Chicago Yards

Anything pertaining to railfanning in Illinois.
steveandrews
Railroadfan...fan
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Joined: Sun Mar 04, 2018 6:55 pm

Chicago Yards

Unread post by steveandrews »

Hi all,

I will be visiting Chicago for the first time in September. I am looking to visit freight yards from all operators. What yards are there? Where are they? Are they visible from public property?
Many thanks for all information, Steve Andrews

LVrrfan
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Joined: Wed Oct 20, 2021 2:52 pm

Re: Chicago Yards

Unread post by LVrrfan »

Belt Railway of Chicago's Clearing yard is by far the biggest yard in Chicago. The Cicero rd, Harlem Ave, and Pulaski rd overpasses are all excellent. Hayford Jct on the east end is good viewing, too.....just head north on central park Ave off 79th st to get there. Indiana Harbor Belt's Blue Island yard is another large yard.....the Halsted st and School St overpasses provide nice viewing. Head north on Halsted st from blue Island yard and you'll see CSX's Barr yard. Not as big but still fairly impressive. BNSF's Cicero yard is another nice spot. The Laramie Ave overpass, ridgeland Ave grade crossing, and the Cicero metra station are all nice viewing spots. CP's Bensenville yard is fairly good. The Mannheim rd overpass, Mannheim metra station, York Rd and Scott st grade crossings are good spots. UP Proviso yard is another big operation. The Mannheim rd over pass, Berkeley and Bellwood Metra stations are all great spots to view this yard. On the east side, IHB's Gibson yard is another big operation. The Columbus Ave, Kennedy Ave, and Indianapolis Blvd overpasses are all great spots. Be careful though....Kennedy Ave has pretty busy and the shoulder is pretty narrow. Other yards that are not as large but still worth the visit include, UP's Yard Center (Sibley Blvd overpass and 144th st grade crossing are good spots) and NS Calumet yard(103rd st overpass is nice) are worth visiting. Hope this helps

steveandrews
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Posts: 6
Joined: Sun Mar 04, 2018 6:55 pm

Re: Chicago Yards

Unread post by steveandrews »

Wow! Fantastic info. Thank you so much.

GP30M4216
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Re: Chicago Yards

Unread post by GP30M4216 »

10O% spend some time exploring the Chicago Rail Junctions website: https://www.dhke.com/CRJ/ It’s been around forever (I used it on a similar Chicagoland railfan trip in 2003!) and is regularly updated. It discusses the traffic at pretty much every major junction and crossing (and nearby yards) in good detail.

Chicagoland is vast. It might be good to pick a geographic region and explore several sites in that area rather than trying to criss cross from Indiana practically up to Wisconsin. Good luck and be sure to post a report to share what you saw!

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