Ghost Tracks of Hillside Illinois

[@60s70sTheBest]

I happened to come across this video documentary while looking for something else. I like history of all sorts, and I was glad I took time to watch it even though I'm not from the Hillside area. I like the fact that there were no words spoken and that all relevant info was on screen. The rest is left for thought Even the shaky video and ambient background noise gave it the "right there" realism.

[@ipfeldspar]

Thank-You! You have noticed my documentary "style." I prefer not to comment, or even add titles, unless it is really necessary. I believe the average viewer is intelligent enough to view/process the video, and to understand, and to make conclusions as coming from the viewing. Last summer, I recorded "Garage Fire Westchester," where I had the timing working for me as I got to the fire before the Fire Department. I just ran the camera, and later posted an unedited twenty minute video. Good thing I did, as the viewers have been extremely critical of that particular Fire Department. The unedited video made it possible to time the misc arcane duties that firefighters do, which means that video was a solid metric. The Hillside video is one of my older attempts at creating an historic record. I'm glad I did it when I did (2012) as some of places have been changed up and are no longer recognizable. You might want to glance at my Playlist for "Abandoned" Those videos would be the epitome of my so-called style........!

[@60s70sTheBest]

@@ipfeldspar Will do.

[@wattsenough]

Excellent video. Growing up in Hillside it brought back a lot of memories. Who remembers S&H Green Stamps? I recall all the tracks that are now the Illinois Prairie Path along Litt Drive then crossing Mannheim. Great that you left the natural sounds recorded during your visit without any music tracks.

[@ipfeldspar]

Thank-You! Eight years on there have been some more changes. The main one is the removal of the side track to the Printing Plant behind Proviso High School. The new Target Store rearranged the dirt again, where the old Manheim Road line came through. More development along Roosevelt has further erased the old right of way. I worked at S&H up until it shut down in 1999. Now, we have all the Tollway construction!

[@janickgoudeau6126]

Thank you for the documentation I remember them all. I especially have good memories of the one in North Riverside mall parking lot. A spur line is very visible over the tracks have been recently taken away.

[@ipfeldspar]

That spur line was the location where Frank Nitti took his own life. That RR crossing by the Mall is a good place for pictures! Thank-You for commenting and viewing!

[@richroedger9868]

My friend Carm Colangelo lived a half a block from the spur. There was a loading platform there where they could unload maintenance items from box cars. It had ramps on both sides. Carm tried to jump it in a 1953 Chevy. We had fun back in those days.

[@rickpalo1]

Great video, kind of sad to see the small scraps of RR tracks & hardware laying there. A good history lesson, more people should investigate there local RR history, before it is forgotten forever! Thank you!

[@ipfeldspar]

Thank-You, and I agree with your sentiment that those rail leftovers are not appreciated, preserved, or understood. That, of course, was my motivation to get these places onto video. Thank-you for viewing and commenting!

[@raycosyn8849]

Thanks again for posting the video. The Roaring Elgin was part of me for a good part of my life. I still lament the passing of the CA&E and the CNS&M (the North Shore). The only inter-urban left is the South Shore (NICD) from Chicago to South Bend. They were all related being part of the Insull Empire. Cting

[@ipfeldspar]

Insull was an amazing guy. I have yet to decide if he was a con artist or a great technology innovator. The South Shore has been on my short list to cover and I have one ( 1 ) North Shore video (a station). I like to ride the old CNW North Line and while onboard, I get to watch a lot of the old North Shore right of way (bike path now). Thank-you for viewing and I hope I'll have some more videos that you will enjoy!

[@HRHolm-bi6zu]

@@ipfeldspar I believe Insull died alone overseas, I think in Paris, and virtually penniless. Almost the same sort of fate as Nicholas Tesla. Sad that both who gave the nation---and really, the world----so much had to pass in such dire circumstances.

[@METX210]

This was a very informative and interesting video. It's sad to see railroads cease to exist, but usually they leave behind some awesome pieces of history that can be accessed here in the present, and hopefully in the future.

[@ipfeldspar]

Thank you for taking the time to watch. Yup, the traces are there if you know where to look but sometimes things get erased. In Hillside, multiple expansions of I-290 took out some trackage which also happened when they built the Target shopping center. The tracks in those places were pulled out and the land parcels regraded. Hopefully, others will appreciate the History................?

