I never rode it and I felt bad then; I feel bad about it now.

Well, six months later I was able to pay my respects at least with a visit to the railroad's main shops in Highwood Illinois. There was a skeleton crew of North Shore employees taking care of the dismantling of the line. There my Dad and I were able to buy a genuine North Shore lock, key and lantern. In the south yard, the two amazing Electroliners 803-804, left, and 801-802 on the far right, were parked praying that someone would buy them. These two 1941 St Louis Car streamliners cemented the North Shore's reputation as a world class high speed railroad. Both traveled over 3,300,000 miles in their 21 years of service. A great number of those miles were at the 90MPH mark to keep to the 1 hour 58 minute schedule, 89 mile Chicago-Milwaukee trips.

Fortunately both of these railroading gems are preserved because not long after I saw them, they were sold to the Red Arrow Lines in Philadelphia and christened Liberty Liners. There they ran until the mid 1970's. The full set you see here, 803-804 is currently in Rockhill Furnace PA at the Rockhill Trolley Museum in it's Liberty Liner colors of white and maroon and on occasion it gets to operate.

The 801-802 is in Union IL at the Illinois Railway Museum in beautifully restored North Shore colors of turquoise and salmon. It currently is undergoing a $500,000 restoration to operation. Please visit the IRM web store to make a donation.

This image is from a 51 year old 3x5" snapshot print that was faded and magenta. I was able to get the salmon color pilot and stripes in the ball park. The turquoise body and roof I could only get to blue. Photo by my father Herbert B. Livesey.