Day trips by train from Chicago?

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caravanman

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Mar 22, 2004
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Hi Folks,

I have just today booked a last minute trip to USA, arriving Boston 30th May.

Looking at a few options, one of which is several days stay in Chicago. Just wondering if anyone has any suggestions of places reachable, and of potential interest, for day trips out and back from Chicago?

Cheers,

Ed.
 
Are you interested in maximizing rail time, and/or interesting rail experiences, or are you looking for an easily reachable there-and-back trip where the destination itself is interesting?

In the latter case, you can easily head up to Milwaukee and back on the Amtrak Hiawathas, and there's plenty to see and do there...though arguably much less so than in Chicago. There are a few Chicago suburbs that are neat to explore and easily reachable by frequent METRA service, such as Geneva, Kenosha, Naperville and many others.

If you want a "different" sort of rail experience, the electrified South Shore Line to South Bend and back is a good one, though there's nothing particular to do in South Bend while you're there, given the station's location.

If you just want to spend the day on Amtrak, most of the Chicago-based corridor services have schedules that allow out-and-back day trips, including to St. Louis, Detroit, Carbondale and Quincy...but you wound't have much time to do anything meaningful at those destinations.
 
I found Detroit to be fascinating - past opulence and present decay. The Amtrak station is in New Center and within blocks of Cadillac Place and the Fisher Building. The new Woodward light rail runs by the station and goes right dowtown = 3.5 miles. Lots of interesting bldgs. There is a small affordable hostel in Corktown which is walkable from downtown. Go for it! :)
 
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Any suggestions are welcome. I have stayed in Chicago itself a number of times, and was wondering about the desirability of a slightly extended stay, and a few day trips out, against the option to pass through quickly on to another city. No need for maximum train time, although that aspect is fun, an interesting destination/turnround point is a big plus.

Hi, City of Miami... I have visited Detroit already, love that Fisher building and Cadillac place, and the post industrial vibe. Might consider another visit and a stop over in that hostel...

Ed.
 
Have you visited the Henry Ford in Dearborn MI? I can't recommend the place more highly... the Greenfield Village is filled with historic buildings that have been moved to Michigan from all over the world. A 3 mile, standard gauge steam train (they have 3 operating, coal burning locomotives) encircles the village, and you can ride in Model T cars, a Ford Model AA Bus, and also various horse-drawn carriages. There is a restored train depot, steam roundhouse, and lots more to do in the village. The Museum next door has a Railroad Wing with locomotives and equipment, as well as many other notable pieces of American History.

The Amtrak Dearborn Station (the new intermodal stop) is very nice and is located directly behind the Village. It's an easy, but long walk to the village, or you can take a cab or shuttle. The Dearborn Station also features an open (not gated) platform so after the village closes.. you can go railfan at the station.

If you've never ridden the South Shore Line to South Bend.. I'll echo that recommendation as it's a real treat to ride a real Interurban line, complete with Street Running, in 2017!
 
I'd also suggest Milwaukee (perhaps not surprisingly) as an easy day trip with more Amtrak train options than any of the other Chicago corridors - you'd have up to about 11-12 hours in Milwaukee.

And I'd also agree with South Bend (via the South Shore line commuter train), primarily for the street-running in Michigan City as the South Bend station is at the South Bend Airport and not particularly exciting - although it is possible to travel onward to downtown South Bend and other points in the South Bend area via local transit.

St. Louis is another option, as well as any of the other cities along the St. Louis route (such as Springfield) - you'd have up to 5 hours in St. Louis.
 
If you enjoy rail fanning, I suggest early morning ride to Galesburg, IL. The Galesburg station is neat place to rail fan as the BNSF freight yard is in Galesburg so there is multiple freights all day long in addition to Southwest Chief and California Zephyr in bound followed by the outbounds late afternoon. Also there is a very neat Railroad Museum right at the Galesburg Station. There would be two options for returning to Chicago. One is the inbound Southwest Chief around noon time and the other is the Illinois train early evening arriving back in Chicago around 9:40 PM. If you like, here are photos I made during a road trip I made to Galesburg in 2016: Galesburg Station and Museum
 
I agree with the recommendations for Galesburg,the Henry Ford Museum and the SouthShore Line to SouthBend Eddie!

Also consider a trip to the Historic Pullman Village and the Illinois Rail Museum although a car or ride share is necessary for these two.
 
Railfan! Blue Island, Colton Jct. etc.
West Chicago also offers a railfanning opportunity, since a north/south rail line(the former Elgin Joliet and Eastern/EJE, I forget which freight railroad bought EJE out) intersects with that Metra line. Also you can walk right onto the former Joliet Union Station platform if you take the Rock Island Metra to Joliet, and can see all the freight train action going through that junction up close. There is now a railing on the north/south(ex-Amtrak) and east/west(ex-Metra) platforms, as of today.

