Best Photo Locations in Illinois

[Laurence_18]

I would like to put together a list of the top 10 photo locations in Illinois. This is NOT a "best train watching" list. I'm looking for the most scenic or dramatic locations for rail photography. Certainly, it's a plus if the trains are frequent.

For example, Joliet is a great place to watch trains. It's not particularly scenic, though. Where would be a great place to wacht the BNSF cross a river or pose against a dramatic October sky?

Nominations, please? http://www.kodakgallery.com/PhotoView.jsp?&collid=850835540205&photoid=611029564205

[blhanel]

I would nominate Mississippi Palisades State Park north of Savanna, Illinois. Beautiful bluffs and great BNSF action.

[waltersrails]

Well i would pick Golden Gate IL by the little wabash river its a NS line really nice in the fall.

[Green Bay Paddlers]

I would say the Highlands stop on the BNSF "Racetrack" near Hinsdale fits both bills nicely. Beautiful spot and a TON of trains to watch.

[MP173]

East Dubuque with the CN line exiting the tunnel and crossing the BNSF would be my nomination for most scenic.

Similar to the Palisades, but with a tunnel.

ed

[eolafan]

Many spots along the BNSF "C&I" line between Aurora and Rochelle would fit your description with bucolic rural settings and lots of great railroad action.

[Anonymous]

I agree the BNSF C&I line. My top two picks are Oregon and Savanna.

[CopCarSS]

Let's not forget Chillicothe, and the dramatic curves in and around there!

[Anonymous]

Try the little town of ameron, west of Galesburg...... you have many small gravel roads that criss-cross lots of tracks, and distant vistas of cornfields to put in front of lots of freights and amtraks...also elevators for more dramatic shots..

Harry

[kooi2017]

A personal favorite of mine is the joint UP/CSX main crossing over the Kankakee River in Momence. Good traffic there too with 40-50 trains on a good day.

[waltersrails]

I also remember Effingham where the csx crosses cn by Amtrak staion very nice
place to photo.

[Anonymous]

Gilman is good so is Watseka

[Soo2610]

QUOTE: Originally posted by MP173

East Dubuque with the CN line exiting the tunnel and crossing the BNSF would be my nomination for most scenic.

Similar to the Palisades, but with a tunnel.

ed

I agree! A beautiful spot when the fall colors are out and a bonus if you catch a train crossing the river and going thru the tunnel.

[kooi2017]

A little known spot is the bridge over the Fox River on the CN Freeport sub in South Elgin. A bike train parallels the river and you can get an excellent shot on the south side of the bridge. Only 2 trains a day though, but much more scenic than the UP bridge in Geneva over the Fox.

[kooi2017]

Also, if you are looking for dramatic skyline shots in Chicago, the 16th St. Interlocking of Metra's Rock Island district and the CN is good, as is the 18th St or Roosevelt Rd. overpasses over Amtrak leading into Union station.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by hrryw1

Try the little town of ameron, west of Galesburg...... you have many small gravel roads that criss-cross lots of tracks, and distant vistas of cornfields to put in front of lots of freights and amtraks...also elevators for more dramatic shots..

Harry

do ya mean Cameron? just jokin[:D] yeah, both BN and SF lines cross, over/under(SF-over BN) in cameron, and in town (galesburg, BN over SF) a few decent spots around town. i just happened to load some galesburg pics, to give a small idea
http://rrpicturearchives.net/archivethumbs.aspx?id=7525

[photogeek88]

About anywhere within ten or twenty miles of Dixon are great spots to find trains. The most busy is along the former C&NW main line. Nelson, which is west of Dixon, still sees a lot of action around the mainline crossovers, and still has an intact coal silo from the steam days; perfect for framing a diesel, but especially great for the few steam trips that come through every couple years! The areas east of Dixon along Route 38 provide for great train chasing, especially now that most of the corn has been harvested and Global 3 is up and running in Rochelle. The local farm buildings and numerous grade crossings are great spots to get landscapes with trains.
About ten miles north of town is White Pines State Park, which the BNSF to Minneapolis goes through on single track. Less busy than the UP but a bit more scenic. About a ten or fifteen minute hike will get you near the tracks - a great cross of outdoors activity and railfanning.

[blhanel]

Hey, [#welcome] photogeek88! I've been through Dixon a couple of times, although I must confess that I prefer to go around it on I-88, headed for Rochelle.

[MP173]

Photogeek:

Have you ever eaten at Fern's downtown Dixon?

Best breakfast in the state of Illinois, in my opinion.

That is a really country out there, Route 2 between Dixon and Rockford is a pretty drive.

ed

[Anonymous]

There's a great spot just east of Clinton Ia on Route 30. BNSF Peavine line crosses over UP mainline on girder bridge with lots of trees for backdrop. Have tried several times to get a good shot with trains on both tracks but no luck yet. Willy

[blhanel]

I've often wondered about that spot- how many trains a day run on the BNSF line?

[cnw1995]

I think a great spot is of the UP northwest line to Janesville from the Metra parking lot next to the Crystal Lake yard. There's an old bridge over the Richmond track - the UP runs few freights but a long scoot pushed by double-headed F40s is quite a shot. Another would be of the bridge over the Fox River in Fox River Grove. There's also shots from outside the Blommer Chocolate factory looking south - you get the BNSF west lines, the UP North and Northwest lines and even the El...

