Local Railroad Attractions
Our region's railroad history is acknowledged by many communities...most of these towns owe their existence to the railroad. There are also numerous pieces of equipment and buildings throughout the region -- too many to list here, but each with their own story to tell.
For a list of regional railroad museums, go to our Regional Railroad Museums page.
Do you have a link to a place you would like to share? Have you found a broken link? Please send us an E-mail.
For a list of regional railroad museums, go to our Regional Railroad Museums page.
Do you have a link to a place you would like to share? Have you found a broken link? Please send us an E-mail.
Local Interest
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Chicago Southland Rail Guide A guide for railfanning and "rail-centric" attractions, restaurants and events provided in the south and southwest suburbs provided by the Chicago Southland Convention & Visitors Bureau |
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Railfan Calendar of Events A listing of all known rail and transit enthusiast events happening in and around the Chicago-Kenosha-Milwaukee-Rockford area. |
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Restored Depots and Equipment
There are countless restored (or being restored) depots and individual pieces of railway equipment (usually retired cabooses and locomotives) throughout our region, far more than we could ever hope to list. But that hasn't stopped someone from trying...
Railroad Viewing Parks
Within the past couple decades, several municipalities have setup parks and platforms for the benefit and safety of those who come trackside to watch trains. Here are some or our favorites.
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Joliet Union Station UD Tower Joliet, IL Opening Spring 2024 With closure of Joliet Union Station and transfer of passenger operations to Joliet Gateway Center, the original Union Station platform was resurfaced, fenced off, and is accessible to the public for train watching. UD Tower was built in 1913 to control traffic at the newly built junction at Joliet Union Station. The tower was left in place with the construction of the new Joliet Gateway Center. |
The current plan will have the tower open on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays during the same hours the Joliet Gateway Center train station waiting room is open, for security purposes. They will have volunteers staff the tower, also serving as docents to explain the tower's purpose and operation. Because it is now incorporated with the Joliet Gateway Center, the tower is ADA accessible.
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Homewood Railroad Park Homewood, IL At the southern end of CN's Markham Yard, Homewood sees CN freights, Amtrak and Metra trains, which also stop at the historic station there. The former IC Woodcrest shops and CN's training complex are viewable (behind a fence) a short drive north of the viewing platform. The platform is ADA compatible. |
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Tower B-12 Franklin Park, IL Moved from the original location guarding the crossing of the Soo Line and Milwaukee Road, it now sits alongside the busy eastern approach to CPKC's Bensenville Yard, and sees CPKC and Metra trains along with transfer jobs coming up from the connection with the Indiana Harbor Belt. |
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Park Forest/CN Rail-Fan Park Park Forest/Matteson, IL Overlooks the Matteson Connection, CN's reconfigured junction between the former Illinois Central mainline and the former Elgin, Joliet & Eastern |
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Rochelle Railroad Park Rochelle, IL One of the first and most popular railroad parks, features crossing of the Union Pacific (ex-C&NW) and BNSF (ex-CB&Q/BN) along with historic displays of locomotives from Rochelle's Whitcomb Locomotive Works. |
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Griffith Historical Society Griffith, IN For most of the 20th century, up until the 70s, Griffith was the crossing of five different railroads and up to 180 trains a day. Mergers and abandonments have changed Griffith, but it is still an important point on the CN. The historical society also maintains the original crossing guard shack, the GTW depot, and interlocking tower. |
Railroad-themed Food and Lodging
From food brought to you by a toy train, to dinning experiences in historical depots, to a bed and breakfast in a historic freight house, our region has many railroad-themed experiences for train fans of all ages.
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The Choo Choo Diner
Des Plaines, IL Flossmoor Station - Restaurant, Brewery and Caboose Ice Cream Shoppe Flossmoor, IL The Junction Diner Forest Park, IL 2Toots Train Whistle Grill Glen Ellyn, IL Grand Ballroom at Joliet Union Station Joliet, IL |
Riley's Railhouse Bed & Breakfast
Chesterton, IN Monon Connection Museum and Whistlestop Restaurant Monon, IN Tyler's Tender Railroad Restaurant Schererville, IN Buffalo Phil's Pizza & Grille Wisconsin Dells, WI |
Dinner TrainsRelive the days of fine dining while riding the rails. Heritage railroads and museums may also offer dinner trains on special occasions or on an infrequent schedule. Check with them for details.
East Troy Electric Railroad Museum East Troy, WI |
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Model Railroad Clubs and Displays
Although Blackhawk focuses on our region's "full-size" railroad history, we also know that many of our members enjoy the "smaller" versions of these fascinating machines. Fortunately, there are numerous places where you can visit and enjoy railroading on a miniature scale.
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Chicagoland Lionel Railroad Club
New Lenox, IL Elmhurst Model Railroad Club Elmhurst, IL Garfield-Clarendon Model Railroad Club Clarendon Park, Chicago, IL Hi-Rail Modular Train Club Griffith, IN Lake Shore Model Railroad Association Calumet Park, Chicago, IL Museum of Science and Industry Hyde Park, Chicago, IL Oak Park Society of Model Engineers Oak Park, IL Prairie Scale Model Railroad Club Lombard, IL Will County Model Railroad Association Joliet, IL |
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Garden RailroadsChicago Botanic Garden
Glencoe, IL Illiana Garden Railway Society Valporaiso, IN Gabis Arboretum at Purdue Northwest Valparaiso, IN |
Live Railcams
Can't leave the house. Catch live railroad action on the hundreds of railcams across the United States and Canada, including many in our area. You can also connect to many of these for free on YouTube.