CP Rail at Morgan Street

Text and photos by Tom Burke

The local CP Rail switch job is working a food company warehouse in early 1990 on a gray, Chicago winter day. The location is Morgan St. at Carroll Ave., just north of the CP Rail main line. This switch job used the same crew as the Kingsbury line and worked alternate days to the North Side operation. With the rapid redevelopment of the West Loop area in the 1990s, this area is now almost unrecognizable and this particular switching operation is now history.

The Soo Line crew backs down the spur to pick up empty cars inside the warehouse building just ahead. Note the abandoned track segment now paved over on the left, and the rest of the train, including a Milwaukee Road caboose, waiting in the background. In the distance are the remains of the once extensive Milwaukee Road freight terminal.

Soo Line conductor ("Paul") steps down to flag traffic and set the switch on Morgan St. as the MP-15 eases toward the warehouse and its two spur tracks inside.

The MP-15 gingerly backs into the building and couples onto a white boxcar. There's another empty boxcar in the spur to the right (north) which needs to be removed next.

The first car is pulled out of the building!

The crew slowly moves the train out past the switch and prepares to back down the second spur in the building to remove the remaining empty car. Paul steps onto Morgan once again to flag traffic and throw the switch. The train will back into the spur and couple the white boxcar onto the brown boxcar, pulling both back out together.

Job complete, the MP-15 and the two boxcars head back to the rest of the train in the distance.

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