mileage
355 STURTEVANT station, 9900 East Exploration Court. Elevation approximately 735. The station
is located in the Renaissance Business Park. Sturtevant is a suburban stop for Racine, and only the AMTRAK Hiawatha Service trains
make a stop here. The town was established in 1875 and named Johnson, after the first postmaster, William M. Johnson. It was later named Western Union Junction, then Corliss, and in 1923, it finally became Sturtevant, after the B.F. Sturtevant Company
which was established here.
356 Pass through downtown Sturtevant. The old AMTRAK station is located here.
358.5 Enter
KENOSHA County. The county was named after its largest city, Kenosha. The word “Kenosha” comes from the Indian word “Kenozhe,”
which was a pike fish. Pike Creek is named after the fish.
359.5 Approximately one mile east of the railroad is Petrifying Springs
County Park. It was formerly believed that the springs in the park turned plants into stone; however, what actually happens
is that the springs are rich in calcium carbonate, and where the water emerges from the springs, it deposits a limy precipitate around
plant leaves. True petrifaction occurs when chemicals carried by ground water actually replace organic fiber, such as the cellulose
fiber in tree wood. This is not what takes place at this park.
Adjacent
to Petrifying Springs is the University of Wisconsin’s Parkside campus.
360.5 Pass through Somers. This town was originally named
Pike, most likely after the Pike River, but was renamed Somers in 1851. Back then , a railroad line was being contemplated,
which would connect the region to Chicago, and a wealthy Englishman named Somers came to the area. It is believed that the citizens
either were trying to get Somers to invest in the railroad, or they were thanking him for his investment by naming the town in his
honor. There is no official record of the reason for the name change.
362 We are continuing to cross a till
plain deposited by the Lake Michigan Lobe of the last glacial ice advance. Again, low hills on either side of the railroad mark
the location of the Lake Border Moraine system.
363.5 The Kenosha Airport is visible on the right (eastbound). In the distance
on the left, the hills of the Lake Border Moraine system are readily apparent.
365.5 Pass through a location formerly known as Truesdell. A Union Pacific (formerly Chicago & Northwestern) railroad line is visible parallel to this line less than ½ mile on the left
(eastbound). We are actually passing through the outskirts of Kenosha. Like the county, the city is named after the Potawatomi
Indian word for pike (the fish). The city was first called Pike, and later Southport, since it was the southernmost port in
the State of Wisconsin. When the city was incorporated in 1850, it was named with the original Indian name.
The city was settled by New Englanders in 1835, and today is a manufacturing center, since it is still the southernmost Lake Michigan
port in the State. Kenosha is the home of the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing
in America, and is also home to the Civil War Museum and the Bristol Renaissance Faire.
Approximately 1.5 miles west of here, drilling in 1994 encountered a small body of kimberlite, an igneous rock which forms in the
earth’s mantle under very high pressure and temperature, possibly at depths exceeding 70 miles. Such kimberlite bodies are forced
upward by pressure and great heat, and, in some localities (South Africa the most well known), they can contain diamonds. No
diamonds have been found associated with this deposit, however.
366.5 Pass through Ranney, also known as Rogers Siding, a ghost town
in Pleasant Prairie. It is located at the intersection of Bain Station Road and the Canadian Pacific Railroad (the line we are
on now -- originally the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad). The last passenger train stopped at the Ranney
station prior to 1862, but the Ranney post office opened in 1885 and lasted into 1906. The Bain Station of the KD Line was located
just east of Ranney, and remained into the 1940’s.
The town of Pleasant Prairie
is located 1.5 miles west of the railroad (right if eastbound).
The Lake Border
Moraine is also again visible on the right (eastbound).
369 The marshy area on the right (eastbound) is the headwaters
of the Des Plaines River, which we will be following on and off the remainder of the way into Chicago. The marshy area is composed
of till plain deposits from the Lake Michigan Lobe.
370.5 Enter LAKE County, ILLINOIS. Lake County is named after its location
on the shore of Lake Michigan. It was established on March 1, 1839, from McHenry County. The original county seat was
at Burlington, but was moved to Waukegan, then known as “Little Fort,” in 1841.
371 Pass through Russell, named after
Russell Sage, a stockholder in the Chicago, Milwaukee, & St. Paul Railroad. The town was originally named Mortimer, then
changed to Newport in 1851, and finally became Russell in July 1876.
