Erie Railroad Carfloat Operations in Chicago, 1920

The Erie Railroad had a small carfloat operation in Chicago for moving freight up and down the North and South Branches of the Chicago river. Fox Movietone News cameras went along for the ride one day in September, 1920. The silent film has degraded somewhat in the years since, but it is nonetheless a fascinating snapshot of just how built-up and industrialized this part of Chicago was then. Erie's carfloat operations in Chicago were written up in the November 2, 1917 issue of Railway Age. You can read it here: https://books.google.com/books?id=I0Y... The small locomotive seen in this film is a gasoline-powered switcher built by Baldwin. You can read a full description of it here: https://books.google.com/books?id=jSM...