Thursday, November 30, 2017

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."
When I was railfanning in Elmhurst, I didn't bother to get a shot of the depot itself. But I 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.

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.

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




















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)

Wednesday, November 29, 2017

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 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

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.]
a

c

b

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

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

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

This support building must have been built since 2004.

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.


Tuesday, November 28, 2017

Pennsy South Chicago Depot and Freight House

(Street View; Satellite, the Skyway now goes over the land.)

Shad Steve Vargo posted
Found the bricked up stairwell of a lost station off of Commercial Avenue. Does anyone have any info of the station that stood here Or maybe any pictures?
Bob Lalich commented on Shad's posting
The bricked up openings led to the elevated platforms of PRR's South Chicago Station. One opening was for the passenger stairway. The other was for a baggage elevator. The main building was located at ground level.
Shad Steve Vargo This is the answer to my question! Did the station come down with the building of the Chicago Skyway?
Bob Lalich The short answer is yes. According to PRR timetables, the South Chicago station stop for the Valpo trains had been eliminated by November of 1952. I'm not sure when the long distance trains discontinued the stop. Photos from the mid-50s show the passenger station in place. It and the freight station west of Commercial Ave were both razed to make room for the Skyway. Plans for a roadway to connect the Outer Drive to Indiana along the NYC-PRR corridor had begun as early as the 1930's WPA era, according to HAER.
Lawrence Smith This is a very historic photo from the track elevation days. I have researched many track elev photos and have never seen this one. This photo, from 1912 shows the newly elevated tracks in the background and some tracks in front of the station. Wonder if the latter tracks are originals from pre-track elevation days that used to cross the IC at grade at Grand Crossing b/4 the elevation was finished.
Bob Lalich The tracks in front of the station are streetcar tracks.
[Bob Lalich Flickr Photo of PRR company photo]

John W. Barriger III Flickr Photo

Comments on John's Flickr photo

The yellow rectangle highlights the freight house and the green rectangle is for the passenger station.
1938 Aerial Photo from ILHAP


Before Track Elevation


Marty Gatton shared a Jeff Nichols' photo
Pennsylvania Railroad East Side station, 100th Street and Ewing Avenue, c. 1908. Source: Pullman State Historic Site, Southeast Chicago Historical Society
Did Pennsy move their South Chicago Station from Ewing to Commercial when they elevated the tracks?




Westville, IL: Aban/MoPac/C&EI Depot

(3D Satellite)

Street View, kAug 2015

This branch of the C&EI was abandoned by MoPac. The north/south route on the west side of town is the CSX/(Big4+Milwaukee).

Bill Molony posted
The preserved Chicago & Eastern Illinois depot at Westville.

1940 Aerial Photo from ILHAP

Chicago, IL: B&OCT 63rd Street Depot

(Satellite)
I read that a lot of the railroads built a station at 63rd Street because of the 1893 Colombian Exposition.

Bill Molony posted
The Baltimore & Ohio depot at 63rd Street.
Richard Fiedler I believe the depot across the street was torn down 69-70 just before I graduated.
Bill Molony The B&O's Capital Limited stopped at the 63rd Street depot right up until April of 1971 when Amtrak took over, so it was torn down sometime after that.

Brian Morgan posted
This station which formerly stood at the intersection of West 63rd Street and South Bell Avenue on Chicago's Southwest side was the Baltimore and Ohio Chicago Terminal Railway Station. This station hosted not only the Flagship train out of Chicago's Grand Central station but also other Baltimore and Ohio Railways and the Pere Marquette(C&O.) Railways passenger trains inbound and outbound to and from Downtown Chicago's Grand Central station. This station has gone to the proverbial ghost.
Bill Molony According to the Official Guide to the Railways, the B&O's Capital Limited and the C&O's Pere Marquette were scheduled to stop at this station as late as April of 1971 - just prior to the coming of Amtrak.

Brian Morgan posted again

Comments on Brian's second posting:
Comments

1938 Aerial Photo from ILHAP
Brian Morgan posted
Another view of the Baltimore and Ohio Chicago Terminal Railway Station formerly located at West 63rd Street and South Bell Avenue.