Upper 61st and Lower 63rd Yards

Upper 61st and Lower 63rd Yards
Chicago "L" rapid transit yard complex
5000-series trains temporarily stored in the Upper 61st Yard, 2013
General information
Location317 East 63rd Street
Chicago, Illinois 60637
Coordinates41°46′46.304″N 87°37′5.300″W / 41.77952889°N 87.61813889°W / 41.77952889; -87.61813889
Owned byChicago Transit Authority
Line(s)East 63rd branch
History
Opened1893 (1893)
Location

The Upper 61st Yard and the Lower 63rd Yard are two connected rail yards on the Chicago "L" system, located on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois. The complex is located on the East 63rd branch, and is used to store and maintain maintenance-of-way equipment. The 61st Yard is the oldest portion of the complex, opening in 1893 to serve the steam trains of the South Side Elevated Railroad. The Lower 63rd Yard opened in 1905 as an expansion of the 61st Yard, following the electrification and rapid growth of the South Side Elevated.

The yard complex housed passenger trains until the late 1990s, when it was converted to a depot for non-revenue maintenance trains. The original maintenance shops at the complex were condemned as unsafe and demolished in 2009, and were replaced by the new Non-Revenue Rail Vehicle Maintenance Facility in 2023. In its current form, the Upper 61st/Lower 63rd yard complex stores and services the "L"'s maintenance equipment, and serves as a central depot for materials used in track repairs.