Kemil Road station

Kemil Road was a South Shore Line flag stop located at the corner of Kemil Road and U.S. 12 in Porter County, Indiana. The stop was located at the eastern edge of the Indiana Dunes State Park. It was established in 1977 on the initiative of South Shore Recreation, a citizens group, and closed in 1994.

Kemil Road
General information
LocationKemil Rd. and U.S. 12
Porter County, Indiana
Coordinates41°39′48.14″N 87°0′34.6″W
Owned byNICTD
Tracks1
Other information
Fare zone7
History
Opened1977
ClosedJuly 5, 1994
Electrified1500v DC
Services
Preceding station NICTD Following station
Dune Park
toward Randolph Street
 South Shore Line Beverly Shores
toward South Bend Airport

History

The original Chicago, Lake Shore and South Bend Railway, which opened in 1908, included a stop named Keiser at the same location as Kemil Road.[1] With the opening of the Indiana Dunes State Park in the 1920s Keiser was at the southeast corner of the park.[2]

The stop closed prior to 1977. That year, the newly formed South Shore Recreation group pressed the Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad to create a flag stop at Kemil Road to improve access to the park. The Tremont station, further west, served the park's main entrance, but the Kemil Road location would let passengers directly into the park's interior.[3]

The railroad estimated the cost of the stop at $700 but initially refused to pay for it. After Lois Weisberg, one of the group's founders, wrote a personal check to cover the cost, the railroad agreed to pay in exchange for Weisberg moderating her public criticism of the railroad and its president, Albert Dudley.[4][5] The new stop consisted of a gravel platform adjacent to the road. Contemporary marketing materials showed trail systems linking Kemil Road with Dune Acres, a station at the west edge of the park.[4][5]

The stop closed on July 5, 1994, as part of an NICTD service revision which also saw the closure of Ambridge, Willard Avenue, LaLumiere, Rolling Prairie, and New Carlisle.[6]

References
  1. Electric Railways of Indiana. Chicago, Illinois: Central Electric Railfans' Association. 1960. p. I-63.
  2. Lyon, Jr., Marcus Ward (March 1930). "List of flowering plants and ferns in the Dunes State Park and vicinity, Porter County, Indiana, Supplement". The American Midland Naturalist. XII (2): 35. doi:10.2307/2420166.
  3. "A fun way to save a railroad". Chicago Tribune. August 7, 1977. Retrieved October 10, 2015.
  4. Laue, John Paul (1998). "South Shore Recreation: A Fun Way to Save a Railroad". In Cohen, Ronald D.; McShane, Stephen G. (eds.). Moonlight in Duneland: The Illustrated Story of the Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad. Indiana University Press. pp. 35–36. ISBN 0-253-33418-7. OCLC 38862554.
  5. "Group to Pay for Dunes Rail Stop". Tribune. July 17, 1977. p. 7. Retrieved October 10, 2015 – via Newspapers.com. open access
  6. Dodson, Paul (June 17, 1994). "South Shore Railroad Will Close 7 Flagstops". South Bend, IN: South Bend Tribune. p. B2.
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