LaSalle Street Station

File:Old LaSalle Street Station.jpg

The first station on the site opened on October 10, 1852, with an extension of the Chicago and Rock Island Railroad from 22nd Street.{{Cite web|last=Baer|first=Christopher T.|date=March 2005|title=A GENERAL CHRONOLOGY OF THE PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD COMPANY ITS PREDECESSORS AND SUCCESSORS AND ITS HISTORICAL CONTEXT (1852)|url=http://www.prrths.com/newprr_files/Hagley/PRR1852%20Mar%2005.pdf|access-date=March 22, 2021}}{{Cite web|title=Rock Island History|url=https://metrarail.com/about-metra/our-history/rock-island-history|access-date=March 22, 2021|website=Metra|archive-date=April 10, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210410165237/https://metrarail.com/about-metra/our-history/rock-island-history|url-status=dead}} At this point, the Northern Indiana and Chicago Railroad (future LS&MS) had a depot at 12th Street, alongside another Rock Island depot. In December 1866 a new station opened, and the Michigan Southern and Northern Indiana Railroad joined the Rock Island as a tenant.

The Great Chicago Fire of October 1871 destroyed the station, which was rebuilt shortly afterwards. The post-fire station was demolished to make way for a new station designed by the architectural firm Frost & Granger{{cite journal| volume=XXXIV| number=11| page=184| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9JYjAQAAMAAJ&q=frost+granger| title=New Chicago Terminal for Lake Shore & Michigan Southern and Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific| date=1902-01-01| journal=Railroad Gazette| language=en}} which opened July 1, 1903 and stood until 1981. This station was a set for Alfred Hitchcock's 1959 North by Northwest, starring Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint, and in the 1973 movie The Sting starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford.

From its completion in 1882, the New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad (Nickel Plate Road) ran over the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway from a junction at Grand Crossing neighborhood north to downtown Chicago, where it had its own terminal south of LaSalle between 1892 and 1898. The LS&MS quickly gained control of the Nickel Plate, and later allowed it into its LaSalle Street Station as a tenant. In July 1916, the by-then New York Central sold the Nickel Plate to the Van Sweringens, but it continued to operate into LaSalle until the end of Nickel Plate passenger service.

File:20th Century Limited pulled by Commodore Vanderbilt 1935.JPG being pulled out of LaSalle Street Station by the Commodore Vanderbilt locomotive]]

From July 31, 1904, to August 1, 1913, trains of the Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad also used LaSalle Street Station, which reached it via trackage rights on the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific from Ashburn.{{cite book| title=Official Guide of the Railways| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7B2l5G_Veb0C&q=chicago+eastern+illinois| date=September 1904| page=700| publisher=National Railway Publication Co.}}{{cite book| last1=Goss| first1=William Freeman Myrick| title=Smoke Abatement and Electrification of Railway Terminals in Chicago. Report of the Chicago Association of Commerce, Committee of Investigation on Smoke Abatement and Electrification of Railway Terminals| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aCVRAAAAYAAJ&q=lasalle+| author2=Chicago Association of Commerce and Industry| author3=Committee of Investigation on Smoke Abatement and Electrification of Railway Terminals| publisher=Rand McNally| location=Chicago| year=1915| page=505}} During this period, the C&EI was operated by the St. Louis–San Francisco Railway, which was itself controlled by the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific from 1901 to 1916.

File:LaSalle Street Station approaches.svg

On January 18, 1957, trains of the Michigan Central Railroad began serving LaSalle, operating on the New York Central Railroad's Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway from its former crossing at Porter, Indiana to Chicago. LS&MS and Michigan Central trains (both part of the New York Central system) last used LaSalle on October 26, 1968 (soon after the merger into Penn Central); the next day, it began operation into Union Station via a connection in Whiting, Indiana and the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railway.

Amtrak came into existence on May 1, 1971, taking over most intercity rail service across the nation. However, LaSalle was unaffected: Penn Central's services via former New York Central tracks had been relocated to Union Station as noted above. The Rock Island opted out of Amtrak and continued to operate intercity service in the form of the Quad Cities Rocket and Peoria Rocket, operating to Rock Island and Peoria, respectively. These final intercity trains serving LaSalle made their final trips on December 31, 1978, ending the station's role as a terminal for intercity passenger trains.

A connection at Englewood Union Station was completed on October 15, 1971, to allow the Rock Island to also operate over the PFW&C to Union Station, but the failing Rock Island decided to continue using LaSalle. The Rock Island ended intercity passenger service in 1978, but continued operating its commuter trains until handing them to the Chicago and North Western Railway in 1980. Only a year later, C&NW handed the former Rock Island commuter lines to the RTA's newly formed operating arm, the Northeast Illinois Regional Commuter Railroad Corporation. It became part of the RTA Commuter Rail Division, now Metra, in 1984.

