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The Galena and Chicago Union Railroad (G&CU) was a railroad running west from Chicago to Freeport, Illinois, never reaching Galena, Illinois. A later route went to Clinton, Iowa. Incorporated in 1836, the G&CU became the first railroad built out from Chicago.
The Richard B. Ogilvie Transportation Center, on the site of the former Chicago and North Western Terminal, is a commuter rail terminal in downtown Chicago, Illinois. For the last century, this site has served as the primary terminal for the Chicago and North Western Railway and its successors Union Pacific and Metra. Intercity services had disappeared by the 1970s, but commuter services on the three ex-CNW mainlines, Metra's UP District lines, continue to terminate here. The tracks are elevated above street level. The old CNW terminal building was replaced in the mid 1980s with a modern skyscraper, the 500 West Madison Street building. The modern building occupies two square city blocks, bounded by Randolph Street and Madison Street to the north and south and by Canal Street and Clinton Street to the east and west. It is the second busiest rail station in Chicago, after nearby Union Station, the sixth-busiest railway station in North America, and the third-busiest station that exclusively serves commuter traffic.
The Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railroad (CA&E), known colloquially as the "Roarin' Elgin" or the "Great Third Rail", was an interurban railroad that operated passenger and freight service on its line between Chicago and Aurora, Batavia, Geneva, St. Charles, and Elgin, Illinois. The railroad also operated a small branch to Mt. Carmel Cemetery in Hillside and owned a branch line to Westchester.
The Fox River Trolley Museum is a railroad museum in South Elgin, Illinois. Incorporated in 1961 as R.E.L.I.C., it opened in 1966 and became the Fox River Trolley Museum in 1984.
Oak Park is a station on the Chicago 'L' system, serving the Blue Line's Forest Park branch and Oak Park, Illinois. The station is alongside the Eisenhower Expressway between Oak Park Avenue and East Avenue, near the Oak Park Conservatory. The auxiliary entrance on East Avenue is half a block from the Oak Park Conservatory.
Harlem is a station on the 'L' system, serving the Blue Line's Forest Park branch in Forest Park, Illinois. The station was built with an auxiliary entrance at Circle Avenue that was eventually converted to an single turnstile facility. The Circle Avenue entrance reopened as an auxiliary entrance/exit on September 26, 2009, at 4 PM. To the south of the station is the Ferrara Candy Company A Roos chest-making factory was located west of the station and Circle Avenue until it was torn down in 2013 to make way for a new recreation park that opened there in 2018. The Roos company closed for good in 1951.
The Aurora, Elgin & Fox River Electric (AE&FRE), was an interurban railroad that operated freight and passenger service on its line paralleling the Fox River. It served the communities of Carpentersville, Dundee, Elgin, South Elgin, St. Charles, Geneva, Batavia, North Aurora, Aurora, Montgomery, and Yorkville in Illinois. It also operated local streetcar lines in both Aurora and Elgin.
The Fox River Trail is a multi-use path in Illinois along the Fox River. Largely in Kane County, the trail connects the communities of Algonquin, Carpentersville, Dundee, Elgin, South Elgin, St. Charles, Geneva, Batavia, North Aurora, Aurora, Montgomery, and Oswego.
The Metropolitan main line was a rapid transit line of the Chicago "L" system from 1895 to 1958. It ran west from downtown to a junction at Marshfield station. At this point the Garfield Park branch continued westward, while the Douglas Park branch turned south, and the Logan Square branch turned north with the Humboldt Park branch branching from it. In addition to serving the Chicago "L", its tracks and those of the Garfield Park branch also carried the Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railroad, an interurban that served Chicago's western suburbs, between 1905 and 1953.
The Garfield Park Branch was a rapid transit line which was part of the Chicago "L" system from 1895 to 1958. The branch served Chicago's Near West Side, East Garfield Park, West Garfield Park, and Austin neighborhoods, and the suburbs of Oak Park, and Forest Park, and consisted of twenty-two stations. It opened on June 19, 1895 and closed on June 22, 1958, when it was replaced by the Congress branch of the Blue Line.
The Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railroad was an electric passenger railroad from Chicago west through its suburbs. The western portions were high-speed heavy lines, but access to the downtown area was on an elevated railway, part of Chicago’s “L” system. Because of the electric power and tight loading gauge, the cars were of unusual designs. One other area railroad, the “North Shore Line”, also used the “L” to enter Chicago and had similar cars.
Marshfield was a rapid transit station on the Chicago "L" in service between 1895 and 1954. Constructed by the Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad, it was the westernmost station of the Metropolitan's main line, which then diverged into three branches. Marshfield was also served by the Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railroad (CA&E), an interurban, between 1905 and 1953.
Canal was a rapid transit station located on the Metropolitan main line of the Chicago "L" that was in service from 1895 to 1958, when the entire main line was replaced by the Congress Line located in the median of the nearby Eisenhower Expressway. Starting in 1927, the interurban Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railroad (CA&E) also served the station, continuing until 1953. The station connected with Chicago's Union Station, which was one of the city's rail terminals. One of the busiest stations on the Metropolitan's routes, and of the "L" in general, it opened a second entrance on Clinton Street in 1914.
Bellwood was a station on the Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railroad (CA&E) serving Bellwood, Illinois, from 1902 to 1957. An adjacent station, serving the Westchester branch, existed for rapid transit purposes on the Chicago "L" between 1926 and 1951.
Elgin was a station on the Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railroad, where it was the western terminus of the Elgin branch. Throughout the early 20th century, it also connected with the Elgin and Belvidere Railway and Aurora, Elgin and Fox River Electric Company (AE&FRE) interurbans.
St. Louis was a rapid transit station on the Chicago "L" between 1895 and 1953. It was constructed by the Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad and served its Garfield Park branch. The Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railroad (CA&E), an interurban serving Chicago's western suburbs, also used the Garfield Park branch's tracks in 1905. To accommodate the mixing of the fast interurban and slow "L" service on a two-track line, two crossovers were installed on either side of the St. Louis station to let CA&E trains pass "L" trains in 1911.
York Street was a station on the Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railroad (CA&E) serving Elmhurst, Illinois. Opened on August 25, 1902, as South Elmhurst, it was one of the original stations of the Aurora Elgin and Chicago Railway (AE&C), which became the CA&E. It was significantly rebuilt in 1910, having a brick shelter added to it. Tickets were bought and sold at a nearby confectionery store. The CA&E closed altogether on July 3, 1957.
Kedzie was a rapid transit station on the Chicago "L", serving the Garfield Park branch of its Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad, from 1895 to 1958. Between 1905 and 1953, it also served the Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railroad (CA&E), an interurban using Garfield Park tracks, between 1905 and 1953.
Laramie was a rapid transit station on the Chicago "L"'s Garfield Park branch, opening in 1902 and serving as the branch's terminal and connecting it with the interurban Aurora, Elgin & Chicago Railroad (AE&C). The AE&C continued downtown on the Garfield Park's trackage in 1905, whereafter it only boarded westbound passengers and alighted eastbound passengers to avoid direct competition with the "L"; as part of the same agreement, the "L" had extended west to the AE&C's station on Des Plaines Avenue. The AE&C, later renamed the Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railroad (CA&E), ceased operation in 1953, and the station closed altogether in 1958 when the Garfield Park branch was replaced with the Congress Line.