[Anonymous]

Brian, it's a great spot but there is literally no timetable on the Peavine line. You might see 3 in an hour and then nothing for 2 hours. There is a morning local from Barstow to Savanna in AM and a return in afternoon. The upside is that due to leased power on any given day you can see IC, CN, CP, Conrail, and any color BN. Also many older EMD's , SD's and even an occasional high hood. It's like Forrest Gumps box of chocolates: You hear a horn, and you never know what you'll get. I live about three blocks from the line so it's much more fun than the UP mailine with all those yellow AC's. Bill

[photogeek88]

MP173, I must agree with you on Fern's. If I ever get a decent amount of time for lunch or wake up with enough time to go eat breakfast, that is the place to go.

blhanel, I reccomend driving from Morrison to Rochelle the next chance you get via the backroads. It follows the UP pretty much the whole way, as long as you go to Dixon through Rock Falls instead of Sterling.

I do have a question on Global 3, if any of you have seen this; I pulled into Rochelle the other day coming off of I-88 to stop at the Shell station, and just as you get off the tollway, there is a sign for Global 3 and a new road I haven't seen before heading towards the yard. Has anyone attempted to go down that road, and if so, is there anything to be seen?

[Trailryder]

I would also have to agree that the BNSF C&I line has some very nice photo locations, one of the best has got to be a west looking view of the Rock River bridge at Oregon, Illinois. also in Polo, Illinois where the line goes through the old Illinois Central overpass is Kind of nice.
Also in the area on the UP, Geneva sub, I like the Stouffer Rd crossing looking east you can catch westbounds coming out of the Nelson Bridge and around the curve into Sterling, Illinois. also in Sterling from the upper dam on the Rock river (behind the Dillon Home) you can get a distant shot of the trains running along the Sinnissippi Bayou (Rock River) but you need the proper zoom lens.
One last spot of mention is on the UP Peoria sub just south of Normandy, Illinois, the line runs thru a steel truss bridge over the Walnut Creek you have to walk a little ways but its a nice shot.

Some of these photos and others can be viewed at the link below.

http://www.pbase.com/trailryder/rail_photos
enjoy

Later Bill
Dixon, Illinois

http://www.pbase.com/trailryder

[photogeek88]

How far is Normandy from Nelson? I've never ventured any farther south than the Rock Island Blacktop as far as trainchasing is concerned...

[MP173]

Bill:

I really enjoyed your photos. From 1990 thru 2000 I spent considerable time in your neck of the woods. I was in (still am) sales and called on a number of customers in Western Illinois/Eastern Iowa. It was great going thru all those towns.

I always had the camera with me and if a train appeared...an added bonus. Some great memories are Rochelle (before the railfan park), discovering a wig-wag crossing signal in Galena (still there as of this summer), a meet of two Chicago Central trains at Warren, wondering what Savanna was like years ago, seeing a CNW geep switching the spur next to the river in Dixon (out by Raynor Garage Door), and the great drive along the Mississippi between Davenport and Muscatine, alongside the IMRL.

I had to go to Mendota this summer. That is really a great spot. Sure would like to crank up the time machine to go back there about 40 years ago! That is quite a shuttle elevator on the east side of town.

A couple of questions....it appears the coaling tower still stands at Nelson. Is that true? Is the one at Dekalb gone?

What is the level of traffic on the Nelson line south? I know they are considering using that line to access the Rochelle intermodal yard. How many trains are on that now and what are they...mostly coal?

Well, get down to Fern's sometime and have a number 4 special for me...2 eggs, hash browns, sausage, toast, and coffee. It used to be $3.50, but I am sure they have raised prices. Those painted plates on display are something.

ed

[photogeek88]

Dixon lost a great little switching operation. About two years ago they started removing the tracks by Raynor's and the cement plant. The cement plant planned to build an entirely new spur bypassing the town, but the plans fell through. They still own a small RS unit switcher engine. The city also took out all of the street-running track in the downtown along River Road after the Galena Avenue bridge was rebuilt. UP does still use part of that branch line switching the Sinow & Weinman scrapyard just west of downtown, and service has increased over the last year. A UP yard engine comes about once a week, and still puts up a great show on the hill climbing up towards the mainline ( it's no C&NW Fairbanks-Morse, but it will do!)

The coal tower in Dekalb is indeed still standing.

And, as a fellow railfan told me this afternoon while I was in Nelson, UP is planning to add at least two more sidings on the St. Louis branch, one 10,000, the other 12,000 feet, to accomodate intermodals heading to Global 3 from the BNSF, formerly SF interchange. Currently there are only two sidings for the entire 90 miles of single track. Supposedly eventually they want to make it double track, depending on how well running stack trains from the BNSF interchange works.

The most I have ever seen is coal trains and a few mixed freights running on that line, but there are at least always two trains, either stack trains or NORX or CWEX coal trains, without engines, sitting on the sidings next to the main line in Nelson. I presume they are trains brought off or heading down the southern branch.

And I will have a #4. That's the only thing I ever order!

[Trailryder]

Normandy is just west of Walnut, Illinois on route 92. if you are trying to get to the Truss bridge I would take the road south out of Normandy and when you come to the road bridge for Walnut creek, park and walk down the creek bank, it has a high bank that is easy walking, to the rr bridge.
if you live in Sterling or Dixon you can listen to your scanner and when the train crew starts calling for a track warrant you jump in your car and hurry out to this location you can get your shots without a long wait. both times i tryed this I was able to get photos with only about 5-10 minute wait. (and I was still out of breath!?!)

Good luck.
Later Bill

[Trailryder]

A Note about Dixon's little switching operation, I was informed by a UP Employee that the Sinow & Weinman scrapyard has purshased some property (40acres??) in the Sterling-Galt Illinois area and that they will be moving out of the Dixon site in the next 2 years. After that the city of Dixon will more that likley pull up all the spur thru town. So take your pictures while you can.

oddly enough I have never eaten at Ferns, I will have to try it.

Later Bill