elevatedrailway

Is this Chicago?

No, New York, though this elevated railway is long gone (demolished 1940).
Taken from same spot:

This picture shows the 1915 conversion of the center express tracks at the 14th Street Station to a "hump express" configuration, whereby express trains arrived at the station on a higher track than locals. It is taken from the east side of 9th Ave., looking northwest toward 14th St. This photo from the 30's shows the finished station from the opposite side of 9th avenue, looking northwest: picasaweb.google.com/116363262722377355677/NYC9thAveEl?no... And this aerial photo from the 30's shows that the tracks were eventually enclosed and roofed over at 14th St. picasaweb.google.com/116363262722377355677/NYC9thAveEl?no...

Thank you, Artolog! The elevated trains are sometimes called by "L" in Chicagoland, which I don't actually know very well, just slightly better than New York.

Really cool history!

It's difficult to avoid thinking of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire of 1911 when viewing this photograph. Hopefully, the "Rogers/Rogers fire" of 1915 was nowhere near as deadly.

This was a series of explosions and fire at a five story building at 206 E. 19th Street, near 3rd Avenue. J.E. Rodgers Company had the first two floors, and the remaining floors stored highly explosive materials. Two people were badly injured. Note support pillars of 3rd Avenue El at right. select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F70F17F9395B1773...

The IRT Ninth Avenue Line, often called the Ninth Avenue El, was the first elevated railway in New York City. It opened in 1868 as the West Side and Yonkers Patent Railway, a cable-hauled line. It ceased operation in 1940. The last section in use, over the Harlem River, was known as the Polo Grounds Shuttle, and was closed in 1958. This portion used the now-removed Putnam Bridge swing bridge and went through a tunnel, complete with partially underground stations.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IRT_Ninth_Avenue_Line

This is taken from the west side of 9th Avenue at 13th st. looking southeast toward Little West 12th St. . The white building across the tracks is still there:
maps.google.com/maps?q=9th+avenue,+13th+street+and+hudson...
In 1915, the line updated its express stops to a "hump express" configuration, where the center express track was elevated at the express stations. Wing and Son was a piano manufacturer located at between Hudson, 9th Ave and 13th St.
The 9th Ave. El was demolished in 1940.