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Chicago Tribune reporter Jon Hilkevitch compares the two while reporting on the continued politicking over improving Illinois' rail network overall.
quote:High-speed rail seen as economic engine in Illinois Downstate Normal, Chicago's West Side among communities looking to ride the rails to modernization
Jon Hilkevitch Getting Around January 18, 2010
The residents of Normal, Ill., have one word to describe their community's train station:
"Amshack."
Don't get them wrong. Amtrak's intercity passenger trains provide essential transportation in central Illinois for the twin cities of Bloomington, which includes Illinois Wesleyan University, and Normal, home to Illinois State University.
Airline service to the area from Chicago and other big cities has declined in recent years, contributing in part to the train station in downtown Normal ranking as the fourth-busiest Amtrak terminal for passenger boarding in the Midwest, behind Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Louis.
But the station is in bad shape and it's inadequate to serve future needs, officials said.
Normal Mayor Chris Koos traveled the approximately 135 miles to Chicago on Friday to participate in a conference that Gov. Pat Quinn called to improve passenger and freight rail operations in Illinois, and to be prepared to get off on a fast start when $8 billion in federal stimulus grants for high-speed rail are awarded to the states sometime before spring.
The meeting offered Koos the opportunity to spread the word about a downtown renewal program in Normal that includes building a modern transportation terminal in the town's central business district and surrounding it with office-residential redevelopment that is designed for people to walk, ride a bus or pedal a bike to where they are going instead of drive a vehicle.
The centerpiece of the Uptown Normal Renewal Plan is a new transportation center that will offer multiple travel choices -- Amtrak on the Lincoln Service and Texas Eagle routes; interstate and regional buses to other Illinois cities as well as destinations in Indiana, Missouri and Iowa; local cabs serving the town as well as the Central Illinois Regional Airport; and shuttle buses to O'Hare International Airport and Midway Airport in Chicago.
A new Marriott hotel and conference center opened late last year about 100 yards from the Amtrak stop. When the transportation center is built, "the walk from the hotel will be 50 yards," Koos said.
"It gives people the opportunity to come into a community for a conference, get off the train, go to the hotel, spend two or three days in a lively business district and never see a car the whole time," he said.
But the redevelopment program, which was started in 1999, is only about one-third complete. It needs an economic lift that a statewide rail modernization program can help provide, officials said.
"One hundred ten mile an hour trains would cut the travel time from Normal to Chicago to 1 hour 45 minutes," Koos said. "It's so important to getting us closer to the Chicago region."
Meanwhile, the optimism over rail modernization and high-speed trains is just as strong on Chicago's West Side.
Business leaders and community activists who have worked to turn around the West Garfield Park neighborhood are welcoming railroading in all its forms because of the great potential for economic expansion.
A major focus is retooling old factories and building new ones to support a manufacturing base for equipment and parts needed in the new high-speed rail system, said Steven McCullough, president of Bethel New Life, a faith-based community development corporation working to establish a sustainable community on the West Side.
It all comes down to creating jobs in a neighborhood already surrounded by rail operations, including a Union Pacific Railroad maintenance facility, the Green Line, Metra commuter rail, freight trains and the emerging high-speed passenger service.
"Rail is an integral part, along with land-use polices, to develop a successful neighborhood and combat the atmosphere of isolation in our community," McCullough said.
Chicago is the hub of a proposed eight-state Midwest high-speed rail network that includes various corridors with top speeds of 79 mph, 90 mph, 110 mph and eventually 220 mph, under plans submitted by the transportation departments in the states.
"High-speed rail is an incredible boost in mobility that is not just for Chicago," said Howard Learner, president of the Environmental Law and Policy Center.
"It's for the huge numbers of people -- 2 million people within a 50-mile radius of Kalamazoo, 700,000 people in 15 counties within a 50-mile radius of Springfield, 1 million people within a 50-mile radius of Bloomington-Normal. This is beyond transportation. This is about communities," he said.
