Buena (4200N/1100W)
Buena Street and Kenmore Avenue, Uptown

Service Notes:

North Side Division

Quick Facts:

Address: TBD
Established: June 1, 1900
Original Line: Northwestern Elevated Railroad
Previous Names: none
Skip-Stop Type: n/a
Rebuilt: n/a
Status: Demolished

History:

Buena station was built as part of the original main line of the Northwestern Elevated in 1900. The only line in Chicago to do so, the Northwestern "L" built four tracks north of Chicago Avenue to allow for both local and express service. Some stations, like Buena, were built with platforms on the outside tracks (for locals only), but some had two island platforms to facilitate both express and local trains.

Buena survived the CTA's^® 1947 takeover, but was one of 23 stations closed in their North-South Route service revision August 1, 1949. The concept of "local" stations, of which Buena's low usage was only suited, was not a part of the A/B skip stop concept and the station was closed.

crt257.jpg (87k) This typical 3-car consist on a Wilson-Kenwood local train is shown stopping at the Buena station. The 257 is part of a 70 car order (251-320) built by Jewett in 1905. This car was one of the group that operated into 1957 on the Ravenswood Branch, closing out the use of this type of car on the CTA® system. (Photo from the Jeff Obarek Collection)