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Back Issues
Many back issues of First & Fastest are available. A few of the older issues are out of print and unavailable from us. However, copies may occasionally be found in the classifieds of First & Fastest. The following list contains only part of the contents of each issue. Every issue also has many other items about the Chicagoland electric railways, plus each of the departments listed on the First & Fastest main page.
Want to order back issues? Click here!
1996-1998 | 1999-2001 | 2002-2004 | 2005-Present
Special Inserts
ORDERING BACK ISSUES
1996-98 Issues
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Spring 1996:
Streetcars, interurbans and the 'L' at 63rd and Halsted, "By North Shore--to Ohio!" Door arrangements in the prewar PCCs, experiencing Gary Railways in the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s, downtown Chicago in HO scale, and more! |
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Summer 1996:
Wells Street Terminal on the 'L' and CA&E, 140 years of suburban service on the Illinois Central, people made the South Shore "my favorite railroad," "Moving the House" across the North Shore Line, and more! |
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Autumn 1996:
North Shore steel cars ran on the CA&E, Madison Street cars in the suburbs, the Westchester 'L,' the Green Line reopens, the East Chicago bypass is 40 years old, and more! |
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Winter 1996-97:
Chicago Surface Lines snow sweepers, "Making Up Time" on the North Shore, the last fantrip on the West Towns, a cold Saturday with the CA&E in Elgin, how South Shore cars 10 and 29 became 110-111, and more! |
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Spring 1998:
CA&E's schedules in 1953-56, Milwaukee's 6th & Clybourn, single-end Chicago streetcars, the West Towns' last car line, the end of the car line at Whitefish Bay (Wis.), and more! |
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Summer 1998:
Milwaukee Electric's temporary crossovers in downtown Racine, the last two streetcar lines in Illinois, "Big-City Service" on the CA&E at Wheaton, Kenilworth 99 years ago, Taylor-Sedgwick-Sheffield streetcars, and more! |
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Autumn 1998:
The South Shore's "Big Hook," the 71st Street car line, a tree-shaded streetcar junction in South Bend, CA&E cars on the North Shore, how to run a trolley bus on a car track, the interurban today at Cedarburg (Wis.), and more! |
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Winter 1998-99:
"The Dinky" in Milwaukee, freight on the Chicago & West Towns, plans for a streetcar at Kenosha (Wis.), what is tram rail? Discontinued 'L' lines, a North Shore freight crew gets even with Conductor Hosenose, and more! |
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Spring 1999:
Streetcars detour subway construction, tryouts of CA&E's last new cars, Racine Tower on the North Shore, Chicago's streetcar trailers, South Shore cabooses, detective work on the Metropolitan 'L,' trolley wheel troubles, a Rockford (Ill.) streetcar survivor, and more! |
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Summer 1999:
A 17-year-old's interurban trip in 1926, CA&E's "boomer" locomotives, 79th and Halsted, more about the streetcar trailers, an unusual Illinois Central paint job, The Milwaukee Electric in Kenosha, and more! |
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Autumn 1999:
A fast run with North Shore locomotive 458, South Shore catenary work, the CA&E in Aurora, changes in the CTA 2600s, the Chicago Aurora & DeKalb, the North California Avenue streetcar shuttle, and more! |
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Winter 1999-2000:
Riding the "Skokie Slow," where Chicago's small streetcars operated, the West Towns' last winter on Madison Street, CTA's advertising cars, the South Shore at night, switching North Shore cars at Howard, and more! |
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Spring 2000:
Streetcars in CTA's first 15 months, an 'L' train in Elmhurst, special West Towns paint jobs, the past meets the present in South Bend, the CTA Blue Line today, Kenosha's new carbarn, a Milwaukee Electric station, and more! |
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Summer 2000:
