Hot spots in the Chicago area (question)

Any advice on points of interest railway wise in the Chicago area (100 miles radius from down town give or take a few miles) is very welcome.

Please also add an assessment on the general safety situation around the location and information where to park your car or even better accessibility by public transport if available. Directions to get there (by car or public transport) are also welcome.

I have a broad interest so anything on class I, II, II, yards or junctions goes. But special interest will go to the terminal railroads like the IHB and others.

Thanks in advance!

Gijs

There are lots of places in the Chicago area to railfan. Some good spots are Blue Island and Dolton. Both of these areas are a bit rough but at Dolton you are right in front of town hall. Another good spot is Joliet right at the station. You could also go to the railroad park at Rochelle. There are plenty of other good spots in the Chicago area and I suggest checking out www.frograil.com for a nice list of hot spots not just for the Chicago area, but the entire country.

Some of my personal favorite spots are :
Hegewisch, IL South shore station,
At this location the South Shore line runs parallel to the NS's Ex NKP line. There is also a yard on the NS for the nearby Ford plant. From the platforms you get a good view of the NS main. Also, the IHB's ex PRR panhandle line crossed both the NS and CSS, traffic is limited to M-W-F on the IHb however both the CSS and NS put on a good show most days. Also, NS's roadrailers use this line usually running WB in the morning and EB in the evening.

Hammond, In South shore station.
From the parking lot at this station you get a good open view of CSX's B&OCT main into Illinois, nice open area for photos.

Hammond, IN Amtrak station.
This location is along NS's ex PRR Chicago mainline and Colehour Yard which offers a few trains switching plus lots of mainline action NS and Amtrak plus CP/SOO/BNSF/UP run thru power. Also nearby is the CSX's B&OCT ex passenger main and the EJ&E lakefront branch. The Chicago short line runs on the CSX here and usually makes one or two round trips per day to the East Chicago steel mills. EJ&E traffic is limited to Unit coal trains and a daily local. The Unit coal rates 2-3 SD-38-2's and the Local can be anything from an SW-1500 to a pair of SW-1200's to one of the now rare SD-M's.


Feel free to view the link below to some of my photos, mostly taken at the above locations.

You can try the Donners Grove Station on the BNSF Aurora sub lots of action with BNSF, Metra, and Amtrak it is a 3 track main line and has plenty of parking in a block radius.