Chicago Union Station - Extant Equipment, Signage, etc..

Trains Magazine General Discussion
1

I travel to and from Chicago Union Station very often on Metra trains. They approach from the south and when it’s a busy day for Amtrak and the yard is clear I can sometimes spot older baggage cars and now and then an old coach (sometimes even a heavyweight) sitting around. Sometimes they’re in non-Amtrak colors as well. But they look far too tattered and run-down to be private cars.

Does anybody have any information on the older equipment that may still be lying around Chicago Union Station? Where did it come from? What former railroads are represented?

Also I’m wondering if anybody knows of any locations in, on, or around Union Station where any pre-Amtrak signage might still exist. Like perhaps a PRR or Milwaukee, or anything else logo, or something. That would be pretty interesting to see.

Somwhere in that complex there must still be some old stuff to see. Anybody have ay info? Thanks in advance…

2

CUS trackage covers a lot of ground. The south limit is just past the South Branch Bridge over the Chicago River. Out of the north end, it extends north and west to near Western Avenue on MILW. This may well be due to the fact that the PRR Panhandle line roughly paralleled Western Ave to this point where it met up with MILW.

CUS was jointly owned by PRR (50%), CB&Q (25%) and MILW (25%). GM&O (Alton) was a tenant.

3

The shootout scene at the end of “The Untouchables” took place on a staircase in the old part of Union Station…