Hi All, I'm going to be in the chicagoland area from the 25th-27th on a road trip, I have a few questions..
1. What time is Franklin Park Busy?
2. What lines do the Metra heritage units run? My dad wants to see the CNW since he lived in Prospect heights...
3. How many trains pass FP between 1-7 PM?
4. When is Rochelle at it's busiest?
5. Where is the best place to setup in Coal City?
I hope you can help this Michigan Noob...
Thanks,
-David
Some Questions from a Michigan Railfan
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Some Questions from a Michigan Railfan
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Re: Some Questions from a Michigan Railfan
Questions 1 and 3 will be answered by looking up the latest Metra timetables.David Collins wrote: ↑Tue Mar 09, 2021 2:02 pmHi All, I'm going to be in the chicagoland area from the 25th-27th on a road trip, I have a few questions..
1. What time is Franklin Park Busy?
2. What lines do the Metra heritage units run? My dad wants to see the CNW since he lived in Prospect heights...
3. How many trains pass FP between 1-7 PM?
4. When is Rochelle at it's busiest?
5. Where is the best place to setup in Coal City?
Question 2 is a you never know when. The heritage units are assigned to consists which are assigned to different runs, and they vary. It'll be up to luck for that. But you can definitely increase your odds if you were to say camp out at the north end of Union Station or Ogilvie to catch them running.
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Re: Some Questions from a Michigan Railfan
2. The CNW would most likely be running on a UP run Metra line. Which run out of OTC. There's a parking garage right by where the tracks for Union Station and OTC cross, so you can get above the elevated tracks.
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Re: Some Questions from a Michigan Railfan
Which ramp are you talking about specifically? And how are the angles from there?MrAnderson wrote: ↑Tue Mar 09, 2021 2:37 pm2. The CNW would most likely be running on a UP run Metra line. Which run out of OTC. There's a parking garage right by where the tracks for Union Station and OTC cross, so you can get above the elevated tracks.
I might be diving into more Metra stuff once the pandemic abates so, I'll get my recon mission started now I guess
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Re: Some Questions from a Michigan Railfan
This is the garage. https://goo.gl/maps/hzxRbUtmfCKyCQGe7
The angles are alright. My favorite angle is this https://www.railpictures.net/photo/763252/
Here's a video from there pre-covid https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uB_PZ7fMKsI&t=309s
Edit 3/26: I was in the area during rush hour and there were many trains, at times queuing outside OTC. Not quite as many as the pre-covid times but still a lot
The angles are alright. My favorite angle is this https://www.railpictures.net/photo/763252/
Here's a video from there pre-covid https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uB_PZ7fMKsI&t=309s
Edit 3/26: I was in the area during rush hour and there were many trains, at times queuing outside OTC. Not quite as many as the pre-covid times but still a lot