Ride the Rails and Learn Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana History

Did you know that during its 90-mile-long run, trains on the South Shore pass near or through two units of the National Park Service (NPS), two affiliated NPS units, and four state parks – including the Indiana Dunes and Potato Creek? Did you know that the South Shore Line has been deemed America’s last electric interurban railroad and is more than 100 years old? Where does the South Shore cross the path of Abraham Lincoln’s famed funeral train between Washington, D.C. and Illinois? For answers and more information on all of these topics - and much more - you’ll have to join the Midwest Rail Rangers for an upcoming ‘history talk’ on the South Shore Line.

If you are interested in riding, check the Midwest Rail Rangers’ website - www.RailRangers.org - for a listing of upcoming program dates. They currently include: January 5, January 19, January 26, February 2, February 23, February 24, March 2, March 9, March 23, April 6, April 13, and April 27. Eastbound onboard programs are presented on the train that leaves Chicago-Millennium Station at 8:40am CT and westbound programs are presented on the train that leaves South Bend Airport Station at 1:05pm ET. Rail Rangers programs are presented in only one car of the train, where seating is strictly available on a first-come, first-serve basis. Reservations are not needed and programs are presented at no additional charge to passengers who hold a valid South Shore Line ticket. The round-trip cost between Chicago and South Bend for adults is just $28.50!

The Rail Rangers’ onboard educational programs are great for families too as up to three children thirteen (13) years of age or under ride the South Shore Line free when accompanied by a parent on all weekend, holiday and off-peak trains. Select programs also feature a ‘Junior Rail Rangers’ program, where children, teens, and even kids at heart can earn a prize by completing an activity book that aids in their learning of Chicago and Indiana history.

If you can’t make one of the Midwest Rail Rangers’ formal on-board educational programs you can still learn about the route. The organization has released a detailed 120-page route guidebook, e-book, and MP3 podcast covering the landmarks along the South Shore Line route; it is available for sale at www.MidwestRails.com. Proceeds fund the organization’s expenses in presenting programs between Chicago and South Bend.

Markovitz to Celebrate 20 Years of South Shore Line Posters with Gallery Talk in Hammond

Posted on June 1, 2017
Author Michael Gallenberger, WKVI

Art and train enthusiasts will have a chance to learn more about the popular South Shore Line posters this weekend. Knox resident Mitch Markovitz is the artist behind the “Just Around the Corner” poster series. To celebrate its 20th anniversary, he’ll host a gallery talk Saturday morning at 10:30 at the Indiana Welcome Center in Hammond. “I’ll explain how we construct a poster basically, not exactly how to do one but the basic steps in putting one together,” he says, “and the various sponsors and the areas we’ve portrayed.”

Markovitz says the idea to relaunch the South Shore poster campaign first came to him back in the 1970s, when he was working in Wisconsin. “I had always known about the South Shore Line posters from the ’20s and always felt they had a timeless quality about them, that if you were to use them in advertising now, they’d be just as relevant as they were in the ’20s, and I was homesick for Indiana at the time,” he explains. “So I made two large oil paintings, copying two already-existing posters that were done in the ’20s.”

Eventually, Markovitz moved back to Indiana and became the South Shore Line’s art and advertising director. He created a poster commemorating the retirement of the old orange South Shore cars in 1984, as well as three paintings for different events in Miller Beach.

But he says a full relaunch of the South Shore Line posters didn’t take off until 1996, when two IU Northwest professors wanted to put together a book about the old posters. “At the same time, John Davies, who was the vice-president of marketing for the Northwest Indiana Forum, was looking for a new way to promote Northwest Indiana to Chicago, the country, and the rest of the world, as an opportunity for development,” Markovitz says. “So they got the idea that perhaps they should start a new series of South Shore Line posters, and they contacted me.”

Markovitz says the new series officially kicked off on June 10, 1997, and its first poster, sponsored by NIPSCO, was unveiled that October. In total, 100 posters have been created as part of the “Just Around the Corner” series. The most recent, called “Cheers to Region Beer” was sponsored by 22 of Northwest Indiana’s craft breweries. Beyond those, Markovitz says his personal favorites include his Miller Beach and Family Express posters.

Saturday’s gallery talk will take place at the Indiana Welcome Center at 7770 Corinne Drive in Hammond, near I-80/94 and Kennedy Avenue.

Artist Mitch Markovich in his Knox studio