I’ve got a few Questions about Railfaning at Joliet Union Station
1st of all How many UP trains appear Daily and do most of them run at night or day at what times?
2nd of all do most of the BNSF trains appear at night?
3rd When does the Iowa Interstate come thru and does Metra operate the tower?
I got the answer for all of your questions, (because I live in this town). There are about between only 5-10 UP trains a day, because this is not their primary route. They can be coal, intermodal, or even freight every now and then. There is a fair balance of UP night and day.
Most BNSF trains do tend to go between 7-10PM at night, but the action is pretty good in the day too. Get ready to see a lot of intermodal trains though, with some freight traffic.
Iowa Interstate usually goes eastbound at 11AM, and goes back westbound at about 7PM. And Metra does own and operate the tower. Hope this helps.
Dave[:D][:D]