The Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad (reporting mark CNSM), also known as the North Shore Line, was an interurban railroad that operated passenger and freight service over an route between the Chicago Loop and downtown Milwaukee, as well as an branch line between the villages of Lake Bluff and Mundelein, Illinois. The North Shore Line also provided streetcar, city bus and motor coach services along its interurban route. Extensively improved under the one time ownership of Samuel Insull, the North Shore Line was notable for its high operating speeds and substantial physical plant, as well as innovative services such as its pioneering "ferry truck" operations and its streamlined Electroliner trainsets. Author and railroad historian William D. Middleton described the North Shore Line as a "super interurban" and opined that its cessation of rail service marked the end of the "interurban era" in the United States. Since 1964 the Yellow Line of the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) has operated over a short segment of the former main line from Chicago to Skokie, Illinois. Operating examples of North Shore Line rolling stock have been preserved in railroad museums, and the former Dempster Street Station is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Route Interurban lines Chicago Division (Shore Line Route) The Shore Line Route was a main line which ran through the North Shore region from Linden Avenue in Wilmette to North Chicago Junction, parallel to Sheridan Road and the Old Line subdivision of the Chicago and North Western Railway (C&NW). A freight interchange connection was made with the C&NW at North Chicago, though freight service was not permitted to operate on the line south of Highland Park. The Shore Line Route was almost entirely double-tracked, aside from a short segment of gauntlet track in Glencoe, and included several segments of street running. Power was supplied by overhead trolley wire. Between 1938 and 1941, of the line through Glencoe and Winnetka were rebuilt as part of a Public Works Administration grade separation project which included the installation of automatic block signaling and overhead catenary along the improved section. Passenger service on the Shore Line Route was discontinued in 1955, after which it was abandoned south of Elm Place in Highland Park, reduced to a single-track line, and utilized for exclusively for freight service, as well as non-revenue access to the company facilities at Highwood. Skokie Division (Skokie Valley Route) The