Downtown Chicago and its Railroads something to know

Jan 26, 2017

Not everyone is aware of this and most of the time it isn't important but if you want to model downtown Chicago it is.

Downtown Chicago Streets are actually elevated on a viaduct. This means when you enter a building at Street Level you are entering that building on its second floor. Most of the Railroads in Chicago are actually at Ground Level. This is the case at Chicago Union Station and was the case at Grand Central Station in Chicago and Chicago Central Station. When you walk down the Steps at Chicago Union Station to board a train you are actually going to ground level.

I never knew that Chicago has a Grand Central Station. I thought that was in New York City?

There's a lot of rail infrastructure still in the greater Chicago area, though much as been reduced over the years. Unlike other areas of the country, there doesn't seem to be as bigger influx of NIMBYs whose aim is to destroy anything that has to do with rail or public transportation.

Like New York, Chicago had a great array of railroad tunnels under its streets which were once used to deliver goods to the various businesses uptown. Today the Chicago Tunnel Company is abandoned, but it was used up until the early 1959 to deliver coal and remove ash in the end.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Tunnel_Company

Downtown Chicago has multiple levels. Starting from the top you've got:
Elevated Tracks, Street Level (the main level for roads & peds), Lower Level (what you've mentioned), and even lower level (The police impound is on this level), Subway level, and the CTC Level. I'll admit, I'm not 100% certain as to the order for these last 3, and they may share or change order depending on where in the city you are.

And actually, most of the train lines going into Downtown are elevated, not on the lower level. Both Ogilvie & LaSalle are elevated, as well as the bulk of the CTA tracks. Only Union Station & Millennium are on the lower level.

JCitron said:

I never knew that Chicago has a Grand Central Station. I thought that was in New York City?

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It did, but not anymore. CGC was about 2 blocks from where LaSalle is now.

Peter

Chicago must have been originally silt and clay, and huge amounts of fill was added to bring the streets above the flood plane, above the highest flood water level ?

I think San Francisco was similar ?

I have no idea how New Orleans was constructed ... I suppose that the levee was built, and swamps drained, building areas of the city upwards of 20' below sea level ... not so bright of an idear' if ya' ask me ! I tend to stay a couple feet above sea level, unless I'm a schwimmin' !

Thanks folks for interesting Thread,

I'll have to go back later tonight and read all about the Chicago Tunnel Co., who would think a Narrow Gauge was under the streets of Chicago, hmm, Yanky ingenuity in action and somewhat covert too.

A group was building the Chicago Tunnel Co, and they gave the route away by EMail link

I would think that the tunnel vision would make the route kind of lackluster and monotonous ?

And don't forget back during the golden era of Passenger service Chicago once had 7 Big Stations and several interurban and street car operations at one time. There was train action everywhere in Chicago until about the 1960's when it all started to go away.

cascaderailroad said:

A group was building the Chicago Tunnel Co, and they gave the route away by EMail link

I would think that the tunnel vision would make the route kind of lackluster and monotonous ?

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I was partially on that team. It was the same group that made the DHR route. The CTC route was never going to be about beautiful scenery, it was more a big switching puzzle.

peter

Actually a lot of what is now Chicago (and many of the areas near the southwest part of the lake) where marshland. Over time the land was drained and filled, the Chicago river widened and reversed, and of course the great fire extended the lake front past the old Illinois central trestle and made it an "inland" route again

PerRock said:

I was partially on that team. It was the same group that made the DHR route. The CTC route was never going to be about beautiful scenery, it was more a big switching puzzle.

peter

Click to expand...

so that's what happened to it, I was wondering because I remember the project when it was active many years ago. Nice to know what happened to that project, thanks Peter.

If anyone wants to know the history of the 6 main stations in Chicago here is some short history of them all.















Sadly only 4 stations remain (3 if you count still standing, since one of them was demolished for a brand new station) out of the 6 stations.