Day 184: The Wildcat Station

     By the beginning of 1912, the Northwestern Elevated was seeking to expand its operations northward. Just one problem emerged from that  proposal. The leadership of the village of Wilmette balked at the idea. But much like Mayor Daley would do 91 years later, little things like the disapproval of local government wasn't about to stop the Northwestern El.  And so, on the night of April 1, 1912, the railroad sent in its workers to build a new station at the location under cover of darkness. When commuters woke up on the morning of the 2nd, they were greeted by an entirely new transit station. As you might be able to guess, the village powers that be were none too amused with the stunt that the Northwestern had pulled, and they immediately went to court over the matter. Ultimately, there was enough support for the station from the community that the station stayed around.

     Much the same thing happened 10 years later when the Northwestern tried to enhance the station. Once again, the railroad won out, and a new station was built at the site. Eventually it was decided to replace the ramshackle wildcat stations with more permanent structures. The architect who was hired had worked on several station designs previously, so he was an experienced fellow.

     After going through some minor changes in its first few years, the station was due for a major change up in the 1980s. At that time, it was deemed that the station, being 70 years old by that point, could no longer keep up with the demands of everyday commuter traffic. And so, work was begun in 1991 on a new station. At the same time, there were expansions being made to the train yard that was attached to the Linden station. All of these projects took about two years, at which point the old station was closed and service was switched to the new one.

     It was at this point that the focus turned to the preservation of the old station house.  Much like the Skokie station house, the house at Linden was renovated, but preserved. The CTA agreed to chip in $90,000 for the restoration, with the rest being paid for by whoever did the restoration. A tenant was eventually found in a local bank, who spent $350,000 to completely renovate the exterior of the station. On April 28, 2012, there was a ceremony held to commemorate 100 years of service to Linden which featured much pomp and circumstance, as well as speeches by dignitaries.