Chicago railfan group addy wanted

First let me strongly recommend a soft-cover book, both because it has better info than you'll ever find on the web, and because I believe folks that do detailed research should be rewarded with more than just a hit on a web page. The book is "Chicago Union Station - A Look at Its History and Operations Before Amtrak" by Edward M DeRouin, ISBN 0-9728743-0-5. I found my copy at the Illinois Railway Museum at Union in June 2004. I would guess it is still available.

Second, let me recommend a web page and the book it offers -

Szwajkart's "TRAIN WATCHERS GUIDE TO CHICAGO" is an excellent guide to RR operations in Chicago. The current 3rd edition is a little out of date for current ops, but John has updates on his web site. I highly recommend you try to find a used copy of his 1st edition of this book. It was published in 1969 on the eve of AMTRAK and would be an invaluable resource for you research.

Third, look for a copy of the Chicago Tribune - Rand McNally "Chicagoland Map". It shows all the railroads, identifies yard locations and hints at connections at major junctions. It does this on a background that identifies built up areas as residential or industrial, and clearly shows more open areas, forest preserves, and rivers. Again, if you can find an older edition, it would also identify which lines belonged to which pre-merger company.

Finally, I like the Chicago Rail Junction site at

it is mostly current, but it will be a great help to you, and has several useful links. Geezer

Thanks for your reply. I am already the owner of the C.U.S. book by E.M. DeRouin, and use it as my cornerstone for design. Model RRer also has a special issue on 50's era modeling, and has a story on a Dearborn Station as modeled by Gary Hoover in HO. This too is informative. The Rand McNally would likely stitch together the pieces of railmaps I've found here and there, and I've been watching for such an item to come up for sale on fleaBay. I'll go off now following the other sources you've offered, and see what comes. Thanks so much for your suggestions. I'm sure they will yield nuggets for me to mine.

Steve

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