Skokie Shops
Oakton Street and Hamlin Avenue, Village of Skokie

 

Due to the large number of additional photos of trains at Skokie Shops, a separate rolling stock photo page has been established. To see the complete shops profile and history, click here.

 

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A decommissioned wooden car, probably a former Northwestern Elevated unit, and a handful of 4000-series cars are seen in Skokie Yard in 1966. (Photo by Miles Beitler)

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Car 6138 is in the Skokie Shops Yard on August 20,1970. Note the set of newly-arrived 2200s on the next track. (Photo by Joe Testagrose)

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An unidentified 6000-series car, separated from its mate, sits in the Skokie Shops Yard on July 4, 1971. It is surrounded by 4000-series cars, who themselves will see only two more years of revenue service at most. (Photo by Joe Testagrose)

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Cars 6201-6202 (seen on the left and right, on their sides) were removed from Skokie Shops on August 26, 1985. The car in the middle may be 6681. (Photo by Peter Vesic)

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After an extensive rehab and a period-correct repainting, SSRT car 1 rolls out of Skokie Shops preserved as it appeared just after electrification in 1897. (Collection of Joe Testagrose)

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Car 5004, still in its cream, green, and orange scheme, sits beside Skokie Shops in August 1965, not long before being renumbered and reassigned to Skokie service. (Collection of Joe Testagrose)

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Car 53, in for maintenance work, sits in the Skokie Shops Yard on the 4th of July, 1971. To the right of 53 is the boiler room; to the left are the maintenance shop and a 4000 converted into a work car. (Photo by Joe Testagrose)

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After being shopped in 1974 for an overhaul, car 52 emerged in January 1975 in the new Bicentennial scheme as car '75, the "Paul Revere". Just after leaving the shops, '75 is seen in the Skokie Yard on January 26, 1975. (Photo by Art Peterson, Collection of Joe Testagrose)

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Just after leaving the shops, '75 (ex-52) sits in the Skokie Yard on January 26, 1975. Note the US Department of Transportation State-of-the-Art Car on the right, a demonstration train that toured the country and served for a period in January 1975 on the Skokie Swift. (Photo by Art Peterson, Collection of Joe Testagrose)

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Car 2300, along with several other 2200s, sits in Skokie Shops Yard on August 20, 1970. Note the several 4000-series cars in the background on the left; within another four years, all cars of that series would be retired from revenue service. (Photo by Joe Testagrose)

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2000-series cars 2150-2149 sit outside Skokie Shops in the yard on October 21, 1968. (Photo by Doug Grotjahn, Collection of Joe Testagrose)

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Used only for charters and special events, CTA's Historic Cars 4272-4271 sit in storage outside the Skokie Shops on August 8, 1981. (Photo by Alan Feinstein, Collection of Joe Testagrose)

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Car 4346 (foreground), 4376 (background, left), and several other 4000s sit in Skokie Yard on August 20, 1970. In the not-too-distant future, the cars would be out of regular service, through many would go on to a second life as work cars. (Photo by Joe Testagrose)

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Car 4347 and a number of other 4000-series units sit in Skokie Yard on August 20, 1970. (Photo by Joe Testagrose)

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To provide more effective rail grinding operations (and the ability to do it at speed), car 4358 was converted into work car S-1 in 1972 and named "Shhhicago". The car is still undergoing conversion, though already wearing its distinctive red paint scheme at Skokie Shops on April 1, 1972. The car would not enter service until June. A 6000-series car is behind 4358, while a 2000-series car is on the track to the right. (Collection of Joe Testagrose)

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Car 4443 is at the head of five 4000-series cars, among several others stored in the Skokie Shops Yard in March of 1975, a year and a half after the car were decommissioned from revenue service. Their age and lack of cosmetic maintenance is obvious. (Photo by Gerald H. Landau, Collection of Joe Testagrose)

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Out-of-service 4000-series car 4443 sits among many other retired 4000s in Skokie Yard on March 1, 1975. A flat car can be seen on the left between two tracks of 4000s. (Photo by Bruno Berzins, Collection of Joe Testagrose)

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Car 3350 represents the 3200-series CTA rapid transit car at the Skokie Shops open house on December 9, 2000. (Photo by Sean Gash)

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Car 4272 of the CTA's Historic Train represents the 4000-series CTA rapid transit car at the Skokie Shops open house on December 9, 2000. 6000-series car 6720, with a fresh coat of paint, can be seen on the left. (Photo by Sean Gash)

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Car 2249 represents the 2200-series CTA rapid transit car at the Skokie Shops open house on December 9, 2000. (Photo by Sean Gash)

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Car 2423 represents the 2400-series CTA rapid transit car at the Skokie Shops open house on December 9, 2000. (Photo by Sean Gash)

