I haven't been to the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry since I was in grammar school. Oh the Griffin being former Chicago resident Ken Griffin, billionaire financier who gave a gift to this museum hence his name being attached to it.
I don't recall ever seeing this train, nor the WW2 German U-Boat though I may recall the airliner hanging from the ceiling. I do recall the model trainset which I have shared here that portrays the route of Amtrak's Empire Builder. Always thought that was cool.
This is one thing I want to see at that Museum when I go back in the near future, the Pioneer Zephyr was a great design for it's time. It served a non-stop route from Chicago to Denver making the trip in 13 hours.
Russel Sharp Train video's shows us the exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry. [VIDEO]
[VIDEO] Damen/Lake opened last month as the newest station on the CTA Green Line. This station is very close to the United Center and among other options this will be where the delegates or anyone else going to the Democratic convention next week will be getting off the train.
And of course this is perfect for other events at the United Center which means Bulls/Black Hawks games in addition to any other events that will take place there when the NBA or NHL aren't in season.
[VIDEO] CTA runs holiday trains every year and I'm sorry I didn't do a great job of following any trains running this holiday season 2023 (as would be normal at The Sixth Ward or could also be done on Ninth Ward Chicago). However, allow me to share this video about Metra trains.
Metra also does Holiday Trains for which they do sell tickets which as you see will sell out quickly. This holiday season they did this on other Metra routes in addition to the Metra Electric which this YouTube channel Trains are Awesome had actually chronicled last year in 2022.
Though in addition those scheduled Holiday Train runs there are some regular trains that are holiday themed. I promise next year I will make sure to catch the Holiday Train on CTA & Metra.
I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and happy new year. See you in 2024
This view is looking east along Lake Street. We're looking at trains coming to and from Clark & Lake and possibly looking at trains entering and leaving the loop via Wells Street. [VIDEO]
In this live stream we see trains leaving Ogilvie and yet another track at grade, those track at grade (on the ground as opposed to elevated) are leaving Union Station. You will see more Metra trains and Amtrak trains especially the Hiawatha & Empire Builder on those ground level tracks.
UPDATED May 26, 2024 and we can add Amtrak's new service to St. Paul, Minnesota the Borealis will also be running this way. [VIDEO]
And finally here we're looking at the elevated track from Ogilvie and that means more Metra trains [VIDEO]
It's very cool to see a live look out of downtown Chicago
[VIDEO] The CTA L trains have always fascinated me and just think there's still planning to not only maintain the system as the current major project is taking place on what they would call the north side mainline between Howard and Wilson which is where the Red & Purple Line Express runs.
The L not only allows people travel within the city, they allow people to commute to the suburbs and as you see here the CTA L goes into Evanston, IL - home of Northwestern University. For the next twelve mins. this video will take you along the route of the CTA Purple Line Shuttle between Howard and Linden. This actual video was recorded in 2015.
If you know nothing of the Purple Line - colored because of Northwestern University who's sports teams are known for wearing purple, white, and black - in addition to running regular service between Howard and Linden they run rush-hour express service into the Loop during the week.
This video only shows the portion that runs within the City of Evanston.
[VIDEO] This is advertised as America's highest train going up to Pike's Peak in Colorado. Another place I can chronicle in the near future. Want to know more about this railroad check out this website https://www.cograilway.com/
Now that I know this is only 12 miles west of Colorado Springs, Colorado well perhaps the next time I visit Denver, Colorado via Amtrak possibly this would be worth my time.
[VIDEO] Grounded Life Travel is a YouTube channel I've discovered when Amtrak announced a fellowship program for content creators to record their travels on Amtrak routes. I'm sure this is really seen as free advertising and perhaps these content creators on their social media get compensation in return for this advertising.
On this episode Grounded Life Travel will is a couple (I do believe they're from Atlanta) take a trip from Emeryville, California back to Chicago on board the California Zephyr. Unfortunately this is one of those trips that I have yet to take the train takes you due west through western Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, and California. Emeryville is just east of San Francisco across the bay.
