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Southwest Chief

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Chicago

Time Zones

Prior to 1883, each railroad had their own times. At Union Station none of the clocks showed the same times!

After much complaining, in 1883 the railroads agreed to one time and created time zones.

Learn more time zones

Bubbly Creek

Who Killed the Fish?

In 1976, a freight train wreck caused hazardorous materials to leak in a nearby town. Not having been trained as to what to do, the train crew poured water on the material. The water then ended up in the sewers which dumped into a nearby lake causing all the fish to die.

The incident resulted in training in cleaning up hazardous material spills.

Within minutes of leaving Union Station, the train passes over "Bubbly Creek" the nickname given to the South Fork of the South Branch of the Chicago River.

For 100 years, the Chicago Stock Yards dumped carcasses in the river.

Not too long ago, plans wre made to "clean up" the area. It was determined it was wiser just to let things be.

First 18 hole Golf Course in U.S.

The Chicago Golf Club set up a couse in Downer's Grove but moved it the next year a few miles north to Wheaton.

Interestingly, members lsuch as Marshall Field and Pres. Lincoln's son, would take an electric train to Wheaton. Of course, their was a dedicated stop at the Golf Course.

Naperville

In 1946, two west bound trains, scheduled 3 minutes apart on the same track, collided after the lead train experienced a problem and had to stop. Forty people died. The second train was traveling close to 100 miles an hour.

The crash led to passenger trains maximum speed of 79 miles per hour.

Modern train safety systems would have prevented the accident.

Ft Madison Iowa

Don't be surprised if your conductor announces your train is temporarily stopped due to a barge passing .

When the bridge was built, barges were given priority over railrds

This was not the first bridge over the River.

The first railroad bridge at Rock Island, Illinois involved Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis, and Abraham Lincoln. Learn more

Marcelline Missouri

Walt Disney spent much of his youth watching locomotives pass through Marcelline Missouri, watching to see if his uncle was the engineer.

When Disneyland opened in 1955, visitors entered the Southern California theme park through Main Street USA, an idealized rendition of downtown Marceline’s Kansas Avenue of the early 1900s.