Radio/ATCS

The Elgin and Chicago Subdivisions have drastically changed over the years. Back in its inception and days with the Milwaukee Road, then known as the Dubuque and Illinois Division, or D&I for short, most of the trackage out west passed Randall Road and continued as a double track mainline all the way to Savanna. Unfortunately, this was part of the reason for the fate of The Milwaukee Road, creating many multiple track mainlines and creating so many different trains that ultimately made them file for bankruptcy and eventually getting bought out by SOO Line. Throughout the SOO Line era and up until the recent merger/acquisition of Kansas City Southern, there has been a steady decline in traffic and overall tracks. The biggest change was tearing up most of the second mainline and converting most into sidings, until after the merger of the newly rebranded Canadian Pacific, that being CPKC was running into a problem. Since the revival of intermodal service on the Chicago Sub, they had sidings that would cause congestion, especially with their plan to add a total of 8 intermodal trains within a two-five year plan they needed something larger to cause fewer congestion and a better flow. With this came the addition of a new 8300 foot siding in the small town of Monroe Center, just southeast of Rockford, IL. This new siding is to not only help the flow of not only the growing intermodal traffic, but to allow a better flow for units or as needed trains such as sand or ethanol, but also the modern era of longer consists with the use of distributed power. These changes would be the first upgrades to the line for roughly 50+ years. Other upgrades to the Chicago Sub would be to add CTC in 2025. This interesting move is very questionable considering that most class I railroads have chosen to use ITCM with CN recently being another to have some of their CTC servers go dark. CPKC would have to create a whole new server most likely because of the new massive influx of traffic between intermodal and unit trains that otherwise wouldn’t have happened without the merger. The gate opening at Kansas City plays a massive part in why this is happening and shows the new trust the railroad has with its future. These changes however, will not impact the Elgin Subdivision as it is owned by Metra which prefers ITCM than CTC. Like many other mainlines across America, the industrial spurs and locals are at an all time low, many of the tracks that once served customers in the suburbs of Chicago are now left abandoned or ripped up and turned into parking lots for tractor trailers to easily access. On the Chicago Sub, many tracks have been ripped up, and not just the second mainline either, but also many spurs that gave access to many local businesses in small towns across rural northwest Illinois. The only local that still runs daily on the Chicago Sub is CPKC K66 and K68, which goes from Savanna, IL all the way east to Pingree Grove serving customers across the Chicago Sub with lumber and bulk loads. Farther east, there are former businesses by Bartlett, IL and Itasca, IL. I47, now the only local job on the Elgin Subdivision, only tackles business tracks in Itasca’s industrial district as well as Schaumburg’s small business park, just west of the station. I47 also delivers and picks up empties at the Chicago Tribune, located in Schaumburg, on a branch that spurs off from the mainline across from the local airport on the northside of Irving Park Rd. The new local only serves on Tuesdays and Thursdays and is the only local left since the other local service (I40) was debunked and most of its work is done on the east end of Bensenville yard working around the Mars factory and other businesses. Other little notes for track removal is the B-35 diamond in Elgin, IL near Raymond St. just east of the Fox River. This diamond ultimately connected the Elgin Sub to the Union Pacific (UP), or at that time when it was getting ripped up was owned by the Chicago & Northwestern (CNW). That subdivision was ultimately the CNW Williams Bay Branch, which would go from Lake Geneva/Williams Bay, and would connect to the Belvidere Sub at B-35 just south of the Elgin Sub. The branch was closed in 1983 and B-35 was kept as a control point even after all its remnants were ripped up when CTC was installed due to the Elgin Sub briefly going single track across the Fox River. Unlike the Williams Bay Branch, another diamond is not too far away, that being the CN Leithton Sub. Once owned by the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern (EJ&E), this subdivision is still in use today and is still very active, going from Joliet yard to Trafton near Leithton and Mundelein, IL. It also is a key control point on the Elgin Sub, even if its tower was taken and donated to the Illinois Railway Museum in Union, IL.