Between
here and Chicago we will be traversing a number of small end moraines, all of which are part of the Lake Border Moraine system we
have been traveling through since Milwaukee. As we get closer to Chicago, we will be entering a lake plain (see MP 400 below). In this area, the hummocky topography of the Park Ridge Moraine and the Deerfield Moraine is present on either side of the Des Plaines
River valley, along the railroad route.
373 The hills on this side of the Des Plaines River are part of the Deerfield
Moraine; those across the river are part of the Park Ridge Moraine.
375 Pass through Wadsworth, named after Julius
and Elisha Wadsworth, the Vice President and major shareholder, respectively, of the Chicago, Milwaukee, & St. Paul Railroad. The village was laid out in 1874.
377 We are passing through Wadsworth Prairie Forest Preserve. The lake on
the right (eastbound) is an impoundment of the Des Plaines River. Again, the Deerfield Moraine is located east of the river,
and the Park Ridge Moraine is located on the west side.
379 Cross over Highway 41. The bridge on the right
(eastbound) is part of the Des Plaines River Trail, a recreational multiuse trail that follows the course of the Des Plaines River
through most of Lake and part of Cook County. Trail uses include hiking/walking, bicycling, equestrian, and even winter cross
country skiing and snowmobiling (conditions permitting). Since much of the trail lies in the flood plain along the Des Plaines
River, sections of the trail are occasionally closed due to occasional flooding during periods of heavy rain. Though not all
sections of the trail connect directly, there is currently a 28-mile continuous section running through Lake County starting at Russell
Road along the Wisconsin/Illinois state line and running south to West Riverside Road about a mile south of Route 22. There are additional
disconnected sections south of this point.
Much of the Des Plaines River Trail
runs through a protected corridor made up of a series of public lands that are part of the Lake County Forest Preserve District and
the Cook County Forest Preserve District.
379-380 Pass through Gurnee, named after Walter S. Gurnee, Chicago Mayor from 1852
until 1853 and a Director of the Chicago, Milwaukee, & St. Paul Railroad. The post office was established in 1847 and originally
called Wentworth. The name of the village was later changed to O’Plain, then Gurnee Station, then finally Gurnee, on July 27,
1874. To the west (right if eastbound), you may be able to see some of the rides at the Six Flags great America Theme Park. The park first opened in 1976 as Marriott's Great America. Six Flags purchased the park from the Marriott Corporation in 1984,
making it the 7th park in the chain. As of 2009, the park has eight themed sections, a 13-acre water park, three specially themed
children's areas, and various other forms of entertainment.
380.5 Pass through Park City, which was established in 1958 by mobile home
park owners Joseph Koempstedt, Francis Murphy, Gene Palmieri, and Gus Teske. The village was established to avoid annexation
by the City of Waukegan.
381 Pass beneath State Highway 120, and pass the former location of Lakehurst Mall on the
left (eastbound). Lakehurst was the first large shopping mall in Lake County. It was built in 1971 to service the growing
town of Waukegan, the Great Lakes Naval Training Center, and eventually the far northern suburban sprawl of Chicago. After several
years of decline, Lakehurst closed in 2001, and was demolished in 2004. The site is currently occupied by a Wal-Mart Super Center.
We are still traversing the Deerfield Moraine.
382 On the left (eastbound) is the Baxter Health Care complex.
384 Pass through Green Oaks. On the left (eastbound) is the Abbott Laboratories complex.
As we get closer to Chicago, it will be more difficult to discern the various moraines and other glacial landforms near the railroad
due to industrialization and urbanization. We are still traversing the Deerfield Moraine.
385.5 At Rondout, the Metra commuter
line from Fox lake joins the main Canadian Pacific (CP) line we have been traveling on the right. We will see numerous Metra
trains passing your train between here and Chicago.
386.5 Cross the North Branch Chicago River.
387 On the right (eastbound)
is a training facility for the Chicago Bears NFL team.
