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NUTC Sandhouse Rail Group presents Norman Carlson, Carlson Consulting LLC to discuss "A Transportation Miracle" - JOIN US!

In June 1926, the Archdiocese of Chicago hosted the 28th International Eucharistic Congress. Over 1,000,000 people, coming from around the world, participated. In the words of Gary Johnson, President of the Chicago History Museum, “the Congress was one of the three great events that put Chicago on the map as an international city.”

The logistics of moving 600,000 people to and from Chicago as well as moving them within the city and to and from Mundelein Seminary for the closing ceremonies is testimony to the vision and planning George Cardinal Mundelein. During the three days of meetings Chicago Surface Lines provided 15 million rides. The North Shore Line borrowed 3,936 Chicago Rapid Transit trainmen and 932 cars to provide over 275,000 trips on June 24, 1926. North Western, Milwaukee Road and Soo Line joined in this effort to move people to and from the closing ceremonies at Mundelein Seminary.

Samuel Insull, who represented the “non-Catholics” of Chicago, provided a virtual army of employees from his utility entities to assist. New York Central operated a Cardinals Special from New York City to Chicago, as did the North Shore Line from Wilson Avenue to Mundelein. Marshall Field and Company provided the fabric and personnel to decorate North Shore’s train.

Five years of research and over 100 photos are presented in A Transportation Miracle. This 100-page publication will be available at the presentation for a donation of $20.00 to the Shore Line Interurban Historical Society. The editor will be happy to sign your copy.

BIO: Norm is Sandhouse Group’s moderator and a member of the Transportation Center’s Business Advisory Committee. He is the Managing Editor of First & Fastest, the quarterly magazine of the Shore Line Interurban Historical Society of which serves as the president. He and his wife actively support Catholic Charities and Norm serves as a pro bono advisor to the City of Lake Forest on transportation matter. After graduating from the University of Illinois, Norm served in Vietnam and joined Arthur Andersen & Co. For 11 year of his 34 years at Andersen he served as the Worldwide Managing Partner of its Transportation Industry Practice. He was recently elected to a four-year term as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Metra, the commuter rail authority in the Chicago region.