Anyone aroound Northwest Indiana or south suburbs of Chicago know where I can bicycle on either a bike path or a "quiet" street next to railroad tracks? I would like a stretch of at least a few miles if possible.
Mike
I only know of the western suburbs on the Prairie Path, from Elmhurst to Wheaton, about 10 miles running next to the UP West line.
C&NW, CA&E, MILW, CGW and IC fan
Carl
Railroader Emeritus (practiced railroading for 46 years--and in 2010 I finally got it right!)
CAACSCOCOM--I don't want to behave improperly, so I just won't behave at all. (SM)
A nice paved country road that parallels both the CSX and CN in NW Indiana is 800 South in Laporte County, In from US 421 east thru Wellsboro/Union Mills. Take a look on one of the map sites. The CSX line is to the north and the CN line to the south and gradually angles to cross 800 South just outside Union Mills.
While in Union Mills/Wellsboro, go check out the crossing and the grain elevator. Often there is Chesepeake and Indiana (CHKN) locomotives there. The road continues east and parallels CSX out of town.
There is a nice mill pond in town also. All easy to view from the mapsites.
Ed
I know NY, PA, and several NE states put out bike and trail maps through the tourism bureaus, highway departments, parks or recreation depts, and the like...Google or Bing search for bike and walking paths or routes for IL and IN or the towns and counties you'll be in...see if that gives you anything.
RIDEWITHMEHENRY is the name for our almost monthly day of riding trains and transit in either the NYCity or Philadelphia areas including all commuter lines, Amtrak, subways, light rail and trolleys, bus and ferries when warranted. No fees, just let us know you want to join the ride and pay your fares. Ask to be on our email list or find us on FB as RIDEWITHMEHENRY (all caps) to get descriptions of each outing.
Farther afield, may I suggest NOT trying Uniform System #2 (U.S. 2) in Montana on a bicycle. 700 miles, mostly parallel to the BNSF Hi-Line/Northern Transcon is tempting, but U.S. 2 is a 2-lane road with virtually NO shoulders, paved or otherwise, most of its length. Lots of local double-bottom grain and oil truck traffic, and a 70 mph speed limit. Towns are few, and far-between. Not my idea of fun! Visiting, with a 4x4 SUV or truck is rewarding. Please bring money.
Hays
Thanks for the input, guys. I'm 56 years old and haven't biked since I was a teenager, so I consider myself a novice. I will checkmout some of these places--don't think my wife will want to go to LaPorte county, but I may go there with my brother in that case. i know not to go through Gary, but east of there could be okay. Thanks agaian.
Why limit yourself to the trails?
Convicted One Why limit yourself to the trails?
This is a bit more intense, but I'm a semi-car free railfan. One of my favorite chases is the former CB&Q Industrial trackage just southwest of downtown. The neighborhood(pilsen) is a bit rough, but safe. The CIRY runs a switch job along the tracks up to the BNSF every weekday morning(7am). The track is rough in many spots and is only rated for 10mph, although I've clocked them doing "the high side of ten" on the nicer sections. Neat 50 year old switchers switching industrial trackage semi street running, whats not to like.
On the other hand I'm a college student who delivers sandwiches by bike so I'm conditioned to do it. As for paths and things following tracks, i dunno.
Check out a Chicagoland Bicycle Federation map. You can order it from them on line or lots of bike shops have them. They're very detailed showing trails, streets, bike lanes, as well as RR's. You could plot a good route with one of those maps.
schlimm I only know of the western suburbs on the Prairie Path, from Elmhurst to Wheaton, about 10 miles running next to the UP West line.
As an avid (my friends say insane) bicyclist in the Chicago area, in spite of my "senior citizen" status, I'm very familiar with the various bike trails around the Chicago area (and, during my rail career, was involved in the establishment of some of them). The Illinois Prairie Path (on the ROW of the old Chicago, Aurora & Elgin interurban), doesn't parallel the UP West Line between Elmhurst and Wheaton. It only parallels UP for a few miles, between Wheaton and the east side of Glen Ellyn (or the west side of Lombard, depending where the boundary is) probably no more than 3 or 4 miles. Traveling east, it then diverges from the UP and runs several blocks south of the UP (the distance increases the further east you go) until it ends at First Avenue in Maywood (be sure to wear a flak jacket if you go on the segment in Maywood). Once it goes through Villa Park, it parallels the old CGW right of way, but that line has been gone for decades.
If your objective is to ride parallel to an active railroad (and not have to wear a flak jacket), a better choice might be the Green Bay Trail running roughly 18 miles from Wilmette to North Chicago (the name of the trail may change as you go north, but it's a continuous trail). The trail is on the ROW of the Shore Line Route of the old North Shore Line interurban, which is right next to the UP North Line for almost the entire distance. On the other hand, there isn't a whole lot of freight traffic on this line (I don't think I've ever seen a freight train south of Lake Bluff), while the UP West Line is a major freight corridor.
Franklin:Is the CIRY the industrial line that runs along Cermak? I caught it yesterday...was at a customer on Cermak and it came by with a couple of cars and headed down to the scrap metal yard. I really like that line.
How do they access BNSF? There is a line that meanders north from Cermak...is that it? Not much of a line.
How many cars are normally interchanged?
Falcon48schlimm I only know of the western suburbs on the Prairie Path, from Elmhurst to Wheaton, about 10 miles running next to the UP West line. As an avid (my friends say insane) bicyclist in the Chicago area, in spite of my "senior citizen" status, I'm very familiar with the various bike trails around the Chicago area (and, during my rail career, was involved in the establishment of some of them). The Illinois Prairie Path (on the ROW of the old Chicago, Aurora & Elgin interurban), doesn't parallel the UP West Line between Elmhurst and Wheaton. It only parallels UP for a few miles, between Wheaton and the east side of Glen Ellyn (or the west side of Lombard, depending where the boundary is) probably no more than 3 or 4 miles. Traveling east, it then diverges from the UP and runs several blocks south of the UP (the distance increases the further east you go) until it ends at First Avenue in Maywood (be sure to wear a flak jacket if you go on the segment in Maywood). Once it goes through Villa Park, it parallels the old CGW right of way, but that line has been gone for decades. If your objective is to ride parallel to an active railroad (and not have to wear a flak jacket), a better choice might be the Green Bay Trail running roughly 18 miles from Wilmette to North Chicago (the name of the trail may change as you go north, but it's a continuous trail). The trail is on the ROW of the Shore Line Route of the old North Shore Line interurban, which is right next to the UP North Line for almost the entire distance. On the other hand, there isn't a whole lot of freight traffic on this line (I don't think I've ever seen a freight train south of Lake Bluff), while the UP West Line is a major freight corridor.
Alongside the BNSF race track there a lots of side streets that are very bike-able. For one of my favorite rides I'd park near downtown Downers Grove & ride east thru Westmont, Clarendon Hills, Hinsdale, Western Springs, Brookfield & Riverside. I'd stop for eats at a place by the Berwyn Metra station & then head back.
CShaveRRMark (or Lisa), I used to ride along the BNSF from Belmont east to LaGrange. Never went east of the IHB, though, except for getting to their Congress Park Yard (IHB's yard, I mean). How did you get to Brookfield from LaGrange?
I'd have to hop on Ogden Ave, but it's only for about 3 blocks.
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