About Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad
Ghost Corp Apparel — resurrecting iconic corporate ghosts.
The Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad—usually called the North Shore Line—emerged in 1916 when an Insull-backed organization acquired the troubled Chicago & Milwaukee Electric Railroad. From Highwood, Illinois, it developed into an electric interurban that stitched together the Chicago Loop, North Shore suburbs, Waukegan, Racine, Kenosha, and downtown Milwaukee. Not a modest commute, then.
The line gained access to Chicago’s Loop in 1919 and opened a Milwaukee terminal the next year. Its sleek reputation was earned the hard way: upgraded private right-of-way, fast schedules, freight business, and the famous Electroliner streamliners introduced in 1941. The railroad also pioneered trailer-on-flatcar freight service in 1926—because apparently the future arrived wearing trolley poles.
The Depression sent the company into receivership in 1932, but wartime traffic revived it. A 1946 reorganization placed the property under a new Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railway Company. Postwar automobiles, highways, and falling ridership proved less romantic than polished interurban cars; the railroad’s final runs took place on January 21–22, 1963. CTA later used a southern section of its Skokie Valley Route for the Skokie Swift.
Our Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad collection celebrates the crackle of overhead wire, streamlined speed, and the audacious belief that an electric train could make the lakefront corridor feel gloriously connected. Wear it like the last limited is still slipping through the snow.