Rail Hub of America

Chicago was, and still is, the rail hub of America. Almost anyone or anything traveling by rail from east to west or vice versa had to go through the Windy City. Since it was such a hub, during the golden age of railroading the city had six major passenger rail terminals, served by dozens of railroads, big and small. With very few exceptions you had to get yourself and your baggage between the different terminals if you were making a connection.

By 1978 when I made my first railfan trip to that city, there were only three left - my previously blogged Northwestern Station, Union Station (used by Amtrak) and LaSalle Street Station. Earlier on La Salle was used by the mighty New York Central and the Rock Island for their intercity services, but by this late date the station was only used by the nearly bankrupt Rock Island for commuter service.

Since I was in town on a Sunday morning, I knew I wasn't destined to see much if anything at La Salle, since commuter trains only ran sporadically on weekends. Still, I went up to the train platforms to check things out. After awhile of not seeing anything, I decided to move on. As I walked back down into the terminal, I heard the growl of a diesel. I hurried back to the platform, in time to catch this special train coming in. It was a chartered train, the cars all privately owned. The owners had paid the line to take their railcars out for a joy ride around the Chicago area. Pulling the special was #652, a noteworthy locomotive. It was one of the last classic postwar streamlined locomotives still in use. And, it was still painted in the bicentennial paint scheme, created to honor the national celebration of two years earlier.

This was another case of me being in the right place, at the right time. In railfanning, like in so many other things in life, that makes all the difference.