The Best Rail Fanning in Illinois

Welcome to Illinois, which I believe after years and years of "chasing the big metal" has some of the best railfan sites in the country. It is my sincere desire to share these with others in the safe pursuit of a wonderful hobby. With best regards, Laurence Rohter, Adjunct Professor, Illinois Institute of Technology.

I am going to start with my personal favorite best site: The big bridge at Thebes.

Much Railroad Traffic, with a variety of train types; Missisippi River Barge Traffic; and a wonderful site to watch and listen from on the west bank, north of the Bridge. Photo captured.

And then I want to add my other personal favorites, which for lack of a better title, I call Tolono, Tuscola, and Toluca. Not specifically for these three towns, but for the alliteration of using the T's for Track and Route Following. I am not aware of any other other area where it is so easy to actually follow the actual train tracks across miles and miles of route. Illinois is rich in agriculture and has many, many small roads used for getting farm to market. These roads allow an exceptional capability to actually follow the tracks, follow the trains as they make their way through the Land of Lincoln. It could be exceptional Intermodal high speed action on the BNSF, ex Santa Fe "Transcon"; or the 400mile meander following the old CEI (now UP) to Thebes or St Louis. In both these cases, there are frequent small roads and grade crossings to closely monitor train movements, and appreciate the engineering that laid out these important corridors. It always leads to the inevitable question of "wait or hunt" for the next train.

My favorite routes are, ex CEI from Thornton to Thebes (now UP), ex Santa Fe from Joliet to Fort Madison(now BNSF), and ex C&I/CBQ, Sugar Grove to Savanna (now BNSF), my personal favorite.

First update 2020 March 26 Laurence