Sunday, March 27, 2011

Leaving Chicago

I had a fun day in Chicago. I got to ride the train again and this was mostly to get myself ready for the trip I'm taking in two months but it was still nice. Sadly, I had to leave Chicago and go back home. I should have gotten a hotel and stayed a little longer but oh well, it's only a few hours to get there.

One of the entrances to Union Station. This is the rail station in Chicago that still serves railroad traffic. There used to be 6 others in Chicago, each of them serving one of the different railroads that came into Chicago. As Amtrak took over, they consolidated into one station. This particular one was used during the filming of the Untouchables. I kind of like it because it's in a nice spot in Chicago. Pretty close to the main things and the subway.

The view of Chicago as you leave Union Station. Again, I apologize for the quality of some of these pics as the windows were dirty again.

One of the other Amtrak Engines. I can only imagine how many they use.

I think this is one of the older Amtrak paint schemes. There used to be an arrow that critics called the arrow pointing nowhere.

Another view of Chicago.

I think this may be my favorite view as I was leaving the city. It's amazing how much rail traffic is around Chicago but I guess that makes sense as it is pretty centrally located.

One of the engines near Gary.

A Canadian National and an Illinois Central engine. The Illinois Central was established in 1850 through a land grant by Millard Fillmore and is the first land grant railroad in the United States. It also represents one of the oldest railroads in the country. It was officially chartered in 1851 by the Illinois General Assembly. In 1856, it was the longest railroad in the world with track going from Cairo, IL to Galena, IL. Eventually, it would go out to Iowa and down to New Orleans.
In 1972, it merged with the Gulf-Mobile and Ohio Railroad to become the Illinois Central Gulf railroad. In 1998, it was bought by the Canadian National Railroad.

My last shot of the day, as we were leaving Michigan City. The sun was going down. All in all, I had lots of fun in Chicago. I think it is by far one of my favorite places to visit although I think prefer to this in the spring or summer when it is warmer.

No comments: