- 1855: 45 miles completed from Chicago to the Illinois State Line by the Chicago and Milwaukee Railroad
- 1855: 40 miles completed from Illinois State Line to Milwaukee, Wisconsin by the Green Bay, Milwaukee & Chicago Railroad
- 1857: GBM&C acquired by the Milwaukee and Chicago Railroad
- 1863: M&C and C&M become part of the Chicago and Milwaukee Railway
- 1881: C&M acquired by the Chicago, Milwaukee & North Western Railway
- 1882: Second track constructed from Chicago to Evanston
- 1883: CM&NW acquired by the Chicago & North Western Railway
- 1888-1895: Second track constructed from Evanston to Milwaukee
- 1898: Third track constructed from Chicago to Rose Hill and track elevated
- 1910: Third track constructed from Rose Hill to Wilmette and track elevated
- 1911: Realignment in Chicago for new station
- 1966: National Avenue (Milwaukee)-Capitol Drive segment abandoned
- 1981: Third track removed from Chicago to Wilmette
- 1981: Metra begins operations between Chicago and Kenosha as the Union Pacific North Line
- 1987: Second track removed from Kenosha to National Avenue
- 1995: Chicago & North Western purchased by Union Pacific Railroad
- 2009: Wiscona-Capitol Drive segment abandoned, acquired for trail use
- 1984-Present: Metra operates the Union Pacific North Line from Chicago to Kenosha
- 1995-Present: Union Pacific operates the Kenosha Subdivision from Chicago to National Avenue
- 2014-Present: Oak Leaf Trail runs between Milwaukee and Wiscona
08/15/21
This standard single span through girder crossed W. Foster Avenue next to Ravenswood Avenue, in the Ravenswood neighborhood.
Built in 1897, the bridge consisted of a single through girder span, set onto stone substructures. A concrete helper pile has also been built for the bridge. Originally constructed for three tracks, only two tracks of the historic span remained in 2015.
These girder bridges are typical of early track elevation projects. Many were fabricated by Lassig Bridge & Iron Works.
Unfortunately for this historic bridge, Metra has begun a program to replace 22 bridges between Fullerton Avenue and Balmoral Avenue.
The first set includes the 11 structures from Grace Street to Balmoral Avenue. The western track was replaced in 2014, the middle track in 2019 and the eastern track was demolished in late 2020.
The second phase will replace the bridges between Fullerton Avenue and Addison Street, although it has not yet been funded.
Overall, the historic bridge was in poor condition and beginning to show signs of deterioration at the time of replacement.
The author has ranked the bridge as being locally significant, due to the common design.
The photo above is an overview.