Metropolitan main line
The Metropolitan main line was a rapid transit line of the Chicago "L" system from 1895 to 1958. It ran west from downtown to a junction at Marshfield station. At this point the Garfield Park branch continued westward, while the Douglas Park branch turned south, and the Logan Square branch turned north with the Humboldt Park branch branching from it. In addition to serving the Chicago "L", its tracks and those of the Garfield Park branch also carried the Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railroad, an interurban that served Chicago's western suburbs, between 1905 and 1953.
The main line and its associated branches were originally operated by the Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad, one of four companies that built what would become the Chicago "L". After the four companies were merged into the Chicago Rapid Transit Company, the Metropolitan's former holdings became known as the "Metropolitan Division" of the CRT. This arrangement continued until the Chicago "L" was brought under municipal control with the Chicago Transit Authority in 1947.
The main line had a total of seven stationsWells Street Terminal, Franklin/Van Buren, Canal, Halsted, Racine, Laflin, and Marshfieldbetween 1904 and 1951, in addition to the stations of the Loop also served by Metropolitan trains. After the Logan Square branch was rerouted through the newly constructed Dearborn Street Subway in 1951, the main line was merged with the Garfield Park branch and both collectively became known as the Garfield Park Line or Garfield Line.
The Dearborn Subway was constructed from the late 1930s to 1951 to replace the Logan Square branch's entry into downtown via the main line, and the Congress branch would be finished in 1958 in the median of the Eisenhower Expressway to replace the Garfield Line, which was demolished to make way for them. The Congress branch contained stations designed to replace those on the Garfield Line. Both the Dearborn Street Subway and Congress branch are parts of the modern-day Blue Line while the Douglas operates as the Pink Line.
History
The Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad Company was granted a 50-year franchise by the Chicago City Council on April 7, 1892, and began securing right of way shortly thereafter. The Metropolitan's operations comprised a main line that went west from downtown to Marshfield, where three branchesone northwest to Logan Square, one due west to Garfield Park, and one southwest to Douglas Parkdiverged and served various parts of Chicago's west side. A further branch to Humboldt Park proceeded due west from the Logan Square branch just past Robey Street.Unlike the competing South Side and Lake Street Elevateds, the Metropolitan never used steam traction. Although it had originally intended to, and indeed had built much of its structure under the assumption that locomotives would be used, it decided in May 1894 to have electrified tracks instead. making it upon its opening the first revenue electric elevated railroad in the United States. This made it the first rapid transit in the United States to use electric motors for revenue service. In order to provide power for the line, a shop at Loomis Street was built in the middle of the Metropolitan's main line, which continued to operate until 1914. After 1914, the Metropolitan purchased electricity from Commonwealth Edison, but the Loomis shop would remain standing until the construction of the Congress street expressway.
The main line opened on May 6, 1895; trains initially ran from to Marshfield. The Franklin Street Terminal opened on May 13, extending the line eastward across the Chicago River. The river crossing made the Metropolitan the only "L" to own and operate its own drawbridge, in contrast to other "L"s using street bridges to cross the river. This terminal was closed in 1897, as the line was routed to the Loop via Van Buren Street. The Loop would prove to be frequently over capacity, and the Metropolitan was forced to turn some downtown-bound trains back at Canal starting in 1900, constructing a special platform extension and track stub for the purpose. The Chicago City Council granted the Metropolitan permission to construct a terminal on Fifth Avenue in 1902, and the terminal would be completed in 1904 to carry overfill from the Loop.
The Metropolitan's franchise was amended on February 23, 1905, to allow for the carrying of surface railroads on its tracks. The Aurora Elgin & Chicago Railway began to use the Garfield Park branch and main line to access the Fifth Avenue terminal on March 11. The AE&C had been associated with the Metropolitan since 1902, when both railroads used the Garfield Park branch's Laramie station. In 1912, Fifth Avenue was renamed back to its original Wells Street, and so was the terminal. In 1923, the AE&C reorganized as the Chicago Aurora & Elgin Railroad.
