Trolley Tuesday 8/4/20 - The Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District (or New South Shore Line)

Welcome to another new month of Twice-Weekly Trolley History here on Blogger! I know your eyes are probably hurting from last month's deluge of information, but I can assure you we're back to our normal length once again. You may remember from last month, as well, that we covered the old South Shore Line as part of our review of Chicago interurbans and street railways. Today, we're going to continue that story and look at what happened to one of Samuel Insull's "First and Fastest" railways that is now the "Last and Longest". It's America's only true remaining interurban, and it's only on Trolley Tuesday!

Trolley Thursday 7/9/20 - The South Shore Line

Samuel Insull's North Shore Line might have clinched the title of "First and Fastest" in perpetuity, the famed Charles A. Coffin Gold Medal for contributions to the advancement of electric traction, but its opposite line is certainly a contender for operating in perpetuity. One of Insull's "fixer-upper lines", the Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railway (CSS, South Shore Line for short) was born out of considerable reorganization between Chicago, IL, and South Bend, IN to become a premiere interurban and freight railroad. Indeed, the South Shore proved so essential and prolific in both passenger and commercial customer service that, despite downturns and heavy cuts, the South Shore Line has never been out of operation since the first line opened in 1901. A regular runner-up of the "First and Fastest" award, the South Shore can now be considered the "Last and Longest" surviving interurban in the United States.