Michael Leavell

Chicago and North Western State Street Line, N-scale

The C&NW State Street Line, also known as the “Low Line” or the “Navy Pier Line”, was the original trackage that the railroad constructed to access “Old Town Chicago”. The first trackage was laid in 1850 from the corner of Kinzie and Halsted Streets on the west side of the north branch of the Chicago River and continued eastward across a drawbridge to access the Original Town of Chicago. As the city grew, the railroad continued its growth eastward reaching Lake Michigan in 1861 and extending onto Chicago’s Navy Pier in 1956. The Modern State Street Line was 3.3mi in length and was accessed from Noble Street Tower near the crossing of the Milwaukee Road to access Union Station. The line east of the river was in service until 2002 serving the Chicago Sun Times, and the low line trackage west of river was in service until 2024.

For the latter part of the 19th and much of the 20th century Chicago was a manufacturing center, and the layout is designed to reflect this with 40+ industries to be switched. Many buildings included in the layout are Chicago landmarks, and all are custom-designed, 3D printed, hand painted and decaled. The layout occupies a 120 sq. ft. room and is single level. Scenery is approximately 20% complete. Operations include inbound and outbound freight, industry switching, and a proposed, but never implemented, commuter service. Main track operations are governed by timetable and is overseen by the State Street yard master. Car movements are determined using waybills and switch lists. Turnouts are operated through JMRI using an iPad interface. A typical session runs about 6 hours (including lunch) and requires 7-8 operators.

Numerous switch jobs are run to service downtown industries in each of the four sections: Pier Terminals, State Street, Carroll Avenue, and River West. Many notable industries are switched including Merchandise Mart, Curtiss Candy (Baby Ruth Manufacturer), Chicago Tribune, Wrigley building (Wrigley chewing gum), and Navy Pier. There are also multiple cold storage facilities storing perishable items on the line that need expedited service. In addition, there are also inbound and outbound locals transporting cuts of cars to Proviso Yard (C&NW), Wood Street Yard (C&NW), other Chicago yards and railroads, an interchange with the Milwaukee Road, and 4 scoots (commuter trains) running during the morning and evening commuter rush hour.

updated November 24, 2024