C-NYAL

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CHICAGO-NEW YORK AIR LINE RAILROAD

Welcome to the Chicago-New York Air Line Railroad Historical Society Virtual Meeting! In the next pages, we will chronicle a railroad that went from nowhere to nowhere, never met expectations, and, like most railroads of a similar nature, should never have been built.

Even before the Wright Brothers flew at Kitty Hawk, there was an Air Line. In this very appropriate October 1997 view, an airplane takes off from the Laporte County Airport and flies over the Chicago-New York Air Line right of way. (John Eagan)

Projected to connect New York and Chicago via a straight, or air line, route, the line would be 742 miles in length and whisk passengers over the line in 10 hours for a fare of ten dollars! The plan was to build this road to impossible standards: double track on a 100ft. right of way with a grade of no more than .05%! This ambitious plan was hopelessly expensive, with bank-busting construction grades over small streams and other railroads in Indiana; let alone what the costs would be in the mountains of Pennsylvania!

This early postcard view of Laporte’s Main Street shows one of the Air Line’s interurbans heading west with the Laporte County Court House out of view at the left. The line circles around the courthouse and passes the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern (later New York Central) depot. This depot still stands, ornamental overhead wire poles survive on the court house lawn, and wire hangers still exist on the sides of the old buildings that front today’s Indiana Route 2. (John Eagan collection.)

The line began in Laporte, Indiana, the county seat of Laporte, in 1906. Building south along I Street 5 miles to South Laporte, over 2000 people rode the line on opening day in 1907. This line was the prototype for the local lines and operations that would see the main line fed by local line spurs to towns and cities.

Another view taken in Laporte shows one of the Air Line’s handsome interurbans pulling a non-powered trailer. The occasion was the heavy traffic demand during the County Fair, and for 5 cents one could ride to the fairgrounds southwest of town. Alas, such special occasion and seasonal traffic was few and far in-between for the Air Line. (John Eagan collection.)

In 1995, the Indiana Historical Society recognized the Air Line, erecting this marker on the east shoulder of Indiana Route 39 where it crossed the right of way of the line which had been gone since 1917. (John Eagan photo 10/3/1997.)

Across the road from the marker, one can see the right of way of the Air Line as it meets the road and proceeds west into a tree line that separates farmer’s fields to the north and south. Remains of the carbarn and power house foundations can be found in this area east and north of the ramp leading to the Pere Marquette crossing. (John Eagan photo 10/3/1997.)

At South Laporte, the C&NYAL built a 3-stall carbarn and power house. The railroad also interchanged with the Pere Marquette Railroad at this location, and all railroad supplies were received here. This would be the Air Line’s only steam railroad connection.

65lb. rails are unloaded from Pere Marquette flatcars at South Laporte in February, 1907. Soon these rails would be used in the construction of the Air Line west from this junction. Some of these rails were reused by the Gary Railways, and some still exist today buried under blacktop in that city. Rails such as this, common to most early interurban lines, would be considered a Light Rail system today, so the Air Line was ahead of it’s time! (John Eagan collection.)

An earth embankment led to a girder bridge crossing of the PM, an expensive grade separation, and one of 3 on the line. These crossings effectively emptied the bank account of the Air Line; hundreds of these would be needed in the Chicago to New York route.

The railroad built west and encountered a ridge east of the present day Route 421, then known as the Westville Stone Road. This ridge was breached by a deep cut, with much of the removed earth used to cross the Monon Railroad approximately 1 mile to the west. Like the PM, the Monon was crossed with an earth fill and girder bridge supported by poured concrete abutments. Approximately 3 miles west the Wabash Railroad was encountered. Like the other 2 railroads, the Air Line first built trestlework in order to dump fill and construct a girder bridge. However, no bridge was ever ordered, and the entire fill went to a massive project over Coffee Creek, further west. The Wabash crossing would remain what riders would call, “The Roller Coaster.” It certainly had that appearance!