Are you interested in maximizing rail time, and/or interesting rail experiences, or are you looking for an easily reachable there-and-back trip where the destination itself is interesting?

In the latter case, you can easily head up to Milwaukee and back on the Amtrak Hiawathas, and there's plenty to see and do there...though arguably much less so than in Chicago. There are a few Chicago suburbs that are neat to explore and easily reachable by frequent METRA service, such as Geneva, Kenosha, Naperville and many others.

If you want a "different" sort of rail experience, the electrified South Shore Line to South Bend and back is a good one, though there's nothing particular to do in South Bend while you're there, given the station's location.

If you just want to spend the day on Amtrak, most of the Chicago-based corridor services have schedules that allow out-and-back day trips, including to St. Louis, Detroit, Carbondale and Quincy...but you wound't have much time to do anything meaningful at those destinations.
Just a note if you do Kenosha: the train service on that line north of Waukegan, is MUCH less frequent. I strongly recommend doing a trip on Monday-Saturday, and not to do one on Sunday or holidays. There also is local bus route service within that town, but the service is much better on weekdays vs. Saturday. On Saturdays, all the routes that run on Saturday(less service vs. weekdays, sadly) end by like roughly 4pm. :( You can use Uber or a cab, if you need to get somewhere within that town. I want to say Lyft may now be available in Kenosha, but not 100% sure on that.

I'd also suggest Milwaukee (perhaps not surprisingly) as an easy day trip with more Amtrak train options than any of the other Chicago corridors - you'd have up to about 11-12 hours in Milwaukee.

And I'd also agree with South Bend (via the South Shore line commuter train), primarily for the street-running in Michigan City as the South Bend station is at the South Bend Airport and not particularly exciting - although it is possible to travel onward to downtown South Bend and other points in the South Bend area via local transit.

St. Louis is another option, as well as any of the other cities along the St. Louis route (such as Springfield) - you'd have up to 5 hours in St. Louis.
For South Bend, you'd transfer to the #4 Transpo bus at the airport, to get to downtown South Bend. That bus route picks you up(and drops you off) on the access road, immediately south of the South Bend Airport station. It does have some limited things to do, but I wish SB had more things to do. Michigan City seems to be trying to make their downtown nicer, based on recent trips I've done there. It even now has 2 breweries, that are within walking distance of the downtown Mich City South Shore stop. And of course, Saint Louis is really great and has a lot of stuff to do. You can take Metrolink(light rail) to get to various parts of that city, and there's a stop just outside of the Amtrak station in Saint Louis.

I agree with the recommendations for Galesburg,the Henry Ford Museum and the SouthShore Line to SouthBend Eddie!

Also consider a trip to the Historic Pullman Village and the Illinois Rail Museum although a car or ride share is necessary for these two.
Galesburg is alright. It does have the birthplace home of Carl Sandburg, Knox College's campus, and a few shops downtown like a bookstore. And of course like you said, it is good for railfanning. I feel bad for that town since years ago the Maytag plant there closed, and a lot of jobs were lost. :(

I will add that if you go to the Pullman neighborhood of Chicago, you do NOT need a car to go there. You just only need to take the Metra Electric line, to the 115th/Kensington stop. Unfortunately for the Illinois Railway Museum, you would need to rent a car to go there. It'd be nice if they provided a shuttle from like the Crystal Lake or Woodstock Metra stop, but sadly they don't. I've heard some people take a bike on Metra to Crystal Lake(or Woodstock, whatever they prefer), and bike over country roads to IRM though.
 
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Hi Ed,

I've ridden the Hiawatha to Milwaukee and the Wolverine to Kalamazoo, both on day trips. I visited the Harley-Davidson Museum in Milwaukee (highly recommended) and the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts and the free Valley Museum about the history of the City of Kalamazoo. Also very interesting.
 
Hi Ed,

I've ridden the Hiawatha to Milwaukee and the Wolverine to Kalamazoo, both on day trips. I visited the Harley-Davidson Museum in Milwaukee (highly recommended) and the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts and the free Valley Museum about the history of the City of Kalamazoo. Also very interesting.
I was hoping one of these days, to do a Kalamazoo trip on Amtrak! Had been meaning to do that forever, just hadn't done so yet. But eventually, I will.
 
