Many basements were deep enough to have direct tunnel access, but some were not and elevators were used to bring cars and locomotives up from the tunnels. Left: This elevator was used to deliver cars to the John Sexton Co. near Kingsbury and Illinois Streets. It is one of the few elevators left behind by scrappers. The shafts were eliptical in shape. Right: The Roanoak Building had an entrance on Madison Street, just east of La Salle Street. The entrance is fitted with a hydraulic steel door. Some buildings had flimsy steel or wooden doors, which gave no protection during the flood of '92. Some, like the Edison Building and the Palmer House, completely sealed off thier entrances with concrete bulkheads after the tunnels were shut down.
As we traveled, we found that the tunnels contained water in varying depths. The water was mostly crystal clear, but when people started walking through it, they stirred up silt and it becomes cloudy. The cloudy water hid obstacles like sump pits and debris, making it very easy to trip or fall. A stick was absolutely essential to probe for these hidden hazards. None of the tunnels seemed to have been dug level, and they contain many dips and rises. It was not uncommon to walk along a tunnel which was perfectly dry, then encounter water up to several feet deep for a few hundred yards, and then be high and dry again! In some areas, especially south of the Loop, the expedition had to turn back when water kept getting deeper and it eventually became too deep (nearly waist high) to safely wade through.
Tunnel explorer Frank Schuler is intriqued by a signal mirror mounted at an intersection at LaSalle and Harrison Steets. To avoid collisions at crossings, these mirrors reflected the locomotive's headlight down an intersecting tunnel to warn any approaching trains. What is really odd about these mirrors is that they are made of green glass. This means that in the tunnels, green meant stop! Did red mean go?
Because of the darkness, and the fact that every tunnel intersection looks like about one hundred others (there were originally 117 grand unions before the subways were constructed), it is extremely easy to get lost down there. Some intersections were stenciled with the street names by the tunnel company and these were still visible in the 1980's. We used these intersections to get our bearings on a copy of a tunnel map from Bruce Moffat's book. We then had to keep track of how many intersections we passed as we went along. In some cases, we marked intersections with chalk as another precaution.
Left: Ash car 822 left behind at Orleans and Hubbard Streets. The scrappers evidently didn't want to bother climbing on top of the loaded car to cut down the trolley wire. Right: Merchadise flat car 2417 sits in the repair shop near Union Station. Before Commonwealth Edison pumped out the tunnels, this car sat almost completely submerged (note the high water mark on the walls and car) for over ten years. The rust has taken it's toll and most of the car is deteriorated.
During explorations we came across rail cars, old carbon filament light bulbs, safety signs, signals, pumps, trolley wire parts, and many other curiosities including a flush toilet built into a small alcove. We inspected the Chicago Tunnel Company shop complex which was established in an old mail facility under the east side of Union Station. Here we found a badly deteriorated flat car, a pile of couplers, broken tools, car stencils, a crane, a flooded inspection pit, and an odd assortment of junk and debris. Even if the lights were turned on, and the place was cleaned up, it was hard to imagine how workmen would be able to perform any repairs in such a place.
Because of an over-optimistic building program, many miles of tunnels were built that were never really needed. Because space was at a premium down there, unused sections of tunnels were sometimes used for purposes other than train movements. One unused leg of this grand union at LaSalle and Harrison Streets was actually converted into a shanty. Narrow gauge ties litter the floor in front of the door.
While under the Loop, I was impressed by the remarkably well preserved condition of the tunnels. They were mostly dry, and you could still see where the last trains left wheel flange marks in the dirt between the rails. I fancied that it would not be difficult to re-install the trolley wire, restore the power, get the lights on, and get some trains rolling again as a historical landmark. In reality, because of the inaccessibility of the tunnels and dangers involved in train operations, no one would ever finance such a venture or assume the liability in our over-litigated society.
It was amazing how quickly time passed during tunnel exploration. Also, because of the excitement, I didn't notice the blisters forming on my feet, or the fact that I was getting tired. Everyone eventually began to notice these things on the way back, especially while climbing back up the ladder forty feet to the surface.
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This page was built, and is maintained by Phil O'Keefe
Photographs are from the collections of Phil O'Keefe and Bruce Moffat
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You can e-mail Phil O'Keefe at: chicagotunnel@ameritech.net