Eastern Railroad Discussion > Chicago Question

Hello all,

Next month I will be passing through Chicago on Amtrak trains 51 and 30. Barring any major delays on 51, the resulting layover will hopefully give me a chance to explore a couple railfanning hotspots in a city that I have never visited. What are some of the best places to see?

Thanks for any help,
Adam​​​

I like to ride the Metra on the BNSF out to Lagrange Road, Hinsdale, or Downers Grove. Busy line featuring BNSF frts, Metra commuters, & Amtrak's Calif Zephyr & Southwest Chief (both directions). Stations in right in "town" so food, drink, & restrooms are available & area is safe.

My thoughts:

1.  Walk down to Roosevelt Road.  It is about 1 mile south of union station (walk down Canal).  Roosevelt road goes over the top of the the Amtrak and Metra yards.  Mostly Amtrak and Metra action, can be a bit slow during the day.  While there, have lunch at the White Place Grill.

2.  Take Metra to Lagrange Park (BNSF) line (same suggestion as Fred above).  Really, any station along this route is good, we like LaGrange Park because it has some good restaurant choices.  There is plenty of action here, or you can take a short walk and go to the interesection of the BNSF line and the Indiana Harbor belt to see even more action.  Between 2 and 4, you will see four Amtrak long distance trains (assuming they are on time).

My son and I were there last week.  https://youtu.be/hyDFMrPqrEc

3.  Taxi, Uber, or Walk over to Millennium Park and take the Metra Electric down to Homewood.  There is a rail fan platform there and the station is at the entrance of the CN yard.

4.  Take Metra to Elmhurst station.  This is on the UP West line.  Not quite as much traffic as the BNSF race track, but still plenty of traffic.  You can also take the same UP west line to West Chicago and there is an intersection with the CN loop line (former EJE).

For more info, check out this website :  http://www.dhke.com/CRJ/

 



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 07/22/16 07:37 by kbmiflyer.

I don't know how much time you'll have, but go here and scroll down to the page titled Sites Near Union Station:

http://dhke.com/CRJ/

 

kbmiflyer Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> 2.  Take Metra to Lagrange Park (BNSF) line (same
> suggestion as Fred above).  Really, any station
> along this route is good, we like LaGrange Park
> because it has some good restaurant choices.

Agree with this. However, there is no La Grange Park station. There is a La Grange Road station and a La Grange - Stone Avenue station. Both are good but the first one is closer to all the amenities noted earlier.

Posted from iPhone

Thank you all for your help!