[@parkman35]

Awesome video Irving! Having worked in this area back in the 80's & early 90's I often wondered about the railroads there especially the CA&E. I used to drive under the Wolf Rd viaduct everyday. There's also another gost like rail line that ran from the North Riverside/Forest park border just west of Harlem Ave through Waldheim Cemetary. It may have been taken up by now,I think that line was active back in the 60s into the early 80s. I seem to remember it crossing Cermak Rd in North Riverside

[@MrHammered34]

my grandfather designed the mount Carmel spur that split at Bellwood avenue and proceeded to the cemetery in Westchester, he was the track foreman for the Aurora and Elgin Railroad, he lived on Madison street in Bellwood , when he drew up the route for the spur line, he had the tracks run next to his home, he had his own semaphore so he could signal the operator to stop, my grandmother had a kitchen in the basement ,she would cook food for the track gang in an emergency, she also had big a potbelly stove in the basement where the workers could warm up on a cold winters night, my dad brother and myself used to ride on the Aurora and Elgin using my grandfathers pass.

[@ipfeldspar]

You have awesome memories! The Cemetery Line is not too far from home and I like to try to pick out the right of way. In the last few months, there has been some sort of building project behind the Tombstone place and the tow place and the animal hospital. Dirt is piled across the old ROW. Last week I caught a CN train at the viaduct by the Westchester Post Office. And, I think there is still that little bit of rail, in the ground, at the NE corner of Oak Ridge and Roosevelt. Thank-you very much for viewing and commenting!!!

[@ipfeldspar]

Thank-You. I grew up around there and I wanted to at least preserve the memories. Your channel has some good stuff, so I subscribed!

[@Govi627]

This was great. My wife is from Bellwood, and she tells me that a freight line used to run along Manheim on the east side that ran very close to the houses. This was about 1962-1965. Being a fan of both the CA&E and CGW, this footage was most interesting to me.

[@ipfeldspar]

Thank-You! History should be appreciated, and supported. Just in my short lifetime those tracks have gone away. I'd like to think that future generations will appreciate the rail grid that once ran through Hillside.

[@jomaka]

Remarkable work Irving. I remember the old CA&E bridges with the beautiful ironwork fencing. They looked like chevrons. We played in the old underground oil tanks where the IC crossed the CGW and CA&E just west of Vallette. Got in trouble of course. Early 70s. Fuel company. Nasty.

[@ipfeldspar]

Underground fuel tanks????! I knew that there was at least one bulk oil terminal there, and maybe two. I think there was a Illinois Central switch track that might have actually poked north of Vallette. The other tanks were maybe 100 feet off of York and closr to the IC main but still set back from the two stations. So, what was the story on those tanks? Concrete? Steel? How large? I gotta know...! Thank-You for viewing and sharing some old Elmhurst History...!!!

[@jomaka]

I don't remember the name of the fuel company. There were also fuel barrels and a quanset hut. Underground fuel tanks. My two older brothers got into trouble exploring them. Understandable since they were dangerous. There was a rail perpendicular to the CGW to the IC that allowed freight transfers between the two railroads. It was located just west of the South Mitchell to North Prospect walkthrough in the rail prairie.

[@jomaka]

The rail frieght transfer was southeast of the Argyle apartments. Strange because it was not a merge but at a 90 degree angle from the CGW. I spent many summer nights there drinking with high school buddies. We'd ride our bikes to Colony Liquors and ask a customer to buy beer for us. We'd then drink in that spot. Very isolated. Felt very rural.

[@phin12710]

Excellent documentary of abandoned railroads. I love looking at the Google Earth maps to see where so many railroads once were. Although I'm from Michigan and have never been in this part of Chicago (except maybe on Amtrak), I was able to locate Manheim & Wolf Ave to see exactly where you were filming. Once again, great video. Thanks!