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Car 2479 is seen at Skokie Shops awaiting reinstallation of the "no-motion bypass". (Photo by Sean Gash)

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Two 2200-series "L" cars - 2267 and 2270 - are in the Skokie Shops repair facility in June of 1999. (Photo by Eric Zabelny)

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Various cars in the Skokie Shops yard in August 2000. Included are a set of 2200s as well as all the cars from the Howard Yard accident on August 28, 2000. (Photo by Sean Gash)

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A decommissioned 2200-series car sits in Skokie Shops Yard, tipped over for rescue training operations, looking north from a passing Yellow Line train on May 6, 2001. Note Pullman 2000s at the far right behind the rehabbed 2600s. (Photo by Mike Farrell)

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Work motor 2401-2402 is in the Skokie Shops yard in August 1999. The cars are easily differentiated from the normal 2400-series brothers by the red and white candy striping on the ends and the red-white-red reflective stripe on the sides below the window line. (Photo by Graham Garfield)

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Unit 2465-2466 sits in the Skokie Shops yard in August 1999. The car had suffered significant damage and needed repairs, but may not reenter service unless it's needed to cover schedules. (Photo by Graham Garfield)

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Car 2599 sits inside the new Skokie maintenance shops on July 21, 2000. (Photo by Sean Gash)

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The number is nearly illegible, the best I can make it out is 4215; it and other 4000-series cars are stored at Skokie Shops, seen on a 1968 fan trip. (Photo by Leon Kay)

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Car 6719-6720 (renumbered S-476 when assigned to work service) stands covered in graffiti at the Skokie Shops in August 1999. Car 6720 (pictured) will most likely be scrapped, while its mate, 6719 (not pictured) will probably go to the Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC. (Photo by Graham Garfield)

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Work motor S-328 was created from wood motor car 1792 with minimal changes. It was the second CTA work car to bear the number; the first was a flat car, which was never used and retired in 1955. S-328 II is seen here in Skokie Yard on August 20, 1970. It was retired that month -- whether before or after this photo was taken is unclear -- and scrapped. (Photo by Joe Testagrose)

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Work motor S-333, formally Northwestern Elevated car 1754, is in Skokie Yard on August 20, 1970. Retired the same month of the photo, the car was preserved by the Illinois Railway Museum as CRT car 1754, thanks to minimal modifications while in work service. (Photo by Joe Testagrose)

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S-337, which was a reincarnation of CTA car 1812 (which itself was a motor-conversion of Northwestern/CRT trailer 1273), is in Skokie Yard, among a pile of scrap, on October 21, 1968. One month later, the unit was scrapped. (Photo by Doug Grotjahn, Collection of Joe Testagrose)

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Tool car S-341 was recommissioned from wood motor 1750 in 1958 and outfitted with drawers and storage space. It is seen in Skokie Yard on August 20, 1970, the same month the car was retired. It was later scrapped. (Photo by Joe Testagrose)

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Work motor S-345 was created from car 1790 largely by covering its side windows with plywood, painting it yellow, and assigning it a new number. It is in Skokie Yard on August 20, 1970 next to 6000-series unit 6099, which gained a large hole in its side from an accident at Howard earlier that month. S-345 was retired the same month as well. (Photo by Joe Testagrose)

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Line car S-606 started its life as a North Shore Line work car built by Cincinnati Car Company in 1923. CTA bought the car from NSL when it abandoned service in 1963. Despite a complete rebuilding, CTA craftsmen retained the architectural lines of the car's interurban heritage. It is outside Skokie Shops on August 20, 1970; newly delivered 2200s are in the background on the right. (Photo by Joe Testagrose)

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Cars 2286-85, with "Express" destination signs, represented the 2200-series units at the 2001 Third Rail Roundup competition, seen in Skokie Shops Yard on July 15, 2001. (Photo by Sean Gash)

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Cars 2989-90 represented the 2600-series units at the 2001 Third Rail Roundup competition, seen side Skokie Shops on July 15, 2001. (Photo by Sean Gash)

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This undated view shows 1013 on the storage tracks on the east side of the Skokie Shops buildings in the CRT era. The 1013 was one of 37 cars built by Pullman in 1898 to start the Northwestern Elevated operation. A wood body with steel underframe was used. The cars seated 42 in a "bowling alley" configuration (all seats faced a wide central aisle). As built, the cars had roof-mounted destination signs at each end. These were removed circa 1913. (Photo from the Jeff Obarek Collection)

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Fresh from out of the shop -- note how clean the wheels and truck assembly are -- 2200-series unit 2273-73 (the former in the foreground) pose on Track A outside of Skokie Shops on April 29, 2006. The Budd cars' rectilinear shape is evident in this three-quarters "builder's view". (Photo by Graham Garfield)

