On May 1st, 1998, John Mika posted a message to the rec.model.railroad newsgroup announcing his new web site, "The Lakewood Branch". He was looking for information on street running operations in the northern Chicago area. Over the next several months, while John added to his site, he gained a small but enthusiastic following. Unlike typical railroad articles that are simply information dumps, John was able to capture fleeting moments and make them seem special(1). Meeting noted rail historian and author Tom Burke help John add to and expand his site. His last update was posted on August 3, 2000. Sadly, John died in April 2001. Those that knew John through acquaintance or simple email remember him as a generous person who was happy to share his beloved Lakewood Branch web site with the Internet community.
Tom Mann came across John's site in October 2001 while searching for ideas on n-scale model railroads. Tom was originally drawn to the site because of the lead photograph depicting a Milwaukee Road MP15 cruising down Lakewood Ave. "That photo captured my imagination, and I quickly began to learn more about the locations and areas on Mr. Mika's site." Mr. Burke contacted Mr. Mann in January 2002, and together they began to plan for a new web site with the goal of expanding Mr. Mika's ideas of a valuable information resource on Chicago's rapidly disappearing north side switching operations.
In the summer of 2002, planning continued on assimilating Mr. Mika's site into a much broader site. Mr. Mann: "We liked the way John organized his site into a list of walking tours, and we wanted to remain true to that method. We simply divided the north side into four regions to further organize the content." Tom Burke suggested changing the name to Chicago North Side Switching Operations (or Chicago's North Side Switching) to better capture the site's purpose. Almost four and a half years after John Mika created the Lakewood Branch site, version 1 of Chicago Switching went live on July 22, 2002.
Today, the Chicago North Side Switching Operations web site receives thousands of visitors from around the world. Log files detailing usage are analyzed every month, updates are posted regularly, and more people come forward each month with photographs or information to share. Visitors include model railroaders, railfans, urban explorers, and real estate developers.
Naturally, we think that John would be pleased if he could see what his idea has led to.
(1) See Afternoon Train on Carroll Avenue in the downtown section.