Map of the West Chicago Street Railroad

Yerkes’ West Chicago Street Railroad in the midst of the Traction Wars.

The West Chicago Street Railroad was a relatively short-lived traction company that operated as one of three streetcar operations serving different portions of the city in the late 19th century. It was organized by the transportation magnate Charles Yerkes, who would soon wage an uphill political battle for control over the entirety of Chicago’s streetcar system.

This map shows the network of the WCSR the year before it was merged into the Chicago Union Traction Company. Published in an 1898 issue of Street Railways.