Calling all Chicagoians, Part 2

[Anonymous]

1.) Ok first off what trains does BNSF/ run through Chicago on the Chicago Sub ( the BNSF Metra line)? ex. Z-CHIDEN-8-03

2.) Where is the best place on the Metra UP-West line to see UP Frieght? Also how could I get there cheapest? I live near Austin and Foster

3.) Not really Chicago but what railways have passed through Rochelle? I know that CNW BN BNSF and UP have ran trains through the famous diamonds but what other railways have ran through here?

Your help would be GREATLY appreciated.

[Anonymous]

Come on out to Lombard. You can sit in the Lombard Metra station and watch all Metra and UP freights to your hearts content.

[eolafan]

Try taking a Metra UP West Line train to West Chicago and then walking just past the station to the UP/EJ&E diamonds at the tower, great spot, and they have McDonalds and Burger King a short walk away from the station as well for some eats. Jim

[dknelson]

3) At one time the Milwaukee Road ran through Rochelle. If you look at a map, almost directly north of Rochelle is Davis Junction where the east west Milwaukee Road line crossed a CB&Q/BN branch. the Milwaukee Road had trackage rights on this line down to Flagg Center (which is just out of town to the north and west in Rochelle and worth checking out). The Milwaukee Rd then had rights on the CBQ main, over the diamond, and left the CB&Q again the Steward Jct, where an old depot has been restored (and is also worth a visit). The old Milw Rd right of way is still largely visible to the south. One tip off is a small town with rigid 90 degree angle intersections and then you see a grain elevator or other industrial building at an angle -- that is almost always a tip off of a current or former railroad line. I have followed the line as much as possible and at one time there would have been some very scenic shots, including a dramatic cut to the west of an intersting old cemetary.

Not that long ago there was a Rochelle RR - with one locomotive and a display caboose -- that served the food business to the southeast.
Dave Nelson

[CShaveRR]

Cheapest?

Take CTA to Lake and Harlem, then get on Pace Route 313. It will take you within a mile of the tracks at Elmhurst and Lombard. Get off at York St. and walk north to go to the station in Elmhurst, or get off at Main and Madison to go to Lombard (the bus turns the corner there). Again, walk north, but the walk is a little longer.

Between the two stations, it would depend on how you want to see your trains... Freights move slowly through Elmhurst, at the western edge of Proviso Yard. In Lombard, they're often up to their top speed, which can be anywhere from 40 to 70. There will be some slower ones, of course, and some eastbound trains "stage" at Finley Road, about a mile west of the station in Lombard.