Elmhurst, IL: (UP|Metra)/C&NW Depots

(3D Satellite, Street View)

When Metra owns the tracks such as the old Rock Island and Milwaukee routes, then I'm sure Metra owns the depot. But when UP owns the track, I don't know who is responsible for the maintenance of the depots. Thus the "or bar" in the title.

Bill Molony posted
The Chicago & North Western depot at Elmhurst.
Bill Edrington Does anyone know when this depot was replaced?Bill Molony As far as I know, it was demolished in the early 1960's.Bill Edrington Thanks. It was certainly gone by the mid-70s, as were most of the old depots on the West Line.Jeff Bloomdahl When was the 3rd track added?

Jeff Bloomdahl commented on the above posting
Jeff Bloomdahl Found this picture as well as a description from another angle!
"Detroit Publishing Co. photo of the Elmhurst, IL depot, taken between 1880 and 1899. Elmhurst is a stop on the West Line to Geneva, IL, Clinton, IA and Omaha. It was a stop for through as well as commuter trains. The depot has been replaced."

Chicago & North Western Historical Society posted
Another photo postcard shot this time of the C&NW's depot at Elmhurst, Illinois a Chicago suburb on the west bound main line of out of Chicago. The date on the cancellation is August 1909.
Dave Schmitt: I remember working on a tie gang through this area years ago. Lots of areas in Chicago were worked on that year.
I also remember the day we just started working and were immediately ordered to reinstall any tie taken out with new ties, stop taking out anymore old ties and move all machines onto a side track and shut down for the day. It was around 9 am when we all clear of the main line we had been working on. Most of our crew with car radios heard about the happening of 9-11. I didn't hear anything until about 9:20 am. It took about 10 minutes and we were told to go home unless we needed to do maintenance on our machines. Took another 5 minutes until all were told to leave. We got back to our hotel rooms and watched the towers fall on live TV. Couldn't believe people jumping from so far up in the towers.
The job was halted for a couple of days before we were allowed to start again.

 

Andy Zukowski posted
Chicago & Northwestern Railroad Depot in Elmhurst, Illinois. 1914.  Photo by  "C.R. Childs
Carl J. Marsico: CNW replaced it with the current depot in the 1950's.
Peter Jirousek: Back when it was just two tracks!

Chicago & North Western Historical Society posted
This colorized post card came to the Chicago Genealogical Society which allowed me to make this post.  It was sent from Massillon, Ohio in 1909.  Old postcards are a wonderful resource for old depot photos.
Richard Fiedler shared

 

Andy Zukowski posted
Chicago Northwestern F7 Passenger Train #49, Elmhurst, Illinois. 1962
Peter Munro shared

I wonder why the old depot was destroyed.

Street View

When I was railfanning in Elmhurst, I didn't bother to get a shot of the depot itself. But I did catch some of the track side.

East Chicago, IN: Professional Locomotive Services

(Satellite)

Shad Steve Vargo posted

I Was able to shoot this though the fence on Kennedy Avenue in East Chicago

Who would know an almost 80 year old 2 axle engine would be moving around big modern 6 axle power. This one does just that.

Steve Kraus Very rare EMD Model 40.

Andrew Urbanski This is operating?

Shad Steve Vargo Moves around 6 axle power and whatever else come to PLS

Dwaine Holman s/n 2284 Former USAX 7952, Former Acme Newport steel,Newport steel,KY NPTX #1. Owned and restored by Professional Loco services in East Chicago, Indiana

Alliance, NE: BNSF/CB&Q yard and Old Grain Elevators

(Satellite, note how a new yard was built southwest of town to handle coal trains.)

Ed Heckman posted
Round house Alliance Ne. Pre 1952, before south side of the round house burnt down.

Arturo Gross Flickr 1998 Photo

BNSF SD70MAC 9726 brings a loaded coal train into Alliance Yard from the south, another loaded train with C30-7 5522 and a third one with 2 executive MACs are also waiting to head east. Alliance NE Sept-1998.

1949 Bronco Lake and 1948 Alliance Quadrangles @ 1:24,000

Brian Garner posted
Alliance, NE

Dennis DeBruler commented on Brian's post

The foreground elevator is in the upper-right corner of this satellite image and the background elevator is in the lower-right corner.

https://www.google.com/.../@42.0949143,-102.../data=!3m1!1e3

Dennis DeBruler commented on Brian's post

The rectangular elevator peaking out on the right side of Brian's photo is also interesting.

https://www.google.com/.../data=!3m6!1e1!3m4...

