Western Railroad Discussion > BNSF west out of Chicago

Hello all,
Planning a trip to the Naperville/Aurora/Rochelle area and wanted to understand what set of lines outside of Chicago sees most traffic these days?   

I realize out of Chicago there is route heading directly to Aurora, but there is also the route southwest towards Joliet.   Unsure what sees more traffic routed through?

From Aurora, do more trains move towards Rochelle, or head south towards Galesburg (I'm assuming this is the more traveled route towards KC).

Also, if anyone has recommendations on good trackside places to eat in this area, I would greatly appreciate it.

jbdbackfan Wrote:
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> I realize out of Chicago there is route heading
> directly to Aurora, but there is also the route
> southwest towards Joliet.   Unsure what sees
> more traffic routed through?
>
Both lines are busy.  The Aurora line is the ex-BN main, sometimes called the "racetrack," and the Joliet line is former Santa Fe.  
The Santa Fe has the most freight movements but the Aurora line is busier because it also hosts Amtrak and commuter trains.
Joliet is a good place on the Santa Fe.   Just pick any station along the BN.  Lisle is especially good as is Lavergne and La Grange, where it crosses over the Indiana Harbor Belt.
 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/18/23 15:00 by calumet.

If my info is still accurate, the vast majority of the traffic on the ex-ATSF Chillicothe Sub through Joliet is intermodal.  As stated previously, this is BNSF's busiest freight line into Chicago.  The ex-BN (CB&Q) Chicago Sub (between Chicago and Aurora) sees, in my opinion, a better variety of freight traffic.  It has a fairly good mix of intermodal, manifest, coal, grain, ethanol, and other bulk commodities.  West of Aurora, the main splits with the Aurora Sub heading towards Rochelle and Savanna and the Mendota Sub heading towards Galesburg.  I believe the Aurora Sub is the busier of the two.  Most (if not all) of the intermodals from the Chicago Sub runs that way.  The Mendota Sub sees mostly manifest, coal, sand, and Amtrak.

Andrew



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/18/23 15:11 by florida581.

jbdbackfan Wrote:
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>
> From Aurora, do more trains move towards Rochelle,
> or head south towards Galesburg (I'm assuming this
> is the more traveled route towards KC).
>

The former Santa Fe is THE premier route for traffic between Chicago and Kansas City.The former BN through Galesburg does not host any regular Chicago-KC traffic on an all-BN routing.  

The Mendota Sub between Aurora and Galesburg does see some intermodal that could/sometimes does use the Santa Fe.   Intermodal trains going to Norfolk Southern (non-Z) often use the Mendota Sub.  Those intermodal trains use the Santa Fe between KC and the Galesburg area where they jump on the BN west of town at Cameron, IL. 

 

Joliet would probably be your best bet.  Two other main lines pass thru in additon to BNSF.
Joliet (chicago-rail.info)

For more on LaGrange: LaGrange and Congress Park (chicago-rail.info)