Since you're going west you go through Midwestern farmlands to the prairie then deserts and the Rocky Mountains going through many tunnels along the way. There is a stretch in California called the Donner Pass which is known for the party that got stranded there during a snowstorm.
Another thing Grounded Life Travel did in this video is give a rundown of their first class accomodation and what types of cars you might find yourself on. Better yet what model car you find yourself on I knew there were different models of Superliner Cars but I've never seen those distinctions broken down before. I've never been on a Superliner sleeper that didn't have a small closet for example.
Their photography ended in Ottumwa, Iowa as their train got up to nine hours late. It seems it started off with engine trouble and then there were other delays and it was in the wee hours of the morning that this couple finally made it into Chicago. They made sure to get a voucher for those delays in the days afterwards.
[VIDEO] Perhaps for your interest for those of you looking for a job, and hopefully one that pays very well here's a video for being a freight train conductor for the CSX railroad. I didn't really look up much information as far as pay or even benefits, however, it does seem that in general if you work in transportation when you start you must be available anytime your employer calls.
I think this is standard in the transportation industry you must have a mandatory 10 hour rest period between shifts. Also once you begin to gain some seniority that you will eventually get your choice of shifts. Say you're tired of working nights so instead you work mornings for example.
The one fascinating thing about working for a railroad - or transportation in general - you can visit a lot of places in America or around the world. Who's to say in your 10 hour rest period you decide to do some tourism type activities depending up where you might wind up after you get off work.
Check out the CSX Careers page if perhaps you might have the interest. And yes I will say for the record that this video is a bit corny as far as it's presentation but then look at it this way. If these companies want you to work for them they have to sell to you as much as you have to sell to them so that they can hire you.
[VIDEO] I've wanted to share this live webcam from Quincy, Illinois via Virtual Railfan over the summer. It actually started on May 21, 2020 and is located at the Amtrak station there. While you will see a variety of trains pass through here on a daily basis you can check this Amtrak train tracker to see when the next Amtrak train will stop here.
You will see Amtrak's Illinois Zephyr and Carl Sandberg - check the schedule - end their runs here in Qunicy, however you can also see those trains stop in Galesburg, Illinois where I also shared a webcam via Virtual Railfan on this blog during the course of the summer.
[VIDEO] I've recently gotten back into model trains. Got quite a few HO scale model train sets sitting around at home right now with a decent supply of tracks and controllers. It's a fascinating hobby and I do admire the work of those who create elaborate and realistic railroad layouts.
One of the things I've been wanting to get my hands on in an Amtrak model train set. And often I never find one in the stores and thanks to the miracle of the internet I have to order it online and get it sent to my home. You might hear a company Walther's mentioned as they're known for model railroading sales.
If you're looking for Xmas present ideas for the railfan in your family you've found an idea. Even better get a trainset and run it around your Xmas tree this year.
[VIDEO] CTA has a new video out about the CTA Red Line extension that is still being planned that takes the Red Line further south into Roseland and Altgeld Gardens where the final destination is 130th Street. The next critical phase for this ambitious project is construction which is expected to cost $2.3 billion half of that would come from federal funding and the rest from non-federal funding i.e from the city of Chicago, state of Illinois and/or even CTA itself.
I like these renderings of the various stops on the southbound Red Line extensions.
Let's start with 130th not much to be seen here though. They note this stop will be right at Altgeld Garden
Here's Michigan Avenue
Here's 111th Street
And here's 103rd Street
All of these locations look very different don't they. They assume there will be some new development around those stations. I definitely wouldn't mind that new L station on Michigan Ave helping to develop that vacant lot on the corner of 115th & Michigan. It's a long time in coming if that happens as it's been vacant since the mall had been demolished there during the 2000s.