The South Shore's Ideal Section, the IC and streetcars in Windsor Park, a CA&E special to Pottawatomie Park, the North Shore's Henry Cordell tells how to run a shop, fenders and wheel guards, and more! |
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Winter 2000-01:
CA&E's newest cars in service in factory paint, the Chicago streetcar system in 1949-50, a 12-year-old's Electroliner odyssey, East Troy roster, Kenwood 'L' trivia, Loren Shufelt remembers a long CA&E freight train, Sandy Goodrick rides South Bend interurbans, and more! |
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Spring 2001:
Chicago & West Towns cars 105-106, the North Shore Line and the Army at Lake Forest in 1943-44, Chicago Surface Lines route numbers, the new South Shore Line bridge over the NYC in 1966, and more! |
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Summer 2001:
NSL Bridge Trouble in Milwaukee, CA&E Car 320 on the Midwest Electric Railway and on the Chicago Aurora & Elgin, Lightweight Interurban Cars in Rockford, The Return of the Small St. Louis Cars to CSL, Freight Service on the "L", North Side "L" at the Time of Track Elevation, and more! |
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Autumn 2001:
The North Shore Line Girls' Service Club, Wacker Drive, Active PCCs on the Rapid Transit in the 21st Century, The Tale of Two Trolleys, Double Complications Where the South Shore and Car Lines Crossed, Over Half of the Streetcar Lines are Eliminated: Streetcars in the CTA Era Part 3, and more! |
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Winter 2001-02:
A big change in the appearance of the South Shore Line's Chicago terminal, Glen Ellyn: Just Another Suburban Town?, Fighting Snow on the Chicago Surface Lines, Christmastime in the Calumet: A 1926 Trip Through Northwestern Indiana Snow, Cut-and-Cover Subway Construction on Milwaukee Avenue, and more! |
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Spring 2002:
Market Square: Downtown Kenosha in Four Transit Eras; Train Time at Beverly Shores, Indiana, August 9, 1942; The Chicago & Joliet Electric Railway's Interurban Line; Streetcars to Hill and Back on 111th Street; 10th Street: Car 509 Forms a Temporary Station; George V. Campbell, 1911-2001; Russ Porter, 1918-2001; Taxi Service on 79th Street: Personal Streetcar Service, and more! |
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Summer 2002:
Pride of the Fleet: The Chicago Surface Lines' Silver Car 3320; A Third Rail Interurban Turns 100; Displaying the National Spirit on 'L' Cars; CA&E Car 434: Restoration at the Seashore Trolley Museum; Down in thw Hole: North Shore Line in the Subway; Ravenswood-Rosehill: An Outlying Streetcar Terminal; and more! |
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Autumn 2002:
55 Years of Progress in Rolling Stock on the Logan Square Elevated -- Practically Overnight in 1950; Hanging Around the Junction: Observing Everything from Sleek Electroliners to Mundane Birneys; The Kedzie Avenue Bridge over the Sanitary and Ship Canal; The South Shore's Extra 1001 Clears at New Carlisle, Indiana; Wood-Body Cars 435-436 Mixed with All-Steel Cars in CA&E Trains; and more! |
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Winter 2002-03:
Never Say Never: Mid-Train Adds on the NSL; Major Lines Abandoned with PCCs; Readers Revisit the Chicago-Joliet Interurban; Kane County's Newest Rail Line; Joe L. Diaz (1924-2002); Peter Vesic (1955-2002) and more! |
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Spring 2003:
Streetcars along Chicago's 67th Street; Miller: A Station in Gary, Indiana; More Bridge Problems for the North Shore Line; Illinois Railway Museum Holds Annual July 4 Trolley Pageant; The West Towns Modernized with Paint in 1938-40; Harbor Street, Glencoe: A "Co-Op" Grade Crossing and more! |
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Summer 2003:
"Saturday Night Leftovers": CA&E Trains Looked Like a Cleanout of the Icebox; A Decade of the Red Line and Green Line; Milwaukee Avenue, Kenosha: Streetcars 14-19; Auburn Park Album: Streetcars at 79th and Halsted Streets; Ralph A. Forty, 1932-2003; William E. Robertson, 1920-2003; and more! |
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Autumn 2003:
A Young Boy Discovers the North Shore Line; Last Link to the Interurban Era; Commuting to Great Lakes; People of the Illinois Central; Wells Street Terminal; At the Highwood Pit; The Avenue, Blue Island Avenue Streetcars; and more! |
