Marshfield was a rapid transit station on the Chicago "L"'s Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad. It was the western terminus of the Metropolitan's main line, after which it branched into three branches; the northwestern Logan Square branch, the western Garfield Park branch, and the southwestern Douglas Park branch. The station existed from 1895 to 1954, when it, alongside the main line and Garfield Park branch, was demolished to make way for the Eisenhower Expressway and its Congress Line. It was also serviced by Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railroad (CA&E), an interurban that used the Garfield Park branch's tracks between 1905 and its closure in 1953.

MARSHFIELD   1700W 400S
Former Chicago 'L' rapid transit station
A pre-WWI view looking east at the station. The CA&E's platform is in the foreground.
General information
Location	418 South Marshfield Avenue Chicago, Illinois[1]
Owned by	Chicago Transit Authority
Line(s)	Metropolitan main line
Platforms	2 island platforms and 1 side platform
Tracks	4 tracks
Construction
Structure type	Elevated
History
Opened	May 6, 1895
Closed	April 4, 1954
Former services
Preceding station Chicago "L" Following station Terminus Metropolitan main line Laflin toward Loop (LaSalle/Van Buren) or Wells Street Terminal Madison Closed 1951 toward Logan Square Logan Square branch Terminus Ogden Closed 1953 toward Des Plaines Garfield Park branch Polk toward Oak Park Douglas branch Preceding station Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railroad Following station Kedzie toward Wheaton Main Line Canal One-way operation

History

The Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad was incorporated in 1892 and began construction of its trackage shortly thereafter.[2] The Metropolitan's lines opened in 1895, and included Marshfield as the last station out of downtown before they diverged.[1]

Originally intended to be powered by steam locomotives, the Metropolitan later decided to use electric traction;[3] the tracks had already been largely constructed prior to the decision to electrify them, but retrofitting the third rail proved an easy task outside of the switches of the Metropolitan's main line.[4] The junction at Marshfield required "elaborate special work" in its switches and signals, more so than other elevated railroads at the time.[4] The junction's switches and signals were constructed by the Paige Iron Works of Chicago.[5]

Logan Square (and Humboldt Park) trains were rerouted from elevated trackage to the new Milwaukee-Dearborn subway in 1951, and thus no longer needed the station, and Garfield Park trains started using temporary at-grade trackage in 1953. Douglas Park trains started using the Paulina Connector to get to the Loop on April 4, 1954, removing the last traffic to Marshfield station and resulting in its closure.[1][6] Racine was closed and demolished at the same time.[6] After the change, Douglas Park riders needing to transfer to westbound Garfield Park trains were advised to use the Madison/Wells station in the Loop, whereas eastbound Garfield Park riders headed for Douglas Park were recommended to switch at State/Van Buren.[6]

Station details

The station, like all stations on the four-track main line, had two island platforms, one each between an inner and outer track. West of the Laflin station, trains crossed over such that the northern tracks and southern tracks were each a bidirectional pair; trains bound for or coming from Logan Square (and the Humboldt Park branch that would branch off it) would use the northern tracks and island platform, while trains bound for or coming from Garfield Park and Douglas Park used the southern tracks and platform. When the CA&E began serving the station in 1905, a separate side platform was built for it west of the junction going westbound, whereas eastbound trains would use one of the "L" platforms to alight passengers; boarding was not allowed onto eastbound CA&E trains. A pedestrian bridge linked the two "L" platforms to one another, as well as a third pedestrian bridge to the CA&E platform. When the Chicago Transit Authority complained that CA&E alightment delayed "L" traffic at Marshfield, the CA&E discontinued eastbound alightment at the station in favor of Ogden further west. Westbound trains serving the Westchester branch, which was a continuation of the Garfield Park branch from Des Plaines, were express operations and did not stop at Marshfield during weekday rush hours or most of Saturdays; patrons wishing to go to Westchester needed to board Garfield Park trains to Laramie to transfer to Westchester trains.[1][7]

References

Works cited

• "The Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad of Chicago". The Street Railway Review. 5: 263–274. January 15, 1895.