The Normal Park branch was a
rapid transit line which was part of the
Chicago "L"
The Chicago "L" (short for "elevated") is the rapid transit system serving the city of Chicago and some of its surrounding suburbs in the U.S. state of Illinois. Operated by the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), it is the fourth-largest rapid tr ...
system from 1907 to 1954. The branch served the
Englewood neighborhood of
Chicago and consisted of four elevated stations. It opened on May 25, 1907, and closed on January 29, 1954.
Operations
The Normal Park branch was a elevated line which served four stations. The branch began at the
Harvard
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
station, which served a transfer point to the
Englewood Branch, and ran southwestward toward the branch's terminal at 69th and Parnell. The branch generally ran only single-car trains, although two-car trains were occasionally run during weekday rush hours. The branch separated from the Englewood branch at Stewart Junction, west of the Harvard station.
Although ridership was low, the stations had enough capacity for 8-car trains, rare around the CTA during that time period. The vast majority of the line's traffic came from the terminal at 69th; the
Chicago Normal School was located in this area, along with a small commercial district.
Ridership had always been low on this line: There was very little passenger traffic between Harvard and the 69th St. terminal. By the time the branch was closed in January 1954, it was a shuttle only service between Harvard and 69th. Most of the intermediate stations had been gutted before, and 69th St. station was halfway locked down. The line was completely torn down around Summer 1954.
When the
Dan Ryan branch (serving the
Red Line) was built from 1967 to 1969, a brand new
69th station was built a half-mile away from the former Normal Park station. While the original 69th St. was a low ridership station, the new 69th St. is one of the busiest stations on the CTA system.
Station listing
See also
*
Englewood Branch
References
{{Chicago L
Chicago Transit Authority
Defunct railroads
Railway lines in Chicago
Railway lines opened in 1907
Railway lines closed in 1954