388 Behind the subdivision on the right (eastbound) is Lake
Forest Academy. The Academy (known as "LFA") was founded in 1857 as a Presbyterian boys preparatory school. The Young
Ladies' Seminary at Ferry Hall, later simplified to Ferry Hall School, was founded in 1869, and was considered a sister school. The schools proceeded with their separate missions until the early 1970’s, at which point the schools began to coordinate their efforts. A merger of the schools to form the coeducational Lake Forest Academy-Ferry Hall School took place in 1974. Later, the school's
name officially became Lake Forest Academy.
389 On the right (eastbound) is Conway Farms Golf Course.
390 Lake Forest Metra Station, which is located in West Lake Forest. Lake Forest is an affluent northern suburb of Chicago, and
was founded in 1856 by the Lake Forest Association, a group of Presbyterian ministers. They strived to form an academy where
Christian teaching would hold a central place. The result was Lind University, which is now known as Lake Forest College. The community was named after the forested area on the shore of Lake Michigan, and was first transcribed as “Lake Forrest” in 1859. In 1865, the second “r” was dropped and the town became Lake Forest.
392 Pass through Bannockburn, which was likely
named after Bannockburn, Scotland, where Robert the Bruce defeated the British in 1314. Bannockburn was founded in 1924 by William
Atkin, a developer.
393 Pass through Deerfield, which was originally populated by the Potawatomi Native Americans. The area was settled by Horace Lamb and Jacob B. Cadwell in 1835 and named Cadwell's Corner. A shopping center located on the
site of Cadwell's farm at Waukegan Road and Lake Cook Road still bears that name. The area grew because of the navigable rivers
in the area, notably the Des Plaines River and the Chicago River. By 1840, the town's name was changed to Leclair. Within
a decade, settler John Millen proposed a further name change to Deerfield in honor of his hometown, Deerfield, Massachusetts and the
large number of deer living in the area. The village was incorporated in 1903.
Deerfield is home to the headquarters of Walgreens, Baxter Healthcare, APAC Customer Services, Fortune Brands, Takeda Pharmaceuticals,
and Così, and was at one time the headquarters of the Sara Lee Corporation. Deerfield High School is one of the top public schools
in the state. Trinity International University, an evangelical Christian university, is located in Deerfield.
394 Deerfield Metra station is visible on the right (eastbound).
395 Enter COOK County, which was named after Daniel
Pope Cook, the nephew of Nathaniel Pope, for whom Pope County, in extreme southern Illinois, was named. Cook was a delegate
to Congress from the Illinois Territory 1816-1818, then later a U.S. Representative from 1819 to 1827. The county was established
January 15, 1831, from Putnam County.
The Lake-Cook Metra station is visible
on the right (eastbound). Just past the station, pass beneath Interstate 94.
396 The hilly area on the left
(eastbound) is part of the Deerfield Moraine.
396.5 Cross the North Fork of the West Branch of the Chicago River.
397 Northbrook Metra station is visible on the right (eastbound). Northbrook was formerly known as Shermerville, and was known primarily
for its abundance of brothels and taverns. The town was named after Frederick Shermer, who donated land for a train station. In 1923, in hopes of changing the town’s name to bring a new image to the town, the name was changed to Northbrook after its location
in Northfield Township on the North Branch of the Chicago River.
Film Director
John Hughes has used his hometown of Northbrook in several of his films. Many parts of “Ferris Bueller's Day Off” were filmed
at Glenbrook North High School in the fall of 1985 with students serving as extras (most of the interior shots, though, were filmed
at the shuttered Maine North High School). The party scene from the movie “Uncle Buck” was filmed at a house in the Highlands
neighborhood, on Crabtree Lane. The grocery store scene in “She's Having a Baby” was filmed at Sunset Foods, and scenes in “Ordinary
People” and “Weird Science” were shot at the Northbrook Court shopping mall. A small scene from the movie “Risky Business” was
shot at a highway ramp off the Edens Expressway.
398 Prominent mound on left (eastbound) was formerly a large landfill;
it is now the location of the Willowhill Golf Course.
399 We have now crossed onto the Park Ridge Moraine, although
the moraine itself in not discernible from the railroad.
Glenview North Metra
station is visible on right (eastbound). This is the site of the former Glenview Naval Air Station (Glenview NAS); however,
the former base is now covered with various residential subdivisions and commercial establishments.
