Railroads, Chicago-style

Illinois Central Station, Chicago, Illinois by Matthew Chapman

Illinois Central Station on month before it was demolished

Chicago

May 1974

Photo by Matthew Chapman

The Libertyville Metra station was rebuilt this year, and the result is evocative of an earlier era of train stations (see last photo above). The current station is located west of Milwaukee Avenue, but the original Milwaukee Road station was east of Milwaukee Avenue. See above for a number of photos spanning many decades.

To my knowledge, the old station was not preserved.

“North Shore Electroliner at Waukegan. Photo by John Horachek, dupe slide in my collection from a Shore Line Historical Society slide set from years ago.”

(Collection of John Smatlak)

(via North Shore Electroliner Waukegan John Horachek dupe | Flickr)

C&NW - Chicago Passenger Terminal by d.w.davidson on Flickr.

March 1983 Photo by D.W. Davidson

A century ago.... by Jon R. Roma on Flickr.

This advertisement appeared in the Chicago Daily Tribune one century ago, on Saturday, June 3, 1911, and announced the opening of C&NW's grand new Chicago passenger terminal the following day.

Chicago Passenger Terminal commuter concourse by Jon R. Roma on Flickr.

Chicago & North Western passenger terminal commuter concourse (pre-Ogilvie) Chicago June 2, 1988 Photo by Jon R. Roma

Caption: “Rock Island 676 waits its departure time at Blue Island in February of 77.”

Today this is the Vermont Street station on the Metra Rock Island District line in Blue Island, Illinois

Photo by Bill Raia

(via Very Red | 676 waits its departure time at Blue Island in Fe… | Flickr)

From The Trolley Dodger blog:

Chicago Aurora & Elgin car 425 at the Aurora Terminal in 1927.

LaSalle Street Station Keystone ‘Chicago’ by WayOutWardell on Flickr.

LaSalle Street Station Keystone ‘Chicago’ 'Chicago’, the keystone removed from the arch over the LaSalle Street Station in 1982 during its demolition, saved by an art instructor at Columbia College and now at the Illinois Rail Museum. Wrecking crane operator Robert Kempczynski, who took it down, said at the time, 'It was unreal. We beat on that arch for 12 hours before it came down, so you know a lot of heart went into putting it up. I usually enjoy my work, but this hurt’.

Chicago’s Intercity Train Stations circa 1950

Map by Dennis McClendon for Joseph Schwieterman's book Terminal Town

(via Libertyville | Milwaukee 37C arrives at Libertyville on 7-26… | Flickr)

Milwaukee Road 37C and commuter train at the Libertyville passenger depot

Libertyville, Illinois

July 26, 1977

Photo by Lee Hastman

Note: The current Libertyville Metra station is located on the west side of Milwaukee Avenue. The old depot seen in this photo was on the east side of Milwaukee Avenue. It was later demolished and its location is now a parking lot for Metra commuters:

https://goo.gl/maps/L7fnjWToBCK2

View from 1923 of the Uptown Station. Today this is the CTA Red Line Wilson station, which is being rebuilt. Status can be found on the CTA site here.

(via Wilson_1923_looking_NW_CTA.jpg (JPEG Image, 5782 × 3711 pixels) - Scaled (25%))

C&NW 154 in Lake Bluff, IL on April 15, 1962 by railfan 44 on Flickr.

A Chicago-bound Chicago & North Western commuter train at the Lake Bluff station in April 1962.

Today, this is the Lake Bluff station on the Metra Union Pacific North Line. The brick building on the right is no longer there, nor is the railroad tower in the distance on the left. The rail line on the left is no longer double-tracked, but the single track still in use is used by Union Pacific to deliver coal trains from Wyoming to points north of Lake Bluff.

Lake Bluff, Illinois

April 15, 1962

Photo by Marty Bernard

Chicago Great Western

Esmond, Illinois

December 28, 1964

Photo by Marty Bernard

North Shore Line Last Day by John Csoka Via Flickr: Northbound Electroliner at Dempster Street in Skokie, Illinois on January 20, 1963, the last day of operations for the North Shore Line.

The North Shore Line station shown here is now home to a Starbucks.

Rondout 3 by Amtrak290 on Flickr.

A Milwaukee Road freight train heads north past Rondout Tower (on the left) and the Rondout passenger depot (on the right, which no longer exists).

Rondout, Illinois

June 13, 1962

CRIP 652 by CPShips on Flickr.

La Salle Street Station in Chicago. The locomotive in the background was “Independence”, an EMD E8A, the Rock Island Bicentennial unit, bringing in the Quad City Rocket in August 1977.