Joliet, IL: Alton Depot and Freight House Before Track Elevation

(Satellite, torn down for the track elevation and the move to Union Depot)

The freight house was moved further south when the tracks were elevated.

Bill Molony posted
This was the Chicago & Alton Railroad passenger depot in Joliet, Illinois.
The photograph was taken from the south side of Jefferson Street at Michigan Street, looking west.
The tracks in the foreground belonged to the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad
The sign on the center of the depot roof says "JOLIET."
The small sign on the right says "CHICAGO 37 MILES."
The boxcar lettered "CH&D&PM" helps to date this photo as from about 1905.
This depot was removed in 1908 in order to make way for the elevation and realignment of the tracks in downtown Joliet.
Bill posted again with the above comment
Ed Kaplan: What was the CH&D&PM Railroad? [Logo on the boxcar.]
Bill Molony: Cincinatti, Hamilton & Dayton & Pere Marquette.
Robert Fiedler: Ed Kaplan the CH&D and Pere Marquette were briefly allied as the Great Central Route.
Bill Husband: The Pere Marquette Railway was controlled by the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton beginning in 1904- www.ExploreRailHistory.com
Bill posted again
The Chicago & Alton passenger station in Joliet - circa 1905.
Bill Molony This photograph was taken from the south side of Jefferson Street at Michigan Street. Yes, that is the Santa Fe tracks in the foreground. This station was removed in 1908 to make way for the elevation of the tracks in Joliet. The boxcar on the right is lettered for the CH&D&PM.
Eric Reinert The consolidation of the CH&D and the Pere Marquette must have been very brief.
Bill posted
The Chicago & Alton passenger depot at Joliet - circa 1890.
Randy James: Before they elevated the tracks & built union station.

What is left of Michigan Street is now Mayor Art Schultz Drive.

Engineering News, Volume 69
Peter Zimmerman posted
This map shows the proposed new[in 1908] realigned routes for the 4 major railroads that ran through Joliet as well as the then current original routes. This includes the Rock Island, Chicago & Alton Railway[later GM&O], Santa Fe Railway and Michigan Central[later NYC]. Today only the succeeding Rock Island[now Metra], C&A[now CN and UP] and Santa Fe Railway[now BNSF] routes still exist, the old MC/NYC Joliet branch was formally abandoned to Joliet by Conrail on April 1st 1977, though through service to/from Joliet ended on it in 1972 and local service in 1975.

The C&A is pink:

John Smith commented on Bill's posting

Bill Molony posted
This is the interlocking tower in downtown Joliet, circa 1900, before the tracks in Joliet were elevated and relocated.
This photo was taken from the roof of the Joliet Warehouse & Storage Company building, looking southwest.
The tracks running from left to right directly behind the tower belonged to the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad.
The tracks running from the lower right to the center background belonged the Chicago & Alton Railroad.
The building in the center was the Chicago & Alton Railroad passenger depot.
The tracks running from the lower right side of the photo to the background on the left belonged to the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad.
In the background on the left were the tracks of the Michigan Central Railroad's Joliet Cut-Off.
[The building to the right of the depot is the two-story office part of the freght house. You can see the roof of the one-story freight handling part south of the office. And two rows of boxcars along the east side of the building.]

BRHS posted

This rooftop view (circa 1872) of downtown Joliet shows Van Buren Street crossing in the foreground and Jefferson Street in the background.

The railroad tracks crossing the photo from side to side belonged to the Rock Island.

The tracks running form the lower right hand corner up to the center of the photograph are those of the Chicago & Alton. The building to the right of these tracks is the Chicago & Alton passenger depot.

The railroad tracks running from the lower right of the photograph across the Chicago & Alton tracks and the Rock Island tracks belonged to the Santa Fe or one of its predecessors.

From the interlocking tower in the foreground, the towerman operated switches and signals with levers and connecting rods to regulate railroad traffic.

Photographer unknown.

From the Blackhawk collection.

Jeff Lewis: What year did the railroads realign and raise the right of ways?
The Blackhawk Railway Historical Society: The tracks in downtown Joliet were realigned and elevated from 1908-1910. Union Station was completed and opened in October of 1912.

John Smith commented on Bill's posting

Bill Molony posted

Chicago & Alton Railroad 4-4-0 #92 with a chartered passenger train, southbound at Joliet in the Summer of 1892.

This was a C&A special train made up for the St. Bernard Commandery, #35 (Chicago) of the Knights Templar ( a masonic order).

The 25th Triennial Conclave of the Grand Encampment of the Knights Templar U.S. was held in Denver, August 8th through 13th, 1892, with members from across the nation attending.

The C&A handled this train from Chicago to Kansas City; another railroad, probably the Union Pacific, handled the train between Kansas City and Denver.

The train is stopped at the Chicago & Alton's Joliet passenger depot.

On the right the St. Nickolas Hotel can be seen on the southeast corner of Michigan and Jefferson Streets.