[@jhendin]

This certainly takes me back. I grew up in Maywood, just a couple of blocks from what is now the Illinois Prairie Path. I can remember when there were three sets of rail tracks that crossed 19 th avenue, near the old Canada Dry bottling plant (we lived about a block further down). Further west was the Proviso Rail yard in Melrose Park. We used to call it Hobo Junction. Back in the 50's, during the summer time, my brother and I took turns sleeping out on the front porch of our house. I can remember waking up in the middle of the night listening to them uncoupling and coupling rail cars down by the tracks. There was something incredibly soothing about the noise that would make. It would allow me to fall gently back to sleep.

[@ipfeldspar]

Thank-You for your Comment. My Dad used to say the same thing about Council Bluffs Iowa. At night they could hear the trains, and from the sound of the whistles, they could usually tell exactly which locomotive was working. I looked up 19th Avenue on the map and I can see the neighborhoods back in there. The CA&E did perform some freight service and that might explain the three tracks? Thank-You for viewing and commenting!!!

[@MrJerbrad]

Thanks for trip down memory lane,Grew up in that area.

[@ipfeldspar]

Thank-you! I've been in the general area for about fifty years. I did the video as everything seems to be changing and the rail History is something I would like to preserve.

[@ipfeldspar]

I'm glad you liked it. I well remember the Manheim track but as I got older, the trains got fewer. The tracks stayed there , I think through most of the 1970's, then they were gone. The rail bridge over the expressway, lasted until the highway construction of the mid 1990's, then that too was gone. Bellwood needed to raise money, so the Village managed to get some of the CGW right of way opened up for housing. New residents of the area probably have no idea that a railroad was a neighbor.

[@ipfeldspar]

Thank-you for the heads up on that page! I've started reading and the "Memories" section has already given me a better mental image of the line, and the Bellwood interchanges. Thank-you, again, for viewing and commenting! (AND--Thank-You for keeping History alive!)

[@SooziinCa]

"History falls to parking lots & shopping malls". This was interesting, thanks for the post!

[@ipfeldspar]

Thank-You! Hillside only has a single railroad these days. The CN Freeport Sub goes right through the center of town. As time passes, the traces of the other tracks are slowly erased. Thank-You for viewing and commenting!!!

[@SooziinCa]

@@ipfeldspar Up until the mid 1980s, the lumber train would pass our home in NorCal, twice a day. As a little kid, our Dad would give us pennies, which we would lay on the RR tracks. My brother and I have many penny souvenirs. I miss the sound of that old train.

[@brianberthold3118]

Great vid!! i added the sidings to my Illinois Central map

[@ipfeldspar]

Three sidings in Hillside are long gone. The track at the old S&H Green Stamp building. The track that is adjacent to Proviso West. There was also a siding at Wolf Road.

[@brianberthold3118]

@@ipfeldspar ya i have mapped all that in google earth

[@JoeRailfan]

Nice video! I used to have a lot of family in this area (nearly 50 years ago) and we'd stay at a motel in Hillside when visiting them. The only business I remember from those days is the Peter Troost Monument Co. on Roosevelt Road, still there today. The CA&E Mount Carmel branch ran nearby, with the trolley wire still hanging over it into the 1960's. Sadly, I never got to see a train on it.

[@kevindangos4008]

nice footage, great there is no stupid music to go with it, there is old line near me I have always wanted to check out

[@ipfeldspar]

Thank-You. I'm really old school in the way I try to let the picture tell the story. Sometimes, music helps a video but I tend to feel it as a distraction. ( Sorry about the wind noise, though.). In one of the clips in this video, a faint horn can be heard in the background. I love that lucky effect and music would have obscured it. I will encourage you to check out your old rail line as the misc artifacts are quickly disappearing and even a rough video will help preserve the history. Thank-You for viewing and commenting!

[@lasalleman]

Very well done. Be nice if you could include historic photos along with the contemporary scenes.

[@ipfeldspar]

Thank-You! I agree that photos would be helpful. If I recreate this film, I will probably do that. Thank-You for viewing and commenting!!!!

[@jomaka]

I also remember the old Poplar CA&E terminal...very small. We would pass it on our way to St. Domitila's Church in Hillside on Sunday evenings. I lived in South Elmhurst.