Quinn told the rail conferees that he is committed to making Illinois an inland port that will be the leading rail transportation hub in the U.S. "We've got to get it completed in my lifetime," he said. "I expect to live to 102 because at that point in time, I will have paid off my kids' college loans."
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Everything looks nice and spiffy when new. But here is how things looked circa my years as a Univ of Illinois (Champaign) student.
We should note that the Alton station was nearer Downtown (Locust and Washington) than it ever was to a now major state university at Normal (it was once an all-women "teacher's college"). But regardless of the current facility's state of repair, it certainly is more convenient to ISU than the previous Alton station.
In all fairness, it should be noted that there is a small "faith based' college, Illinois Wesleyan, which is located in downtown Bloomington and for which the Alton station was more convenient.
Posts: 9975 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
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Nice pictures of the C&A station in Bloomington.
Has that building survived? Is a renovation of this structure a possibility for the new transportation center they speak of?
Illinois State is normally a fixture on the Drum Corps International Circuit and I have passed through the Normal 'Amshack' a couple of times going off and on DCI tours.
It's your typical 1970's Amtrak station similar in size and appearance to Carbondale, IL or Richmond Staples Mill Road in Virginia. I remember when it was new and touted as adequate replacement for the dingy old station with potential for attracting a plethora of new business from the college students as it was close to the Illinois State campus.......
Of course if you don't maintain what's shiny and new in 1979, it too becomes dingy in 30 years, no? I had no idea that Normal was the fourth busiest (in terms of passenger count) station in the midwest now and an Amshack is certainly inadequate for that.
-------------------- David Pressley
Advocating for passenger trains since 1973!
Climbing toward 5,000 posts like the Southwest Chief ascending Raton Pass. Cautiously, not nearly as fast as in the old days, and hoping to avoid premature reroutes. Posts: 4203 | From: Western North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2004
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I am not familiar with the Alton station in Bloomington, but, I am with the current station in Normal. The current station is very close to the Illinois State University campus and it would seem to make sense to build a new one near this location.
When I attended ISU in the 80's, a large number of students were from the Chicago area and quite a few of my friends took the train home on weekends.
The link below will take you to a few pictures of the current station. I took these in Dec. of 2008. In pictures #02,05 & 06 you can see the Marriott mentioned in the article above with Watterson Towers (2,200 student dorm) in the background.
I lived in one of the "bowling alleys" of Watterson for two years, but that's another story...
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GBN, it appears that Illinois Wesleyan today may be more secular than "faith-based" -- many of those small church-founded colleges have shed their ties to their origins. Or so it seems from a perusal of the web site you provided. Not that it makes an iota of difference to anything, but I am in a digressive (aka thread-hijacking) mood this morning.
Posts: 2236 | From: Evanston, Ill. and Ontonagon, Mich. | Registered: Feb 2007
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The Normal station has all the ambiance of a Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet!!!!
Great pictures! Makes me chilly just thinking about Illinois in December.
-------------------- David Pressley
Advocating for passenger trains since 1973!
Climbing toward 5,000 posts like the Southwest Chief ascending Raton Pass. Cautiously, not nearly as fast as in the old days, and hoping to avoid premature reroutes. Posts: 4203 | From: Western North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2004
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This school is served by Amtrak either through New Buffalo, MI or Niles, MI
I should note that they sponsor a perfectly non-sectarian classical station WAUS 90.7 that I listen to when traveling through that area. In fact, I first learned of the station from friends who at the time resided in Bremen IN (B&O; route of the Three Rivers) - and are atheists.
Also, along the route of the Pere Marquette is another faith-based school (know so when a good friend at U of Ill was "called' and transferred there):
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GBN, I went to one of those -- Trinity in Connecticut. Compulsory daily chapel in 1958, even for non-Christians and nonbelievers. That's gone now, thank goodness, and students can sleep in until noon, as their biological nature intends.
