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Bell clanging, a commuter train rolls by overhead, adding even more to the action. I had always looked down from my Metra train with great interest at the Blommer operation; now I was looking up at the same trains!

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This view shows the variety of storage equipment atop the building. Both cocoa and sugar are stored for making the chocolate. When the wind blows right, the chocolatey aroma wafts across the tracks to the Metra terminal and beyond.

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The two hoppers on Jefferson Street are not alone. Another green hopper awaits unloading on the overhead track at the right! This spur handles sugar deliveries. Blommer's operations definitely are unique and would be fascinating to model.

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As we leave the scene, these unusual tracks crossing Kinzie Street draw our attention. Abandoned yet still visible, the curved track sports TWO guardrails in addition to the regular running rail!

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Every weekday afternoon between 1:30pm and 2:30pm, a string of 5-6 boxcars loaded with newsprint makes its way east to the Sun-Times Building. Let's follow UP 1730 as it makes its way over a vintage drawbridge, under huge downtown buildings, and down Carroll Avenue's street tracks. Towering over the North Branch of the Chicago River, this classic drawbridge is the starting point for our trip today. The bridge is just west of the Apparel Center at Kinzie and Franklin.

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As the train approaches the bridge begins to lower, surprisingly quietly given its massive bulk! With only a couple of squeaks, the huge structure drops to within a few feet of the opposite shore and then very slowly moves into position.

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With a ground-shaking THUD, the bridge firmly touches down. Although only one track is active now, the double tracked deck speaks of busier days goneby.

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Pushing its load ahead, UP 1730 makes its way across the river. Note the low clearance beneath the bridge, about 4 feet, shortest of any Chicago River bridge.

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As traffic waits patiently, the locomotive crosses the driveway between the bridge and the Apparel Center and disappears beneath the building. It will emerge two blocks further east at Wells Street.

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Here the train has just come out from under the Merchandise Mart and is now entering Carroll Avenue. Downtown Chicago skyscrapers dwarf the engine, and parked cars are everywhere!

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One of the most interesting aspects of street running is avoiding vehicles along the right-of-way. Slowing to a crawl, the engineer peers nervously to the left as he clears the parked truck by a matter of inches. Whew!

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The train stops beneath the Quaker Building at Clark Street while switches are thrown ahead for the moves at the Sun-Times. The Quaker Building is just a few years old, and the neatly paved double-railed trackage looks brand new.

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This shot shows the area on Carroll Avenue where the new double-rail and the older single rail tracks meet. The older tracks use timbers instead of the guardrails to create a flangeway in the asphalt paving.

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As the train finishes its switching chores, we turn around to look west down Carroll and ahead to the tunnel entrance beneath the huge Merchandise Mart building. The truck parked at the right looks a bit close to the tracks...will we make it?

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With a burst of power and a cloud of dust, the engineer opens up the throttle and pulls out from the under Clark Street overpass. It appears that the owner of that truck ignored the yellow parking lines. It'll be close…

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Made it! Lights blazing, the locomotive heads back toward the river with its string of empties from the Sun-Times' loading docks.