Service Notes:

Hours of Operation: Service at all times
Length of Route: 7.5 miles
Number of Stations: 15 stations
Car Types Assigned: 5000-series (see Car Assignment sheet for latest car assignments)

Brief Description:

The Howard section of the Red Line -- the portion between Howard terminal and the State Street Subway on the North Side of the city -- is a series of sections built by the Northwestern Elevated Railroad. Often referred to as the North Side Main Line, the Howard line represents the trunk line of the old Northwestern Elevated, although only the portion north of Armitage (where the subway begins) is still part of the Red Line.

Between Armitage and Clark Junction, the old Northwestern main line is shared by the Red and Brown Lines. Here, Brown Line (and Purple Line) trains run as the locals did for the Northwestern on the outside tracks (Tracks 1 and 4) and make all stops. The Red Line operates on the inner tracks (Tracks 2 and 3), as Northwestern expresses did, and make limited stops. At Clark Junction, the Brown Line leaves the old North Side Main Line for the Ravenswood branch; the Red Line continues north on the inside tracks as the "local" and the Purple Line Express continues on the outside tracks as the "express".

Early on, there were no through-routed services -- all trains terminated in the Loop -- and for the first seven years no Ravenswood branch at all. From 1900 to 1907, all trains that traversed the North Side Main Line went from the Loop to Wilson, with some running local and others running express. There was much tweaking of these operations well. Originally, expresses stopped at Sheridan, Belmont, Fullerton, Halsted, Sedgwick, and Kinzie, but express stopping at Halsted and Sedgwick (on the portion no longer used by North-South trains) was short-lived, suspended in September 1900. Another concept that was used quite a bit back then (especually after the North Side Main extension north of Wilson opened in 1908) but is virtually unknown in Chicago now is the idea of "zone expresses". Zone express service offers express service, with few stops, in one portion of a route and then operates local service at the other end of the route. This provides a much more flexible service for riders by allowing those who live at local stops at the outer portion of the route to still enjoy the benefits of fast express service without changing trains, not to mention that it uses infrastrucutre more efficiently. Starting in 1902, some northbound afternoon expresses made local stops north of Fullerton to give passengers heading to these stations and faster trip. (This concept was more fully developed after 1908, when the extension opened. For more on this, see below.)

In March 1907, the Evanston City Council approved the electrification of the St. Paul's tracks through their city. By the end of Summer 1907, a joint operating agreement between the Northwestern and the St. Paul was signed. The right-of-way's ownership technically stayed with the CM&StP, so a special fund was established to cover maintenance and capital improvements. Work quickly began to realign the tracks and string up overhead for the Northwestern, who had to retrofit all of their trains with trolley poles for the new service. New high-level platforms and small wooden station houses were built to replace the St. Paul's stations at Argyle, Edgewater, North Edgewater, Hayes, Rogers Park, and Birchwood, as well as in suburban Evanston.

Service was extended north of Wilson to Central Avenue in north Evanston on May 16, 1908 over the electrified St. Paul tracks. Additional stations were added over time, including Howard on the city limits shortly after on August 23, 1908, Thorndale Avenue was added in 1915 and Edgewater Beach (Berwyn) circa 1918.

Important Dates:

• October 25, 1893 - The Northwestern Elevated Railroad Company is incorporated. Though not one of its incorporators, its principal backer is traction magnate Charles Tyson Yerkes.
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• January 23, 1896 - The first steel of the "L" structure is erected at Fullerton and Sheffield Avenues. Later in the year, despite optimistic forecasts, it's determined that the Northwestern can not be ready for operations by the end of the year, so, at the Northwestern's request, the city counsel pushes the deadline for beginning service to December 31, 1897.
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• Late-November, 1897 - The structure stretches from Dayton Avenue (near the intersection of Halsted Street and North Avenue) to Buena Avenue. Work is suspended due to financial problems. Another extension is granted, pushing to deadline to January 1, 1899.
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• December, 1898 - With new money raised, construction crews resume work on the line, but with the January 1, 1899 deadline now impossible, the aldermen agree to give the company until December 31, 1899 to begin service.
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• Mid-May, 1899 - Most of the steel between Montrose Avenue and Halsted Street (about half the total distance) is in place. The aldermen reject the Northwestern's request for a time extension.
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• December 25, 1899, 3:55pm - The last span is put into place. Only one track is completed between Wilson Avenue and Kinzie Street and work on all but a few stations has not even been started. All efforts are directed towards having at least one track and a few stations completed so that token service could be operated to keep the franchise valid.
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• December 30, 1899, 2:13pm - The first train operated on the Northwestern, leaving the partially completed Wrightwood station bound for the Loop.
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• January 1, 1900 - Despite the service (albeit token service) in place, the Chicago Public Works commissioner declares the Northwestern's structure incomplete and unsafe, thereby nullifying the franchise. He orders the Northwestern to cease operations immediately.
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• January 3, 1900 - The aldermen agree to give the Northwestern one more extension; this time until May 31, 1900. They make it clear that there will be no more extensions.
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• May 31, 1900 - The Northwestern reopens for service. The stations, north from the Loop, include Kinzie, Chicago, Division, Schiller, Sedgwick, Larrabee, Halsted, Center (later Armitage), Webster, Fullerton, Wrightwood, Diversey, Wellington, Belmont, Clark, Addison, Grace, Sheridan, Buena Park and Wilson. Stations at Willow and Oak would be added later. The four track structure includes express and local trains, with expresses stopping only at Wilson, Sheridan, Belmont, Fullerton, Halsted, Sedgwick, Kinzie and the Loop. The Northwestern begins operation with wooden trailers and motors using electric traction.
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• March 5, 1907 - To relieve congestion, a new "lower Wilson Avenue" station and a loop track are built and put into service, with express trains routed to it.
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• July 1, 1907 - Chicago authorizesg electrification of the St. Paul's tracks from Graceland Avenue (later Irving Park Road) to Howard, but does not require the tracks to be elevated. A city ordinance did, however, prohibit the use of a third rail on surface-level tracks (even though it was used in just such a situation elsewhere in the city). As part of the agreement, the Northwestern had to provide 24-hour service to the Loop from all St. Paul stops, plus Hayes (later Loyola) and Howard. In exchange, the city would waive payment of a penalty owed by the Northwestern for not reaching the city limit by 1903, as per their original franchise.
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• May 16, 1908 - Service is extended north to Central Street in Evanston, using trackage owned by Chicago Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway. CM&StP had previously operated steam powered commuter trains over this line, and continued to operate freight service. The line remained at ground level, and was electrified with overhead trolley wire.
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• August 23, 1908 -Howard Avenue (later Howard Street) station opens, late due to construction delays.
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• November 3, 1913 - Crosstown "L" service is first initiated, with trains running from Linden Avenue in Wilmette to the Stony Island Avenue terminal in Chicago's Jackson Park. The South Side and Northwestern trains operate on the outer track in a counterclockwise direction (actually only running over two sides of the Loop on each crosstown trip). Crosstown pairings include Evanston-Jackson Park, Wilson-Englewood, and Wilson-South Park runs (the last being believed to be very short-lived).
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• April 22, 1914 - Work on the elevation of the tracks between Lawrence Avenue and Howard Street begins. The elevation of the 4.5 mile segment, which was mandated by the 1907 ordinance, is expected to be a three year, $3 million effort.
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• August, 1914 - Work on the Lawrence-Howard elevation ceases due to financial problems.
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• 1915 - Work on the Lawrence-Howard elevation resumes. The Thorndale Avenue station is added.
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• January, 1916 - Trains on the Lawrence-Howard stretch are moved onto a temporary wooden trestle, allowing the demolition of the original tracks and stations. Construction of the permanent embankment is slowed due to manpower and material shortages caused by World War I
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• 1918 - Edgewater Beach station (later changed to Berwyn Avenue) is opened.
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• 1922 - The new elevated four track main line between Lawrence and Howard is complete.
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• February 27, 1923 - The new station at Lawrence Avenue opens. Later in the year, a new, larger station is constructed at Wilson and the old terminal and yard are removed.
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• July 31, 1949 - The CTA institutes its massive North-South service revision. Service is streamlined into the following routes: Howard-Englewood, Howard-Jackson Park, Ravenswood (Kimball-Loop), and Evanston (Linden-Howard during non-rush hours, Linden-Loop during rush). A/B skip stop service is instituted on the Howard, Englewood, Jackson Park and Ravenswood routes, and 23 low-use stations are closed, including Buena, Clark, and Grace.
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• February 21, 1993 - A new connection opens between the Dan Ryan line and the State Street Subway. Dan Ryan trains are routed through to Howard Street forming the Red Line. Englewood and Jackson Park elevated lines, previously linked with Howard Street, become linked with Lake Street line via the Loop elevated, forming the Green Line. New destination roller signs on trains and route maps conform to the new color coding system.
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• April 28, 1995 - Skip stop service, running rush hours only on the Red (Howard) and Blue (O'Hare) Lines, is suspended.

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