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Winter 2003-04:
The Interurban Experience; Indiana Railroad Memories: New High-Speed Cars; Running Railroad Crossings on the Chicago Surface Lines; Once Upon a Time in Chicagoland (and beyond); Two Crossings to LaGrange; Gresham Memories; and more! |
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Spring 2004:
Humboldt Park: The Little Branch Line Cherished by Many; Fun at the Fall Colors Spectacular; Growing Up on the North Shore and along the North Shore Line, Part 2; Henry Cordell and the One-Man Safety Car; Downtown Waukegan: Then and Now; Special Insert: Dempster Street Station; Marengo Revisited; Remembering the CA&E, Part 1; and more! |
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Summer 2004:
Ravinia Park: The North Shore Line's Most Enduring Asset; Men, Minds & Machines: Notes From the Milwaukee Yardmaster; The TM at West Junction; Special Insert: The Bloomington, Pontiac & Joliet Electric Railway Company; Happy 100th Birthday, Crandic!; Bob Mehlenbeck's Streetcars; 5th Avenue Maywood; Crossing Disputes Between the AE&C Railway and the Suburban Railroad; Ed Allen & the Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railroad; The Chatty Train Went Quiet; and more! |
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Autumn 2004:
COVER FEATURE: Streetcars in the Chicago Transit Authority Era: Part 5, The Demise of the Red Rockets; Getting All Steamed-Up on the "L"; The TM at West Junction; Special Insert: Indiana Railroad, A Model of Quality Service to Customers; Bulletins on the Chicago, Lake Shore, and South Bend; Red Devils & Highspeeds; One of John Humiston's Early Targets - the Chicago & West Towns Railways; Milwaukee's Route 15; and more! |
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Winter 2004-05:
COVER FEATURE: The Public Service Building, Growing up along the North Shore Line, part 3, The Kenosha Kid, Remembering the CA&E, Part 2, Childhood Memories of the CA&E, Special Insert: Early Color on Chicagoland's Electric Railways, Train from Tremont, People of Illinois Central, Streetcars on Lake Shore Drive |
2005-Present Issues
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Spring 2005:
COVER FEATURE: The 1979 CTA Strike, A brief history of Lake Street Elevated RR Steam Locomotive 9, Hangin around the tower: an essay of John. F. Humiston photos, South Shore Line in the late 1930s, Men, Minds, and Machines - a barrel full of band music, Streetcars at Navy Pier, Getting "skunked" on Speedrail, End of the Line - Yellow Line Catenary |
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Summer 2005:
COVER FEATURE: The Shore Line - 50 Years Later, Chicago Surface Lines Goes to War, When Viaducts become Aqueducts, New Job and New Home, Why Traction Will Never Die, Iowa Traction CA&E Style, Wilson Avenue: Uptown Union Station, Kramble's First Job |
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Autumn 2005:
COVER FEATURE: Bob Mehlenbeck: 1913-2005, Shore Line Contributors, Bob Collins Visits Milwaukee, Done With Dispatch, Chicago & West Towns Car 141, John Humiston's Favorite Targets, Rrrroarin' Elgin" on the Rrrrapid, The Rapid Transit and Freight Trains, BONUS INSERT: Indiana Railroad: The Interurban Experience, The Fox & Illinois Union Railway Company |
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Winter 2005-06:
COVER FEATURE: Please Don't Snag the Hangers, The Rockford & Interurban Railway, The Best Job I Ever Had: Reminiscences of John Hines, Motorman on the Rockford & Interurban Railway, My Streetcar Memories, The Alley "L" on the Prairie, BONUS INSERT: More Early Color on Chicagoland's Electric Railways, You Are a Train Operator on the Indiana Railroad. |
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Spring 2006:
COVER FEATURE: The G&CU Contemplates Inaugurating Commutation Service to Geneva, Streetcars in the Chicago Transit Authority Era: Part 6, 1955-58: The End of the Line, An Interurban That Thrived in Two Thousand Five, SouthShore Freight: Strong Revenues from Diversified Commodities, Isabella: The Beloved Bucolic Rapid Transit Station, The CTA was my babysitter! Or, wide-eyed memories of Isabella Street, A Weekend Project: The Roll-In of Main Street Viaduct |
