Not Chicago, but here’s a couple of related historical anecdotes about 19th century Baltimore’s similar railroad problem: - The Baltimore Riots of 1861 occurre

Not Chicago, but here’s a couple of related historical anecdotes about 19th century Baltimore’s similar railroad problem: - The Baltimore Riots of 1861 occurred as northern soldiers from Massachusetts and Pennsylvania had to March between Camden Station (now the baseball stadium site) and President Street station to connect to Washington DC - President-elect Lincoln had to travel incognito and at night to avoid assassins as he had to connect between the same two stations in Baltimore on the way to his inauguration. Baltimore was such a hotbed of civil unrest and an important strategic location that cannons were placed by the Union on Federal Hill pointed at the city within range of both railroad stations. Railroad interconnections (gauge and ownership) have been a problem in many places since the beginning. The U.S. was (and still is in many ways) the “Wild West” of commercial development (backed in no small part by London investors), and the building of the railroads was perhaps the most crazy, frenzied, back-room corrupt development of the 19th century. An interesting (but long) read: “Railroaded”, by Richard White.