Towers around Chicago Land...

Anything pertaining to railfanning in Illinois.
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Talk
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Towers around Chicago Land...

Unread post by Talk »

I am trying to find some photogenic locations of towers like JB around Chicago Land. Any interesting locations at what railroads they are on would be appreciated.

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SD80MAC
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Re: Towers around Chicago Land...

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West Chicago, where the CN (EJ&E) crosses the UP (CNW) is a decent spot.

ImageJB Tower by Jonathon Leese, on Flickr

While it's a little harder to work into a shot, the tower at Griffith offers a good view of CN traffic on the EJ&E

ImageIC on The J by Jonathon Leese, on Flickr

Probably a stretch to call it Chicagoland, but the tower in Walkerton, IN where CSX (B&O) crosses the Elkhart & Western (NKP) is another nice shot

ImageQ200 @ Walkerton by Jonathon Leese, on Flickr

Probably not the kind of tower you're going for, but Western Springs on the BNSF (CB&Q) has a nicely restored crossing watchman's tower at the depot

ImageHigh Speed Winnebago by Jonathon Leese, on Flickr

There are more, but those are the few that I actually have decent photos of.
"Remember, 4 mph is a couple, 5's a collision!"
http://flickriver.com/photos/conrail680 ... teresting/
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Re: Towers around Chicago Land...

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Thank you! I'll have to check them out, Gotta wait for COVID-19 to drop a little bit still

GP30M4216
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Re: Towers around Chicago Land...

Unread post by GP30M4216 »

Also still open (or at least standing):

Rondout (CP, Metra, Amtrak, EJ&E/CN)
A-2 (Metra, Amtrak, UP): https://metrarail.com/node/3944
UD in Joliet (Metra, Amtrak, BNSF) closed a few years years ago but is now owned by Blackhawk RR Historical Society who will eventually reopen it as a museum: https://www.blackhawkrailwayhistoricals ... tower.html
Kensington Tower (Metra, Amtrak, SouthShore, CN) can be viewed from the Kensington Metra Station platform.

Also still open, I think:
16th Street (no public access) (Metra, Amtrak, CN, BNSF)

This might be a useful link if you're planning to visit Chicago: http://www.dhke.com/CRJ/index.html

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Re: Towers around Chicago Land...

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SD80MAC wrote:
Wed Nov 04, 2020 9:14 am
Probably not the kind of tower you're going for, but Western Springs on the BNSF (CB&Q) has a nicely restored crossing watchman's tower at the depot
That is very interesting and definitely something worth seeing, I'm just trying to find railroading spots with a nice visual history present. Better than 4 Safetran Signals haha. Towers are always a safe bet in that regard

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