That's what it looks like, electric power for the cars after being disconnected from the locomotive and power cars. Those would be taken to the Roundhouse and Service Line, respectively, to be serviced in between runs.

I took my camera to the Loop this morning. The second shot is approximately the same view as the Shorpy photo. The first photo shows the exterior - the trains are on the 2nd floor above Washington Street.

The 42-story Citicorp Center (née Northwestern Atrium Center) replaced the 1911 terminal building in the mid-1980s.

Regarding the cleanliness - the station was built in 1911, so the Shorpy photo depicts a shiny brand-new station.

I love it when you click on a pic and it just keeps getting bigger, clearer, better...

Definitely a First-Class post.

My wife, who recently retired after going through there twice a day for 15 years, says "God help you if you get in a cab and ask for Ogilvie Center." Tracks 3 and 4 usually run out the west line.

The device hanging from the ciling that looks like some kind of electrical plug on two cables, on a reel. What is it? "Shore power" for the train lights?

Anonymous Tipster is right on. I'm in this station twice a day as I commute to my office in Chicago and this spot looks truly the same today. Incredible detail.

Although the name was changed to the Ogilvie Station a few years ago, most Chicagoans still refer to this as the "Northwestern Station."

Okay, I keep coming back and looking at this. Love the ghostly figures--wonderful stuff.

This particular section of what is now called Ogilvie Station looks very much the same today.

Cropping most of the upper half and a bit off the bottom creates a very dramatic and mysterious vision.

for 1904

I am amazed at the cleanliness of the place. This is a railway station, for heaven's sake ! ... Think about the coal powered locomotives, the careless passengers, the overwhelming vendors ... And not a stray paper in sight.