NAS Glenview was an operational U.S. Naval Air Station from 1923 to 1995. The air base primarily operated seaplanes on nearby
Lake Michigan, and later, P-3 Orions, stationed here as a staging point for Anti-submarine warfare against Soviet submarines. The former air base has now been redeveloped into a residential subdivision and commercial area called The Glen, although the control
tower has been preserved as a historic building. Hangar 1, including the control tower, was added to the National Register of Historic
Places in 1998.
400.5 GLENVIEW station, 1116 Depot Street. Elevation approximately 635 ft. This is also a Metra commuter
station. Near the center of Glenview, just south of the Glen development (see MP 399 above), "The Park" is one of the oldest
neighborhoods in the village. The Park was established as home to a religious society in 1894 by Hugh Burnham, the first village
president and nephew of architect Daniel Burnham. In the late 1800’s through the turn of the 20th century, New Church members
built their houses in an oval surrounding a common park area where the church and school were built.
A number of major U.S. corporations have major facilities or offices in Glenview, including Anixter International, Aon Corp., Avon,
Family Video, Illinois Tool Works, Kraft Foods, Pearson Scott Foresman, and Republic Tobacco.
402 Golf Metra station. The Village of Golf is named after the game of golf, as could be surmised. It was named by Albert J. Erling, President of the
Milwaukee Road Railroad, and the station was reportedly established so that Erling and his friends could disembark the train here
to play a round of golf at Glenview Golf Club.
403 Cross North Branch of Chicago River. We have basically left
the hummocky topography of the Lake Border Moraine system now, and are beginning to cross a very flat area which was once occupied
by a glacial lake known as Lake Chicago, which existed during the Pleistocene Ice Age and filled with glacial meltwater many times
during the Pleistocene. Several ancient shorelines of different ages are visible in the lake bed, but we will not be able to
discern them from the train, due to urbanization.
403.5 Morton Grove Metra station on the right. Morton Grove was established
in 1895, and originally called Morton, and was named after Levi Parsons Morton, an official of the Chicago, Milwaukee, & St. Paul
Railroad, and later Vice President of the United States under President Benjamin Harrison, from 1889 to 1893. The word “Grove”
was added to the name of the town to attract home buyers.
In 1981, Morton Grove
became the first town in America to prohibit the possession of handguns. Victor Quilici, a local lawyer, sued the city (Quilici v.
Morton Grove). The Federal District Court, as well as the Appellate Court, ruled the Morton Grove ordinance to be constitutional,
thus upholding the gun ban. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case, letting the lower court decision stand. As of July 28, 2008, however, the Village dropped its prohibition on handguns. The village board voted 5-1 in favor of removing
the ban.
405 We are now entering the City of Chicago.
406 Edgebrook Metra station on the left (eastbound). Edgebrook probably refers to the location of this neighborhood on the shore of the North Branch of the Chicago River, which is located
just west of the railroad, but not visible from the railroad.
407 Cross North Branch of the Chicago River, as we
pass through part of a Cook County Forest Preserve.
407.5 Forest Glen Metra station on the left (eastbound). Forest Glen is a
community of about 550 residences on the northwest side of Chicago, and is often referred to as "Chicago's Finest Community". It is one of the oldest neighborhoods in Chicago. First inhabited by Captain William Hazelton of the 1st Cavalry Division, he
built the Glen's first barn at what is now Lawler and Foster.
409 Pass over Interstate 90 immediately northwest of
its junction with Interstate 94. This interchange is known in the Chicago area as “the Junction”, and the name of the locale
if often heard in radio traffic reports. The Kennedy Expressway begins at the Junction and heads south through downtown Chicago.
Just south of the railroad overpass over Montrose Avenue is the Mayfair Metra station on the right (eastbound). The station
is located on the border between the Albany Park and Portage Park community areas of Chicago. Albany Park is one of the most
ethnically diverse in the United States. It has one of highest percentages of foreign-born residents of neighborhoods in Chicago. Although the majority of those foreign-born residents are from Latin America, the majority are from Mexico and Guatemala, and substantial
numbers are from the Philippines, India, Korea, Cambodia, Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia, Romania, Pakistan and the Middle East.
Portage Park has the largest Polish community in the Chicago Metropolitan Area according to the 2000 census. Portage Park is
home to the Polish American Association, the Polish Jesuit Millennium Center, the Polish Army Veterans Association in the beautiful
building of the former Irving State bank, in addition to the multitude of Polish shops and businesses throughout the district. One of the area's park's is named Chopin Park after Frederic Chopin, Poland's most famous pianist and composer.
