Aurora, IL: Lost/BNSF/BN/CB&Q Depot

The depots were in the downtown area before the tracks were elevated.

Amtrak moved their suburban station to Naperville in 1985, and Metra moved their commuter station to an old CB&Q backshop in 1986. [TrainWeb]

The old station was torn down April 22, 2013. (Part of the roof had caved in during a rain storm!) But once again, Bing's birds-eye view is a time machine and still shows the building.

Birds-Eye View

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

In the birds-eye view, the long platforms along the mainline were gone. We can see the platform covers as long white lines along the tracks in this 1939 aerial. (It is a shame that platform covers are no longer built/maintained. I've seen old photos of the Downers Grove station that showed they used to exist.)

1939 Aerial Photo from ILHAP

Satellite

The foundation is still evident in the satellite image to the right.

Fortunately, not all railfans took pictures of just trains. There are photos by Chuck Zeiler 1, Chuck Zeiler 2, Brian Long, anonymous, Check Zeiler of an E9A at the platform, and Matthew Kantola of a steam locomotive at a platform.

Marty Bernard posted seven photos with the comment:

Sunset at the old Aurora, Illinois Commuter Station, Dec. 1984
This was the end of the commuter zone for decades. It was downtown, with no parking, and poor access. Everything except for three or four tracks are gone. The railroad from Chicago still splits here to go to Savanna and Galesburg.
The commuter facility was moved in the mid-1980 to a large location north and east but still within the city.
Aurora is now the second most populous city in Illinois.
Roger Puta took these seven photos in December 1984. They are presented in the order he took them.
The depot/office building in the first photo was torn down in April 2013. I was in the upstairs CB&Q offices a couple of times but did not pay attention to what was happening there.

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Similar view by Chuck Zeiler

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Railroad Glory Days posted
Thomas Whitt shared
David Zachmeyer: I lived in Burlington at the time. There was passenger train through Burlington every hour, one direction or the other.

I tried using a link instead of a copy of this photo, but the map option is broke, the "Fallen Flags" has just locos and cars, the search "aurora depot" found nothing, the date didn't even go back to 1999, and "Location" is all of USA.

Tom Casady posted
Eerie photo of the old Aurora depot and yard area with the tracks removed, but the platform overhangs remaining.
Photo by Steve Junas in 1999

Robert Daly posted five photos with the comment:

CB&Q station, Aurora, 1969-1987. The station closed Dec 7 1986 when the "Aurora Transportation Center" opened on the former shops site. Q stations were not known for architectural beauty but they had an air of solidity and functionality.CB&Q station, Aurora, 1969-1987. The station closed Dec 7 1986 when the "Aurora Transportation Center" opened on the former shops site. Q stations were not known for architectural beauty but they had an air of solidity and functionality.

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Similar view by Chuck Zeiler

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Kevin Qualkenbush posted
Marty Bernard shared

CB&Q Aurora, IL Depot 

No caption or photographer.  

While in college I applied on the second floor for my two summer jobs.

Mike Bartels: Demolished in April 2013. Metra moved to the Aurora Transportation Center, which opened in January 1988, and Amtrak to Naperville on April 28, 1985.

Comments on Marty's share
[Hill Yard]

Terry Spirek commented on Marty's share
Here my photograph of Aurora station trackside right before they took a wrecking ball to it .

Sady Rivera commented on Marty's share, cropped
Around 2013 I was running eastbound heading to. Cicero took this pic of the demolition

Don Crimmin posted
CB&Q conductor on No. 17, the California Zephyr, waves a highball at Aurora, IL, and prepares to follow the Pullman porter into the vestibule of Western Pacific dome-sleeper-observation "Silver Planet". May 28, 1969
Michael Hundley The old Aurora station had character with it's sheltered platforms and underground subway to get to the other tracks or to the station. I work about 2 minutes from there and used to eat my lunch a couple of times a week on the platform back in the late 70's until it closed in the 80's. Took many Amtrak trips from there. I sure miss it.

