Thursday, February 25, 2010

The Grand Trunk Western Railroad Elsdon Yard locomotive terminal. (Gone.) Chicago Illinois USA. 1977.

The Grand Trunk Western Elsdon Yard locomotive terminal. Chicago Illinois. 1977.

This photo taken during the year of 1977, is from My links page Fallen Flags.Org to the right of Your computer screen.

I discovered the Grand Trunk Western Elsdon Yard, Roundhouse and Locomotive Terminal while I was attending nearby Curie High School from 1977 to 1981.

The Grand Trunk Western Railroad, was the United States subsidiary of the Canadian National Railroad. For many years, the locomotives and paint schemes followed those of the parent company CN. The black and red scheme with white running board sill stripe, was introduced by the Canadian National in 1961 to replace the original olive green and gold paint scheme with an elaborate Maple Leaf corporate logo.

Around 1971 or 1972 perhaps, the Grand Trunk Western began using their own blue and red color scheme with the white running board sill stripe. The GT logo shown on the side of the locomotive, was refered to as the "Wet Noodle" image.

The GTW closed Elsdon Yard and the locomotive roundhouse at approximately West 49th Street on South Kedzie Avenue in October of 1983. I miss hanging out at this location today with My camera. An outdoor retail stripmall now occupies the former Elsdon Roudhouse site today.

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