16th (Clark) Street Interlocking, My Pictures

Update: This posting is about my visit to this tower, I have already written the main posting for this tower.

20160416 2225

During my last visit to Ping Tom Memorial Park, I stayed on Wentworth north of 18th Street even though it was marked No Outlet because I was curious what I could see. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that I could go all the way north to the tracks because it is now overflow parking for the new fieldhouse and ballpark. Both of these are built on Santa Fe's former passenger engine service facilities. The back wall of the roundhouse would be along the new sidewalk in this streetview.

I walked over to a landscaped hill north the of the fieldhouse and took these three pictures to provide context.

Looking Northwest

Looking East
That is my van parked by the barricade.

Looking North
The IC tracks are in the foreground.

I used this aerial photo to confirm the land I parked on is fill of the old Santa Fe passenger facilities and Wentworth Ave. to create a parking lot for Ping Tom Pool and the baseball diamond where the Santa Fe turntable used to be.

1938 Aerial Photo from ILHAP

A closer look at the eastern view shows the edge of the connector bridge on the fill of the Santa Fe tracks on the left, the bridges over Clark Street in the middle, and the Metra interlocking tower. The Meadow Gold Butter cold storage building that has been converted to condos dominates the right side of the picture.
While walking back from the grassy area, I discovered that there is still a tie-plate stuck in the parking area.

During my visit to this area, there were several Red Line trains using the State Street Subway. To the right is a southbound train leaving the subway. Below you can see a meet in the distance and the tracks descending into the subway.

I went back to the grassy area north of the field house to get another picture of the St. Charles Air Line (closed position) and B&OCT (open position) bridges because this is a view I have never seen before. The tracks in the foreground are for the IC. The walkway on the other side of the tracks is part of the Ping Tom Memorial Park. This confirms they have filled the C&WI track area as well as the Santa Fe tracks along the IC embankment.

10:47:52

While I was taking this picture, I heard the sound of a diesel. I turned toward the east and grabbed this picture. Then I ran north towards the barriers so that I could shoot around the tree. The train seemed to be moving fast. (But I can't swear to it because I was busy running rather than watching the train.)  I wonder if the diamonds are OWLS because I did not hear any "banging of the diamonds." Trains on the SCAL, including the Amtrak trains, would have to go slow anyhow because they cross the movable bridge over the river and do a sharp turn south on the east end.

I was able to get a shot of the engine by the tower that was not skunked by the trees, barely. I rotated, cropped, and darkened this picture to update the initial posting. After I moved further around the tree, I took another shot because it was a long commuter even though it was a Saturday.

10:48:14

I ended with a west-to-east sequence of pictures taken from as far as I could go north and still not be trespassing on railroad property.

Looking Northwest

Close up of the diamonds with IC and the remaining connector.
I commented on a posting: "I found it fascinating that they did not remove the bridges. They just filled in the track routes. I assume the first pair went over the Santa Fe tracks and the second pair went over the above C&WI route."
Bob Lalich Yes, the near set of bridges went over the ATSF coach yard leads and the far bridges went over the C&WI. Going way back, there was a track between the two bridges which belonged to the Alton/GM&O. It also passed over the ATSF on a bridge and connected to the SCAL and CRIP/NYC. That bridge was removed in the WWII.

Looking Northeast

Looking East

I repeat the "looking North" photo because David's photo below made me realize that we are seeing the top of the embankment wall just beyond the fence.

David Charles Lindberg posted
[Southwest Limited backing towards the former Sante Fe coach yard.]