reached the Gary Union Station Freight Express building, the smaller concrete structure that sat directly behind Union Station.

The above photo shows the DPB to Union Station spur in magenta.  I have it measured at 1.32 miles, yet it’s hard to say exactly where the tracks went after reaching Union Station.   This Union Station spur trackbed can still be seen on aerial photography from all available years, yet nature is slowly reclaiming it.  This spur has been out of use for a very long time.  It’s hard to tell from aerial photography exactly when the tracks were ripped up, but I would say that it probably fell out of use during the ‘30′s or ‘40′s.  The trackage probably wasn’t ripped up until the ‘50′s or ‘60′s, it’s hard to say at this time. The DPB can be seen to the bottom left corner in blue.  EJ&E “City Track” is in orange.  

This is a photograph taken by airplane in 1937, obtained from IUN’s IGSMap.  In the future I will purchase a bigger thumbnail but even at this height and resolution certain features can be seen.  Toward the center-right you can see the DPB make a fairly dramatic turn northeast.  The photo cuts off the portion where it curves due east along the old IHR/CI&S Lake Shore line.  Before the photo cuts off you can see the same westward curve I have highlighted in magenta.  Due to pixelation you can’t see exactly where it ends but I have every reason to believe that it stopped at Union Station.

North is the top of the photo.  Broadway is the centerline in the photo.  The G&W DPB, Wabash (WAB) & the New York Central/Michigan Central (MC) almost meets up directly in the center of the picture.  NYC (MC) is the line that comes into the photo at the very bottom righthand corner.  West of Broadway, you can see the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) line, towards the bottom left quarter of the photo.  The WAB can barely be seen, it would be heading east and west under the G&W.  The G&W, NYC (MC), WAB & PRR lines neaerly all converge again towards the center-left of the photo.  The triangle area would be just 180+ yards northwest of Tolleston Interlocking.

Tolleston Interlocking is a very interesting place because it was the only location in the region where G&W trains could come off of the DPB mainline and have access to the PRR Ft. Wayne, WAB 4th District and the NYC (MC) Joliet (now CSX Porter) Branch in one spot.  I don’t know if this ever happened, but it could have... theoretically.  Tolleston Junction will be the subject of a future post.  There are other industries and geographical areas of Gary that had not been built or cleared yet at the time of this photo.  We’re focusing on the pre-Penn Central era of the G&W.  I provided this photo just to paint a picture.

Returning east, we will pass Broadway again and focus in on a structure just before the G&W straightens northeast.  The most informed of us will know the large black structure on the southeast side of the G&W is the infamous Gary Screw and Bolt Company.  901 Alabama Street if I’m not mistaken.  I’m focusing on Screw & Bolt because the DPB and Screw & Bolt kinda grew together like sisters.  Both were constructed in 1906, and both fizzled out in the early ‘80′s.  Let me help out those who don’t know.

On the left would be what my generation of Garyites would call “The Valley” neighborhood.  The blue line would be the DPB, on its graceful turn to the northeast.  On the southeast side of the DPB is a warehouse, the one sitting in the woods.  That is the Gary Screw & Bolt Co. site.  The pink line is a spur that comes off of the DPB.  It curves around the southern side of the building, then curves north-northesast before curving northeast.  The orange line at the right top corner of the photo is the EJ&E “City Track”.  The two yellow lines below it represents Route 20 (5th Avenue).

I might have read somewhere that EJ&E freights did service Screw & Bolt from the DPB in the past.  Screw & Bolt was also serviced by WAB... which had a spur coming off of its mainline that sat directly south of Screw & Bolt.

It looks sloppy because of the watermarks but this is a photo of the Screw & Bolt Co. from 1959.  Almost the same view as the previous photo.  Towards the bottom, the white line is the WAB.  The curving white line towards the center-left, that’s the DPB.  In between them is Screw & Bolt.  You can clearly see how the DPB’s spur intersects the Wabash spur.

Once again, the DPB mainline is the blue line.  The red line represents WAB.  The pink is the DPB spur off of its mainline.  The green line that crosses the pink is the WAB’s Screw & Bolt spur.

This is an aerial photo from 1954.  I-65 had not been built this far north yet.  I wanted to know if trains coming off the DPB could access the WAB from Screw & Bolt.  It’s hard to tell from the aerial photos.  This is the closest I could zoom in and still recognize what I was looking at.  

My guess would be no, the DPB spur terminated at Screw & Bolt.  