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2600-series unit 2863-64, sitting in the yard at Skokie Shops on August 28, 2005, show the complete sequence of iPod exterior ads from the 2005 campaign. (Photo by Graham Garfield)
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Car 5012 is seen inside Skokie Shops  with its mate, 5011, un September 30, 2009. The cars were re-mated once they arrived on CTA property and began a battery of tests and diagnostics inside the shop. Once passing these tests, the cars were tested on the shop's test track, then on system routes.
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Still undergoing testing before being released onto the "L" system for additional diagnostics, the first 5000-series prototype unit, led by car 5011, is seen on the test track at Skokie Shops on October 1, 2009.
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Car 5009 sits in Skokie Yard on March 28, 2010, seen from a charter train on the Illinois Railway Museum's Snowflake Special fantrip. This side view of 5009 provides a good overall view of its special promotional exterior graphics. (Photo by Dennis Herbuth)
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Prototype 5000-series unit 5009-10 sits on Track M in the yard behind Skokie Shops on March 28, 2010, seen looking north from the passing Illinois Railway Museum's Snowflake Special fantrip charter train. The 5009-10 has special promotional exterior graphics, unique to that train set.(Photo by Graham Garfield)

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A comparison between nearly a century's difference in rapid transit car technology is presented when CTA historic 4000-series car 4272, built in 1923, sits next to new 5000-series car 5529 at Skokie Shop in September 15, 2014. Car 5529 was recently delivered and awaiting clearance to enter service. Car 4272, and its mate 4271, are being used for rides along the Yellow Line as part of CTA's Transit Jamboree, an event for employees formerly called the Rail Rodeo and involving displays and competitions in work skills, held at Skokie Shop. (Photo by Corey Ellison)
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Car 5709, recently delivered to CTA from Bombardier, is being moved around Skokie Shops yard and into the shop during its acceptance testing on September 2, 2015. Although there is CTA personnel at the front of the train, they are not operating the cars -- the track the cars are on has no third rail. The train is being pushed by a Telosporidia shuttlewagon, barely visible behind the cars and to the right. The CTA personnel is acting as a flagman, communicating with the operator of the shuttlewagon who cannot see the front of the train. 2600-series cars are lined up in the background, awaiting retirement. (Photo by Graham Garfield)
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5000-series car 5712 sits outside Skokie Shop on September 2, 2015, in the midst of undergoing acceptance testing before CTA will officially take possession of the car from Bombardier and place it in revenue service. (Photo by Graham Garfield)
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Car 5713, hauled over-the-road by truck on a low-boy tractor-trailer, turns off Oakton Street and into Skokie Shop on September 2, 2015, the second-to-last 5000-series car to be delivered to CTA, its mate just a few minutes behind. (Photo by Graham Garfield)
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The last 5000-series car, 5714, is about to be delivered to CTA on the afternoon of September 2, 2015, completing a delivery process that began six years earlier. The car and the trailer truck its aboard pass in front of Skokie Shop on Oakton Street, having come from McCormick Boulevard, and moments later will turn into the front gate and enter the heavy maintenance shop complex. (Photo by Graham Garfield)
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5000-series cars 5713 and 5714, the last cars of the series to be delivered to CTA from their manufacturer, Bombardier, pause together on their trailers on the access road around Skokie Shops on their way around to the yard behind the facility, on September 2, 2015. The cars were held at Skokie Shop and not trucked to Lower 63rd Yard to be placed in service, like the proceeding final few dozen cars. (Photo by Graham Garfield)
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The last 5000-series cars delivered to CTA, cars 5713 and 5714, sit next to one another just after having come onto CTA property on September 2, 2015. The next day the cars would be unloaded, mated, and begin the battery of test every 5000-series car went through before being formally accepted by CTA from Bombardier. (Photo by Graham Garfield)
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5000-series car 5714 sits atop the trailer it was just delivered on, while car 5712, also recently delivered, undergoes acceptance tests on September 2, 2015. The two men standard in front of the truck are the drivers who drove the last two 5000s from the Bombardier plant in Plattsburgh, NY to Skokie Shops and delivered them. (Photo by Graham Garfield)
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Car 5712 is undergoing part of its battery of acceptance tests outside Skokie Shop on September 2, 2015. This particular test appears to involve the cars' LED signs -- the cars cycled through destination signs of a solid field of each of the eight line colors (no text), then displayed the test-pattern-like display shown, which includes all the line colors, plus fields of just red, green and blue (RGB), the typical additive color system used to produce a broad array of colors on digital screens. (Photo by Graham Garfield)
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Car 7005, one car of the first 7000-series married-pair CTA took delivery of, sits on track I-North in Skokie Shop on August 22, 2020. Each 7000 the CTA took delivery of had to go through an inspection and testing before it was accepted, even the prototype cars. No doubt, being the very first 7000 received, cars 7005-7006 had a particularly rigorous pre-acceptance inspection. (Photo by Graham Garfield)
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Car 7005, and its mate 7006 in the background, are on track L-South in Skokie Shop on September 4, 2020. (Photo by Graham Garfield)
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7000-series prototype car 7010, and its mate 7009, is inside Skokie Shop on October 17, 2020 for inspection and testing following delivery and prior to the cars being released for road testing. Note the car on the adjacent track in the left background, car 5714--the final 5000-series car built. (Photo by Graham Garfield)
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Several 7000-series prototype cars are in Skokie Shop on October 17, 2020 for inspection and testing following delivery and prior to the cars being released for road testing -- from right to left, car 7010, 5000-series car 5714 (the final 5000 built), car 7007, and a third 7000 whose car number is not visible. (Photo by Graham Garfield)

