(
Satellite)
Mark Hinsdale
posted three photos with the comment:
Chicago Heights is a gritty industrial suburb located in the far south of Chicagoland. Until the mergers of the 80's, "The Heights" saw trains belonging to seven different railroads: Missouri Pacific (MP), Louisville & Nashville (L&N), Milwaukee Road (MILW), Conrail (CR), Baltimore & Ohio Chicago Terminal (B&OCT), Elgin, Joliet & Eastern (EJ&E), and Chicago Heights Terminal Transfer (CHTT). Amtrak also operated it's ill-fated "Floridian" through Chicago Heights for a time during the 70's. Today, the much simplified Chicago Heights rail scene is provided by Union Pacific, CSX and Canadian National, The city still has a healthy amount of industry, including a large Ford Motor Company plant, but much of the trackage that once blanketed the area has been consolidted or abandoned. Here are three views...
1) UP Gensets pull a cut of Hi Cube boxcars destined tor Ford on ex CHTT trackage on the city's east side... 9-1-17
2) A CSX northbound bangs across the former EJ&E, now CN, at the one time location of "Jay" Tower... 9-22-14
3) A CN westbound, with abundant power, also passes "Jay" on its way to Joliet over the ex EJ&E main line... 9-1-17
 |
| 1 |
 |
| 2 |
 |
| 3 |
See the
CHTT as to how these railroads connected with each other, including a map. The Milwaukee route was originally the
Chicago, Terre Haute & Southeastern Railway. and it used the CHTT to connect to the B&OCT to get access to the Chicago area. Conrail was the NYC's Michigan Central Joliet Cuttoff that was built on the Old Plank Road between Joliet and Indiana. Missouri Pacific was the part of C&EI that went to multiple places in Southern Illinois. It became the Southern Pacific and then the Union Pacific. The L&N was the part of C&EI that went into Indiana to Evansville. It became Seaboard Lines and then CSX. CHTT is now owned by Union Pacific. EJ&E is now owned by Canadian National.
Since MP and L&N shared the CE&I route through Chicago Heights, UP and CSX now share this route.
Update: I'm adding yards and other railroading landmarks as I come across reference to therm.
McDonald Yard
 |
Evie N Bob Bruns posted
Here's a view of the 1501 at McDonald yard in Chicago Heights. Phoenix job going lite thru #1 with cab and car in #2 to return north. Looking northbound taken 9/18/1986 |
I found the yard from the comments on a
John Eagon Flickr Photo.
The B&OCT now ends
north of Chicago Heights Glenwwod Road.
This post provides some history of the CHTT branch described in John Eagon's Flickr comments.
Andrew Urbanski
posted the question:
Just west of State St. and Joe Orr road, did the B&O run along the CHTT, looks like an abandoned line, found out there was a B&O depot further south, The C&EI bridge over Joe Orr is still marked.
Looking for Chicago heights track maps if anyone has?
Earl Wacker Yes. It wasn't abandoned, it was donated to Cook County from Glenwwod-Dyer Road south in return for a sliver of property at Roll Ave when the 3rd main went in in 1999. I beleive BOCT ended at the diamond with CHTT then it was Milwaukee south to Terre Haute.
Our jurisdiction ended at Faithorn, the Milwaukee took over from there.
At first I didn't see the C&EI marking that Andrew mentioned because it is almost rust against rust. But then I saw it in a closeup. On the left side, it looks like there was a truck that was over 14'3" tall.
A request for B&OCT history. As of May 10, 2018, still no responses. Still nothing as of Mar 24, 2020.
EJ&E and MC Overpasses
 |
Evie N Bob Bruns posted
Here's a photo of the CTT at Chicago Heights. Track in middle is CTT main on both sides is the CHTT. This is 22nd St. looking north. Overhead bridge is the EJ&E and the other distant bridge is the Michigan Central. Taken 1903.
Chicago Terminal Transfer - picture was taken in 1903. B&OCT was a couple of decades in the future. |
One thing you learn while studying railroad history is how much labor railroads used to spend on vegetation control.
The t
rail using the Michigan Central RoW ends west of here are Campbell Ave. so there is no longer an overpass for the MC over the UP/CHTT.
EJ&E Interchange Yard
Junior Hill
posted two photos with the comment:
The EJ&E local works the interchange yard at Chicago Heights, IL, as w.b U.P coal buckets exercise trackage rights on the J. Not sure where the UP was going to/coming from, don't think it was State Line coal. The date was 9/5/2008 and the J had about 6 months before they were gobbled up by the CN. The J #650 would instantly be on the chopping block when CN takes over because it's a straight 38 and not a dash 2, a few others went along with it. The yard here is also no more, all tracks have been disconnected from the main and will soon be taken up. This yard was on the J, east of the UP and old MILW.
Ken Schmidt I wonder if that was a Wheatfield empty?
Junior Hill Ken Schmidt I know UP handles one but it comes directory from the NS in Chicago. When I was at UP, I took a few from the NS in the City and moved it across the state to Clinton, IA.
Fred Van Dorpe Probably a Michigan city norx coal train. They take the J from West Chicago to basically in Kirk yard, Then they take the city track to get onto the CSX and then they get on to the South shore at Miller. And vice versa to get back out West. From what I'm told some time last year they stopped doing that and now they take some route to get on the South shore directly via Kensington. Supposedly CN was not cooperating and UP changed the route through Chicago land
 |
| 1 |
 |
| 2 |
 |
Dennis DeBruler commented on Junior's post
Thanks for the good location information. According to Global Earth images, the yard was intact until at least Nov 2011. The images after this one are hard to interpret. The treeline across the top is the abandoned Michigan Central Joliet Cutoff. |
In a satellite image, the turnout to the North still existed.
Summary Map
Chicago Heights is at the "corner" of four topo quadrangles. I used a blue rectangle for McDonald Yard, a yellow arrow for the view of the overpasses, and a green rectangle for the EJ&E interchange yard.
 |
| 1953 Harvey Calumet City, & Steger and 1998 Dyer Quandrangles @ 1:24,000 plus Paint |
Dennis DeBruler Spot on
No comments:
Post a Comment