I’ve never heard anyone speak anything of the sort but it doesn’t seem like too far of a stretch, being that the termination point I measured (where the pink line stops) was only about 30 yards or so from the WAB ROW, as you can see in the above photo from 2013.  I’m just saying that it was possible that that pink line could have continued on that slant 40 yards and connected to the WAB. It is unlikely that freights could use the DPB spur to access the WAB spur.  I don’t see how that would be possible.  Would it make sense for WAB to want to access the DPB?

Maybe.  

Far as my knowledge, the WAB never connected to Tolleston Interlocking directly.  The DPB passed over the WAB & the PRR via a bridge (that’s no longer there) after Tolleston Interlocking.  The DPB would be the only way for WAB trains to access Tolleston in Gary.  

Nine miles to the east would have been Willowcreek Rd Interlocking in Portage, where WAB, B&O & NYC (MC) intersected.  Certainly WAB could have gotten onto the NYC (MC) there.  My knowledge of actual daily train operations as far as the when’s and why’s outside of Gary are limited... but that’s why I created this blog.  To seek knowledge and share it.

I will continue my DPB east dissertation in the next entry but as far as this topic, what do you think?  Did the WAB access the DPB @ Screw & Bolt?  Did EJ&E or IHB access the WAB via the Dune Park Branch - Screw & Bolt?

[gwdbp]

The Calumet Traction Company

In the March 19th, 1909 edition of the Hammond Lake County Times, it was stated that Hammond was to be the location of a of an interurban rail line spearheaded by C.W. Hotchkiss.

Hotchkiss was unimpressed with the recent economic developments in Gary, IN - fearing that Hammond and East Chicago would be ignored.  The Calumet Traction Company was the name of this line, with $100,000 already invested.  Hotchkiss was credited for naming this outer suburban loop as “the Gary & Western Railroad” - which would put Hammond in a strategic spot to “communicate” with its newest neighbor, Gary.

The Times indicated that Hotchkiss was a genius and his investment would insure the project’s success.  In fact it was seen as assured.  Interestingly the Times indicated that it was Hotchkiss who was credited for a suburban loop from Hammond to Indiana Harbor over the Vanderbilt lines (I never heard of Vanderbilt, going to check into that).

The Gary & Western would embrace all cities in NWI… except Gary.  (what?!?!?!)

"Starting from the Lake Shore depot, Indiana Harbor and extending in a southerly direction over one of the streets parallel to Michigan Avenue to Grasselli.  From Grasselli the line will extend to East Chicago and thence to Hammond along Michigan Avenue to Oakley Avenue.  The south would then be south to Oakley to Sibley, east on Sibley to Columbia Avenue, on Columbia Avenue to Ridge Road, from Ridge Road to Highlands and then north to Indiana Harbor, by way of Gibson."

If you can find this article there is a LOT of interesting railroad news in it besides for Hotchkiss’ plans.

In the April 17th, 1909 edition of ‘Electric Railway Journal’ it said the following:

“Calumet Traction Company, Hammond, Ind. — This company, which was recently incorporated to construct an electric railway from Hammond to East Chicago, North Calumet and Center, has changed its name to that of the Indiana & Chicago Traction Company.  W.J. Riley, East Chicago, secretary."

From the May 15th 1909 edition of the Hammond Times, Vol. 3 Number 280, Lake County:

I find it very interesting how when Gary was incorporated, not everyone was caught up in the fever.  This guy, C.W. Hotchkiss, was a hater... afraid that Gary would steal thunder from the rest of the region.  He was unable to stop that.  Outside of his - what I would expect to be - harsh public persona, Hotchkiss was a very successful businessman.  He had his hands in a lot of industrial companies - ranging from railroading to utility.

Mr. Hotchkiss died in 1916 from heart disease.  He never got to see how Gary went on to become the largest and, arguably, most prosperous city in NWI... until it got a black mayor at least.

I would LOVE to read more articles from back then about who was not caught up in the Gary fever.  This guy even went as far as to publicly muse stealing the G&W name for his enterprise.  Ultimately the attempt did not work.  I wonder what would have happened to the G&W if he had decided to embrace Gary and use his trolleys to enter the city “by way of Gibson”...

I was not able to find much more information about Indiana & Chicago Traction Company from search engine inquiries as of today.  If I discover anything new, I’ll be sure to update.

