03-08-2013, 09:43 AM
While I'm not a Chicago specialist, I've looked at Chicago railroading enough over the years to say that a lot of the internal industry switching was handled by the belt and terminal lines, including B&O Chicago Terminal, Belt Railway of Chicago, Indiana Harbor Belt, EJ&E, Chicago & Western Indiana (lines going to Dearborn St Station), Illinois Northern (Santa Fe Chicago equivalent of the LAJ), Chicago Short Line, etc etc. Then some of the Class Is did have lines that extended into the city. The PRR was a major factor on the east side, and Union Station was basically a PRR project; Milwaukee on the north, also in large part due to its own route, stemming from the PRR, into the north side of Union Station. The CB&Q did have some industrial activity in the Cicero area on the west side of town.
The problem you're likely to have is that, even given the enormous variety in the Chicago area, it's going to be tough focusing on a single place that has everything you'd like. I've learned that in the "golden age" Epoche III-IV, there were definite railfan focal points. The junction at Griffith, IN was one, where a number of railroads met and crossed each other in a triangle of diamonds, as well as interchanged -- EJ&E, EL, GTW, and C&O. Englewood Union Station and the surrounding area were major focus points, PRR, RI, NYC, NKP, especially in Epoche III. There was a lot of industrial switching on the PRR in the area. Alton Junction, closer in to Union Station on the PRR, had that line crossing the GM&O, IC, and Santa Fe. The RI met a number of lines in the Blue Island area, and RI, PRR, IHB, B&OCT, and GTW transfer runs were common. The CB&Q/BN sort of had a straight shot to the west and didn't have the major crossings the other lines did. Its trains passed the coach yards of both the PRR and CB&Q south of Union Station, but then you get into passenger service, which is probably beyond your scope.
I like the CB&Q, although my personal view is that it got more interesting in the Denver area, and if I were to try to focus on Chicago, I'd want to be looking at the variety possible in transfer runs between yards, as well as trying to find a way to incorporate push-pull passenger service. The later you get, the easier this is to model as Metra covering most of the lines involved.
The problem you're likely to have is that, even given the enormous variety in the Chicago area, it's going to be tough focusing on a single place that has everything you'd like. I've learned that in the "golden age" Epoche III-IV, there were definite railfan focal points. The junction at Griffith, IN was one, where a number of railroads met and crossed each other in a triangle of diamonds, as well as interchanged -- EJ&E, EL, GTW, and C&O. Englewood Union Station and the surrounding area were major focus points, PRR, RI, NYC, NKP, especially in Epoche III. There was a lot of industrial switching on the PRR in the area. Alton Junction, closer in to Union Station on the PRR, had that line crossing the GM&O, IC, and Santa Fe. The RI met a number of lines in the Blue Island area, and RI, PRR, IHB, B&OCT, and GTW transfer runs were common. The CB&Q/BN sort of had a straight shot to the west and didn't have the major crossings the other lines did. Its trains passed the coach yards of both the PRR and CB&Q south of Union Station, but then you get into passenger service, which is probably beyond your scope.
I like the CB&Q, although my personal view is that it got more interesting in the Denver area, and if I were to try to focus on Chicago, I'd want to be looking at the variety possible in transfer runs between yards, as well as trying to find a way to incorporate push-pull passenger service. The later you get, the easier this is to model as Metra covering most of the lines involved.