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
Santa Fe Trailways was the largest member of the National Trailways Bus System when it was formed in 1936. Although Burlington and Santa Fe buses competed with one another on a few routes, their main competition was Greyhound (then partly … Continue reading
Rock Island introduced the Budd-built, GMC-powered Rockets in 1937, and this postcard is a variation of one we previously seen. It seems to be older as it only shows one headlight on the TA locomotive while the other one shows … Continue reading
These blotters from the Dale Hastin collection advertise Rock Island trains in the Midwest. The first one advertises trains from the Twin Cities to Des Moines, Kansas City, and St. Louis. Though it is undated, it appears to be from … Continue reading
These blotters from the Dale Hastin collection advertise Rock Island trains to Colorado and California. The first one, which mentions an agent in Cincinnati, encourages people to go to California via Colorado and Yellowstone “all for one low round trip … Continue reading