[gwdbp]

G&W Incorporation and Dune Park Construction: Part One

  I will skip a lot of railroad history about Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan and Illinois.  If such history becomes relevant, I will update the blogs or posts as necessary.  To get a sense of pre-modern day NWI and Illinois, check out http://oprt.org/history-1.htm.

There are numerous moving parts to the begins of railroad history in Northwest Indiana.  I will be very careful with how I describe them and to be as accurate as possible.  Also, you may see me interchange the name a lot from “The G&W” to “DPB”.  Just note that I am referring to the Dune Park Branch.

NWI looked slightly different back before the G&W was built.  Before the railroads, trails were used for wagon trains and foot travel.  The trails were first created by Natives, and subsequently acquired by legal and illegal means by the Federal Government and private enterprise.  Plank roads were laid out on a lot of these trails.  The plank roads later became track beds for the major railroads, more-or-less.

I am not quite sure but I believe that the Buffalo & Mississippi Railroad was the first railroad in the region, being chartered February 6th, 1835.  It was not built west that far beyond Michigan City.  Its name was change to Northern Indiana Railroad (NIR) on February 6th, 1837 and it ran from the eastern boarder of Indiana to Michigan City and southeast from Michigan City to LaPorte.

Michigan Southern Railroad (MS) planned to use NIR’s line in its push to Chicago, and operations began November 30th, 1850.  The MS & MC mergers continued to accelerate throughout the mid-to-late 1800′s.  There were numerous name changes, so numerous that I will not waste time listing them all in this post.

As far as I can surmise, rivals Michigan Central (MC) & Michigan Southern Railroad (MS) were the first two major railroads to cross NWI and access Chicago, with MC being the very first, being maddeningly aggressive with MS in its push from Michigan to Chicago.  MS had to use some legal trickery in order to cross more than three miles into Indiana.  MS & MC were able to build their connections to Chicago through a series of mergers with smaller railroads into themselves.  

Here’s a photo of railroads and pipelines dated 1900.*mistakenly labeled 1850

Let’s get a little bit closer.

You can see by 1900 there were several railroads coming through the area.  The DPB is apart of this, but it’s running through the southern portion of where US Steel sits today.  This is a detail that I believe most people don’t realize, and it will have severe consequences for the G&W in the future.  

In spite of MC’s aggression, MS’s fortunes changed.  NIR eventually merged with MS to form Michigan Southern & Northern Indiana Railroad (MS&NIR) in 1855.  The Cleveland, Painesville and Ashtabula Railroad (CP&A), which did not operate in Indiana, leased the Cleveland and Toledo Railroad (C&T) in 1867.  CP&A changed its name to Lake Shore Railway (LSR) a year later and in 1869 LSR merged C&T into itself.  That same year, MS&NIR merged with LSR to form the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway (LS&MS).  

These strategically important series of mergers allowed for the LS&MS to extend from Chicago to Buffalo, NY... as well as whatever ROW’s it had in Michigan and elsewhere in the Midwest.

And finally, the final piece of this puzzle.  In 1877 New York Central & Hudson River Railroad (NYC&HR) took notice of the LS&MS.  It bought majority stock and became the owner of the entire LS&MS system.  This led to the creation of the new New York Central Railroad (NYC).  This action would leave NYC as top dog in the region, with MC being a rival.

Now - let’s talk about Indiana Harbor Railroad (IHR) and Illinois, Indiana & Iowa Railroad (II&I) or (3I/Old Three I/3 Eye Route).  The 3I was a successful coal running railroad that terminated in Churchill, SE of Ladd, IL (southwest of Joliet).  3I built the portion of the line that went from Streator, IL to South Bend, IN.  Only a small segment of the Indiana line is still in use.

The photo below shows a line map.  The blue line is the Norfolk Southern (NS) Kankakee Route.  This is a part of the old 3I Kankakee Belt.  The red lines indicate portions of the line that are now abandoned.  I bring it up because the 3I line used to connect to the Chicago line via the Kankakee Belt @ South Bend.

IHR - different from the Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad -  was incorporated April 17th, 1896 in Illinois.  In 1901 Indiana Harbor (now East Chicago), a city, was constructed to accommodate the Calumet region’s shipping needs, centered around IHR.  MC and LS&MS financed the endeavor.  In 1905 IHR purchased track from MC in the Calumet District of Chicago, and track that lead to Union Stock Yards. MC & LS&MS obtained whole stock in IHR October 31, 1907, changing the name to Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad (IHBR).  This brought the IHR into the NYC system.  NYC made Charles W. Hotchkiss General Manager, as Hotchkiss was the creator of the IHR.  

