Railroad Interest - Part 2

I grew up in Lombard, Illinois. Lombard had three railroads running through it at one time. The only one that still exists today is the Union Pacific line that runs between Chicago and Omaha and points farther west. This was part of the original transcontinental railroad and was known as the Chicago and North Western when I was growing up. It was absorbed into the Union Pacific in 1995.

Lombard also had a single track line usually know as the Great Western or, more formally, the Chicago Great Western. This line ran from Chicago out into Iowa and is now a bike trail through Lombard. It was merged into the Chicago and North Western in 1968 and gradually abandoned over the next decade or so.

There was an interurban railroad that ran through Lombard. The Chicago, Aurora and Elgin. We called it the "Roarin Elgin". This was an electric line that ran between its namesake cities. It ceased operating in 1957 and in the 60’s was converted into a trail called the Illinois Prairie Path. Great for hiking and biking.

All three of these lines were fascinating for me to poke around. I never saw a train on the CA&E but did see some on the CGW after it was merged into the C&NW. Trains on that line were rare. The C&NW, of course, had lots of trains including commuter trains and freight. I used to ride my bicycle up along the C&NW after school to watch a train or two and the first of the evening rush hour commuter trains. I liked the Elizabeth Street crossing because you could see the farthest at this point where the track curved slightly. From here you could see well past Grace Street to the east and a good ways into Glen Ellyn to the west.

The Prairie Path was fun to ride my bicycle on as well since over in the next two suburbs west, Glen Ellyn and Wheaton, it was adjacent to the C&NW tracks. So I could ride over there and see some trains on the C&NW as well.

I used to notice railroad artifacts along these lines. One of the interesting items on the CA&E is the remains of an old station in Glen Ellyn just east of Hill Avenue. As of about 2003, it was still there. It was much more overgrown that it was 20 years earlier. It consists of some brickwork that must have formed an arch over the entry to the station. That’s it. You could also find the remains of station platforms at various places through Lombard.

One of the unusual things about the C&NW line is the lack of lighted signals. Instead, they have signals in the cabs of the locomotives which receive their indications through low voltage current in the track. But it wasn’t always this way. Over in Elmhurst, you can see signal bridges still in place. Years ago, I noticed concrete supports along the right of way just west of Lombard. These had to be for signals that were there at one time, long ago.

The C&NW track through Lombard is where I found some date nails. These were nails with the number 57 on top representing 1957. The pole line on the south side of the tracks was put up by Western Union. The poles had date nails in them as well - 42 for 1942.