Today was the first time I visited the west end of Eola junction. It was great!!! Let me tell you, For it being a holiday, wow! We arrived around 4:45 this morning. Traffic was actually pretty heavy up until about 10:30-11:00 am. It slowed down a bit after that. There were a series of switch jobs going on along with quite a few intermodal eastbounds. Between 5:00 am and 11:30 am, There were only 2 metra trains! I would have maybe thought there possibly would have been more metra since hey, After all it is a three day weekend, More traffic heading for the city for people going to maybe Navy pier or Brookfield zoo? But hardly any traffic metra wise. It sure was nice to see those good old geeps workin the yard. Quite a few BN units which was a refreshing change from just plain old BNSF. I also spotted a good lookin Santa Fe GP30!!! The west end of Eola is now my favorite place on the BN racetrack. It was nice to be able to watch yard movements while also being legal. No trouble with BNSF police today! Although a Aroura police officer stop by and asked if we had seen anyone throwing rocks at the trains. Police activity in the area was heavy for about a half hour as they were tryin to track the guy down. All in all it was a great first experience at The west end. I would like to say thank you to the fellows that told me about this spot. Dillon.
On behalf of Eolafan, myself and the other McClure Avenue Irregulars…
[tup]
I’ll gladly add my welcome and another [tup] to that offered by Poppa and welcome you back any time you feel the urge. Sorry I was not there on Saturday or Monday as my bride had me agree to work on the yard and such (besides, Saturday was kind of lousy weather wise). Hope you all had a nice holiday.
well thanks eolafan. It really was a great. It deems like theres quite a bit more action on the west end than the east end. Its nice to be able to actually see switching operations. To be honest I now perfer Eola over Dolton or blue Island, Mostly because, Oh yes!, I am a BNSF fan. And I didnt think they would be allowed to run through the junction at such high speeds on the mainline, And as for the mainline in this location, The “racetrack” lives up to its name! Dillon
Hello,
The Eola Yard area is one I would like to see. I’ve been to Downers Grove and it piqued my interest in seeing more of the “Racetrack”. What are the best spots? It would be great to go on a day when some of the local railfans are there. Do you guys have a usual day? Would like to meet some of the Chicagoland forum members for a spell of train-watching and talking.
Have a good week,
Gregory
Gregory, there are several places on the racetrack to safely see the action. My favorite spot on the racetrack is probably West Eola due to the switching action. Another great spot is LaVergne station in Berwyn. All the Metra stations from Berwyn to Route 59 are great places to see the action. Aurora station isn’t the best as you don’t get the best view of freight and Amtrak due to the freight and Metra lines being separated.
Gregory, the best place to “hang” is where McClure crosses the main line…this is right at the yard office and the leads to the East and West yards as well as across from the engine “house” right behind the yard offices. Those of us “die hards” hang around at the SE corner of the crossing where there is a large and open dirt parking area which can easily accommodate up to fifteen or so cars (cozy, but possible). Sunday afternoon there were at least ten of us there. As to days and times, there is normally one or more of us there but the best times are Saturday and Sunday afternoons after about 1:00 p.m.
I was there for about forty five minutes tonight and was able to see general merchandise freight GALCHC come in from Galesburg with a VERY RARE triple GP60M lash up (the lead, #115 in H3 scheme and the other two…numbers 123 and 137 in Santa Fe warbonnet scheme with a big BNSF on their flanks…very rare indeed to see a pure GP60M lashup these days.
Hope to see you out at Eola Gregory.
Greg: I would have to agree with EJE818, Lavernge and the west end of eola yard. La grange is also pretty nice. Now Im not talking about the downtown station in La Grange, but the under and over crossing of the Racetrack and the Indiana Harbor Belt mainline. Both lines there are busy, Mosty the BNSf but IHB has its shares of heavy times. Although I do perfer the west end of Eola. Whats great about the place is, Theres a nice place to park right at the entrance to the yard. Yard operations are fairly visible. Plenty of action going on pretty much at all times. Theres always something to watch. Many trains depart on the west end! Also from the location, If you look to the west, You can see the racetrack split, 2 tracks stay up on a hill to form the mailine and 2 other tracks head down to Metra’s “Hill yard”. If you would like to see pictures of the west end of Eola yard, I suggest, www.railpictures.net From there, Type in Eola in the search box and many, many pictures come up. I hope some of this info helps you out Greg! Dillon…
Greetings,
Thanks for your replies. I will make plans to come up one Saturday or Sunday and see Eola and hopefully meet some of you guys.
Gregory
Im gonna try and make an effort myself to get up there this weekend. If its nice, the ground is dry, I will end up going Dirtbikin. If not, I will be there! Hope to meet more railfans!!!
We’ll all be wearing red carnations.
And imagine, it used to be 3 tracks to West Aurora, and a single branch down to the old roundhouse and Hill Yard. the “old” track up the hill at Spring street.I still remember SW’s bringing up the trains before rush hour from Hill. Anyone got pictures of that? How about the old tower? The depot? The “old main” down to North Ave.? Anyone?
If you want to be depressed for a while just drive over to the old CB&Q station on Broadway…after you see it you will know I need not say any more about it.
I do get by ther, sometimes.