The depot has restrooms that are open even after the station agent leaves in the morning. I didn't realize what a perk that was until I started visiting other Metra depots.
This view is taken from the far corner of Main Street and Burlington Avenue. I'm surprised there is still leaves on the trees in November. It is on my "todo list" to get a photo when the fountain is running. When they first planted those trees, they were small and they did not have any leaves even after all of the other trees in town had leaves. My wife heard a little boy ask his father why did they plant "winter trees?"
This view is taken from the far corner of Main Street and Burlington Avenue. I'm surprised there is still leaves on the trees in November. It is on my "todo list" to get a photo when the fountain is running. When they first planted those trees, they were small and they did not have any leaves even after all of the other trees in town had leaves. My wife heard a little boy ask his father why did they plant "winter trees?"
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The above is an attempt to recreate an historical photo:
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| Andy Zukowski posted C. B. & Q. Railroad Depot in Downers Grove, Illinois. 1930 The Freight Office at the end of the Depot is actually the original Depot for Downers Grove. Ward Vaughan: is it still standing and functioning? Richard Fiedler shared |
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| Dennis DeBruler commented on Ward's question The new depot is still standing, the old one is gone. We are looking West. The platform roof for outbound trains is also gone. The canopy on the far side still exists but the one on this side is gone. The far side of the depot still has a waiting room, but this side has been remodeled into commercial space such as a barber shop. And it has restrooms. I discovered one day that a lot of Metra stations don't have restrooms. A 2015 photo in the opposite direction. |
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| Glen Miller posted The new C. B. & Q. Station in Downers Grove, 1912. [The tracks in the foreground were to the team tracks and an industrial spur that went to industries west of Forest Ave. The mainline is on the other side. Back then they had a canopy for the north platform.] |
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| Todd Draeger commented on the above posting. The Downers Grove train wreck happened on April 3, 1947 at the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad station in Downers Grove, Illinois. The Twin Cities Zephyr had left Minneapolis at 5:10 PM pulling seven coaches which carried many college students and others traveling for the coming Easter weekend and was due at Chicago's Union Station at midnight. At 10:41PM, traveling about 70 MPH through the Downers Grove depot, it struck a heavy caterpillar tractor which had fallen from a freight train only seconds before. The locomotive went airborne then landed on its side, upon which it skidded and caught fire while the coach cars broke free. The first two of these jack-knifed into an empty waiting room of the brick masonry station building, which had been closed early for the night. All three sets of track running through the depot were torn up. At least three people died in the aftermath (the train's engineer among them) and more than 30 were injured. The local fire department, police and townspeople (along with a boy scout troop) quickly began giving aid. Police from many nearby towns also came to help, along with state police. After being given first aid at a doctor's office across from the station or in the lobby of the Tivoli Movie Theater, most of the injured were taken to the Hinsdale Sanitarium and Hospital about five miles east of the accident. |
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| Terry Spirek commented on the above posting Here a picture of the lead unit of that train wreck. |
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| Andy Zukowski posted 1947 Train Wreck in Downers Grove Illinois. [The rest of his description is the same text as Todd's comment above.] James Walter: I have been told by those who know than I do, that two of the cars were never rebuilt. I'm guessing one of the cars was the one whose side was sitting in the station. The rest of the train is at IRM minus the two missing cars. Years ago, its twin was in the desert - which I believe - was in Saudi Arabia. That's a guess on my part. David Dote: James Walter the severely damaged cars were Venus and Vesta both repaired in the Aurora shops. The train remained seven cars until around 1965 when the train was shortened to five cars. The second parlor car (between the obs and diner) and the coach ahead of the diner were the cars removed and scrapped. |
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| Andy commented on his post |
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| Steven Burns posted |
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| Marty Bernard posted Blog: Downers Grove Depot Front Sheared Off by Goddesses, 1947 Click here----> https://railfan44.blogspot.com/.../downers-grove-depot... Marty Bernard shared |
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| Steven J. Brown posted BNSF SD40-2 6731 (built 1979 as ATSF 5072, became BNSF 1612) at Main Street in Downers Grove, Illinois - October 18, 2003. Steven J. Brown shared |
The land between the depot and Burlington used to contain some tracks. Except for the landscaped corner pictured above, the area is now a kiss-and-go drop off. The rest of the land east of me that used to have tracks is now a parking lot.
As I was walking north to the platform, a commuter arrived, so I grabbed this shot.
It stopped east of the depot itself. On the left you can see that they are building a second set of townhouses with wood framing.
