| I drove across country in late
August 2005 and stayed over in Joliet.
Before hitting the road in the morning I stopped by the Union Station
for an hour or so of photography. Aside from the magnificent old
station itself, I was treated by a steady flow of Amtrak and Metra
trains -- and even a private one as a pleasant surprise. Joliet is on
Amtrak's line from Chicago to St. Louis and Kansas City and features
three trains each way a day, including the Ann Rutledge, the State
House and the Texas Eagle. Metra is much, much busier with commuter
runs on its Rock Island and Beverly divisions. As a young college
student I rode the Rock Island through Joliet on the way to school in
Iowa and so it was a real pleasure to see the station up close. A real
treat was the condition of the Metra trains. Unlike those in the Boston
area where I live (which, to put it kindly are often 'scruffy', with
scratched windows and filty exteriors and interiors) all the trains I
saw were gleaming. When I asked a conductor about that he said that
each train was cleaned individually before every run out of Chicago.
Now that's a way to run a railroad! The station itself is worth a visit. Its front grounds are attractive, there is easy parking, and many murals depicting its history are to be found. The interior features more murals, a modern ticket office and stairs and platforms which take one back many years. All in all a very pleasant experience. |
