Thanks for the info Charlie. I am modeling CP during the mid 50's,
figured the depot was there at the time.
There is an interesting postcard of the Q congress park station on
ebay. Item number: 150103557211
Please don't bid on it group! ;-) If I win, I will post it on the
site in the photo section.
Rory
--- In CBQ@yahoogroups.com, "Charlie Vlk" <cvlk@...> wrote:
>
> Rory-
> You ask some interesting questions.
>
> 1) West Grossdale Station (the original name) was built c.1884
(don't recall the exact date but it and East Grossdale (Hollywood,
aka Zoo Stop) were platted about the same time as Grossdale
(Brookfield))
>
> 2) The Chicago, Hammond & Western (if I remember the name
correctly) predecessor to the IHB and B&OCT ...IHB in later years)
didn't come about until the 1890s. So there was no crossing of the
tracks at the foot of the bluff (old Lake Chicago shoreline dunes) so
the mainline was at about the same grade as the South (street) side
of the station.
>
> 3) It is not known if there was a track heading south down to the
quarries at Lyons on the alignment of the present day IHB prior to
1890. I suspect there might have been a Q spur but haven't uncovered
any evidence of it other than a early mention of a Q Freight Agent at
Lyons, IL. A shot taken from the bridge over the IHB looking north
before the bridge was raised (sometime in the 20's) shows some very
old grain elevator/lumber buildings along the IHB which look like
they might predate the railroad coming through... there may have been
a Q siding down there to the north as well.
>
> 4) When the CH&W built through LaGrange Park it necessitated the Q
to raise the right of way in front of the station by perhaps 4-6
feet. The front of the station had to be modified
> so it no longer had egress to the station platforms which were now
raised. The access was by a broad flight of stairs (to the west, I
don't recall if I've seen a photo which shows a
> matching set to the east).
>
> 5) At some point the grade of the mainline was further raised to
increase the clearance of the bridges crossing the IHB; at this time
the stairs were removed and a pedestrian subway was installed to the
west of the station to access the platforms and provide a way to get
to the streets north of the yard. It was probably at this time that
the lead for the south interchange track was extended across the
front of the station to Maple Avenue instead of cutting into the main
just west of the station. The original grade was maintained on the
interchange except for a slight hump over the subway and then a
gradual slope up to the main just before Maple Avenue.
>
> An intersting map shows the CH&W projected to swing northeast
diagonally through Brookfield to link up with the Harlem & Riverside
(the connection that runs along Harlem Avenue
> between the Chicago, Madison & Northern (IC Iowa Line) up to a
former connection with the Wisconsin Central (Soo Line). That would
have changed the interchange with the Q as it would have fallen
somewhere around Maple Avenue or east of there!!!
>
> The depot was razed sometime in the 1990s.... don't recall what
date but I do have it in my files if you need it.
>
> Charlie Vlk
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
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