If you got a plan for a "Roseland Coffee Shop" start creating your business plan right now! Don't wait for this L route to be built! Whatever businesses would come to this area, they need to start planning now.
Meanwhile, here's hoping even in these uncertain times that this new L route will come through and be built before the end of this decade.
[VIDEO] I had talked about Illinois as a vast state beyond the Chicago metropolitan area. Try Galesburg, Illinois which is over two hours outside of Chicago. Actually it's closer to the Iowa state line than it is to even Naperville.
This live webcam is provided by Virtual Railfan and unless they find a sponsor it will be taken down in just about a whole month. The cam itself is located near the Amtrak station there and here's a bit more information about what you might see there:
Galesburg is on the Chicago Division/Ottumwa, Mendota & Brookfield Subdivisions. Amtrak trains that pass through include the California Zephyr, Southwest Chief, Carl Sandburg, and Illinois Zephyr.
I might have to share this with you later, however, Virtual Railfan also has a webcam in Quincy, Illinois which is another city close to the Illinois state line closest to the Missouri state line.
If you want to check out Amtrak schedules the best bet right now is to check out the Amtrak train tracker. As I write this schedules from the Amtrak website is largely unavailable owing to the pandemic and how Amtrak has to adjust to reduced schedules since we had been at a time of reduced travel. I'm sure that as the weather gets nice and pandemic hospitalization, infections, deaths, etc has improved more people with some preventative measures will likely travel.
I also want to add, surely things will open up further once we figure out how to treat this virus and/or we are able to produce a successful vaccine for this coronavirus. Time will have to tell, but I'm looking forward to the day when we come out of this pandemic.
Meanwhile I hope you would consider a subscription to Virtual Railfan to see a number of live webcams around the nation.
Youtuuba plays with his old model train set in this video. He noted that it would be during this time he would take a train trip for our enjoyment, however, with the current restrictions due to the coronavirus it's not possible right now. Instead we see him run his model train around on his layout in the first video and in part two he shows off the cars of his trainset and the rest of his equipment such as track, switches, and controllers.
I just like the fact that he jokes that the engineer of that train might need to be retrained. Also there was a derailment in this odyssey, of course thankfully no derailment of a real train. Also a trick I might have tried once was intentionally derailing a train by flipping a switch at the right time.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy this. I was almost tempted to pull out my model trains running them around a Christmas tree although we're a long way from the holiday season.
A Train Odyssey 5, Part 1: A Special COVID-19 "Lockdown" Excursion [VIDEO]
A Train Odyssey 5, Part 2: The Vintage Marx Train [VIDEO]
[VIDEO] The weather has been nice in Chicago over the holidays. So perhaps it's not that important to share this video of another trip report this time from the YouTube channel Dylan's Travel Reports. Dylan takes Amtrak from Chicago to Los Angeles, California on the Southwest Chief.
You will hear him only once on this video so I get the idea he's from the UK. What he sees in the American southwest he probably won't see in England, Wales, or Scotland. Of course, I've yet to see the geographical wonders of the world beyond the USA.
The Southwest Chief I have taken twice over the year and both times have experienced an interest journey heading west through Iowa, Missouri, Kansas into Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona. Then reaching the Chief's final destination at Los Angeles Union Station. The final destination terminal is a wonderful example of art deco/Spanish colonial/mission revival architecture. Of course it doesn't entirely beat the architecture of Chicago's Union Station. You'll be able to see both in the video.
[VIDEO] One of my favorite YouTubers is youtuuba who likes to make videos about his various train odysseys on the Amtrak system. Recently he took a trip south on board The City of New Orleans train which he documents for us. This three hour video is only a part one, presumably part two shows us his journey on board Amtrak's Crescent train from New Orleans to Philadelphia. I will show part two once it's available.
As a frame of reference using some of my own YouTube videos. This train when it leaves Union Station backs out of the station and heads west on tracks that are a few blocks from 18th street. Or the tracks it heads west on will take you towards Cicero, Berwyn, Naperville, Aurora. Once the train backs up the train moves forward heading through the Sloop and then moves south along Lake Shore Drive through McCormick Place.
