Chicago Subdivision

[v · BNSF Railway Chicago Subdivision

Legend west to Aurora Subdivision to Mendota Subdivision Fox River Aurora old station 38.4 mi Aurora Transportation Center Metra yard 33.4 Eola, Illinois Eola Yard Elgin, Joliet & Eastern/Canadian National 31.6 Route 59 28.4 Naperville 24.4 Lisle 22.9 Belmont 21.1 Downers Grove 20.3 Fairview Avenue 19.4 Westmont 18.2 Clarendon Hills 17.8 West Hinsdale 16.8 Hinsdale 16.3 Highlands 15.4 Western Springs 14.1 Stone Avenue 13.7 La Grange Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad 13.0 Congress Park 12.3 Brookfield 11.7 Hollywood 11.0 Riverside 10.0 Harlem Avenue 9.6 Berwyn 9.0 La Vergne Illinois Central/Canadian National 8.5 Clyde Cicero Yard 7.0 Cicero Belt Railway of Chicago Chicago 'L' Pink Line CR&I Industrial Track/Norfolk Southern 3.7 Western Avenue Western Avenue Yard 1.8 Halsted Street 0.0 Union Station

The Chicago Subdivision or Chicago Sub is a railroad line in Illinois that runs about 38 miles (61 km) from Chicago to Aurora and hosts Metra's BNSF Railway Line commuter service. It is operated by BNSF Railway as the easternmost part of the railroad's Northern Transcon to Seattle, Washington. ^[1][2][3][4] This line is known as the Racetrack because it is mostly triple-tracked and supports fairly fast trains. It had been operated by a BNSF ancestor, the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, which introduced high-speed Zephyr passenger trains in 1934 and ran many of them along this subdivision from Chicago to points west.

The Chicago Subdivision meets the Aurora Subdivision and Mendota Subdivision in Aurora. Commuter service ends at the Aurora Transportation Center, though Amtrak trains continue southwest on the Mendota Subdivision. Triple-tracking runs from where track leading to the Aurora station and Metra Yard joins the subdivision eastward to Cicero, where multiple tracks from a yard join. It is then quadruple-tracked for the rest of the way until the turn to Union Station.^[5]

After the introduction of the CB&Q Zephyrs, train speeds increased significantly around the country for the next decade or so, but the Naperville train disaster along these tracks in 1946 was one event that contributed to the federal government restricting speeds in later years. Trains that had once traveled at or above 100 miles per hour (160 km/h) were soon restricted to a maximum of 79 miles per hour (127 km/h).^[6][7][8] Much of this line has a speed limit of 70 miles per hour (110 km/h) for passenger trains, while freight trains run slower.^[1][2][3][4]

See also

• BNSF Railway Line

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Don Winter. "Eola to Aurora". http://donwinter.com/Railroad%20Infrastructure%20and%20Traffic%20Data/Regions/Chicago/Route%20Descriptions/Eola%20to%20Aurora.htm. Retrieved June 4, 2010. 
2. ^ ^{a b} Don Winter. "La Grange to Eola (ex-CB&Q)". http://donwinter.com/Railroad%20Infrastructure%20and%20Traffic%20Data/Regions/Chicago/Route%20Descriptions/La%20Grange%20to%20Eola%20%28CB&Q%29.htm. Retrieved June 5, 2010. 
3. ^ ^{a b} Don Winter. "Cicero to La Grange (ex-CB&Q)". http://donwinter.com/Railroad%20Infrastructure%20and%20Traffic%20Data/Regions/Chicago/Route%20Descriptions/Cicero%20to%20La%20Grange%20%28CB&Q%29.htm. Retrieved June 5, 2010. 
4. ^ ^{a b} Don Winter. "Western Avenue to Cicero (ex-CB&Q)". http://donwinter.com/Railroad%20Infrastructure%20and%20Traffic%20Data/Regions/Chicago/Route%20Descriptions/Western%20Avenue%20to%20Cicero%20%28CB&Q%29.htm. Retrieved June 5, 2010. 
5. ^ Bill Vandervoort. "Railfan tips/operating detail". Chicago Transit & Railfan Web Site. http://web.me.com/willvdv/chirailfan/mmbnsf.html. Retrieved June 4, 2010. 
6. ^ William Wendt (July 30, 2007). "Hiawatha dieselization". Yahoo Groups. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/steam_tech/message/54227. Retrieved June 5, 2010. 
7. ^ John Gruber and Brian Solomon (2006). The Milwaukee Road's Hiawathas. Voyageur Press. ISBN 978-0760323953. 
8. ^ "Ask Trains from November 2008". Trains Magazine. December 23, 2008. http://www.trains.com/trn/default.aspx?c=a&id=4424. Retrieved June 5, 2010.