Farewell to a vacant lot.

Classic Trains General Discussion
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This is a farewell to a vacant lot in Chicago Il. The lot was located on the south- west corner of South Wells and West Harrison streets. It was the location of Grand Central Station, closed 11-8-1969 and demolished in 1971. My son and I went by the location on one of our many Chicago visits in April 2018 and there were 3 small foundations on the corner, otherwise things were still the same. Our next visit in June 2019 saw more activity including signs for “River City” and “A New Neighborhood on the South Side.” After 48 years the ground where the once great station stood was now going to be covered over! (An apartment building was built where the staging tracks behind the station were in the mid 1980s). Now I can’t go to that corner in Chicago an imagine a great station there anymore. Sad. Google satellite gives the best(?) look at the area now if you can’t get there.

Something else that’s disappearing from the Chicago scene that was a part of many a photo from the south side of Dearborn Station is the Lee Jeans billbord on the side of the building at West Polk and Dearborn streets across from the station. You can still see the billboard in the Google street view. Take a look or go there. Who knows how long the building it’s painted on will be there! Geoff S

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I believe I rode the last Capitol Limited that left Grand Central, on a business trip to Washington, DC, while assigned to BBN’s Downers Grove office. I returned on the Capitiol Limited to the C&NW station. Also, between the stations closing and the start of actual demolition, the Chicago branch of the American Institute of Architects (hope I remember the organization’s name correctly) rented the building for a “ball,” dinner and dancing, and our office was invited (possibly we paid something). It’s really a terrible shame that the truly beautiful building was not repurposed usefully like Reading Terminal in Philadelphia has been repurposed.

Not certain that I took the second and third photos. They may have come from another poster or from elsewhere on the Internet. I know I took the first one, prior to departure of the train I rode.

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Tired of every place looking like everywhere else