First, while the depot was closed and effectively abandoned in
1986 when Metra moved to the roundhouse site (Amtrak having
previously moved to Naperville), it was only demolished after part
of the cornice fell onto Broadway sometime post-2010 (I forget the
exact year).
Second, keep in mind that nothing here is on a due north-south or
east-west alignment. Broadway is technically a n-s street and
Clark e-w, but they are off from the cardinal directions by at
least 30 degrees. The tracks go through on an angle of close to 45
degrees, northeast to southwest.
Clark seems like it's pretty far from the depot to have had a
tunnel extending to it. I never explored the area when it was all
still open, but I my understanding is that the entrance to the
underpass to the platform stairs was outside the depot itself.
Okay, I just checked the Bing Maps street view, which is old
enough to show the depot still standing. It appears that there was
just a sidewalk along the southeast side of the tracks to just
south of the corner of Broadway and Clark, where (as a train goes
east) the embankment changes to the viaduct that carries the
tracks to New York St. (okay, there is a short section of fill
between Clark and Benton).
--
David Streeter
On 11/8/2021 11:57 AM, James Koretsky
wrote:
Hi All,
In the past I've ask for much information
and help on the Aurora Depot, that was in placed from the
Early 30's through it's eventual demolition in 1986, after
being moved to the current location in Aurora. Thank you to
all those that answered.
There is one question that I haven't asked,
and I don't have my CB&Q materials handy is to see if it
covered, but was access to platforms 1 and 2, between tracks 2
and 3, done via the underpass that ran North / South under the
tracks from the Depot itself on the south side off South
Broadway, to the north side of the tracks, and up stairs. Was
there an underpass running under the tracks, from this
pedestrian underpass to the East on Clark street?
James