Tom Casady posted
CB&Q Aurora, IL platform back in the day.
Photo by Bill Raia.
Bryan Howell The first cab control cars didn't arrive until 1965 and it was only 6, so there were still trains that ran diesel first into Chicago until the next order of cab cars arrived in the early BN era.
[Closed 1988]

Robert Daly posted
A cold, snowy January 16 1974 at BN's Aurora station.
Bob Haag The platforms were removed many years ago. The station proper was torn down about 2015 or 2016 due to storm damage.

Lance Erickson posted
Went by the former Aurora Station many times on the California Zephyr. Moving the stop to Naperville was just one of the things done so Amtrak could not benefit in any improvements to commuter service that would benefit them. Commuter rail is allowed to grow, while Amtrak service is always under possible discontinuance. This property is still empty and unused.
[Several comments about the merits and demerits of moving the Amtrak stop from Aurora to Naperville.]

Scott Posadzy added two photos as comments to Lance's post:

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RobertPiers
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad streamlined train “Pioneer Zephyr” speeds through Aurora, Illinois on its way to Union Station, Chicago, Illinois, on its “Dawn to Dusk Dash,” May 26, 1934.
[Note the platforms in the right background and the depot to the left of them.]

Why is the overpass staggered on the north side but not on the south side?

Satellite

Kevin Qualkenbush posted four photos with the comment:

Having grown up part of my life in Aurora Illinois I can remember the old old Burlington Northern train station on Broadway. We lived on LaSalle St. which was within walking distance of the station. I always thought it was cool how you used to walk underneath the tracks to get to the platform to wait for your train.  I also remember that in grade school we took the train into Chicago from there. I remember we put on a show for the parents after the trip and I was the train whistle! 

I remember we would catch the train from Aurora to Chicago during the Christmas season and go downtown Chicago to see the Christmas window displays at Carson's and Marshall Fields. 

Unfortunately the station was demolished due to damage it had received and the roof collapse. It was no longer safe and today it's just an empty lot with the tunnel to the platform closed up. 

I included some pictures I found on Google to show what it was like.

Jim Kelling shared

Aurora Illinois (Burlington station, demolished)

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City of Aurora, IL, Government posted

🏛️ THE HISTORY OF AURORA: BURLINGTON ZEPHYR 🏛️

On May 26, 1934, the Burlington Zephyr undertook a record-setting 1,015-mile, dawn-to-dusk run, leaving Denver, Colorado at 5 A.M. and arriving in Chicago 13 hours later for the Century of Progress World's Fair!

With Aurora engineer Jack Ford at the controls, the Zephyr averaged 77.6 miles per hour, while hitting a top speed of 112.5 miles per hour!

After decades of passenger service, the "Pioneer Zephyr" was retired in 1960 and given to Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry.

Photo Credit: Mickey Hanks

Ken Bailey: The drawback of the Zephyr's futeristic design was that the engineer had no crash protection. EMD designers would subsequently raise the winhshied up over the headlights, then slide it back down along the roofline a bit to give the locomotive a "nose". This "bulldog" design would become the public face of diesel locomotives for the next forty years. Interestingly, the Burlington railroad would paint stripes and triangles around and beneath the headlights of its later passenger locomotives to hark back to the original windshield and air vent locations of the original "Zephyr" locomotive design.

Tracy Duran: Love the history of the Zephyr! Jack Ford's son, Merritt Ford, used to sell Christmas trees and Merritt's son, Forest Ford, was my 4th grade teacher at Gates School!

Plus, there was a suspense movie made in 1934 called "The Silver Streak" that featured the Pioneer Zephyr with a suspenseful mystery and the Dawn to Dusk race. Jack Ford was the primary engineer during the movie but was not acting in the movie. It is really neat to see the Pioneer Zephyr in action in this movie.

Here's a fun history video on the train history in Aurora and has a segment on Jack Ford and the Pioneer Zephyr:: https://youtu.be/LEw3dPtKjyA?si=b1Uht2orbOxKr0vN

Michael Riha shared

Marco Plascencia commented on the above post
Former CB&Q station that used to be on Broadway.

Davis Shroomberg shared a link to some Flickr photos after the roof collapsed.