To the Racetrack!

This deals with things a little before Metra's time, but because it deals with various (now) Metra services, I thought I would ask it here.

I am well aware of the racetrack specials that went out to Arlington Park on the Northwestern. But a friend of mine says that he remembers trains leaving Comiskey Park to go the races. Anybody hear of these trains?

Sidebar: He insists that they were double-decks, and he insists that they were painted green & yellow! I would think that, if these runs existed, that they were served by the Rock--but where did they go?

There is no way you could go from Comisky to Arlington Park. Even if you could, there was never a station at Comisky. And what purpose would it serve?

I think your friend has a bad memory. Although construction is either under way or about to start on a station on the Rock Island District at 35th Street, there has never been a station there previously. AFAIK there was never a run-through commuter train in pre-Metra days. And as Bones said, there would be no reason to run a train from Comiskey Park to Arlington Park.
The C&NW ran race track specials from Northwestern Station to Arlington Park, a practice which continued under Metra, although I don't think they are still running.
Way back in the day, the IC ran race trains from Randolph Street to Washington Park in Homewood that left the main commuter line south of Harvey. But Washington Park has been gone for a long, long time.

bones wrote:There is no way you could go from Comiskey to Arlington Park. Even if you could, there was never a station at Comisky. And what purpose would it serve?

There is no commuter station near Comiskey. White Sox fans would know. Some Sox fans may take the Dan Ryan red line trains. A few brave souls would use the Green Line to Ashland/63rd. Most would ride the 35th street bus to get west from the park. Because of ample parking, most fans would drive & park in a nearby lot. The lack of good parking at Wrigley is a big factor in using CTA on the northside.

here is no way you could go from Comiskey to Arlington Park. Even if you could, there was never a station at Comisky. And what purpose would it serve?

First, let me say clearly that I know that there is no way to get a passenger train from the Rock to Arlington Park, even in the 1950's. [Well, you could--after all there was freight that made it, but only God knows how long it would take!!]

And, I am also aware that there is currently no station near Comiskey (uh...Cell), other than the one that is under construction. BUT----I seem to recall that there used to be one in the area a loooong time ago. I seem to recall (sorry for the repeated phrase) that the Armour Institute (now IIT) students allegedly used it. My books on the area are currently unavailable, so I cannot look it up or I would cite (if possible) the information.

EDIT: The 1895 map of the Chicago Railroads (http://www.historicmapworks.com/Map/US/ ... /Illinois/ shows stations at 29th (Archer Ave), 31st Street, 35th Street, 39th Street, and 47th Street.