According to Wikipedia, the Chicago, Aurora and Elgin “abruptly ended passenger service” at noon on July 3, 1957, leaving commuters stranded in Chicago. It ran its last freight train two years later, leaving the South Shore as Sisk’s only client … Continue reading
The third railroad represented by George Sisk was the Chicago, Aurora and Elgin, which got its start as the Aurora, Elgin and Chicago. It changed its name when it came out of bankruptcy in 1922, and Samuel Insull took it … Continue reading
The Chicago, North Shore & Milwaukee or North Shore line was formed by Insull in 1916 through the consolidation of several other railroads. As the name suggests, it connected Chicago with Milwaukee, providing both rapid passenger service and freight service … Continue reading
The Chicago, South Shore & South Bend or South Shore line was formed by Insull in 1925 when he took over another bankrupt railroad. The line is notable for owning Little Joe electric locomotives similar to those owned by the … Continue reading
The three railroads that George Sisk represented were all once part of the Insull empire. Samuel Insull was one of the first to realize that the electric power industry had huge economies of scale, and by 1929 he controlled 4,400 … Continue reading
George Sisk was the Kansas City agent for three electric interurban lines in Chicago. For at least 22 years, he gave his customers monthly blotters featuring a calendar, a map of the lines he represented, and a pin-up girl. The … Continue reading
Chicago was the center of a spider web of railroads heading in all directions. These blotters from the Dale Hastin collection represent some of the smaller railroads in that web. Click any image to download a PDF of that blotter. … Continue reading
