I took this photo looking east from the Circle Avenue overpass bridge in west suburban Forest Park Illinois. A CTA blue line train is seen making the last station stop before the end of the line terminal at nearby Des Plaines Avenue.If You look closely, You can spot a CSX Transportation Company switching local spotting covered hoppers at the Ferrara Pan Candy Company on West Harrison Street.
Look closely a 2nd time, and You can see that the motorman of this outbound blue line train, mistakingly has an "Orange line" sign reading loop.
Oooops! This is one of those rare times, when I photographed a Public Transit Blooper. Ha Ha!
3 comments:
I wanted to add that the old Chicago Great Western once shared the same tracks that the CSX (ZOld B&O) uses down the Eisenhower expressway. The Chicago Great Western split from the tracks near the Forest Park Transportation Center. From there, it cut through the cemetery and over the river and behind the Maywood Court House and up angling north to the old Ovaltine plant in Villa Park and beyond.
Hi!
I had to go to traffic court recently in Maywood, and spotted where this old section was that cut through the Cemetery near the CTA Forest Park rapid transit facility. It has been preserved as part of the Illinois Prairie Path, and has a new walking bridge over the Des Plaines River built in December of 2006. There are also some sharp radious curved industrial railroad spur tracks that are showing through the pavement north of the Cook County 4th District Court House.
Is that the old CGW or was it really the former Chicago, Aurora & Elgin? One of the older locals thought that it was the C,A & E.
Thank You.
Eddie K.
Hi Eddie.
Those tracks by the court house where connected to CGW. Their ROW cut through the cemetery and crossed the bridge. I believe that bridge is on the cover of David Fiore's book, the Chicago Great Western Railway. It's a very good book and loaded with pictures. The C,A&E did parallel the CGW ROW for a time. Go to http://www.historicaerials.com/ and do an aerial view of 711 Desplaines ave. in Forest Park for the years before 1988. You can see the old CGW bridge over Desplaines Ave. It's in between the B&O and CTA Blue Line bridges. Looks like before 1962, everything was at street level. Oh my have things change over the years at that area where Transportion Center stands today! I actually followed the CGW route up to the Ovaltine Plant! You can see some train traffic on the CGW line. It's addicting. Try it with the old Grand Trunk Western lines in your old neighborhood.
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