South Shore; "The Little Train That Could".

• Author: James, Richard E.
• Position: The South Shore Railroad

The history of the South Shore Railroad is perhaps as diverse as the people it serves.

The 87-year-old commuter railroad rambles 88 miles from South Bend through the posh Lake Michigan shoreline communities of Beverly Shores and Ogden Dunes, near the smokestacks of USS Gary Works, through South Chicago ghettos where open windows are an arm's length away, to Randolph Street in Chicago's Loop and some of the highest-priced real estate in the nation.

By rights, the South Shore should be a thing of the past. It wasn't until seven years ago that 1926 cars were replaced by stainless-steel cars. The South Shore is, after all, the the only remaining interurban commuter rail line in the country. It also is the only commuter rail line in the United States that operates without the benefit of a local subsidy.

Through the tough times, and there have been many the last two decades, it has become known as the "Little Train That Could."

The South Shore now can, and will, according to its operators, largely because of an agreement that took effect Dec. 30, 1989. That agreement provides for the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District (NICTD) to purchase the railroad's passenger service, track and right-of-way.

The NICTD is a public agency created by the Indiana General Assembly in 1977 to save the railroad from extinction during one of its many crises in recent years. The NICTD is made up of elected officials representing Lake, Porter, LaPorte and St. Joseph counties, the four in Indiana served by the railroad. The governor also has an appointment.

Former owners repeatedly had petitioned the Interstate Commerce Commission in the past 15 years to abandon the South Shore passenger service, a losing operation, and keep the profitable freight service. In retrospect, that adversity is the best thing that has happened to the South Shore.

"There now is no threat of shutting down the service," says Kenneth R. Peterson, an administrator with the transportation district.

The Chessie System, which today is known as CSX Corp., bought the railroad in 1967 and sold it in 1984 to Venango River Corp., a Chicago-based holding company. Venango primarily was interested in the freight operation and the prime location of South Shore track, which fit into Venango's overall freight plan.

Venango and NICTD never got along, largely because of a disagreement over the amount of money the transportation district owed Venango. Meanwhile, Venango was having financial problems...