[@ipfeldspar]

I'll guess that you are just a little older than me? In my time, the rails were gone, but a lot of misc signal stands, culverts, and even some rails remained. I remember Poplar Avenue as when I was little, and went to ride "The Path" I usually got on at Poplar and went west. The original roadbed ballast was still there and there was very little crushed gravel or sand to smooth out all the rough rock. It was a zig-zag of riding the smoothest possible mini paths. Thank-You for viewing and commenting.

[@ipfeldspar]

You caught my interest when you mentioned a ghost track going through a cemetery! It took me a little bit to locate the old roadbed on Google Earth. It looks like the missing track started up next to the Forest Park CTA Station (I-290/Harrison/Des Plaines Ave) and the went south-southwest across the cemetery grounds and came out near the Armory at Cermak & 1st Ave. It may have gone further south but the land there has been radically bulldozed. This is something that I might record!

[@ipfeldspar]

Thank-you! Nice compliments like yours motivate me to do more. The Hillside area has a number of railroad features and ironically the expressway, and State Highway construction have erased quite a few of the memories. It appears that the area will see something new. The new Amtrak "Blackhawk Service" is reportedly going to go through town on the CN. That would mean four more trains a day. It's been just over forty years since the last passenger service.

[@dj197475]

Nice video. Haven't been up that way in many years. Back in the late 70's and early 80's I bought the CERA (Central Electric Railfans Association) book/bulletin, "The Great Third Rail" and had loads of fun combining my photography hobby with my interest in the CA&E by taking new, as-it-looks-today pics of the much older ones in the book. I wrote a short story about the Hillside area which was published in the local paper (made the cover!). Got 60 bucks, I want ya ta know...lol. Again, good post.

[@atwproductions1]

Cool video awesome job

[@ipfeldspar]

I lived very close to the areas covered in the video and I hardly ever saw the trains. I was at the Target, the other day, and there is not a trace of the old right of way. It won't be much longer until we have a complete erasure of all that rail history. And, thank you for commenting!

[@RailfanningRulez]

Thabks for this info! I might be exploring these today.

[@starmountainkid]

I lived in Hillside in the 1950s on Oak Ridge Ave. just south of the RR crossing. That spur in the video went back to a place where they made big concrete sewer/water pipes, then I guess to the quarry. I played on those tracks as a kid. East of that a ways were tracks that went north and south through a little tunnel that went under the then IC tracks.

[@ipfeldspar]

starmountainkidI can remember back to the 1960's when there were a lot more tracks. Have you viewed my "Ghost Tracks of Hillside" video? I cover some of those spots. ( I also just posted a new vid "Freight Train At Oak Ridge Crossing.' ) BTW - Did you know that where the big hill is used to be a Native American signalling station?

[@starmountainkid]

I'll check those out, thanks!

[@Dokkema]

grew up in south Elmhurst...(Yorkfield)..I live near the 4 corners now...Utah...I enjoyed seeing were I grew up...thanks

[@357Shakey]

Nice video. The IC (now CN) tracks are still active.

[@ipfeldspar]

Yes, I haunt those rails! I was out this AM and caught the Addison Local going east and pulling a small cloud of snow behind it. Thank-You for viewing and commenting!!!

[@Robbi496]

Fascinating stuff!!!

[@ipfeldspar]

It would be nice if the tracks were still there. I was showing the Manheim right of way, to a friend, and it was hard to pick out exactly where the tracks were located. There are now many generations of folk who will never know where this stuff used to be.

[@ipfeldspar]

Thank-You, Sir!

[@artemorbid]

great video- very revealing

[@ipfeldspar]

Thank-You for viewing and commenting!

[@ipfeldspar]

Wolf Road is a great place to grab the CN (the old Illinois Central Freeport Sub) but it's a cold wait on Saturday when there are not as many trains.........

[@pookiewookie01]

I lived in Hillside in 1978. Our house was off Madison and Mannheim on Hyde Park street. I worked at JoJos restaurant (graveyard shift) on Mannheim. Need to get back to see how much has changed. Things never stay the same.

