I went from Kansas City to Chicago to New Orleans to Dallas and back by rail via Amtrak in the late summer of 1993. I visited Elmhurst Illinois after riding out on the Metra to see what it is like for millions of commuters everyday. Many of the suburbs of Chicago are really nice -- towns in and of themselves which are almost like small towns close in to the big city. I had some coffee at the local coffeehouse and catch the train back to the Northwestern depot. Then after walking around the loop for a bit, I get on an "el" train, or elevated train, which is a third rail electrified subway train, but in Chicago, for the most part, the trains are elevated forming a large loop around the business district, hence the name the loop. I rode that to the end of the line and back, as many "el" trains leave the loop and branch off into the city. Then, because John Ambrose was curious as to what had become of Dearborn Street station, I ventured over to there to see if it was still standing, and yes it is -- it is some sort of loft office mall complex. Dearborn station is known for being the station of the Hollywood stars. Many stars if they needed to travel from LA to Chicago, they would take the primo luxury trains of the Santa Fe, which came into Chicago at the Dearborn Street Station. With the station being a little out of the way and small, it was perfect for the Hollywood types who wanted to be wisked to their limos without attracting much attention. When Amtrak took over, Dearborn station was abandoned, and was even part of a Great Railway Journeys episode on the BBC. Well, it looks like the station was spared, though not as a station. Many of the Chicago stations were torn down. Some exist in name only as stations for the Metra, though they are really only the ground floors of tall buildings, like Northwestern and La Salle. Illinois Centrals station, where you would have caught the City of New Orleans is completely gone. That was the station that hosted the great southern migration into Chicago and the midwest.

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