On March 20 I may have an opportunity to spend about three or four hours in and around Lemont, IL while my wife attends a wedding shower for a coworker. Can anybody please offer suggestions as to good railfanning spots in Lemont and nearbye and how about fast food outlets, etc. Thanks to anybody who can help with suggestions. Jim
Anywhere! You will see BNSF, UP, CN, METRA, and Amtrak in Lemont. It is a METRA stop. May I suggest you bring your sidearm (it is Illinois) and don’t pick up hitchhikers, being proximate to the pen at Joliet. I have never spent any time there, but Joliet looks like a hub of activity on the railroads, including the addition of CSX and Joliet Junction RR. Fast food? Dunno, but duh! Again, it is Illinois, home of the pioneering McDonald’s! Maybe “UD” tower is the ‘hot spot’. Lots of history there, but my map is 13-years old…
Hays
Bring your sidearm? [%-)] To Lemont? It’s a nice little suburb of Chicago. Not the ghetto. Watching trains go by doesn’t usually require rocket launchers, grenades, boozakas, etc.
CC
No Metra in Lemont–you’re going there on a Saturday, and the Heritage Corridor is a Monday-Friday operation.
I don’t know whether you’d have any luck with IAIS or CSX at Joliet at that time of day, but you’d have enough time to do it, if you wished. Union Station still draws some railfans attracted to BNSF, Metra and the diamonds.
If you have good weather, just stay in downtown Lemont for a while, and walk up on the big bridge taking Lemont Road over everything. Not sure if the sun will cooperate, but a shot of a train on the ex-Santa Fe going over the canal would look good.
Best bet for fast food near Lemont would be to go south on Archer Avenue to 135th Street, then cross the canals and the river to Romeoville; on Route 53 are a number of fast-food places. On your way over, you may see the locomotive used at the power plant south of the road.
You might be able to grab a hot dog or something in Lockport, which would keep you on the same side of the river. That’s also a good place to see the ex-ATSF and the ex-GM&O; the two are fairly close together.
On a weekend day, you will most likely be limited to Amtrak service on the CN/GM&O lines & some TOFC action on BNSF. Not sure what effect the economy may have on UPS traffic or hot trains headed for Corwith. The Metra station on this line is an old stone building. Nearby s/b a number of antique shops. There should be some nice slow eateries nearby (not fast food).
With 3-4 hours to work with, the main BNSF Racetrack is not too far away. Lemont Road will take you there (north).
The ATSF bridge over the canal used to be a great place to get power & train shots with a nice big S curve. Hopefully any traffic on the CN/GM&O line will slow down to get a good shot. Faster trains can be by you before you get the camera ready.
Lemont is a nice SW suburban village. You won’t need a gun for protection. There are a number of old buildings with a lot of character.