Anything to do in oakbrook, IL ???

Business takes me to Oakbrook, IL for a week in the middle of October.

I used to go to the Chicagoland area semi regularly because the last company I worked for was based out of there, mainly prospect hights / mount prospect area, or downtown. But even then, had very little time to do any sort of railfanning.

Like I said, I will be there a week, and will have quite a bit of downtime, so I need some pointers as to where I SHOULD and more importantly SHOULD NOT go.

I was in Baltimore a month ago and made a couple wrong turns which put me in the middle of what looked like baghdad and I dont want to do that.

thanks in advanc

Hey, Nip, Baltimore is completely safe. Don't you watch, "The Wire", on HBO???
Isn't Oakbrook near the center of the state, along the western border? If so, a quick trip to Peoria, will take you to the large clearing yard, of the Tazwell & Peoria, the old P&PU. They interchange with IC, BN and the TP&W. All of those, have yards in the area. Also nearby, is Springfield. You can see the I&M there, and might catch the elusive EMD RS-1325 switchers. KCS also in Springfield. There was a rather neat set of dead locos, in the TR&W East Peoria yard, with easy access, for photos. Hooters is located on the west bank of the river, at Peoria, right down the line from an intact Rock Island station. The crews stop at Hooters, to eat. A giant lift bridge, crosses the river, between east and west, and the DS works out of the tower, at the foot of the bridge, on the west bank. everywhere is safe, in the places I mentioned. Find Dolph Lundgren, the SLE for the I&M, and get a tour, of the facilities. He is very accomodating of railroader railfans. Regards

Also, there are several railroad museums, not too far away, if you do a dogpile search. www.dogpile.com

That's where I found this http://www.illinirail.com/museum.htm

Oakbrook is about 15 miles west of downtown Chicago. It's an upscale area- hotels, retaurants, bars, a large shopping center and corporate and regional offices.

You could ask to take a tour of McDonald's headquarters......

Funny you mention that, someone else mentioned mcdonalds, I did not know their world HQ is there

Any railfan opportunities out this way?

crazy_nip wrote:Funny you mention that, someone else mentioned mcdonalds, I did not know their world HQ is there

Any railfan opportunities out this way?

There is, but I'm not too familiar with the area, since I lived on the southwest side, and Oakbrook's on the northwest side of town.
Suggest you post this over at the Metra forum.

I assume you'll have a rental car, right? If you drive a few miles north you can see dozens of Union Pacific and Metra trains in Elmhurst. The downtown area has plenty of restaurants, a few bars and a hobby shop, plus is home to three model railroad clubs! If you drive south for a few miles you can checkout the BNSF in Hinsdale. You'll see plenty of action, and unlike the UP, which requires their own locomotives on the point of every train (due to cab signal requirements), the BNSF trains run with run-through power from other railroads as well as their own. Both suburbs I mentioned are extremely safe, and if you visit Elmhurst on a Friday evening, be sure to check out the Elmhurst MR Club (www.emrrc.org).

Oak Brook is almost on the BNSF-Metra line, noted for triple track, high speed, hi frequency, and general kickin a** if you like fast diesel passenger and freight.

If you're looking for something alternative, it's a 30 minute drive (not rush hour) downtown, and union station is always interesting. Also, you have my favorite, the South Shore, available for rides and viewing - the group there is always very outgoing if you aren't a total dolt.

If you follow BNSF into town on surface street, beware the Lawndale area is not cool. I used to do business there, and it's not that safe. Cicero, just to the west, is pretty decent. Stay on the west side of IHB.

CP's franklin park yard is just up manheim road, and that's a easy view from Green street. I've never been hasseled there, I usually park across the street at one of the closed factories. It's also too industrial to have crime - nobody lives nearby.

Chicago Heights is decent, plenty of UP, IC, Metra, CSX, EJE within a few miles, including CHTT - UP's switching line in the Heights. It's a cool area during daytime, and partially after dark. Keep off US30 after dark, stay over on state street. Be careful in Harvey, as there's been some robberies on Metra platforms lately.

One of my favorite areas is the Southeast side, as well as NW indiana - lots of terminal and switching at the mills, harbor, etc. Check out the CSS station on brainerd, the IHB yard nearby, and general IHB operations around East Chicago and hammond. IF you send me your email, I can mark up some maps and send them to you.

Edit: Joliet Union Station is one of my favorites, and downtown Joliet is much cleaned up. Also, you can find various used up power stored at USS-Joliet by NRE.