Well, Mr. GP39 it may have been a long while since you've been in the Aurora area but Eola yard is normally very, very busy and we see lots of action virtually all day long here. Have you ever even been to Eola?
The southside used to have great action. Blue Island bridges, Barr Yard, Homewood (former IC now CN) were some old favorites of mine.
BNSF, former CB&Q runs straight west and Cicero has Clyde yard, with former small, ICG Hawthorne Yard nearby. Argo- Summit had a busy Indiana Harbor Belt ,and vast Clearing Yard by Midway airport. Corwith Yard was the Santa Fe yard, also not far from Midway. This is manageable proximity.
Further northwest; CNW/UP at the sprawling Proviso Yard. Former Milwaukee Bensenville, and Soo Line was at Franklin Park. 3 huge railyards, but check for what they are doing now.
Don't bother with outlying loications such as Aurora , West Chicago etc.. Too time consuming and the action is much more concentrated closer to the city.
Check for what is current. The Chicago area is quite large. I've left out the crossings, it's been years now. Depending where one travels, an area will yield a group of hotspots.
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William
This thread has my interest. I have a vacation (2 week block) coming up in May. Now, I may have a committment to St Louis the weekend after my first week off, and I am contemplating taking the train to Chicago (Capitol) and then south. I wouldn't mind spending a couple days in Chicago...
...so I will be watching this thread...
It's been fun. But it isn't much fun anymore. Signing off for now.
The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer, any other railroad, company, or person.t fun any
JB Tower, as suggested by Joe, is in the suburb of West Chicago, which is 30 miles west (gasp!) of Chicago.
I think that more specific information might be forthcoming if we knew which five days of the week he was coming (a Metra Weekend Pass would be a good investment if he were staying over a weekend), how he plans on getting here, and where he plans on staying once he gets here. Downtown hotel rooms can get pretty pricey when you're talking four nights.
The websites mentioned already will be helpful in narrowing things down. And some of us can help a bit more when we know a bit more.
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)
If he is going to stay in Chicago,have him try the Holiday Inn Merchandise Mart. It is pricey but I had room 1939 which looks West over the Chicago River. The ex Milwaukee tracks from Union Station come North and do a sharp 90 degree turn to the West. The ex CNW tracks come straight out from the Ogilvie Transportation Center, go over the Milwaukee tracks and shortly thereafter turn to the North West and West through a six track junction! Several times during our stay I saw as many as 6 train movements at once.
Mel Hazen; Jax, FL Ride Amtrak. It's the only way to fly!!!
My favorite spot is the station in Riverside on the BNSF mainline Its pretty easy to find if you have a map and a lot of traffic. Its west of Harlem Ave. and north of Ogden Ave.
What streets is it at? I don't know Chicago, or interlocking towers either. So can you please also state what streets the locations are. Thanks
The Lone Geep
Lone Geep
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from my personal experience JB tower in west chicago is a nice spot.See if you can get a metra pass too.
stay safe
Joe
Deshler Ohio-crossroads of the B&O Matt eats your fries.YUM! Clinton st viaduct undefeated against too tall trucks!!!(voted to be called the "Clinton St. can opener").
He's only there for 5 days.
Here's the best website I know of for information on Chicago railfanning:
http://dhke.com/CRJ/
How many weeks is he staying?
Yes, go to tab on this site called "Railroad Reference' and click on 'Hots Spots.' There's a link on there to 'Chicago's Hot Spots.' Good luck, happy railfanning and stay safe.
Nance-CCABW/LEI
“Even if you are on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.” --Will Rogers
Whether you think you can, or you think you can't, you're right! --unknown
I have a freind that is going to Chicago and want to know where are the good railfanning spots. Any suggestions? He wants to see UP, BNSF, NS, CSX, Metra and Amtrak.
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