[@ipfeldspar]

Geesh, I never knew there was a JoJo's there, I always went to the one on Roosevelt near Glen Ellyn! As far as change goes, most stuff north of the expressway (do you say "Congress" or "The Ike?") is still standing but the tracks and right of way were removed and it is getting hard to pick out the old route. South of the expressway, there is a shopping center where Palumbo used to have a giant service yard. That is also where the Illinois Central had the connecting track that came off the main line, and went north to the Great Western and the CA&E. You would probably easily figure it all out but the younger crowd might not get it.

[@ipfeldspar]

Thank-you! Compliments keep me producing more vids!

[@mikerafone4736]

great video todays people do not grasp the fact if there was no train acces you just had farm and praire note all big sububs were on tracks

[@ipfeldspar]

The original starting place for Elmhurst was on St Charles Road near York Street. As soon as the CNW got built people started building at the tracks. Yup! You got your history correct!

[@KingofGamingAndTrains456]

13:54 you can even hear a faint train horn reminding you of what once was in that area.

[@ipfeldspar]

Thank-You for noticing that! Yup, it does add a ghostly presence. Most of the time the horns are from trains on the Canadian National. Every once in while there will be a beautiful echo as the train hits the three crossings at Hillside. Occasionally, horns from the Harbor Belt are heard and sometimes the UPRR can be heard from Berkeley to Hillside. (Mostly I hear the sound of the zillion cars driving through town). Thank-You very much for viewing and commenting...!!!

[@richroedger9868]

When I was in high school a friend of ours lived in the house on the NE corner of Mannheim and Madison in Bellwood. The tracks crossed Mannheim on an angle right there and we very rough to drive over. They were so rough that often they would knock hubcaps off cars. They would always end up in her yard. Her father would take them and hang them on the side of their garage that faced Mannheim and sell them. We called him the Bellwood hubcap man

[@ipfeldspar]

That's a great story! Anytime a person can change a detriment into a feature it is a beautiful thing. I remember the old crossing however I was little when they cut those tracks out. That is also next to where the Manheim Road tracks, coming up from Hillside, crossed the road and hooked into the CGW. Thank-You for viewing my video and sharing the story of "The Bellwood Hubcap Man!"

[@ipfeldspar]

I think the horn was drifting down from Proviso. It's just about a mile north of that location.

[@ipfeldspar]

I think that northern set of tracks is Union Pacific and they are still used. It's pretty amazing how many tracks there are in that area (or were...).

[@ipfeldspar]

I never saw any action at the bridge! I also remember the quarry well, and yes, the bridge/grade crossing/ramp, was messed up there. That area has really changed over the years...............

[@rick3904]

Very interesting video. Brings me back to the days when I lived in the area, many decades ago. Was always fascinated by trains and especially abandoned lines.

[@ipfeldspar]

Thank-You for viewing! I enjoy exploring abandoned lines, also. One of my friends came up with "Ghost tracks" while we were riding a commuter train and we had been looking at all the former trackage between Elmhurst and Chicago. I hope to do a few more of these style videos before time erases all the traces....

[@takemeback2]

I recall some of those locations, and that wolf road overpass getting whacked once by an oversized load on a low boy going under it.

[@ipfeldspar]

I found some old aerial photos that show the viaducts, under construction, during the late 1930's. That means about 80 years worth dents, dings, and blocked streets! Thank-you for viewing and commenting!

[@parkman35]

Also Irv, there is a set of tracks in Forest Park that run directly north of the El stationand then turns north crossing Madison St 4 blocks west of Des Plaines Ave and goes into River Forest where it crosses the UP west line and through Thatcher Woods. There is an old train trestle over the Des Plaines River. It then crosses 1st Ave (Rt 171) a few blocks south of North Av.Appears to cross over North Ave east of 5th Ave continuing NW across 5th. Crosses Fullerton east of 17th Ave. Still in use?

[@ipfeldspar]

I don't know if you'd be interested, but I did a "Yorkfield School Location" video a few years back. Also, there is a Facebook "Yorkfield School" site. The FB page has a number of photos from many years past that include the YF neighborhood, the school building, and class photos. Thank-you for viewing and commenting!!

[@RTD8481]

Wow. Very interesting fact video. I don’t know too much of the CA/E. I’m a northwest sider. I know more about the CNSM. Chicago traction history.

[@ipfeldspar]

Thank-You! My knowledge mostly comes from my living in the area over sixty years. Thank-You very much for viewing!