410 As we continued to cross the flat plain of Glacial lake Chicago, the Grayland Metra station is now visible on the right (eastbound).
Just south of the station is Kilbourn Park on the right (eastbound). Kilbourn Park has a teaching organic greenhouse which is
open to the public.
411.5 Healy Metra station on the left (eastbound).
412.5 Cross the Union Pacific Metra Northwest Line which connects
downtown Chicago with Harvard, a northwestern suburb.
415 The Milwaukee District West Metra line from Elgin joins
our route here on the right (eastbound). On the left is the Western Avenue Metra station, the last Metra station before downtown
Chicago. The downtown skyscrapers, especially the former Sears Tower (now Willis Tower) should be quite prominent ahead and
to the right.
On the right (eastbound), you can see numerous stainless steel
double-decker Metra passenger cars in the yard awaiting assignment, being coupled or uncoupled, and being worked on.
416 On the left here, the Metra trains which run on the Union Pacific (formerly Chicago & Northwestern) RR veer of to the left, and
eventually cross this line a mile down and curve overhead into Chicago’s Ogilvie Transportation Center (formerly known as Northwestern
Station).
417.5 As we round this sharp curve, we pass beneath the Union Pacific tracks (see MP 416 above), and make a sharp bend south
along the Chicago River on our approach to Chicago Union Station. Across the river can be seen the 25-story trapezoidal-shaped
Chicago Merchandise Mart, one of the largest office buildings in the world, visible behind the Chicago Sun-Tines Building. Also
visible on the south side of the river is the modernistic, circular, glass building at 333 Wacker Drive, a high-rise office building,
in which Ferris Bueller’s father worked in the 1986 movie “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.” Many other downtown skyscrapers are visible
as we head into Union Station.
We soon go beneath the buildings at Randolph
Street, and travel along the Chicago River into the station.
418 CHICAGO Union Station, 225 S. Canal Street. Elevation approximately 590. Chicago is, with-out a doubt, the railroad hub of the United States. Nearly 10 different
short- and long-distance AMTRAK routes begin and end at Un-ion Station, and Chicago is the transfer point for most east-west transcontinental
trips on AM-TRAK. The massive Union Station was built in 1926, and was significantly remodeled in the early 1990’s, to allow
better flow of pedestrian/passenger traffic through the station. The station is also the terminal for most of the Chicago area
Metra commuter rail routes.
Chicago is named after an Indian word meaning “onion,”
for the wild onions which were once plentiful in the area. Chicago is a major trade and financial center of the country, and
also a transportation hub. It is known as the “Windy City,” not so much for the winds which sweep between the tall downtown
buildings, but in honor of the city’s notable political climate. Chicago has always had distinctive architecture, in the form
of such buildings as the Wrigley Building, the Willis (formerly Sears) Tower, world’s tallest building, the John Hancock Building,
and even the old part of the Union Station, now occupied by the “Great Hall.”
Chicago is the home of the Field Museum, the Museum of Science and Industry, the Adler Planetarium, Art Institute, Grant Park, Bucking-ham
Fountain, the Chicago Mercantile Ex-change (above Union Station), Lincoln Park and the Lincoln Park Zoo, the Merchandise Mart, the
University of Chicago, University of Illinois Chicago Circle campus, and many other places of interest.
Chicago is the largest city and county seat of COOK County.
In addition to being
a railroad hub, Chicago is also a regional financial, cultural, and shopping hub. Union Station is located in the downtown area,
known as the “Loop,” and is located on the west bank of the Chicago River. Privately owned, commercial, and pleasure boats can
be seen plying the waters of the river from the plaza just outside the upper level of Union Station, as well as from the underground
track level. The shopping districts of Michigan Avenue are only a few blocks away from the station, and can be visited if you
have a few hours between trains. A little further away are the Field Museum of Natural History, Shedd Aquarium, Adler Planetarium,
Chicago Art Institute, and Museum of Science & Industry. Just one block away from Union Station is the 110-story (1450 ft)
Willis Tower, formerly known as the Sears Tower, the tallest building in the world, which was completed in 1974.