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Brand-new 7000-series car 7016 crosses onto CTA property as it is delivered by truck to Skokie Shop from the CRRC factory on the Southeast Side of Chicago on June 9, 2022. (Photo by Graham Garfield)

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7000-series car 7016 is in the process of being delivered to Skokie Shop in this view on June 9, 2022. CTA railcars can be moved by truck using specially-designed "low-boy" trailers that sit closer to the roadway to improve clearance under bridges, viaducts and other overhead obstructions, and have rails on the flatbed for the car to sit on. (Photo by Graham Garfield)

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The truck carrying newly-built 7000-series car 7016 has arrived at Skokie Shop on June 9, 2022, and personnel are preparing to unload the car from the truck onto a yard track. The specially-designed trailer used to transport the car has rails in the flatbed that the car sits on, and a special rail ramp attachment can bridge the rails on the trailer and a track, allowing the car to be rolled (in a controlled fashion) directly off the truck and onto the CTA tracks. (Photo by Graham Garfield)

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Two recently-delivered 7000-series cars, 7014 (right) and 7017 (left), stand outside Skokie Shop on June 18, 2022. In mid-2022, CTA allowed delivery of additional 7000-series units before production officially began as testing of the cars continued. (Photo by Graham Garfield)

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Pre-production 7000-series cars 7014 (right) and 7017 (left) are on yard tracks at Skokie Shop, CTA's rail heavy maintenance facility, on June 18, 2022. (Photo by Graham Garfield)

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Looking northeast in the yard behind Skokie Shop, two newly-delivered 7000-series units, 7018-7017 on the left and 7013-7014 behind it, sit near the shop, while Heritage Fleet 6000-series cars 6101-6102 are stored on another track farther back, on June 18, 2022. (Photo by Graham Garfield)

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Newly-delivered 7000-series car 7015 and its mate, 7016, behind it, are inside Skokie Shop on June 18, 2022, undergoing acceptance inspection and testing, verifying that the car is correctly built to specifications before CTA officially accepts it from the manufacturer. (Photo by Graham Garfield)

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A wide selection of "L" car types and vintages are inside Skokie Shop on June 18, 2022 -- from left to right, newly-delivered 7000-series car 7015; 5000-series car 5125, on a lift; and Heritage Fleet 6000-series car 6711, also on a lift undergoing an inspection and maintenance. (Photo by Graham Garfield)

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Two recently-delivered 7000-series cars, 7021 (right) and 7022, stand outside Skokie Shop on June 18, 2022. These two cars will be mates in a married-pair unit, but they have not yet been connected. Each "L" car is transported individually, and both were unloaded facing the same way, resulting in the future mates being not only separate but facing front-to-back. Shortly one of the cars will be wyed to face the other way, and both brought inside the shop to be semi-permanently connected to form a married-pair unit. (Photo by Graham Garfield)

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A stinger, properly stored in its holder so that it is kept in good repair and is easily found when needed, is seen at Skokie Yard on April 25, 2026. A stinger (formally called a "hand jumper") is a set of two four-foot long wooden handles, each having an eight-inch long metal contact rod attached and connected by a heavy-duty electrical cable. They are used when an "L" train gets stranded in a spot where none of the third rail shoes are touching the third rail and thus the train has no power to move; by touching the metal rod at one end to one of the third rail shoes of the "dead" train and the rod at the other end to the nearest third rail, the current is passed from the third rail through the stinger to the train, giving it a "jump" and enough power to get back onto live rail. Note the two 6000-series Heritage Fleet units in the background. (Photo by Graham Garfield)