Chicago, IL: 1882+1930 Board of Trade Buildings

Chad Brown posted five images with the comment:

Built in 1882 and was the first commercial building in Chicago with electric lighting was the original Chicago Board of Trade building. When it was constructed it had a 320 ft. tall clock tower and housed a 4,500 lb. bell. Topping off the tower was a ship shaped weather vane. For a time, it was the tallest building in the city. It was also a very popular tourist attraction during the Columbian Exposition. When the federal reserve built its bank across the street, the CBOT was declared "unsound". The construction of the reserve building caused problems with the CBOT's flimsy foundation. The original Board of Trade was demolished in 1929 and construction of the current building began... [I found much of this description in ChicagoArchitecture] 

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MWRD posted
The old Chicago Board of Trade building is seen in this photo from October 22, 1898, with decorations for the Peace Jubilee celebrating the end of the Spanish American War. The photographer's journal describes the banner hanging on the building as, "Jubilee Decoration on Board of Trade. 'Commerce Follows the Flag.'"

3D Satellite

My experience is that it is hard to get photos of tall buildings downtown because they are surrounded by tall buildings and you can't get back far enough. This 3D image is actually a better view than I could take with a camera.

"The Chicago Board of Trade Building is currently the 37th tallest building in Chicago [accessed Sep 2023]. It stands 184 meters, 605 feet, and has 44 floors. The building has a faceless statue of Ceres (goddess of agriculture) as a reference to the exchange's heritage as a commodity market." [kiddle]

Street View
I learned about these two statues from the 1882 building in ChicagoDetours. So I used Street View to verify the location of the statues. Note the face of the statue on the right. Obviously Google has developed software to look for faces and blur them out to protect privacy because no human would protect the privacy of a statue.

By TonyTheTiger; recropped by Beyond My Ken (talk) 01:26, 1 October 2012 (UTC) - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=21844074

I was researching the statue on the CBOT because I was looking for the name of the goddess depicted by the statue on top of the 1930 art deco skyscraper that replaced the 1882 building. It is the Roman goddess of agriculture Ceres. The building is 600 feet tall, and it was the tallest in Chicago for decades. It has no face because the sculptor figured no one would see the details anyhow from over 600 feet away. "However, there was another reason why ignoring details was probably wise – within just a few weeks of being placed, the statue was completely blackened by soot from smokestacks, and didn’t get a bath for 12 years!" [MysteriousChicago]

Actually, the building was 604' or 605' tall, depending on source. Those few feet are important because it allowed the CBOT to retain the title of Chicago's tallest when the 601' tall Prudential Building was built. But it remained the tallest because the statue counts as part of its height whereas the antennae on the Prudential does not count.

The statue is a 31' aluminum sculpture. [sah-archipedia]

Many railfan photos of trains entering and leaving the La Salle Street Station have the top of this building in their background. This 1951 example shows that it still dominated the skyline. (And it shows that buildings had their own water tower for fire protection.)

New York Central System Historical Society posted
An array of trains at LaSalle Street Station, Chicago, Illinois, September 1951. Left to right: NYC 675, a Rock Island suburban train, NYC 4033 and 4024 and an unidentified class K11 Pacific. (NYCSHS Collectio)

Raymond Kunst added seven photos with the comment: "Chicago Board of Trade at 141 W. Jackson, it was razed in the late 1920's, making room for the current building.

*Photos curiosity of Chicagology.

https://chicagology.com/goldenage/goldenage014/"

Raymond Kunst shared

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Hinsdale, IL: Metra/CB&Q Highlands Depot

(3D Satellite)
My objective for this trip was the one-lane Oak Park Bridge that was built with a turntable because it was soon going to be replaced that you see in the background of this photo. Fortunately, I did take an overview shot so that I got a picture of the depot.

20140603 0012

Digitially Zoomed and Brightened+30

Bill Molony posted
The Chicago, Burlington & Quincy depot at Highlands.

Lorenzo, IL: Santa Fe Depot

(Satellite, it is hard to believe that there was a town here)

Bill Molony postred
The Santa Fe depot at Lorenzo - circa 1950.