Now this bit is confusing Firstly... on August 9th, 1906 NYC merged the 3I with IHR and the Danville and Indiana Harbor Railroad to form the Chicago, Indiana and Southern Railroad (CI&S).  YET on the other hand, IHR was reorganized into the IHBR.  The confusion comes into play because I’ve read in other forums people who’ve said that IHR was completely different from IHBR, and I find that to be highly unlikely.  The IHR is only different from the IHBR in the sense that IHBR was brought into the NYC system through MC & LS&MC's capital stock ownership.

CI&S stock was owned by Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway (LS&MS) as well as Michigan Central Railroad (MC).  Bear with me.  CI&S’s stock was owned by LS&MS and MC.  New York Central (NYC) owned stock in both LS&MS and MC.  Get it?  Got it?  Good.

Here’s the critical part.

MS were the ones who originally built the line that would later become the DPB.  It had track laid that ran west through the north end of Gary.  I believe it was called the Indiana Harbor Lake Shore Line (or branch) or something close to it. 

This can be proven by looking at a map.  Here is the one claiming to be from 1850 again.  I say claiming because on this map it’s labeled LS&MS - yet LS&MS wasn’t incorporated until 1869.

Top right corner - that would be be Baillytown (present day Burns Harbor).  You can clearly see where MC ran into Hobart and MS ran westward into Gary (wasn’t Gary then). The MS line ran exactly along the same route the DPB is now.  It was not built by IHR, though IHR could have operated along the MS/LS&MS later on before being reorganized into IHBR.  You’ll see what I mean below.

We move the map further west and you can see the path that LS&MS took through Gary.  MC’s route can also be seen.  See the shaded area at the center of the photo labeled “New Stock Yards”?  That’s the property that will later become US Steel.  It is unknown to me who first deemed this area to become stock yards before US Steel got involved.  Little known fact: There was a lighthouse on the US Steel shoreline.  It was first lit in 1837.  There is a newer lighthouse built in 1911 that is still in use today but not publicly accessible.

When US Steel bought this property, the LS&MS ran right through it on the southernmost end of the shaded area.  LS&MS had to remove a large section of its Lake Shore track, in 1904 - before the steel mill was built.  Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (B&O) also had to remove their tracks, but it was not cut off like LS&MS was.  We’ll get to that in a future post.

CI&S founded the Gary & Western Railway Company (G&W) the same year construction of US Steel commenced.  Some accounts I’ve read say that the G&W was a purely CI&S venture with NYC, others say basically that the G&W was a subsidiary of US Steel and was operated by CI&S.  I can’t say either way - a big grey area there.  Until proven otherwise - I’ll say that G&W was a subsidiary of US Steel and US Steel worked with CI&S to build it.  I seem to remember reading this somewhere, but I can’t remember the source.

According to the ‘Biennial Report of Fred A. Sims Secretary of State of the State Of Indiana for the Fiscal Term Ending September 30, 1908’ - on October 6th, 1906 the G&W received $200,000 in stock.

According to an Indianapolis Star article published Sunday, October 7th, 1906 - Articles of Incorporation were drafted with Secretary of State Fred. A Sims the day before - October 6th, 1906.  It stated as follows:

“Gary and Western Railroad Company, to build nine miles of track in Lake County as part of the Chicago, Indiana & Southern Railroad - capital stock, $200,000.”

G&W rebuilt the LS&MS line through Gary, moving it to the south of US Steel and elevating its route to avoid grade crossings.  The G&W DPB was a single track, standard-gage, steam railroad.  It’s westernmost end begins at Gibson Yard in Hammond, Indiana, heading east through Ivanhoe Junction in Gary, curling north over Route 12/20 (5th Avenue).  The eastern portion of the elevated line reconnected with the remaining portion of the original IHR/CI&S line east of Gary Works at a point known as “G&W Junction”.  From this junction, the G&W continued east, terminating just west of the area known now as Burns Harbor at a huge sand pit.

LS&MS is who is cited most often for the creation of the DPB, but it is evident that CI&S, maybe in conjunction with US Steel, was the one responsible for reconnecting it after it was removed.  It’s hard to nail down exactly when the original track bed was lain by MS between Burns Harbor and Chicago but I estimate that MS did so at least 50 years prior to the construction of US Steel.

This is nowhere near the definitive story of RR history in NWI, but as far as the Dune Park Branch is concerned, this can shed a lot of light.