A great day trip from Chicago ( but you will need an overnight or two) is to take the EB to the Wisconsin Dells. That town is bristling with activity. The Dells is known for its large variety of water parks outside the town area but in town you can take boat rides to explore the upper and lower Wisconsin river which is very scenic. There is the H.H. Bennett photography museum, water shows, quality restaurants, hotels galore and plenty to do. A short drive from the Dells is the Circus Museum in Baraboo that was once the site of the winter home of the Ringling Bros circus. Many of the original buildings still stand and there are circus and magic shows to see. If you decide to drive from Chicago to the Dells, make a stop in Spring Green to see The House on the Rock and Talesian, the Frank Lloyd estate.
 
Springfield (IL) has a bunch of Lincoln/pioneer related stuff, but I don't know how accessible it is from the train. (I was last there on a school tour which used busses.)

Don't overlook Chicago itself - there's a plethora of world-class museums easily reached by public transit. The El itself is worth riding - I've heard it described as a roller coaster that happens to actually take you somewhere!
 
Springfield (IL) has a bunch of Lincoln/pioneer related stuff, but I don't know how accessible it is from the train. (I was last there on a school tour which used busses.)

Don't overlook Chicago itself - there's a plethora of world-class museums easily reached by public transit. The El itself is worth riding - I've heard it described as a roller coaster that happens to actually take you somewhere!
The Lincoln museum in Springfield is definitely walkable from the train.

I wouldn't compare the L in Chicago to a roller coaster but, given that much of it is above ground and not in subway tunnels, it can be a great way to see parts of the city.
 
If you want to get OUT of an urban area you can take the South Shore to the Indiana Dunes State Park and explore that for a few hours. Though with all the rain we've had I can guarantee that it will be mosquito heaven right now (there are bogs inland, between the dunes and the old moraines).
 
Thanks for all the ideas and suggestions, folks. I have decided just to have one night in Chicago on the way through to Seattle, but to have an extended stay, with some of those side trips you suggested, on the way back through, to Boston. I have booked 3 nights in the Boston hostel, one in the Chicago hostel and 3 again at the Seattle hostel. As you can imagine, between the hostels and the coach seats, it is rather a low budget trip. Down to Sacramento next, possibly Las Vegas/San Diego/SLO before heading back to Chicago on the Zephyr...

I will let you know when I have decided the full details of the rest of the trip. I will be on the E.B. on Sunday 4th June, so will be a week ahead of you, City of Miami!

Cheers all,

Ed.
 
I wouldn't compare the L in Chicago to a roller coaster but, given that much of it is above ground and not in subway tunnels, it can be a great way to see parts of the city.
The "L' may not feel like a roller coaster, but it can sound like one if you are at street level near the tracks within the Loop when the trains go rattling by.

The sightseeing element can't be overlooked; the Chicago Transit Authority even promotes it on their site as a visitor attraction. One can hop on the Brown Line at any station and, in about 90 minutes or so, take a complete tour of the Loop via train, disembarking at the same station originally boarded. The other lines are interesting in their own right; they give some sense of how vast the city proper is. I almost pity those visitors who come to town via the airports, take a shuttle downtown, and then back to the airport, having only seen the Windy City from a small radius of their hotel or from the back of a taxi (and/or shuttle van/bus). There are many more things to experience, particularly with some of the suggestions herein to explore outlying areas.
 
Quite a journey again, Ed. I'm jealous. I did San Diego-San Luis Obispo-San Diego last November. Between Lompoc and Goleta the views are breathtakingly gorgeous. Have a wonderful trip!
 
If you want a "different" sort of rail experience, the electrified South Shore Line to South Bend and back is a good one, though there's nothing particular to do in South Bend while you're there, given the station's location.
If you took the morning train to South Bend, it would be possible to take a city bus to the downtown area, and see the Studebaker museum, history center, art museum, and such. Then return to the airport on the same bus in time for the evening South Shore train back to Chicago.
 
If you follow this recommendation from Diagrua...

If you decide to drive from Chicago to the Dells, make a stop in Spring Green to see The House on the Rock and Talesian, the Frank Lloyd estate.
...you may also have an opportunity to visit the (hang on to your hat) National Mustard Museum on the West side of Madison WI... http://mustardmuseum.com/ .;..provided it's still in business when you get there. Tried a visit a few years ago on the way to the House On The Rock but it was closed. The House On The Rock is a guaranteed mind numbing visual overload: https://www.thehouseontherock.com/HOTR_Attraction_PhotoGallery.htm
 
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Will probably give the mustard museum a miss, although I hear it is hot stuff... I am a fan of Lloyd Wright and did previously venture out to Oak Park, Chicago, to view the Unity Temple, and his early house designs in that area.

Getting excited now, just a few days to go!

Ed.
 
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