South Shore & Metra Electric - September 15 -16, 2008

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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.

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