[@Robbi496]

Thanks for the subscription! The Old North Shore Line Shore Line Route is a bike Trail Now, perhaps you have ridden it??

[@ipfeldspar]

I hear you on the video tech! In those days I would have been lucky to pay for 12 shots off a Instamatic! I'll try to get some more clips from the Bellwood area. Did you know about the trolley line that left the CAE at Bellwood, and went south into Westchester?

[@parkman35]

Irv, if you look at the Google satalite map of the area by the North Riverside Mall you'll see tracks that clearly lead off the old IC line between Harlem and Veterans Drive that go by the Edward Don Company and head north crossing Cermak Rd where there's actually a crossing. Then it goes through Cemetary property where it splits into two tracks, one continuing north where the tracks appear to end at 16th St the other turns west running along Greenburg Rd. wher it goes maybe a mile and ends.

[@staintedcards]

i remember the quarry cause they used it for a landfill also and the trains crossing the road there wasnt any lights or gates always made me nervous about getting hit

[@raycosyn8849]

The CA&E was not a country trolley. It was a big fast heavy weight 3rd rail Inter-urban. I rode it many times thru Hillside from Elmhurst into Chicago.

[@ipfeldspar]

Exactly! However, some viewers, who are not necessarily railfans, wouldn't be able to discern between the terms. I think most folk can picture a trollet but might not be able to understand what an Interurban is (or was). You do bring up a very good fact about the CA&E in that it was also a freight line. I just wish I had your memories about riding it. (The Prairie Path, and myself, are almost the same age). Thank-You very much for viewing, commenting, and clarifying, my video!

[@ipfeldspar]

Thank-You for viewing and commenting. Your comments are exactly the sort of motivation I need to do more videos!

[@BNforever2009]

went passed there many times and never knew this. Going down Mannheim Rd, Roosevelt Rd. I knew the Illinois Prairie path had something to do with the CA&E or CGW.

[@ipfeldspar]

A lot of tracks came together in the Hillside/Bellwood area. Many of the roadbeds are now almost invisible. Things might change. There is talk of extending the CTA from Forest Park (DesPlaines River Road to Manheim. The old Hillside Mall parcel would be a perfect location for the coach yard, maintenance, parking, and Pace Bus connection. Also, there is always the potential to use the IC/CN for Amtrak.

[@bigverybadtom]

I took a series of still photographs years ago when they were taking out the railroad bridge across the Eisenhower. Don't know where they are offhand.

[@ipfeldspar]

Hi! I did the same thing. I got up onto the bridge and got some shots. That was before the Target, and before the Illinois EPA, and I think Palumbo still has his yard touching the Ike, there? Thank-You for viewing and commenting!

[@bigverybadtom]

@@ipfeldspar Palumbo is all on the south side of the ICRR tracks now. Their antique truck is still there. The mall with Target and Michaels covers the area between the Ike and the north side of the bridge.

[@thedagoyc3]

I don't know if you mentioned it and I did not see it mentioned in the comments if it is i apologize. There was a second viaduct on Wolf road North of the one shown the the video that was taken down in the 70's or 80's. The one shown was The A&E.

[@ipfeldspar]

Yes! And I might have got it wrong in the caption. As you are clarifying: There were two railroads that ran parrelle from Route 83 to Bellwood. The Chjicago Great Western, and the Chicago Aurora & Elgin ( a heavy weight interurban that is sometimes described as a trolley). [Hat tip for viewer comments that demand precision] At Wolf road, there were two rail viaducts that took the tracks over the Village Street. Only one bridge still remains. Thank-You for pointing that out!!!

[@staintedcards]

yeah cause they used too run along side the quarry then cross the road i think they used do a little street running i know they tore out the tracks along side addison that ran behind sizzler and ended at lake st or before that also a spare line that ran through itasca area think that was MWR i remember the old CNW line that ran in villa park too carol stream they always park the train and grab lunch at high view

[@brianberthold3118]

At Butterfield the power lines marked only the CAE ROW the CGW ROW ran though the now standing buildings

[@ipfeldspar]

I'm just old enough to remember those buildings going up. A little more east, some townhomes got built on top of the old right of way.