The railroad helped itself to built-in riders by constructing an amusement park near Door Village, IN. The park, known as Airline Park, also promoted the railroad and sold stock for $25.00 a share alongside admission tickets. Many attendees in a festive mood parted with their money in this venue; enough that there was money available for what would become the biggest folly within the folly of this venture, the Coffee Creek fill.

Coffee Creek is a breach in a series of prehistoric shorelines and sand dunes in the area south of Lake Michigan. During the Ice Age, a huge glacier came south and carved out Lake Michigan, shoving huge mounds of earth in front of it like an enormous bulldozer. As this glacier retreated, and then pushed south again, a process repeated many times, sand dunes and moraines formed in the area that the CNYAL was projected to traverse. Inland lakes formed between the glacier and the moraine dams, and sought outlet back to Lake Michigan. One such outlet became Coffee Creek, and the deluge eroded a wide, 50’ deep valley as the waters drained. In order to maintain the promised grade, the Air Line used 1 million board feet of timber and dumped over 1 million cubic feet of earth into this breach, and used a poured concrete culvert for this now inconsequential stream. This construction finally broke the railroad. It would never again attempt such a colossal structure.

The Air Line ended for all time at a spot called Goodrum Crossing, named for one of the most prominent financial supporters of the line. Here the Air Line abandoned its lofty construction plans, and through subsidiaries reached Valparaiso, Chesterton and Gary by more conventional private right of way or street running, like most typical interurbans. The Air Line finally succumbed to all of its shortfalls and was abandoned around 1917.

WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THE

CHICAGO-NEW YORK AIR LINE RAILROAD?

There are several good books on the Air Line, and your virtual C&NYAL Historical Society sells them right here!

A new book by the Central Electric Railfans Association FASTER THAN THE LIMITEDS (2004) is now available. This hardcover book is 426 pages and is the final word on the Air Line. The book retails for $55.00 and our price is $39.95 plus 4.95 shipping via media rate. (Faster shipping methods are available.)

Another book also by the Central Electric Railfans Association is GARY RAILWAYS (1975). This soft cover book is 36 pages and contains some photos not available when the other book was published. The book retails for $5.00 and our price is $3.95 plus $1.95 shipping via media rate. (Faster shipping methods are available.) Buy both books and save on the shipping charges!

In the future, we will be taking a bus tour of the C&NYAL right of way. The guided tour will point out what’s left of the Air Line, in honor of its 100^th anniversary of existence. Please email us for the dates and cost as it is announced!

This site is in no way affiliated with any of the railroad companies, businesses, cities, towns, or villages depicted on its pages. It is my own personal website.

Use the information on this site wisely. I take no responsibility for your actions or the consequences of them as a result of the information presented on this site. Please be responsible when visiting the abandoned right of way because these are now private lands!

Unless otherwise shown, all text, maps and photos on this site are my own and are copyrighted. Unauthorized usage of them is strictly prohibited.

John Eagan

About the author: John Eagan was born into a railroad family, and his father worked for the Illinois Central for 45 years. Numerous trips to work with Dad gave John an early interest in railroads, and a camera for Christmas in 1968 was the spark for many rail fan trips to Chicago area rail yards and junctions near his hometown. John began custom painting model trains for 3 area hobby shops in 1972, and opened his own hobby shop in 1986. He wrote the Missouri Pacific Annual in 1975 and began writing the Missouri Pacific Historical Society’s Current News column in 1978. He took over Monon Railroad News & Notes in 1979 and merged that publication with the Monon Historical Society in 1980, writing several issues of THE HOOSIER LINE. He founded the Louisville & Nashville Historical Society in 1982 and served as President and Editor of the Dixie Line through 1985. John has been a police officer since 1975 and most recently as Deputy Chief of Police in Glenwood, Illinois. John and his wife Beata have 2 grown children and just recently built their “retirement home” right next to the EJ&E railroad in Dyer, IN. He is seen here manning the Hoosier Hobbies swap meet table at the Griffith Historical Society in 2002. This is the first of several projected websites on the Abandoned Railroads of Northwest Indiana. Please feel free to contact us with comments, additions; we love to hear from others with interests in railroads!