Dolton Junction, Chicago, 1993

Join us for a visit to a popular Chicago area hot spot as it was in July, 1993.  Rails of the Indiana Harbor Belt, CSX, Conrail and Union Pacific all converged at an interlocking controlled by a manned tower.  We visit the tower and watch the operator lining trains up using the large lever machine, and see several trains passing from the tower.  In addition to the railroads owning the tracks at the junction, trains of Canadian Pacific, Amtrak, Chicago & Northwestern, Santa Fe and Grand Trunk Western are also seen.

This was the era where Indiana Harbor Belt’s roster was made up of various EMD end-cab switcher models, and several cow-calf sets are seen.  A couple of CSX trains have locomotives of predecessor roads.  Conrail runs hot metal trains past the junction to a steel mill at nearby Riverdale.  Perhaps the rarest catch in this show is a pair of Canadian Pacific M636s, locomotives built to the Alco Century design by Canada’s Montreal Locomotive Works.

We also make a quick side visit to the Belt Railway of Chicago’s Clearing Yard, where an Alco switcher is seen alongside vintage EMD locomotives.

46 minutes

Copyright 2021