Railfans Guide
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Railfanning at Joliet Gateway Center
Looking south over the BNSF and UP mainlines, showing the realignment of tracks 2 and 3, the new Gateway Center and platform, and its relationship to the 1912 building on the right, while a Chicago-bound Amtrak "Texas Eagle" gets a helping hand from the UP in this drone photo taken 1/13/2020 by Jacob Diorio.
With the closing of the original station, the City of Joliet now owns the property and is responsible for security and upkeep.
The original 1912 station platform has been fenced off and recent reports (May 2024) say it is only accessible to customers of the banquet hall that occupies Union Station.
The new Rock Island platform east of the crossing is accessible but offers limited views. The Amtrak platform is marked with signage that says only ticket holders are allowed on the platform. Both platforms can be accessed by stairs or elevators.
The now open UD Tower presents some opportunities as well. Operating as the Joliet Railroad Museum, it is open on Friday, Saturday, and Sundays from 10 am-2:30 pm and is accessed through the Joliet Gateway Center. Admission is $5.
The original 1912 station platform has been fenced off and recent reports (May 2024) say it is only accessible to customers of the banquet hall that occupies Union Station.
The new Rock Island platform east of the crossing is accessible but offers limited views. The Amtrak platform is marked with signage that says only ticket holders are allowed on the platform. Both platforms can be accessed by stairs or elevators.
The now open UD Tower presents some opportunities as well. Operating as the Joliet Railroad Museum, it is open on Friday, Saturday, and Sundays from 10 am-2:30 pm and is accessed through the Joliet Gateway Center. Admission is $5.
Joliet...away from Union Station
There is plenty of railroad action surrounding downtown Joliet, and although some of it is accessible by public transportation, a car will probably work better. Like many American cities, Joliet does have some areas that will require caution. For some of the harder to get to areas, many railfans have had good luck using drones.
To the North...The former Santa Fe (now BNSF) and Chicago & Alton (now CN/UP/Amtrak/Metra) lines from Chicago enter the Joliet by running under the former EJ&E (now CN) line from East Joliet which crosses both lines and then runs over a massive drawbridge over the Des Plaines River. BNSF also maintains a small yard here. Unfortunately, this area is pretty inaccessible, except for part of the I&M Canal Trail which can be accessed through the Joliet Iron Works historical site, followed by a lengthy walk.
The area's newest railroad, the Elwood, Joliet & Southern lies to north of downtown near the intersection Illinois Routes 53 and 7 where Joliet borders against the neighboring town of Crest Hill. A Watco subsidiary, it consists of a former EJ&E industrial branch known as the "Phoenix Line" and a former railcar rebuilder whose property is being redeveloped as a transloading and car storage facility. At about the same location, a branch known as the Romeoville Industrial Spur or the "Bug Line" (after an endangered dragon fly whose habitat the line runs through) runs north from the EJ&E main line alongside Illinois 53 to the massive NRG Will County Generating Station in Romeoville. With this power plant scheduled to stop receiving coal in 2022, and only one other customer on the line, the future of this branch is uncertain. |
To the South...
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Several miles south of downtown Joliet, BNSF and UP maintain two separate and massive intermodal yards. Union Pacific's Global IV is located just to the west of Illinois Route 53 and the Chicagoland Speedway racetrack, while BNSF Logistics Park Chicago is next to the small town of Elwood. Both are part of the redevelopment of the former Joliet Arsenal land, which also includes the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery and the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie.
Just a little further south in the town of Wilmington, the former GM&O/Alton crosses the Kankakee River on a bridge that is viewable from Wilmington Island Park. |
To the East...The former Elgin, Joliet & Eastern (now Canadian National) East Joliet Yard and Intermodal Terminal, along with the crossing of the "J" and the former-Rock Island and the remains of the Rock Island's single-stall diesel house are about 1.5 miles east of Joliet Union Station. The yard can be seen from the U.S. Route 6 overpass over the south end, or from Draper Ave. and Belle Ave. along the east side.
The abandoned Milwaukee Road line to Manhattan (Wauponsee Glacial Trail) and the Michigan Central line to Indiana (Old Plank Road Trail) are now bicycle/hiking paths. |
To the West...The CSX maintains a yard office and keeps a set of locomotives in the town of Rockdale to service the numerous chemical and industrial customers along the former Rock Island line running west, including massive plants and industrial parks in Channahon and Aux Sable. Iowa Interstate trains also exercise trackage rights on this line.
A bit further to the west, CN's former EJ&E Minooka branch runs south from Plainfield, serving industrial areas in Minooka and Aux Sable. This line used to go further south to tap the coal fields around Gardner and Coal City and one time maintained an active spur to the Dresden nuclear power plant. |