The train continues south eventually going through the neighborhoods of Bronzeville, Hyde Park, Woodlawn, Grand Crossing, Chatham, Roseland, and Pullman. Basically as it goes along Lake Shore Drive eventually the train will be coasting along Stony Island then Cottage Grove until leaving the Chicago city limits. The train will continue to go south going diagonally through the state of Illinois making stops in Kankakee, Champaign-Urbana, and Carbondale before leaving the state into Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, and then to its final destination in New Orleans.
Here's some video I shot about my last trip on The City of New Orleans during the summer of 2018 as we ride through Bronzeville, Hyde Park, and Woodlawn. [VIDEO]
[VIDEO] If you have just over half an hour to watch this video it takes you on one journey I've never taken. It would be cool to take Amtrak's Empire Builder going by rail via Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana into either Portland, Oregon or Seattle, Washington.
In the above video we're taking this journey from Portland, Oregon back to Chicago and we go through this area of the nation called big sky country. We're following the rail journey of a British national who's YouTube channel is mostly of him traveling around the world.
Back in 2014, I took a quick trip during the holiday season to Memphis, Tennessee aboard Amtrak's City of New Orleans train and shot video on my iPhone. Luckily I got footage during the morning hours as we rolled through the south side back to Union Station downtown.
I had uploaded these videos to my YouTube channel and granted it's not the most exciting footage, however, how many people have seen the Roseland and Rosemoor area from this perspective. As we head into the heat of the summer, perhaps some winter scenery will help cool you down.
Here's footage of the train rolling through Roseland starting at 115th Street. [VIDEO]
Here's another shot from going through Rosemoor going past 103rd Street and we see the campus of Chicago State University [VIDEO]
[VIDEO] I should've been out in West Chicago, Illinois with Artistmac to check out this history Union Pacific No. 4014 The Big Boy. It's an old steam locomotive delivered to the Union Pacific railroad in 1941 and retired in 1961 and restored to operation beginning in 2013. It has been on tour around the nation especially the midwest and made it's presence known in the Chicago area.
It's of interest to myself because it's not often you see a steam locomotive on the tracks anywhere. A fascinating piece of railroad history that's worth seeing when the opportunity presents itself. Who knows when it will be put into operation by Union Pacific.
Here is another video of Big Boy in the Chicago area from another of my favorite YouTubers - YouTuuba who was in Roselle, Illinois to catch a glimpse of the locomotive and consists [VIDEO]
[VIDEO] If you were traveling on the old IC line aka Metra Electric District you experienced some delays especially if you left from any station between Randolph Street to 51st Street. The video you see above aired on CBS 2's 6 PM broadcast.
Per a tweet from a dedicated twitter page for the Metra Electic District electical power had been restored though trains would operate with residual delays
Metra Alert ME - Electrical power has been restored. Inbound and outbound train movement has been cleared to proceed. Trains will be operating with extensive delays - UPDATE #2
[VIDEO] Remember a few years ago that I had shared a video of the CTA Red Line where you would see the whole journey from 95th Street to Howard Street on the north side. What you see above was published on Metra's YouTube channel in May 2017.
In this case you will see the journey of the Metra Electric train from University Park in Will County through the south suburbs and into the city to the Millenium Park station in downtown Chicago just under Randolph Street.
If you want to see it's journey through the south side of Chicago just skip to about 30 mins into this one hour video. Basically you'll see the communities of Ward 9 from about 130th to 95th roughly on it's journey. Of course if you continue watching until it goes into downtown Chicago you will see Hyde Park and Bronzeville along the way.
And it's also interesting to note that this line which also has branches west into Blue Island and east to the South Chicago neighborhood has been part of proposals to become part of the CTA as the grey line. It was also cited as an alternative to building the Red Line extension by a candidate for mayor of Chicago.
