Chicago Elevated Railways Collateral Trust

Chicago Elevated Railways Collateral Trust Soundex Code C220

In 1913 Chicago's four elevated railroad companies, the South Side Elevated Railroad, the Lake Street Elevated Railroad, the Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad, and (after 1900) the Northwestern Elevated Railroad, came together to form the Chicago Elevated Railways Collateral Trust establishing crosstown services for the first time. This association lasted until 1924 when the Chicago Rapid Transit Company was formed.

The Chicago Elevated Railways Collateral Trust, formed in 1913 as a voluntary association of the city's four elevated lines: the Chicago & South Side Rapid Transit Railroad (opened 1892); the Lake Street Elevated Railway Co. (1893); the Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad (1895); and the Northwestern Elevated Railroad (1899). These early elevated lines had been led by Chicago transit king Charles T. Yerkes (who died in 1905), among others. The Chicago Rapid Transit Co., which was led by Chicago utilities titan Samuel Insull, was created in 1924 after a formal merger among the lines associated in the Chicago Elevated Railways.