I revisited the "historical view" during the spring.
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About a month after the "tulip photo," they had planted Petunias.
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| Jim Arvites posted View of the CB&Q passenger depot at Downers Grove, Illinois during the 1920's. The station was built in 1911 and is still used in commuter service by Metra today. This is also the site of the famous 1947 Zephyr train wreck that killed 3 people and injuried more the 30 others. (Downers Grove Historical Society) Jon Roma Not to be confused with the other, more famous and more deadly Naperville accident the year before. Here's the ICC report from the Downers Grove accident: https://www.jonroma.net/rail/accident/usa/icc/3092.pdf. Dennis DeBruler The building in the background to the left of the train was the original depot. It was converted to a freight house after the new depot was built. Dave Rodgers I could see it was a freight house. Interesting that it was the original depot. I'm sure at one time Downers Grove was the largest city west of Chicago on the Q. Dennis DeBruler When CB&Q built their own line to Chicago in 1865, I heard at a presentation that four towns already existed. The problem with presentations is that I can't look up the fact later. I remember that Naperville and DG were mentioned. I think Berwyn and Hinsdale were the other two. DG was the terminus for commuter service and had a coach yard, turntable and water tower. The microwave tower is now where the center of the turntable was. Dennis DeBruler https://towns-and-nature.blogspot.com/.../downers-grove... |
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| Mike Breski posted Burlington’s Twin Zephyrs Minneapolis–Chicago Twin Zephyr trains on pre-inaugural publicity run, side-by-side, from Aurora to Chicago, passing Downers Grove, Ill., April 14, 1935. Willard V. Anderson photo David Nelson Formally inaugurated April 21, 1935.Charles Gerard This looks the from what's now the east end of the Main Street platform, near Washington. That's the Tivoli building in the background. Still there. Lovely pic! James L. Ludwig Charles Gerard-Yes that is where the current boarding shelters for eastbound trains is located and the east side parking lot for METRA. Jeffrey Radek Sr. Can you imagine the excitement . the kid in the bottom right corner looks like he's going crazy ! John Petit 9901 & 9902 Michael Matalis shared A share from the Chicago Area Railroad Historians Page. How many times have you seen a photo captioned, "Everything in this view is gone"? Well not this time, pretty much every structure is still around, and about the only major change is that the siding that ran behind the station is long gone. Chuck Derer I'm surprised that little building next to the Tivoli is still with us. Michael Matalis Definitely the 30's. By the 50's the shovel nosed Zephyr's were old hat and the Q would not be showcasing them. Best guess as to an exact date is April 14, 1935 because that day two of the train sets were moved "side by side" from Aurora to Union station for an official christening on the 15th. |
This photo was taken from the platform of the depot.
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| Bill Molony posted Chicago, Burlington & Quincy EMD E5A #9915 - the Silver Carrier - cruising through Downers Grove in June of 1944 at about 80 miles an hour. Dennis DeBruler 80 mph on jointed rail would be a lot of maintenance work. At first I thought an E5A was pulling a freight train. Then I realized it must have been a lot of headend cars. That was back when Amazon was done by Sears, etc. and UPS+FedEx was done by REA and mail was done by train instead of plane. Lawrence Smith war was on - loadings way up - they had money for maintenance and they imported track workers from Mexico as well so US citizens could join up. |
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| Eddie G Hoffmann commented on Michael's share |
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| Robby Gragg posted A H2 SD60M and a former BN SD40-2 lead R-CHI547 west through Downers Grove. 5/26/20 Dennis DeBruler This is a good lesson to me as to how stepping just a few feet off the beaten path can make the photo so much more dramatic. Robby Gragg Tried to frame it where I got both the depot and the historic Tivoli Theater in the shot. Two landmarks of downtown Downers Grove. Dennis DeBruler Robby Gragg I noticed. |
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| Doug Plummer posted The day the nebraska zephyr derailed in downers Grove illinois. I think at this time it might have been the twin cities zephyr. This zephyr operates at the illinois railway museum with Q E5 silver pilot it orgignal engine 9904 Pegasus Dennis DeBruler Marty Bernard describes the 1947 train wreck that sheared off the track side of the depot, killed 3 people and injured 30: http://railfan44.blogspot.com/.../downers-grove-depot... David M Laz posted Paul Webb shared |
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| Larry Candilas commented on Paul's share |
This view is comparable to the photo at the top of Marty's blog mentioned in the above Facebook comment. Note the platform cover is gone. And the poles on the left with at least six cross arms is for the "code line." That was replaced in 2014 by a fiber optic cable to implement Positive Train Control (PTC).