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Summer 2006:
COVER FEATURE: Train from Randolph Street - 150 years of service on the Illinois Central and Metra Electric, Chicago and West Towns Car 141, A Wisconsin Interurban Returns to the Rails, Over the Channel and Through the Woods to Wilmette, A Tale of Three Stations in Wisconsin, Summer Fun on the CA&E, The Hoosierland, Isabella follow-up |
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Autumn 2006:
COVER FEATURE: North Shore Line's Last Summer, On the Streets of Milwaukee, Streetcar Shoo-Fly, The Streetcars May Be Gone, but the Jargon Endures, Pullman Green Suburban Trains to Blue Island, Getting Trojan Fans to South Bend, From the Elevated to the Streets, Donors and Recipients - Car Equipment Component Swaps on the Indiana Railroad, Highwood 1949 |
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Winter 2006-07:
Timetables of the TMER&L - Part One, SouthShore Freight Inspection Train, Done with Despatch - North Shore Merchandise Despatch Service - Part Two, Pekin, Aurora Terminal, September 2, 1940, How we rode to work in Chicago in the 1950s - Street, elevated, interurban and suburban railways, Who is on the Cover |
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Spring 2007: Land of the Burlingtons, My Visit to Michigan City Shops, North Shore Line's Last Summer, Streetcars in the 1930s, Arthur Gerber: Insull's Transit Architect, North Shore Line Mysteries, Insulls Smaller Empire |
Special Inserts
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Dempster Station Gets a Second Chance
Published: Spring 2004
A detailed look at the history and architectural design of Dempster station, including its recent relocation, renovation, and adaptive reuse. |
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The Bloomington Pontiac & Joliet Electric Railway Company
Published: Summer 2004
The story of a central Illinois electric that was intended to stretch from Chicago to St. Louis but never reached its namesake cities. |
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Indiana Railroad
Published: Autumn 2004
One of the nation's premier interurbans, known for their high-quality freight and passenger service. |
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Early Color on Chicagoland's Electric Railways
Published: Winter 2004-05
Eye-catching, rare full-color photos of Chicagoland's most famous interurbans, electric railways, and streetcar lines. |
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Wilson Avenue: Uptown Union Station
Published: Summer 2005
The story of one of the "L"'s most unique and varied stations, including the detailing of the different facilities, discussion of architectural design, site maps, and numerous rare photos. |
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Indiana Railroad: The Interurban Experience
Published: Autumn 2005
Our follow-up publication on the famous Indiana Railroad, including detailed track maps. |
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More Early Color on Chicagoland's Electric Railways
Published: Winter 2005-06
Even more eye-catching, rare full-color photos of Chicagoland's most famous interurbans, electric railways, and streetcar lines. |
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How we rode to work in Chicago in the 1950s
Published: Winter 2006-07
Street, elevated, interurban, and suburban railways illustrated in 16 pages of full color. |
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Arthur Gerber: Insull's Transit Architect
Published: Spring 2007
Illustrates the life and work of architect Arthur Gerber, who designed many of the structures for the Insull controlled lines in Chicago. |
Ordering Back Issues
Did you see a back issue or two that caught your attention? Then order one for your own collection! Just follow these simple steps!
- Print out the back issue brochure located here in PDF format.
(Download Acrobat Reader)
- Complete the order form on the back page of the brochure.
- Fill in your shipping address. Make your check or money order payable to the Shore Line Interurban Historical Society.
- Send your order to:
Shore Line
PO Box 425
Lake Forest IL 60045-0425
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From left: The Winter 2002-03, Winter 2003-04, and Summer 2006 issues of First & Fastest. |
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