Chicago, North Shore and Milwaukee

Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad

CNS&M 700 along the Mundelein Route near Illinois Route 131 in Lake Bluff, Illinois, circa 1957.
Reporting mark	CNSM
Locale	Northeast Illinois and Southeast Wisconsin
Dates of operation	1916–1963
Predecessor	Chicago & Milwaukee Electric Railway
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Electrification	Overhead wires, 650 V DC Third rail, 600 V DC (Chicago 'L')
Headquarters	Highwood, Illinois

The Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad, also known as the North Shore Line, was an interurban railroad that served the northern Chicago metropolitan area, and southeastern Wisconsin. The North Shore Line provided electric freight and passenger service between the Chicago Loop and downtown Milwaukee. The high standard to which the railroad was built, in conjunction with its fast operating speeds and streamlined Electroliner service, led author and rail historian William D. Middleton to deem the North Shore Line a "super interurban".

The North Shore Line was formed in 1916, when industrialist Samuel Insull acquired the Chicago and Milwaukee Electric Railway Company. During the Roaring Twenties the railroad underwent a period of expansion and modernization until the Wall Street Crash of 1929 brought an end to Insull's electric utility empire. In spite of subsequent financial woes, the North Shore Line survived the Great Depression and experienced record levels of passenger ridership during World War II. This change in fortunes would prove to be temporary however, and during the post-war era the railroad found itself faced with stiff competition from both the proliferation of the automobile and the modernization of commuter service on competitor railroads. After more than a decade of declines in both passenger ridership and profit, the company petitioned to end rail service in 1958, but faced several years of legal opposition from an organization of regular commuters. Despite efforts to save the railroad, the company was ultimately granted permission to end all rail service. The final trains reached their destinations in the early morning hours of January 22, 1963, and the North Shore Line became the final interurban railroad to undergo complete abandonment.