Beverly Shores, Indiana

The Interurban Era has vanished. Once upon a right of way, electric driven intercity passenger trains were to be found all across America. Today, the Chicago, South Shore and South Bend is one of the last if not the only of the classic era interurbans of North America. During the early years of electric traction the capital outlay required for electric operations were huge compared to traditional steam railroading. Yet there were real long term benefits, and electric operations were making news.

New York Central’s and Pennsylvania’s New York station electrification projects were large scale implementations of the new technology. But it was the electric trolley that led to the next level, the true "interurban" electric railroad. Generally running on public right’s of way within cities and on private right of way outside, the interurbans were more heavily built and often were specifically intended for mainly passenger operations. Wherever a large passenger traffic base was present, an interurban railroad could make sense. Interurban depots ran the gamut from simple three sided shelters to storefront’s to more traditional railroad architecture and even elaborate city terminals. Sometimes, the interurban shared station facilities with it’s competition, the steam powered railroad.

Samuel Insull assumed leadership of the three major interurban lines out of Chicago in the early years of this century. Despite a passenger decline after World War I, Insull believed in electric traction. The 1920’s saw phenomenal growth in the use of the private automobile as Ford’s model T’s and Model A’s streamed out of Detroit, but the railroad was still king of the passenger business in the pre Interstate era. Beverly Shores was built in 1929 as the CSS&SB was upgraded to steam railroad standards.

Still serving commuters today, Beverly Shores, Indiana
on the Chicago South Shore & South Bend Railroad.
June 6, 1999 Photo by Jon Rothenmeyer

Just before the crash on Wall Street in 1929, the Dunes area was starting to be developed for summer residences for Chicago’s wealthy as well as the more nefarious members of society with money to spend. The then remote area was an attractive summer haven for some of Chicago’s finest Prohibition bootleggers! Summer homes along the sandy shores of the Lake were made all the more accessible by convenient passenger services of the South Shore Line.

The Beverly Shores depot was built in a Spanish Colonial Revival style, and included the ticket agents residence as well as the depot’s ticket office and waiting room. It’s most notable feature is the huge neon lit station sign. A similar depot was built on Insull’s other Chicago interurban, the North Shore railroad but this depot has been demolished. (1)  Today, Beverly Shores is still in use as a railroad depot on the still electric, still an interurban, revitalized South Shore Line. The Dunes area is now a protected National Lakeshore and a very popular summer destination for beach lovers.