#f-unit

[railwayhistorical]

The Changing Skyline of Chicago

A Rock Island commuter train departs LaSalle Street Station, in Chicago, Illinois. The locomotive here is an EMD F7A built for the railroad in March of 1949.

The Chicago Board of Trade Building is conspicuous in the background, while the John Hancock is lurking off in the background toward the right-hand side of the image.

The view was made from Roosevelt Road, and one would be hard-pressed to see much at all from this spot today: big box stores rise up on either side of the tracks (where Metra trains now run) blocking much of what one sees in this vintage view.

This image was made by Richard Koenig on December 22nd 1976.

[thefakeray]

Some More of Roger Puta's Santa Fe -- 6 Photos by Marty Bernard Via Flickr: I still have maybe 100 of Roger Puta's slides to post. Here is a batch of six Roger never got to captioning but were shown in his Winterail Program "My Santa Fe". ...and every one is interesting. The dates are what Kodak stamped on the slide mount. May 1973. A Warbonnet B-Unit? I sure like all the reflections.

[railwayhistorical]

Covered Wagons: A Series

This is a southbound freight on the Chicago & Alton, later GM&O, then ICG at the time of the photograph. The location is Shirley, Illinois, just south of Bloomington.

Bloomington was known as a haven for F-units in the mid- to late-1970s. I was able to photograph the so-called covered wagons several times before the charismatic locomotives were ether scrapped or sold off (most in 1977). A couple went to the MBTA: they were rebuilt and served commuter trains in the Boston area.

Four EMD F3s are seen here powering this train headed south toward East St. Louis. I followed the train and will post additional images in subsequent posts.

One image by Richard Koenig; taken November 21st 1976.

[railwayhistorical]

Sixteenth Street Tower

A CRI&P F-unit is moving light at the 16th Street Crossing, Chicago, Illinois. The locomotive was built for the railroad in March of 1949.

In the background, in addition to the building formerly known as the Sears Tower, one will notice the John Hancock Building toward the right edge of the frame.

Image made by Richard Koenig on December 23rd 1976.

[railwayhistorical]

Left Out in the Dark

GM&O F3A 800-B is posed just outside the engine house in Bloomington, Illinois—it would soon be retired from the Illinois Central Gulf. Some of the F-units were scrapped, but this particular unit lived on as a commuter engine, number 1103, for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.

Image by Richard Koenig; taken 21 May 1977. 

[railwayhistorical]

Up and Under

This image comes from the GM&O in central Illinois, for Chicago & Alton. This northbound train is at Green Ridge between Nilwood and Girard. The line overhead is C&NW’s South Pekin-Madison line.

Image by Richard Koenig; taken 21 May 1977.

[railwayhistorical]

Rockford, Illinois (Part Two)

This is a northbound movement on the Milwaukee Road in Rockford, Illinois. We first see the train at Buckbee Street where it will soon cross the Illinois Central. That lead unit, 89C, was built for the Milwaukee in 1949.

The next two shots come from Cedar Street: the train has since crossed over the Rock River and is ducking under the Chicago & North Western, the bridge visible in the second shot. In the going away image, it is entering what was previously a small yard.

One might not think of northern Illinois as being part of the Rust Belt, but looking at a USGS map of this era, one sees just how busy this place must have been back in the day. In addition the roads mentioned above, the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy seems to have had a branch line here.

Three photographs by Richard Koenig; taken November 27th 1976.

[railwayhistorical]

The Plug Here we see GM&O’s commuter train known as “The Plug”. It ran between Chicago’s Union Station (pictured) and Joliet. The locomotive is an EMD F3 built in June of 1947.

The train ran once each way, each weekday. Metra still runs on this line and calls it the “Heritage Corridor”. One image by Richard Koenig; taken December 27th 1977.