Sure, I haven't lived there in 5 years, (in the south suburbs, that is) but I still consider myself a Chicagoan. After all I spent almost 30 years of my life near (what I refer to as) the greatest city in the world! My parents, whom are paying me a visit tonight, live in the south suburb of Midlothian, not far from the old Rock Island Line! I witness the last days of this once 'mighty fine road!' My father, a model railroader himself, helped develop my interest in railroading.
Chicago: Hog Butcher to the World; Crossroads of the Mid-West; Railroad Capital to the World; Culture Capital of the Mid-West!
Need I say more?
I would like to know what's been going on in the city since my 2002 departure.
jkubajakiii wrote: Sure, I haven't lived there in 5 years, (in the south suburbs, that is) but I still consider myself a Chicagoan. After all I spent almost 30 years of my life near (what I refer to as) the greatest city in the world! My parents, whom are paying me a visit tonight, live in the south suburb of Midlothian, not far from the old Rock Island Line! I witness the last days of this once 'mighty fine road!' My father, a model railroader himself, helped develop my interest in railroading. Chicago: Hog Butcher to the World; Crossroads of the Mid-West; Railroad Capital to the World; Culture Capital of the Mid-West! Need I say more? I would like to know what's been going on in the city since my 2002 departure.
Thanks for the Windy City boost! I can think of a few things, just to get the ball rolling:
1) Metra continues to grow in popularity.
2) The CTA rail lines continue to disappoint, particularly the Blue Line, which runs 20 minutes longer Loop to O'Hare because of slow orders; also because of heavy delays on the North and Brown lines due to ongoing Fullerton and Belmont station rebuilds.
3) On the other hand, CTA has been running a new "Pink Line", which takes part of what was Douglas Branch Blue Line service and routes it all-elevated from Rush Pres. Hospital to the North, where it turns and goes into the Loop.
4) Not once but twice, this fall, CTA funding (also Metra and Pace's, I think) has come within a few days of running out all together. The Governor and other bigwigs have twice brokered what everyone knows is a "patch": temp. loans that will run out at the end of the year. So whether the CTA is forced into a "doomsday budget" with lots of bus-route elimination and L train cutbacks remains to be seen.
5) Don't know if this is within your scope of interest, but attendance at the Rochelle Railroad Park appears to be growing (being a free park, this is difficult to measure). Also just west of Rochelle the UP has been operating a HUGE intermodal facility called Global III. Sorry, no free tours. No entry at all unless you're a credentialed truck driver or working.
6) A trainwatching park south of Chicago, near the Homewood station, is forming. IIRC you can see NS and of course Metra, Amtak and IC/CN ops there. Others will know much more about this.
7) Menard's has both freight and passenger Lionel sets on sale! (thru 12/2).
8) Just a week or so ago, CN made public its desire to purchase the EJ&E. NIMBYs are massing already.
BTW: I would suggest you post this topic on Trains Magazine - Gen'l Discussion, as that site is much more highly trafficked.
Best of luck, al (from Chicago)
I figured that CP would do something like that, if they wish to connect with the Kansas City Southern. Are they also going after the DM&E? That railroad will be red hot real estate when they complete their Powder River Basin access.
Slightly off topic, but most everyone who knows "Sweet Home Chicago" knows the verse as....
"C'mon c'mon, baby don't you want to go??
C'mon c'mon, baby don't you want to go??
To that same old place, Sweet Home Chicago"
But Robert Johnson's original third line in the song was....
"To the land of California, and my Sweet Home Chicago"
Well here is the latest from the highly offended up scale towns the EJ&E passes through (including mine which is in near hysteria). This is from the Chicago Tribune.
Freight train traffic on a rail line that cuts through Chicago's outlying suburbs for nearly 200 miles could more than triple because of a proposed acquisition by the Canadian National Railway Corp., but a coalition of town officials has managed to slow the deal.The $300 million purchase of the Elgin, Joliet &Eastern Railway Co. would allow Canadian National to route its trains around Chicago and avoid the city's rail congestion.But a group of Barrington-area officials were successful this week in winning at least a delay in the deal with their request to federal regulators for a comprehensive environmental impact study.
Such studies often take more than 18 months to complete, according to officials of the federal Surface Transportation Board, which regulates railroad mergers.Barrington officials say Canadian National's numbers show the acquisition would more than quadruple freight traffic through the community's downtown within three years, from five trains a day to more than 20.The environmental study would look at safety issues, as well as congestion, noise and other potential effects, said Karen Darch, Barrington village president and the spokeswoman for a coalition that includes Barrington Hills, Deer Park, Lake Barrington, North Barrington, South Barrington and Tower Lakes, and Cuba and Barrington Townships.The environmental study, Darch said, "gives us the road map to find the solutions to the problems that CN will create by this additional freight traffic."The proposed acquisition of the EJ&E by Montreal-based Canadian National, Canada's largest freight railroad, was announced Sept. 26.The EJ&E, now owned by a subsidiary of U.S. Steel, has been chugging under the radar for more than 120 years on a lightly used, 198-mile line that runs from Waukegan to East Chicago, Ind.On Monday, the Surface Transportation Board set a timetable for considering the deal. But noting the large increases in traffic projected, it agreed an environmental impact statement was needed."It will take more time, but I can't imagine how it would stretch out for 18 months," said Jim Kvedaras, a CN spokesman based at the regional headquarters in Homewood. "It's a more rigorous environmental review, but it's not uncharted territory for us."Comments opposing the transaction will be accepted by federal regulators until Jan. 28, with responses due by March 13.While other communities along the EJ&E would see significant increases in freight traffic -- including Bartlett, West Chicago, Plainfield, Joliet, New Lenox and Chicago Heights -- none may be more affected than Barrington, where there are five EJ&E grade crossings in about a mile-long stretch of its downtown."People frankly have not paid a great deal of attention to these crossings in the past," Darch said. "Now, with 20 trains a day through there, you can bet there will be a lot of stopping, and we'll all know them by heart."School officials, too, worry about the possible impact."There's probably not a worse community that they could go through, in terms of configuration," said Tom Leonard, school superintendent of Barrington Community Unit District 220.Spread over 72 square miles, with about 9,200 students in a dozen schools, District 220 buses cross the EJ&E tracks more than 370 times a day, Leonard said."It's going to make traffic in town very difficult, and obviously it's going to make traffic for kids who are on buses very problematic," he said. "We've got kids walking in inclement weather. Standing there waiting 15 minutes while a freight train goes by is not exactly good for anyone's health."With only four tenants, owners of the year-old Shops at Flint Creek along the north side of the EJ&E tracks at Hough Street also are less than enthused by the prospects of increased freight traffic."It's not going to help, that's for sure," said Greg Winner, leasing agent for Itasca-based Hamilton Partners, which built and manages Flint Creek. "I think it's going to be disruptive for all of Barrington."Darch suggested that building overpasses or underpasses could provide relief, though the coalition did not specifically seek that in its request for an environmental study."These are multimillion-dollar projects and can be dramatically more than that, depending on what other constraints are in existence out there," said CN's Kvedaras. "That is a type of project that would typically involve public funding along with railroad participation."But he said Canadian National has set aside $100 million for track and connection improvements intended to increase capacity.Yet to be determined is how the CN's acquisition of the EJ&E would affect Metra's proposed STAR Line, a 55-mile route that would link Joliet and O'Hare International Airport.The STAR line would use 36 miles of the EJ&E corridor, which also would add commuter trains to the rail traffic, Kvedaras said."We continue to cooperate and have talks with Metra and are not averse to having the STAR line discussions at all," he said.