[@waynebrasler]

I've lived in Westchester since 1970, am the son of a streetcar motorman in St. Louis and my family and I have always lived by a railroad or streetcar line, sometime not even knowing it. My home is actually in the so-called Terminal Addition, that terminal being the Westchester rapid transit line. You can imagine when he I moved to Westchester how thrilled I was to find rail all over the place and abandoned rail and my home has an art gallery of Westchester L photos. I am also a journalist who has written extensively about streetcar lines in St. Louis, Missouri, in the suburban area of Normandy, where my family moved in 1954. Until about 10 years ago the Mt. Carmel line alongside Roosevelt Road still had a treastle over a creek in place until a restaurant was built on the adjacent property and the right-of-way of that line as it came south from Harrison Street and curved west along Roosevelt is still obvious and the line poles are still in. It's all shown in this wonderful film! P.S. Properties on Cermak Road west of Mannehim are set back from the street on the north side because the land was owned by the company which intended to extend the Chicago, Aurora and Elgin there to the junction of Cermak/22nd street and Butterfield Road, which was the hamlet of Eutopia.

[@ipfeldspar]

Yup, the electric line in Westchester has plenty of stories on its own. Few people realize the Westchester Blve line hooked back over to Wolf road. Thank-you for reminding me about the old trestle, I had forgotten all about that. What is weird, and even though I know a lot of Hillside rail history, the memories are starting to fade with the area changing so much. Thank-you for sharing your observations!!!

[@gregorymeyer84]

SO there was a rail line or trolley on Westchester Blvd.I live in Westchester too.

[@ipfeldspar]

No, but I wish I had. I'm in the west suburbs and as I don't have a bike rack, I'm kind of short choices unless I want to pedal somewhere.

[@BNforever2009]

would be nice if the bridges on the old B&O Altenhiem sub were rebuilt and like that but the City of Chicago want the railroad to foot the total bill, CN dont have to worry about that anymore since they acquired the "J" Line.

[@ipfeldspar]

The sad reality of railroad construction is that the cost is so high that government often has to step in and help finance the project. A lot of the new flyovers have come about through State or Federal grants. It's tax money but I would rather see it go to the rails than to the expressways!

[@brianberthold3118]

along Mannhiem there were 3 tracks 1 for CA&E 2 for GCW IC and the terminal rail shared wish i could post a pic of the map but anyways

[@ipfeldspar]

Also, that connection track that followed Manheim south to the quarry.

[@markwandrey2937]

It is touching that one will trace out such lineage in such an engineered environment. I relate as one from the Chicago area who has tracked my own known phantom and former railroad paths. Google Earth has provided a marvelous source of perspective.

[@ipfeldspar]

Thank-You for viewing my video. Yup, the aerial photos give me hours of fun. I really enjoy the 1938 series as a lot of those tracks have since been completely erased!

[@RailfanningRulez]

Do not railfan the Freeport in mid-day, you will see no trains. Only 5 or 6 a day run down the line, and most are in the morning. So it you are going to railfan it, go no later than 7:30 AM, because around here they usually run around 7:30 to 10:00, and they run them in bunches, so If you see one in the AM hours, chances are you will see one in no more than 45 mins

[@RailfanningRulez]

This is just sad when you think about it..

[@williamsullivan1346]

The Westchester at ONE TIME GOING TO BE TIED In THE CTA but the deals feel through in 1950's.. On WOLF ROAD going to SAINT CHARLES ROAD, NORT about 1 1/2 Blocks on the EAST SIDE IS HILLSIDE SWIMING POOL on the WEST SIDE is a Street going WEST WHICH WAS GREAT WESTERN RAILROAD ROAD BED WITH TWO MAIN LINE and ONE FOR LIGHT INDUSTRY that use to be in the AREA ...

[@ipfeldspar]

Hi! Have you seen the 1938 Historical aerial photos at Hillside? There is a lot of detail for those who know what to look for. In that particular series of air photos, the rail viaduct, over Wolf Road, is shown being constructed. Have you ever noticed the "jog" there in the road? You referenced the main as well as a service track. I think the service track extended to York Street in Elmhurst? Thank-You for viewing and commenting....!!!!

