Best Places to Watch Metra

Hey Forum,

I'd like a consensus on the best places to watch/photo Metra action. I'd prefer the more suburban locations, and obviously stations that are photo/railfan friendly. Really, just anywhere that will see a lot of trains during the AM-PM rushes. More worried about watching trains than the photo thing, but that's nice too.

Thanks!

I would suggest LaGrange Rd on the BNSF. There's lots of Metra action, expresses, locals, and return movements during both rush periods and a fair amount of freight and Metra traffic during miday hours. In the afternoon there is also some Amtrak traffic (there's one EB Amtrak stopping at LG Rd ~ 10:30 AM as well). Nearby you can just make out the IHB 3-track line carrying quite a bit of freight traffic. There is a connection between IHB and BNSF at Congress Park, about 1/4 mile east of LG Road.

If it's just Metra watching you're after, I'd highly recommend Western Ave. on the Milwaukee district lines, which serves three Metra routes. It's not a suburban station, but it's still one of the busiest stations on Metra's system, especially in rush hours. Also, Joliet is a good suburban location to take pictures from. For more info about these two locations, among others:

www.railroad.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=12575

A little further west on the BNSF, Fairview Ave in Downers Grove is another great location to watch rail action. Just like LaGrange, there's a lot of freight and passenger action, plus you see Metra during the rush hours utilizing the crossovers, flip backs, expresses laying on the horn passing stopped trains at track speed, and some freights mixed in as well.

Joliet, IL - junction of Rock Island and HC lines, as well as lotsa BNSF freight, occasional CN freight and Amtrak

Blue Island, IL - Metra Electric BI branch terminus, Metra Rock Island major junction, and IAIS and CRL freights

Hegewisch neighborhood of Chicago - although this is in the city, its a low-rise neighborhood on the southeast corner of the city. Lots of South Shore EMU's, NS traffic in the Ford Autorack yard, and IHB's yard.

orangeline wrote:I would suggest LaGrange Rd on the BNSF. There's lots of Metra action, expresses, locals, and return movements during both rush periods and a fair amount of freight and Metra traffic during miday hours. In the afternoon there is also some Amtrak traffic (there's one EB Amtrak stopping at LG Rd ~ 10:30 AM as well). Nearby you can just make out the IHB 3-track line carrying quite a bit of freight traffic. There is a connection between IHB and BNSF at Congress Park, about 1/4 mile east of LG Road.

Plus, in LaGrange, you can watch from the second floor (in the cafe portion) of the Border's bookstore and watch the trains going by. Beats baking in some of the hot weather we've been having as of late.

I have two good places to watch trains and they are all public places, All are on the Miwaukee North Line. Number one is in Glenview a bar Grampas place, it is next to the tracks and has a great view of the trains comming from the south, Amtrak stops there also. Number two is in Deerfield and is called Trax it has a roof top eatiing area and you are above the trains looking down, the bar area also faces south and if you in the bar area you can sit at the bar or at tables next to the bar, the view is good. The food at both places are good so if you are hungry you can kill two birds at once.

A particularly good time to be at Trax is around 17:42 on weekdays. When things are running on schedule, Amtrak Hiawatha 339 usually flies through at 79 mi/h "wrong main" (i.e. going westbound on track 2) while Metra 2133 completes its station stop at Deerfield on track 1. Although 2133 holds in the station in order to block the pedestrian crosswalks, most of the Amtrak engineers will give a full grade-crossing sequence on the horns just to be sure no pedestrians overlook the approaching train. It's a nice change from the usual silence of whistle-ban suburbia.

Northbrook Il can be once again added to the list of Best places to watch Metra, on the corner of Shermer road and the Railroad tracks of Metra Cp and Amtrak a resturant called My Pi and Little guys it is half pizza and half sandwitches. I grew up with the pizza in my high school days. and it is by far the best or in the top two for deepdish pizza, the building faces north and has a curving window area that wraps around the resturant as in a island of a aircraft carrier, you can take the train from anywhere to CUS and ride an north bound Scoot to NBK and have a great Pie then head back to CUS, they have pizza by the slice.