Western Railroad Discussion > Pouring rain, a candy factory & a rare location

There are a lot of really neat locations that get little coverage because of safety concerns in any city. This is one of those, in Chicago. I don't think I've ever seen a picture of it in several years of being on Trainorders. It is on the west side, and features the BRC main crossing over the UP mainline between downtown and Proviso Yard. In the northwest corner there is a massive, abandoned Brach's candy factory. To the east there is a Metra locomotive shop and alot of small commercial and industrial businesses, including scrapyards. The adjacent neighborhood is among the poorest in the city, and the scrapyards and pallet recycling places draw constant foot traffic from people trying to make a buck.

I work nearby sometimes, and come and go quick if I visit hear. Yesterday, though, there was a massive rain downpour and I decided to take some images since the area was especially quiet. UP cooperated by sending two westbound stack trains through. The first came during heavy rain.

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1. At look at one of the buildings of the candy factory, closed in 2003. The complex is enormous. While I was sitting here two young guys who I had seen on the third floor of one building peering out a broken section of wall left and crossed the railroad tracks. They have a hobby too... "urban exploration"

As the storm passed, the clouds and lighting were doing some interesting things so I couldn't help getting some Metra shots.

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I was hoping for a move on the BRC (which would either be a CP train, something to the CP at Bensenville, or the occasional CN freight) but nothing came. I did get a CSX stack train on the UP, I am guessing to Proviso

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Great shots, the rain yesterday was amazing, at my house in Downers Grove it was like someone upended a bucket!

PrairieRailfan Wrote:
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> it was like someone upended
> a bucket!

And a bucket that takes about an hour to empty!

inCHI Wrote:
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> The adjacent neighborhood is among the poorest in
> the city...

That's a superlative with way too many contenders! Two decades ago good friends I was visiting took me to task for driving through there and a few other places in the city while hunting trains.
This is from West Kinzie Street in Pulaski, right?
—Mac



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/06/13 10:30 by MacBeau.

inCHI Wrote:
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>They have a hobby too... "urban
> exploration"

Are you sure it wasn't "Urban Destruction"??

Mike

MacBeau Wrote:
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> inCHI Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> That's a superlative with way too many contenders!

True.

> Two decades ago good friends I was visiting took
> me to task for driving through there and a few
> other places in the city while hunting trains.
> This is from West Kinzie Street in Pulaski,
> right?

Yeah, on Kinzie between Pulaski and Kilbourn. It's funny how some bad areas have the best parking situations for watching trains. Here there is room to back in and sit legally with an open view all the way down, with little traffic in your way. You just won't feel safe doing it...

Great photos.

Just how close is the clearance under that bridge for doublestacks. Looks super close.

The CSX train was probably Q157 to Global 2....

Man, that first shot is really great!

Regarding the neighborhood, I remember chasing an eb local from Franklin Park to the BRC a few years ago with my dad, and man, did it get sketchy near the BRC. Contrary to popular belief, the south side doesn't hold a monopoly on poverty in the city.

- Jeff Carlson

Here is where the Brach's factory is located

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=401+N.+Cicero+Ave.,+Chicago,+IL&ie=UTF-8&ei=QuVRUpaqM8TAigKppYAw&ved=0CAoQ_AUoAg

And details of it.

http://americanurbex.com/wordpress/?p=779

syscom3 Wrote:
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> Here is where the Brach's factory is located
>
> https://maps.google.com/maps?q=401+N.+Cicero+Ave.,
> +Chicago,+IL&ie=UTF-8&ei=QuVRUpaqM8TAigKppYAw&ved=
> 0CAoQ_AUoAg
>
> And details of it.
>
> http://americanurbex.com/wordpress/?p=779

Thanks for posting that, I saw the same link. The comment about "Urban Destruction" is funny - here is a guy who explored the site, researched it, and wrote about it for the public. I'm failing to see the destruction part of that. Brach's, on the other hand, shut the factory - I'm pretty sure that was the "destruction" part of this.

That candy factory is creepy at night. Used to work the Chicago pool and we would pass through there at night along the BRC. You could look in and see all kinds of eyes from the homeless and junkies that occupy all the levels.

Posted from Android

jkchubbes Wrote:
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> That candy factory is creepy at night. Used to
> work the Chicago pool and we would pass through
> there at night along the BRC. You could look in
> and see all kinds of eyes from the homeless and
> junkies that occupy all the levels.
>
> Posted from Android

If and when crews are allowed to or given the chance to take photos, there have to be some really interesting shots from all the Chicago areas that are either inaccessible or in areas that are risky.

Oh, that's what rain looks like. Thanks....

pdt in Paso Robles, CA

NICE pics!!! I REALLY like those rain pics!!!

coach Wrote:
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> Great photos.
>
> Just how close is the clearance under that bridge
> for doublestacks. Looks super close.


It's close, but no longer a problem. I remember a picture in Trains that showed the results of a stacker that didn't quite fit underneath that very bridge. When stack trains were first run here, they could not go into the city at all via the C&NW. Eventually, they dug out the roadbed under this bridge. First was a short bypass track, little more than just under the bridge (to the left of all of the tracks in this view). Then it was eliminated in favor of one of the mainline tracks that was undercut. Where the signal bridge beyond the overpass is located, there was an interlocking--Kenton Avenue--that allowed trains to get on the proper track for clearing the bridge (my understanding on the "can-opener" incident was that the dispatcher made an error, an engineer called him on it, and was told to highball...he did...). Now all three tracks are good for stack cars, but you can certainly notice the dip in the roadbed!

Carl Shaver
Lombard, IL