AAR Radio Channel 66 - 161.100
Chicago's second railroad was the Aurora Branch Railroad, which in 1850 began operating between Aurora and West Chicago, connecting with Chicago's first railroad, the Galena and Chicago Union Railroad. The Aurora Branch Railroad gradually extended further west, and was renamed the Chicago Burlington and Quincy Railroad. CB&Q completed its own line between Chicago and Aurora in 1864, and this line is now one of the area's busiest. Through mergers, the line became Burlington Northern, and now Burlington Northern Santa Fe. This line is a favorite of railfans, with an abundance of Metra, Amtrak and freight trains maneuvering around each other on a three track CTC equipped line. The first suburb outside Chicago is Cicero, location of the main freight yard, and historically the location of the Hawthorne Works where Bell telephones were once manufactured. The Hawthorne Works location is now occupied by a shopping center. After Cicero is Berwyn, followed by many quaint old suburbs, which form scenic backdrops for train watching and photography. Brookfield is served by two stations, the Hollywood stop is closest to Brookfield Zoo. A favorite spot along the line is the Highlands station. Trains only stop at Highlands during weekday rush hours, but more regular service is available at Hinsdale, 1/2 mile to the west. Undeveloped land used to exist at the outer end of the line near Naperville. But Naperville has grown rapidly to become Chicago's largest suburb, and new houses have gobbled up almost all remaining land. Service ends at Aurora, which has a new station which was constructed out of what was originally a Chicago Burlington and Quincy Railroad shops administration building. Next to the station is an old roundhouse, developed by the late Chicago Bears player Walter Payton into Walter Payton's Roundhouse, serving food and home brewed beer. An outdoor patio dining area occupies the middle, where the turntable had been. The area near the station has become more touristy over the past few years, since the opening of the Hollywood Casino riverboat, a few blocks away along the Fox River. Weekdays are the best days to ride this Metra line, because of more frequent Metra trains and the opportunity to experience the rush hour. The rush hour features frequent express trains racing through on the center track, passing local trains making stops on an outside track. And "flips", which turn around and run empty in the reverse direction to enable more efficient equipment utilization. And trains frequently switching tracks at the many CTC interlockings. The afternoon rush hour is usually the most convenient for railfans, and can be experienced either at one of the stations, or by riding an inbound train and meeting all those outbound trains.
Direction is westward from Chicago to Aurora
0.0 CHICAGO
0.8 Roosevelt Road
1.7 Union Avenue
1.8 HALSTED STREET
3.7 WESTERN AVENUE
4.8 Kedzie Avenue
6.7 Cicero "B" Plant (east end Cicero Yard)
7.0 CICERO
7.3 Cicero "A" Plant
8.5 Clyde
9.0 LA VERGNE (west end Cicero Yard)
9.6 BERWYN
10.0 HARLEM AVENUE
11.0 RIVERSIDE
11.7 HOLLYWOOD
12.3 BROOKFIELD
13.0 CONGRESS PARK
13.7 LA GRANGE
14.1 STONE AVENUE
15.4 WESTERN SPRINGS
16.3 HIGHLANDS
16.8 HINSDALE
17.8 WEST HINSDALE
18.2 CLARENDON HILLS
19.4 WESTMONT
20.3 FAIRVIEW AVENUE
21.1 DOWNERS GROVE
22.9 BELMONT
24.4 LISLE
28.4 NAPERVILLE
31.6 ROUTE 59
33.4 Eola
35.3 West Eola (junction-BNSF)
38.4 AURORA (junction-BNSF)
41.0 Montgomery (junction-Illinois Railnet)
2 tracks from Roosevelt Road to Union Avenue, 4 tracks from Union Avenue to Cicero "B" Plant, 3 tracks from Cicero "B" Plant to West Eola, 2 tracks from West Eola to Montgomery, 2 tracks from West Eola via lead to Aurora Transportation Center. CTC in use, controlled from Fort Worth, Texas. Union Avenue Dispatcher controls trackage east of Cicero, and East End Dispatcher controls trackage west of Cicero. East End Dispatcher controls entire line nights and weekends. Cab signals in use.
Speed Limit: 70 mph
Chicago-Western Avenue: 60 mph
All main tracks are shown, along with most switches within interlockings, and other tracks used by main line Metra, Amtrak and freight trains. Not shown are hand operated industrial switches.
Information is subject to change, and is based on observations, along with information from employee timetables and from the CORA (Chicago Operating Rules Association) guide dated 2001.
The following colors are used to indicate types of operation:
BLUE - manual interlocking
RED - centralized traffic control (CTC) or bidirectional signals
GREEN - automatic block signals (single direction, current of traffic)
BLACK - unsignaled
Thin lines across tracks indicate signals. In CTC or bidirectional signal territory, signals usually exist for both directions at all locations, except at interlockings where the signals usually are only in the direction entering the interlocking.