While looking through old issues of First and Fastest on Julie Johnson's excellent CAERR.com site, I came across a list from 1986 of preserved CSL equipment. (Vol 3 #4, p. 35) A note at the bottom says: "Trailer #8051 is a lunchroom at 38th and Central Park in Chicago." That sounds interesting! Does anyone know anything more about this?
One thing that bothers me is that maps show there isn't any intersection of 38th and Central Park, due to a long gap in Central Park Ave. So what gives?
Yes that is a virtual address, Central Park would have been along the east side of Corwith. The diner was on the north side of the street just west of the ATSF crossing. I remember seeing it there many times, suddenly it disappeared but can't remember the time frame, some time when I was living elsewhere (1965-81) probably.
ReplyDeleteBob Bruneau and Nick remembered it...it was across from Corwith Yard.
ReplyDeleteInterestingly, it seems like very, very few CSL cars got resold for other uses. I think there were actually more Gary cars (at least one) and Evanston cars (at least four) converted to diners and such within the city!
OK, thanks for the info. Does anyone have pictures of it?
ReplyDeleteTried looking at Historic Aerials.com to see if we could spot when it appeared and when it disappeared, but I'm not able to identify it from the quality of the photos, so much for that!
ReplyDeleteA few "Matchbox" cars were sold sometime during the Depression and put to use as cabins or sheds in Wisconsin. One had been sold complete with seats, which had been obligingly dumped elsewhere on the property and were retrieved in the 1970's/1980's for use in our own 1374. Another (CSL 1278) is still in existence in Symco, Wisconsin as part of a thresher's meet site. If anyone knows exactly when 1278 and its sisters were sold by CSL, I'd be very interested to know!
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