[@pentium4guy639]

can you do bellwood,il cause theres tons of ghost railrtoads

[@ipfeldspar]

No promises but I'll definitely consider it as a project

[@pentium4guy639]

ok

[@jazzbutterworth]

Are there any remains of any crossing gates?

[@ipfeldspar]

For a short while, a electric crossing warning was at the print plant but that eventually came out.

[@rachelfs95]

Look my name R.S. my home Aurora IL!

[@ipfeldspar]

Thank-You for viewing and commenting, and for saying "Hi"

[@jnite67]

where is the horn at 13:52

[@robertmclennan6570]

Allot of your statement are incorrect. The Chicago Aurora& Elgin Tracks were North of Butterfield Rd by 1 1/2 blocks. There were no tracks in MT Carmel Cemetery. The stairs on the Wolf Rd. viaduct were for the Aurora/Elgin Stations. Just to the South on the West side of the Street was the St. Domitilla Old School (Now Apartment buildings) Across Wolf rd. was the old Wolf Farm.

[@chuckbrown617]

Incorrect. Every CA&E map shows tracks crossing Wolf Road along the north side of Roosevelt Road and continuing through the southern edge of Mt. Carmel Cemetery.

[@ipfeldspar]

Hi, The tracks did indeed go into Mt Carmel but only for about one hundred feet. The track was dead ended there with a small platform. Butterfield Road runs southwest to northeast, in this area, which accounts for the distance and direction question. At York Street, the old CA&E is over a mile north of Butterfield. At Wolf Road, the CA&E was barely two blocks north. The old right of ways (CA&E and the CGW) crossed Butterfield almost halfway between Wolf and Manheim. I did not know about the "older" St Dom, but I have spent some time researching the general area. I live only a few hundred feet outside of the Hillside City Limits, and in fifty years I have had a great time learning its History. I won't pretend that I know it all, but still, I have a lot of resources in which to develope my ideas. Thank-You for viewing and commenting. If I do this video again (I always wanted to add historic pix) I'll try to clarify the details you mentioned. "Irv"

[@emmareels943]

I lve in Illinois didnt know about this

[@ipfeldspar]

A lot of towns had rail traffic within their City limits. The high point of rail traffic was during the 1920's. After that, the railroads began to eliminate their unneeded trackage. Thank-You for viewing and commenting!

[@b.a.firefist1473]

all those businesses and school are still active, so are the train tracks.

[@ipfeldspar]

The Freeport is still live, but all that other track has been ripped out. S&H Green Stamps has been gone for twenty plus years and the track to the building came out in the 1970's. Thank-You for viewing and commenting!

[@waynebrasler]

The planned portion of the CA&E on 22nd street was never built but the right-of-way was started. The trolley line along Roosevelt to Wolf and into the cemetery can be seen in numerous photos. And around the vicinity of Mannheim and Warren there were all sorts of tracks and stuff well into the 1980s. Also, the curve of the Westchester rapid transition line as it swung north along Westchester Boulevard is still evident because the power poles there are still in place as they were (!). Also, the street next to the tracks (Marshall I think) curved along with the line! I have an aerial photo of the Westchester line including the junction, the quarry and the Mount Carmel line I will be happy to send to you if you can give me an email address. Mine is [e-mail]. Trains ran along Mannheim into the industrial era north of Roosevelt ran as I remember as late as the late 1980s or early 1990s.

[@ipfeldspar]

Sounds good! Please use ipfeldspar @ameritech.net (no spaces) As to the Manheim line... I'm pretty sure tracks, roadbed, etc., were all gone by 1990. I even want to say the line ceased ops in the 1970's? (I'm forever confusing that line with the tracks along Addison Road in Addison).

[@Zaovz]

Your on my block 1:46

[@ipfeldspar]

This is one of my older videos. Thank-You very much for viewing and commenting!

[@josecepeda2319]

Yo pienso si el tren carga con cajas de pollo

[@ipfeldspar]

Thank-You for viewing!!!

[@ipfeldspar]

I hope you mean the abandoned tracks and not the video? LOL!

[@veronicamariegracia9271]

sharlei hender feild dan ronald mc coy i think now that a sergent general yes

[@ipfeldspar]

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