Posts: 2236 | From: Evanston, Ill. and Ontonagon, Mich. | Registered: Feb 2007
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Mr. Kisor, maybe this is why I ended up in a non-sectarian publicly funded university. Be assured it was "every day and twice on Sunday'; at least 'back in my day'.
For benefit of these here who did attend faith based colleges, religious education at Champaign was available off campus (but noted on your registration forms to avoid class conflicts) from such as the Newman Club for Roman Catholics, the Canterbury Club for us Episcopalians, and the Hillel Society for those of Jewish faith.
Finally, it appears that Mr. Kisor's school has "disavowed" any religious affiliation, even though I always thought it had one (from their website):
Founded in the spring of 1823 as Washington College (the name was changed in 1845), Trinity was only the second college in Connecticut. Although its earliest heritage was Episcopalian, its principal founder and first president having been the Rt. Rev. Thomas Brownell, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut, its charter prohibits the imposition of religious standards on any student, faculty members or other members of the college, consistent with the forces of religious diversity and toleration in force at the time.
Posts: 9975 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
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Gil -- I'm confused about your first post in this thread about the "Alton station" -- when you say "Alton station," I figured you meant the station in the city of Alton, which is near St. Louis -- nowhere near Bloomington-Normal. Or is "Alton station" the name of an older station (maybe named after a street or something?) in Bloomington-Normal?
Posts: 2428 | From: Grayling, MI | Registered: Mar 2002
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Rich, the existing Amtrak Route Chi-Stl has changed hands likely more times than any major rail line coming to mind. Prior to 1947, such was formally the Chicago and Alton (substantially owned by the B&O) with nicknames of 'The Alton" or "Alton Route'.
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And to further clarify - Gil was speaking (and provided photos) of the 'Alton Route' station located in Bloomington, IL.
Amtrak initially stopped at that station in Bloomington but left it at some point in the late 70's or early 80's for the Amshack in adjacent Normal, IL. It would appear that with Normal being the 4th busiest Amtrak station in the midwest that one goal of the Amshack, to be more accessible to potential customers enrolled at Illinois State University, has been met
-------------------- David Pressley
Advocating for passenger trains since 1973!
Climbing toward 5,000 posts like the Southwest Chief ascending Raton Pass. Cautiously, not nearly as fast as in the old days, and hoping to avoid premature reroutes. Posts: 4203 | From: Western North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2004
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Every time Normal, Illinois, is mentioned, that reminds me of nearly Oblong and the probably apocryphal headline "Normal Man Marries Oblong Woman."
Posts: 2236 | From: Evanston, Ill. and Ontonagon, Mich. | Registered: Feb 2007
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quote:Originally posted by Gilbert B Norman: Rich, the existing Amtrak Route Chi-Stl has changed hands likely more times than any major rail line coming to mind. Prior to 1947, such was formally the Chicago and Alton (substantially owned by the B&O) with nicknames of 'The Alton" or "Alton Route'.
The Chicago and Alton was absorbed into the Gulf Mobile and Ohio in 1947. This was probably the first example of a northern road being taken over by a Southern one. There were a number of ironies here. The GM&O was a relatively low density railroad with probably less than 100 miles under signals, including the 50 odd miles of ICRR operation on trackage rights between Jackson TN and Corinth MS. It had two passenger trains worthy of the name, plus a few diesel cars, and these trains were the Rebel, a pocket streamliner having multitudinous stops and the Gulf Coast Rebel which ran St. Louis to Mobile AL. Given the Alton's high speed signaled double track line between St. Louis and Chicago with multiple passenger trains, it looked like the mouse eating the elephant, but financially the reverse was the case. Then, we have a railroad whose premier train is named "The Rebel" taking over a railroad whose premier train was the Abraham Lincoln.
The most likely reason the B&O style color-position light signals lasted through the period of GM&O ownership is that the GM&O had so little track under signals otherwise.