From 1972–75 the Rock Island operated a restaurant called Track One, using two former railroad cars parked on track 1 at the station. The two cars, the dining car Golden Harvest and the club-lounge Pacific Shore, had previously served on the Golden State Limited.{{cite news| url=http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1975/07/17/page/186/article/track-one-diner-hits-end-of-line| title=Track One diner hits end of line| work=Chicago Tribune| date=17 July 1975| access-date=6 February 2015| last=Davis| first=Robert| archive-url=https://archive.today/20150207000646/http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1975/07/17/page/186/article/track-one-diner-hits-end-of-line/| archive-date=7 February 2015}}{{cite book | title=Railway Passenger Car Annual, Volume I, 1973-1974| publisher=RPC Publications| last=Randall| first=W. David| year=1974| location=Park Forest, IL| page=73}}

In June 2011, The Chicago Department of Transportation opened the LaSalle/Congress Intermodal Transfer Center alongside the station as a bus terminal, to serve people transferring to CTA buses as well as Blue Line trains at LaSalle.{{cite news| url=http://www.redeyechicago.com/news/cta/redeye-officials-unveil-new-lasalle-intermodal-station-20110617,0,3286889.story| title=Officials unveil new LaSalle intermodal station| newspaper=RedEye| last=Swartz| first=Tracy| date=17 June 2011| access-date=3 August 2018}}

On Father's Day weekend in June 2017, Nickel Plate 765 became the first steam locomotive to enter LaSalle Street Station since Southern Railway 4501 visited the station in 1973. The 765 pulled trips to Joliet, Illinois over Metra's Rock Island District dubbed the Joliet Rocket.{{cite news| title=All aboard: Joliet Rocket steamin' into town| url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/lifestyles/ct-sta-joliet-rocket-st-0609-20170608-8-story.html| first=Vickie Snow| last=Jurkowski| date=8 June 2017| newspaper=Post-Tribune| location=Merrillville, Indiana| access-date=3 August 2018}} One of the cars in this excursion train was the former New York Central observation car Hickory Creek, a car built for the 20th Century Limited, which hadn't been to the station since December 3, 1967. {{cite web| title=Headwaters Junction charters historic car for summer steam excursions| url=https://fortwaynerailroad.org/2017/04/headwaters-junction-charters-historic-car-for-summer-steam-excursions/| last=Lynch| first=Kelly| date=27 April 2017| website=Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society}} Of note, the Hickory Creek was the last car on the final run of the 20th Century Limited to leave LaSalle on December 3, 1967.

Although only Metra's Rock Island District trains now use LaSalle, additional service is planned. Metra's proposed SouthEast Service would terminate at LaSalle, and the Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency Program (CREATE) infrastructure improvement program would allow trains from Metra's SouthWest Service to use the terminal.{{cite web| url=http://www.createprogram.org/factsheets/P3.pdf| title=P2, P3, EW2, GS19 75th Street Corridor Improvement Project| publisher=CREATE| date=November 2015| access-date=January 10, 2018| archive-date=January 13, 2020| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200113141527/http://www.createprogram.org/factsheets/P3.pdf| url-status=dead}}

LaSalle was a terminal for the following lines and intercity trains:

• Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad (until 1978)
• New York Central Railroad (up to October 26, 1968)
• New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad (Nickel Plate)
• Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad (July 31, 1904 to August 1, 1913)
• Michigan Central Railroad (part of the New York Central) (January 18, 1957 to October 26, 1968)

Among the most famous name trains that terminated at LaSalle were the New York Central's 20th Century Limited from 1902 until 1967 and the Rock Island-Southern Pacific Golden State Limited from 1902 until 1968.

LaSalle still serves commuter trains on Metra's Rock Island District. As of 2007, approximately 17,000 people boarded Metra trains at LaSalle each day.On the Bi-Level, October 2007. It is planned that, in the future, Metra's SouthWest Service will be shifted from the Union Station to LaSalle Street. Additionally, the proposed Metra SouthEast Service would terminate at LaSalle if built.

CTA

• 1 Bronzeville/Union Station
• 7 Harrison
• 22 Clark (Owl Service)
• 24 Wentworth
• 36 Broadway
• 126 Jackson
• 130 Museum Campus (Summer Service only)
• 151 Sheridan
• 156 LaSalle

ChicaGo Dash

• Shuttle service between Downtown Chicago and Valparaiso (Rush hour only)

File:LaSalle from the Willis (Sears) Tower.jpg|The Chicago Stock Exchange/LaSalle Train Station as viewed from the Willis (Sears) Tower in July 2019

File:LaSalle Congress Intermodel Transfer Center 2.jpg|LaSalle Intermodal Transfer Center

File:LaSalle station sign.jpg|Sign for LaSalle Street Station near LaSalle/Van Buren on the Chicago "L" Loop

File:Chicago as seen from a commercial flight 03.JPG|The Chicago Loop with the platforms and tracks of LaSalle Street Station visible in the foreground east of the Chicago River. Union Station and its tracks can be seen west of the Chicago River.

{{reflist|30em}}

• [http://www.prrths.com/PRR_hagley_intro.htm PRR Chronology] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060907213349/http://www.prrths.com/PRR_hagley_intro.htm |date=2006-09-07 }}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20051223045732/http://www.michiganrailroads.com/RRHX/Timeline/TimeLine.htm Michigan's Internet Railroad History Museum – Railroad History Time Line]

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20140924051347/http://metrarail.com/metra/en/home/maps_schedules/downtown_chicagostations/lasalle_station.html Metra Rock Island District – Chicago LaSalle Station]
• [http://www.trainweb.org/rshs/VD%20-%20LaSalle%20Street%20Station.htm Vintage Depots – LaSalle Street Station in Chicago]

{{commons category|LaSalle Street Station (Chicago)}}

{{Chicago Loop}}

{{Metra}}

{{Metra stations navbox}}

{{Chicago terminals}}

{{Chicago}}

{{NYC Main Line stations}}

Category:Metra stations in Chicago

Chicago LaSalle

Category:Former New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad stations

Category:Former Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad stations

Category:Union stations in the United States

Category:Clock towers in Illinois

Category:Charles Sumner Frost buildings

Category:Railway stations in the United States opened in 1852