Recent Posts

1

General Discussion / Re: Cool Video of Boxcars inside the Chicago Tribune Freedom Center Being Unloaded

« Last post by haggar on July 08, 2024, 06:49:55 PM »

Great catch Tom. I saved a pic a while back of this.   Apparently it's a grab from this video.

Joe

2

General Discussion / Re: Chicago Tribune Freedom Center switching videos

« Last post by TBurke on July 07, 2024, 04:20:50 PM »

Thanks for posting them.

Interesting time capsules with so many boxcars being shoved into the Freedom Center. I didn't see a conductor ride the lead boxcar.

And even by 2011 the Grand Avenue Yard tracks are empty. I recall even into the early 2000s those tracks were full of boxcars.

At the one minute mark on the first video I see there was no fence yet installed along Union Avenue where it makes the curve. I had to climb through a hole in the fence to get pictures of the same scene in the last few years and look out for the homeless encampment below the Ontario/Ohio ramps.

At 1:33 in part three it looks like a man is walking toward you dressed in black. Was that a UP crew member of a security guard from the Freedom Center? I noticed the video abruptly stopped as he got close LOL.

3

General Discussion / Chicago Tribune Freedom Center switching videos

« Last post by haggar on July 07, 2024, 02:54:03 PM »

I added some Tribune switching videos to my youtube channel. Not the best quality but I uploaded because there are so few videos of this operation. I have some more from an HD camera that I'll get around to sometime.
My youtube channel:  https://youtube.com/@joeavey173?si=3wdTiG2N5lu75YvR

4

General Discussion / Cool Video of Boxcars inside the Chicago Tribune Freedom Center Being Unloaded

« Last post by TBurke on July 05, 2024, 11:44:56 AM »

I came across this promotional video which shows Crown forklifts being used in the Freedom Center some six years ago.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47etZQhbgpE

Of interest is the long string of boxcars, some five or more. The forklift goes inside one of them to retrieve a roll of newsprint.

The last delivery of newsprint to the Freedom Center was in April. The Tribune has until the end of July to vacate the premises then demolition may start as soon as August to prepare for the new Bally's Casino. It is in the permitting stage.

Print production of the Tribune and other newspapers like the Sun-Times, New York Times, and Wall Street Journal is now done at the former Daily Herald printing press in Schaumburg which Tribune parent Alden bought in 2023. That much smaller facility is served by CPKC via a long lead.

5

General Discussion / Last Copies of Tribune and Sun-Times Printed at Freedom Center on Saturday

« Last post by TBurke on May 20, 2024, 08:14:35 AM »

The last copies of the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times were printed on Saturday per an article in the Tribune behind a paywall. Production of both papers is now at the Daily Herald printing press in Schaumburg which Tribune parent Alden Group acquired last year. Print production of the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal will continue at the Freedom Center for two more weeks.

Some printing press operators were offered jobs at the Daily Herald plant or buyouts. Most seem to take a buyout as the ones interviewed were in their 60s and did not want to make a long commute on toll roads to reach Schaumburg. The editorial staff, reporters, photographers, etc., will be relocated from their offices at the Freedom Center to new leased space in the Loop.

The last boxcar was pulled from the Freedom Center by UP on April 30.

By July 1 the Freedom Center printing center has to be vacated for the new Bally's casino to start demolition work in preparation for the new casino.

For those of us of a certain age it is a sad part of history. I can recall even into the early 2000s that there used to be rows of boxcars of newsprint lined up at the Grand Avenue Yard for the Tribune. I used to look forward to catching a glimpse of them while taking Metra in and out of Chicago on the UP NW Line.

Once Blommer is done it will be interesting to see what UP does with the Low Line and whether the City of Chicago will acquire it to be a bike trail.

6

General Discussion / Re: Mariano's at Ashland and Webster

« Last post by raisin on May 05, 2024, 12:59:45 PM »

Thanks, sir!

7

General Discussion / Re: Mariano's at Ashland and Webster

« Last post by TBurke on May 02, 2024, 09:12:58 PM »

A Chicago & North Western track did come off what is now the Metra/UP North Line and it crossed Ashland Avenue, curving gradually to the southeast. It came down a fairly steep ramp from the east side of the North Line. It then curved even more south and went down Mendell Street, ending at Cortland. I used to walk that way every day during the summer of 1981 to and from the Clybourn station to a job at Stewart-Warner on Diversey and Hermitage and cross those tracks. As I recall back then it serviced a scrapyard at the NE side of Ashland and Mendell.

You can see it on www.historicaerials.com especially in the 1963 aerial view where there are at least two freight cars on this line. The topographic view shows the tracks still in place in 1984.

8

General Discussion / Mariano's at Ashland and Webster

« Last post by raisin on April 30, 2024, 02:34:38 PM »

Hi all,

When I was a DePaul student in the 90's, I seem to remember that there were railroad tracks crossing Ashland where the entrance to the Mariano's parking lot now is, heading in the direction
of the industrial area across the street. Now that I'm back in Lincoln Park, I see the tracks are now gone. But, I don't even see where they would've connected to the UP-N tracks.

There is a pretty solid and high wall between the Mariano's and the UP-N line. But, they must have had a connection there, right? Or am I dreaming the whole thing?

Thanks, all.

9

Modeling / Re: Train Simulator of Goose Island

« Last post by TBurke on April 24, 2024, 07:04:35 PM »

Interesting. I like the map and the view at 6:09 looking south. He gets it right in terms of the tracks. The light tower is in the right place as the original. The Ogden Avenue overpass is cool.

The Goose in Goose Island is from the geese that Irish immigrants kept when they lived on the island.

10

Modeling / Re: N Scale Chicago Terminal SW8

« Last post by TBurke on April 24, 2024, 06:40:02 PM »

Very well done.