I knew part of the depot got smashed by the Zephyr wreck, so I took a closeup of the old and new parts of the depot. They rebuilt the bay part of the depot and the new brick is a little darker.
PTC would not have prevented this wreck since the bulldozer fell off just before the Zephyr arrived.
I knew part of the depot got smashed by the Zephyr wreck, so I took a closeup of the old and new parts of the depot. They rebuilt the bay part of the depot and the new brick is a little darker.
PTC would not have prevented this wreck since the bulldozer fell off just before the Zephyr arrived.
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| Barriger Library Flickr Michael Matalis: Downers Grove IL at the Main St station. Photo is of an eastbound freight detouring on the house tracks behind the depot after the 1947 Twin Cities Zephyr wreck. Michael Matalis posted the link A truly remarkable photo showing an eastbound CB&Q freight detouring around the south side of the Main St station in Downers Grove IL during the clean up of the 1947 Twin Cities Zephyr wreck. FT's!!!!!! Sheila Rowe: My Grandpa, John Brummel, was the Fireman injured in that crash on 4/10/1947. Engineer Clarence Thurston did not survive. https://archive.ph/.../lincoln.../498R/zephyr/accident.html [I couldn't make the link work] Marty Bernard shared Scott B Stearns: Any idea what this track was used for when it wasn't for detours? We just put this track on our layout - now we want to know why. |
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| Dennis DeBruler commented on Scott's comment In addition to team tracks, there was an industrial spur that went back across Forest Ave to serve some industries that were in the southwest quadrant of Forest and the tracks. In this aerial, the road on the right is Forest Ave. https://towns-and-nature.blogspot.com/.../downers-grove... |
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| Dennis DeBruler commented on Scott's comment In this excerpt, Forest Ave is on the left. Note the old depot is still present on the west side of Main Street. It became the freight house after the new (current) depot was built. I've read that those team tracks is one of the reasons why Downers Grove has so many Sears homes. https://towns-and-nature.blogspot.com/.../downers-groves... |
Glen Miller posted two photos with the comment: "The first photo is the new C. B. & Q. Station in Downers Grove, 1912. In the second photo, we see what happened in 1947 when the Twin Cities Zephyr struck a tractor that had fallen from a freight train only seconds before. The engineer died but not before telling how he saw the tractor fall and he hit the brakes. The Zephyr was going 75 mph and went airborne, slamming into the station."
Dennis DeBruler: Marty Bernard describes the 1947 train wreck that sheared off the track side of the depot, killed 3 people and injured 30: https://railfan44.blogspot.com/.../downers-grove-depot...
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| Dennis DeBruler commented on Glen's post There used to be team tracks south of the depot. (That is one reason why Downers Grove has so many Sears homes.) A house track remained in 1947, so it was used to detour the trains around the wreck. John W. Barriger IIII photo: https://www.flickr.com/photos/barrigerlibrary/15107505314/ Terrence Donahue: That house track remained in place until the late 1960s. |
Speaking of wrecks.
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| Marty Bernard posted How Would You Like to be That Lineman? The morning after a wreck in Downers Grove, IL on CB&Q on August 27, 1965. The racetrack was totally shut down for several hours. Just west of Fairview Ave. Terrence Donahue: As a six year old my dad walked me to the four blocks from our house to see the wreckage. We walked all the way down to the curve where Warren Avenue turns into Prospect at Rogers Avenue. I remember seeing those brown boxcars spilled onto the side of the hill. What an impressive derailment. Do you happen to know how it happened? Pat Murphy: As a retired lineman, that's the way it was done in the old days. Now, you wouldn't even think about doing it this way. At night it really was an adventure. Marty Bernard shared |
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| Marty Bernard posted This is a follow-up on yesterday's post on the August 27, 1965 CB&Q wreck in Downers Grove, IL. [see above] It occurred just west of the Maple Ave. grade crossing. The lineman in yesterday's photo was just to my left when I took this. You can see why the 3-track Chicago to Aurora Racetrack was closed for several hours. Jason Hartmann: That outside braced double door is neat! Ray Bottles: Look at the former AC&Y Box car !! Akron Canton & Youngstown Railroad!! And a former GN Box car ALSO!!! Marty Bernard shared [The comments talk about some other wrecks that happened on The Racetrack.] |
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