(Alas, the whole thing was absorbed by the Illinois Central, and mostly sold off or abandoned. The only parts of the ex GM&O still under ICRR ownership are the ex GM&N line into Mobile, Alabama, and the ex Alton line from Chicago to Joliet.)
The ICG sold off the Alton, except the critical entrance into Chicago, to form the shortline Chicago Missouri and Western, which then was absorbed by Southern Pacific (Cotton Belt??), which was then taken over by Union Pacific.
Posts: 2808 | From: Olive Branch MS | Registered: Nov 2002
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Thanks a lot, Gil -- I understand completely now. I had forgotten that the STL-CHI railroad was formerly known as "The Alton Route." In fact, I believe I have some old slides of Chicago Union Station with the name "Alton Road" still on top of the station in big letters, along with (correct me if I'm wrong) "Santa Fe" and "C,B,& Q" if I remember correctly.
Posts: 2428 | From: Grayling, MI | Registered: Mar 2002
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RRRich, I believe the Santa Fe used Dearborn Station, not Union Station.
Posts: 2236 | From: Evanston, Ill. and Ontonagon, Mich. | Registered: Feb 2007
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While we're on this general topic I'd like to ask if any forum members are also members of Chicago's 20th Century Railroad Club, which I've just joined. It seems to have some interesting trips scheduled for 2010, and I plan to go on a couple.
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The railroads named atop the CUS headhouse facing Canal St have changed as mergers occurred. Therefore there are photos (even if I cannot locate any) out there proclaiming Alton Route atop CUS.
However, Santa Fe signage never did appear atop CUS; possibly there is confusion with signage that remains to this day atop the Railway Exchange Building facing Michigan Ave. Santa Fe did enter CUS on A-Day under the provisions within a 1919 Agreement regarding tenant access. Such provisions also applied to the GM&O, as they had no ownership interest in CUSCO.
Finally, the corollary question can be raised: if the Alton was a B&O subsidiary, why didn't they use B&O owned Grand Central? That question is one for which I have no answer.
Posts: 9975 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
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The Santa Fe Building on Michigan Avenue, kind of across from the Art Institute, is also where the Chicago Archeological Society, or whatever it's called, is--they have a shop on street level & also give many tours, including that great boat tour of Chicago in season--very recommended!
Posts: 2642 | From: upstate New York | Registered: Mar 2004
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Henry -- yes you are correct -- ATSF did not use Union Station. I just looked through the old pictures I have on the computer, and I don't have the one of all the signs atop CUS. I believe the signs were most likely C,B, & Q (probably called "Burlington Route,"), Alton Route, GM&O, and maybe Rock Island (?)
GBN -- do you have any old (pre-AMTRAK) photos of CUS you can post or link to?
Posts: 2428 | From: Grayling, MI | Registered: Mar 2002
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"As good as it gets" from the Harvey Library at the University of Arizona.
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The Wall Street Journal summed up much consensus around here regarding this debacle - and circulated same nationally.
Hope the UP remembers to thank the taxpayers for building their second St. Louis-Chicago route (other; former C&EI):
Fair Use:
Amtrak’s route from Chicago to St. Louis would seem an ideal place for the U.S. to adopt high-speed rail such as in Europe and Asia, where passenger trains can race along at 200 miles an hour. The stretch in Illinois is a straight shot across mostly flat terrain.
In fact, a fast-rail project is under way in Illinois. Yet the trains will top out at 110 mph, shaving just an hour from what is now a 5½-hour train trip. After it’s finished, at a cost of about $2 billion, the state figures the share of people who travel between the two cities by rail could rise just a few percentage points. Behind such modest gains, for hundreds of millions of dollars spent, lie some of the reasons high-speed train travel remains an elusive goal in the U.S such modest gains, for hundreds of millions of dollars spent, lie some of the reasons high-speed train travel remains an elusive goal in the U.S.
Posts: 9975 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
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