Re: (rshsdepot) Illinois Central Station, Chicago

["Verne and Joan Brummel" <jmb_@_msn.com>]

Hi Paul,
I was lucky enough to have visited all of the big Chicago stations before
they were torn down or altered. To me, the greatest crime of them all was
the demolition of Northwestern Station. This was, still in the early 1980's,
a well maintained, impressive terminal with an 84 foot high, barrel vaulted
waiting room ceiling, and a concourse full of old chandeliers, now
completely gone. Gordy Bjoraker I'm sure remembers the night we rode the
"Owl" bus out of Madison,WI, getting to Chicago at 4:30am, so we could get a
early start on visiting Northwestern and other stations, and watching and
riding trains all day long.

I have a lot of memories of the Chicago stations in the pre - Amtrak days,
beginning with my first train ride, out of Union Station in 1958. I rode,
amoung others, Milwaukee Road's "Hiawathas", "Pioneer Limited",and  "Sioux";
CB&Q's "Zephyrs"; and GM&O's "Limited" out of Union; C&NW "400's" out of
Northwestern; Rock Island's "Rockets" out of LaSalle Street;
Erie-Lackawanna's "Lake Cities" out of Dearborn, and Illinois Central's
"Panama Limited" out of Central Station. Between 1956 and 1963, my sister
lived in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood, and I remember her driving me
past Central Station, and IC's roundhouse just south of there. She lived
near the IC electrified main line, and you could hear the humming noises of
the old IC electric M-U cars going by all night long.
Verne Brummel, Fitchburg,WI
- ----- Original Message -----
From: "Paul Luchter" <luckyshow_@_mindspring.com>
To: <rshsdepot_@_lists.railfan.net>
Sent: Thursday, June 12, 2003 5:50 PM
Subject: Re: (rshsdepot) Illinois Central Station, Chicago


> man, I must have been rummaging about in there just months before it was
> gone...Chicago cares little for their history and landmarks huh? They tore
> down this one, B&O's Grand Central, half of Union Station, the front end
of
> Northwestern, all of Rock Island's station, and I guess the sheds at Polk
> Street
>
> geez, and I see no excuse for the C&NW and Rock Island ones, since by the
> last decade they should have known better
> Paul
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Gordy Bjoraker" <Gordon.L.Bjoraker_@_nasa.gov>
> To: "RSHS Depot" <rshsdepot_@_lists.railfan.net>
> Sent: Thursday, June 12, 2003 1:25 PM
> Subject: (rshsdepot) Illinois Central Station, Chicago
>
>
> >
> > >Date: Thu, 12 Jun 2003 01:32:07 -0400
> > >From: "Paul Luchter" <luckyshow_@_mindspring.com>
> > >Subject: (rshsdepot) Illinois Central Station, Chicago
> > >
> > >I don't remember seeing any rotunda when I was there:
> > > http://www.railroadextra.com/arstat18.Html
> >
> > Neat photos. IC put in a false ceiling in Central Station, probably
> > after World War 2. My friend Verne Brummel and I took some interior
> > photos when they were tearing down the station in 1974. You could see
> > the original wooden barrel-vaulted ceiling in places where the false
> > ceiling had collapsed.
> >
> > Gordy
> >
> > --
> > *******************************************************
> > Gordon Bjoraker
> > NASA/GSFC
> >
> > new e-mail address as of November 2002
> > Gordon.L.Bjoraker_@_nasa.gov  (no gsfc in e-mail address)
> >
> > *******************************************************
> > =================================
> > The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
> > railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org
> >
>
> =================================
> The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
> railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org
>


=================================
The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org

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