The Metropolitan was one of four companies operating the modern-day Chicago "L" in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, alongside the South Side Elevated, Lake Street Elevated, and Northwestern Elevated Railroad. The four lines were brought under a common management in 1913, and were formally merged in 1924 under the Chicago Rapid Transit Company. At that point, the former Metropolitan's operations became part of the Metropolitan Division of the CRT.
The publicly owned CTA replaced the CRT, which had proven chronically unprofitable, in 1947, having been chartered for the purpose by the Illinois General Assembly in 1945. By this time, the Congress Street branch, a project to include rapid transit in the median of the Congress Street superhighway to replace the main line and Garfield Park branch, was underway, and the CTA entered negotiations regarding its construction.
Operation
The main line was an extremely busy place in the late 1940s and early 1950s; in 1948, several trains on each track were within eyesight of one another during rush hours. The line was approximately in length between Market Junction and Marshfield Junction, and had multiple curves, such that the longest section of straight track was less than long. Trains often braked for curves which had speed restrictions of or less; signals were used in "blind curves" where following trains were unable to look ahead. The tracks were numbered 1 through 4 from north to south; tracks 1 and 3 were used for express operations for respective outbound and inbound trains that did not make stops during rush hours, while tracks 2 and 4 were for the respective outbound and inbound locals.Rolling stock
569 wooden cars were built for the Metropolitan's operations between 1894 and 1907, by the builders Pullman, Harlan & Hollingsworth, American Car & Foundry, Barney & Smith, and Jewett. In the early 20th century, the Metropolitan decided to offer funeral trains on its lines, entering into an agreement with the CA&E to carry such trains to Oak Ridge and Mount Carmel cemeteries. One funeral car was built specifically for the purpose, and another retrofitted after the concept proved successful. After the decline of the funeral car business, the retrofitted unit was converted once again, into a medical examining station. Arising and benefiting from the poor road conditions in Chicago's western suburbs, the service carried an average of 22 trains a week by October 1907. was rebuilt to have a specially dedicated elevator for caskets to load onto the funeral trains. The service declined and was discontinued in the 1930s, but the Chicago Transit Authority 's charter continues to allow it to run funeral trains.In 1950, 6000-series cars were assigned to the Logan Square branch, which were rerouted through the Dearborn Street Subway after 1951. The Douglas branch received 6000-series cars in 1952, and both the Douglas branch and Garfield Line received 4000-series cars in 1955, at which point wooden cars were retired from the Garfield Line but kept on the Douglas branch, although by 1957 they had been retired there as well.
Stations and skip-stop
The stations on the main line originally consisted of two island platforms with each in between an outer track and an inner track. The sharpness of the curves of the outer tracks' bowing out to accommodate the platforms, however, was considered dangerous and some of the stations were reconfigured between 1898 and 1914. The results of these modifications varied widely by station; at Racine, it resulted in two pairs of side platforms for the northern and southern pairs of tracks, separated from one another by the Throop Street Shop, while at Halsted an island platform was placed in between the two inner tracks with two side platforms each for the outer tracks. At Marshfield, the northern platform and tracks were used for trains going to and coming from the Logan Square branch, whereas the southern platform and tracks were used for trains going to and coming from the Garfield Park and Douglas Park branches.| Station | Location | Notes | Opened | Closed | Skip-stop designation |
| Wells Street Terminal | 314 S. Wells Street | Also served by the CA&E | All-stop | ||
| Franklin Street Terminal | Franklin Street between Jackson Boulevard and Van Buren Street | – | |||
| Franklin Street and Van Buren Street | All-stop | ||||
| Canal Street between Jackson and Van Buren Streets | Also served by the CA&E | All-stop | |||
| Halsted Street and Van Buren Street | Replaced by UIC–Halsted on Congress Line | A | |||
| 416-18 S. Racine Avenue | Replaced by Racine on Congress Line | B | |||
| 418 S. Laflin Street | – | ||||
| 418 S. Marshfield Avenue | Also served by the CA&E | All-stop B |