We are pleased to announce that longtime CERA Member, Director, and President Walter Keevil will present the program at our 75th Anniversary Banquet this September 21st. Since this is the 50th anniversary of the North Shore Line’s demise, Walter will show rare films of that famous interurban from his extensive collection.

749 in Milwaukee in late 1962, just a few months before all North Shore Line service was abandoned. IRM acquired this car in 1963.

The hour-long program will include material from 1941 to 1962, with the Shore Line and streetcars included, as well as the mainline, Mundelein branch and scenes on the “L”. Preceding the program, we will have a short presentation of photos from CERA fantrips going back to 1938.

Tickets for the 75th Anniversary Banquet and Program are on sale now online and by mail. You can purchase tickets directly through our web site, using PayPal, credit or debit cards, or print out order forms.

To give you some of the flavor of Mr. Keevil’s program, we offer you a sampling of North Shore Line photos from the CERA Archives. We hope that you will enjoy them, and we look forward to seeing you at the Chicago Marriott O’Hare in September.

-David Sadowski

Electroliner at the North Shore Line’s Milwaukee terminal.

This sign, or one just like it, now hangs at the Illinois Railway Museum.

CNS&M 175 at Roosevelt Road in August 1949, during the years when the North Shore practically had this station all to itself.

One of the two Electroliners at Madison and Wabash on Chicago’s “L” in the late 1950s.

Car 729 at the gritty Milwaukee terminal.

CNS&M 771.

North Shore city streetcar 360 in August 1949.

CNS&M 417 in August 1949.

North Shore city streetcar 356 in August 1949. Sister car 354 is now preserved at the Illinois Railway Museum.

North Shore Line merchandise dispatch cars in August 1949.

CNS&M freight motor 21 at Highwood in August 1939.

North Shore car 162 as it looked on November 27, 1941. According to Don’s Rail Photos, “It was acquired by American Museum of Electricity in 1963 and resold to Connecticut Trolley Museum.”

The North Shore handled packages as well as passengers.

The North Shore Line left a legacy that continues to enrich our lives today. Here we see car 160 at the Illinois Railway Museum in the mid-1980s. Emerson Wakefield, the author’s uncle, is walking away from the car. (Photo by David Sadowski)