What is the history of the old railroad tunnel between 40th and 42nd S Western Blvd in Chicago?

Answer 1

I have still not seen the tunnel you refer to, however, I have spoken with a couple rail people, and the have told me that it was highly unlikely that this was a freight line due to the fact that the railroads had right of way to go above ground, and they usually avoid tunneling in case of an accident or derailment it makes it difficult to access the train. My theory is that it may have been a narrow guage to serve the factories around there. If you look at the remaining buildings, there was Westinghouse elec., Goodyear tire, Albert Pick etc.