Eastern Railroad Discussion > Chicago Roosevelt Rd revisited, 1977-2015

I'm finally getting around to posting some more vacation stuff. One of my goals this year was to pay another visit to the Roosevelt Rd bridge and try for some of the same angles I took back in 1977 and 1978 and compare them to the 2015 views. While the trains were not the colorful variety one could see in the 70's, it's still a show if you like passenger trains. One thing is for sure is the neighborhood around the bridge has improved a lot, I was impressed. I'll toss up several views starting with these :

GM&O "Plug" in 1978
Metra 124 in 2015

    RAD



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/07/15 08:06 by erie833.

---

---

A short walk east from the Union Station side brings you over the former Rock Island tracks. The 1978 view sure can't be duplicated today as the railroad is surrounded by buildings. A couple buildings and the curve in the rail line can be recognized.

  RAD

---

---

Back to the Union side....

Conrail Valpo train in 1978
Metra in 2015

  RAD

---

---

BN in 1978
Metra in 2015

  RAD

---

---

As the shadows were getting long at Roosevelt I ventured down to the next road bridge south, 18th St, to shoot the Hoosier State departing.

A hazy, late day photo of some Amtrak power in 1977.
Hoosier State in 2015
Amtrak in 2015.

  RAD

---

---

---

Beautiful comparisons!

BNSF put in an appearance. Someone below was asking about the heritage of the Iowa Pacific units. I caught a few of them enroute west through Cleveland a year ago, ex NJT.

  RAD

---

---

---

WOW !!  That 4th shot showing the buildings surrounding the former
NKP/NYC/Rock trackage out of LaSalle St was a real eye opener for me.
Thanks for posting (I think.)

Great photos!

Nolan Majcher
Broadview Heights, OH
Nolan Majcher Photography

Really enjoyed this, thanks for posting.

I always like before and after photos, it lets people who weren't around when you took these can see what things look like 35+ years ago. Thanks for posting 

Most fun I've had today, lookin at your pictures.

Thanks

Mark

Posted from Android

Very nice comparisons.
JB

Thank you for the post ...

Really appreciate the documentation ... hate to admit it, but I was growin' up in the southern Chicago suburbs in the the late 1950's-early 1960's and was not a rail fan then by any stetrch of the imagination, but I do appreciate and thank you for providing some of what I missed ... I do now appreciate the history of the Rock Island Line and thank you for those images ... I grew up in the Dolton-Riverdale-South Holland communitiies ... so many opportunities if I had only been a little older at the time ... remember summer nights listening to the "humping" at the C&EI yard in Dolton (now a UP Intermodal site) ... while listening to the Chicago White Sox games being broadcast on AM radio ... so ya, them were the days ... it is all different now

Thanks again for the post and the memory jarring!

Odyssey
Evergreen, CO

Thank you for taking the time to post these before & after shots. Really interesting to see the fallen flags, also the change in trackage & buildings.
John

Just great shots. All of them. Thanks!

 It's "Roosevelt Road" in Chicago.  South of the Loop, the east-west streets that have names are "roads."  12th St. is Roosevelt Road; 22nd St. is Cermak Road; 39th St. is Pershing Road; and so on, with a few exceptions, such as 55th St. is Garfield Boulevard.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/07/15 12:17 by ddkid.

miss those GP40FH-2's here in NJ. Only a handfull left as protection power.
 

Great shots from one of my favorite spots.

For those of you who may not know, the large red building seen just to the right of the Willis (Sears) Tower in many current photo's and prominent in picture #4 at the end of the Rock island line is a Chicago Board of Trade building which now houses the Rock Island line Metra Station.  On the top  (40th) floor is the tiny Buckingham Athletic club hotel with only about 30 rooms.  If you get a south facing room, you have an amazing view of the Amtrak, Metra (BNSF), and Rock Island lines as they come into the city, as well as the lake, Solider Field,  Comisky Park, and Midway Airport.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/07/15 11:51 by kbmiflyer.

Great shots... brought back many memories, as my father took me to Chicago many times, in the late 60's and early 70's......and we stood on Roosevelt Road for many hours, watching all the action. !!