This entire industrial park plus the BNSF yard to the west was built since 2012.

1939 Aerial Photo from ILHAP

Remeoville, IL: Santa Fe Depot

(Satellite)

Bill Molony posted
The Santa Fe depot at Romeo.

The town's grain elevator were across the tracks and a little to the north.

1939 Aerial Photo from ILHAP

Gilman, IL: IC and TP&W Union Depot and Junction

(Satellite)

1905 photo showing tower and part of a roundhouse and a water tower. A view from the south

20141013 0206

 

Jim Arvites posted
View of an eastbound Toledo Peoria & Western Railway freight train crossing the CN (former Illinois Central) mainline at Gilman, Illinois on September 17, 2023.
(Keith Pokorny Photo)

Roger Kujawa posted
C.R. Childs RPPC Of The I.C.&T.P.&W. Union Station Depot At Gilman, Illinois
Michael Matalis shared
One of my favorite spots to fan. It has really changed over the years!

 

John Stell posted
IC-TP&W Gilman depot with southbound IC passenger train  Date 2-18-19 unknown photographer.  John Stell collection.
Thomas Dyrek: I don't think the date is correct. This depot was demolished in 1909 to make way for the current one.

 

Andy Zukowski posted
Illinois Central and Toledo Peoria & Western Railroad Depot in Gilman, Illinois (1907)
Jim Kelling shared
Gilman, Illinois (junction station, now brick)
Jim Kelling: Replaced by a brick station long ago, now used for storage by the current railroad, Canadian National.
Larry Foht posted a different exposure of this photo
Andy Zukowski posted again
Union Train Depot in Gilman, Illinois. 1907
Richard Fiedler shared

 

Craig Hombert commented on Andy's post
Sanborn Map Company, May 1906

Andy Zukowski posted
Illinois Central & Toledo Peoria & Western Railroad Depot in Gilman, Illinois. 1907
Richard Fiedler shared

Jim Kelling: Rebuilt as a brick junction station.

Some of several photos posted by Eric Berg with the comment: "In case some people haven't seen these...photos from 1935 and by John W. Barriger III."

[I think he was eastbound on the TP&W. A, c and b were taken as he rode on the back of the train from west to east and are looking West. They must have stopped in town so that he could take d, which on the west side of town looking East.]

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b

The above appear to be looking West whereas this one is looking East.

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1940 Aerial Photo from ILHAP

John Stell posted
IC-TP&W Gilman depot on 11-3-04. John Stell slide. Randy Smith and I wonder what date TP&W moved into this depot and closed the office in the old freight house?
John Stell posted
IC depot at Gilman also had agency for TP&W. It housed TP&W agency from 1967 when I went to work on TP&W. Someone posted the TP&W freight house had a TP&W operator. Not sure when that would have been. John Stell slide on 11-3-04.
[The comments discuss the agents who used to work here.]
John Stell posted

The vacant land in the above photo used to have the TP&W freight house.

Andy Zukowski posted
Kendel Robinson: Beautiful picture! But it seems odd that you can’t see any tracks or the diamonds? The IC at this date had at least three tracks that crossed the TPW by the depot if not four. Dennis DeBruler: The building on the left looks like it would be the TP&W freight house. Andy Zukowski shared Richard Fiedler shared

NOLA Rails posted
IC passenger trains at Gilman1969.
[This would have been the north side of the depot.]
Paul Jevert shared

Greg Borgwald posted three photos with the comment: "Gilman, IL, 8-12-82."

Charlie DeWeese: That office was in the depot in the northwest quadrant of the crossing when I broke in there for a couple of days in 1958 or 1959. I was told that a tower had existed there before the CTC was put in..

Kerry Powell: Been there many times. Operator controlled signals from Gilman to Otto. TP&W crossed the IC there also. [all black panel] [His punctuation of the "all black panel".]

Charles Tapper: A mix of US&S and GRS equipment.

Jon Roma: The US&S panel was apparently put in the depot first; a couple years later, they closed the tower that sat in the SW corner of the IC/TP&W crossing, and that was replaced by the GRS panel.

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This support building must have been built since 2004.

Roger Kujawa posted nine photos of the depot.

Mort Goddard: TPW didn’t run that many trains in the 60’s when I worked there but I will never forget the TPW running the atomic train which you better not stop. It was armed with gaurds also and ran at a reduced speed.