BNSF/CB&Q crossing over Aban/Panhandle+B&OCT+NS/NYC/CJ

(Satellite)

This crossing is unusual because it has two connections in the southwest quadrant. It is also unusual because most of the tracks that were in the crossing in 1938 are still here. The notable exception is the Pennsy Panhandle tracks that used to be on the west side of the Western Avenue Corridor.

Satellite

A regular connection used to connect the CB&Q with Pennsy's Panhandle.

Satellite

A track has been added to crossover the former Panhandle RoW and connect to the B&OCT tracks. There is also a track going south that is part of BNSF's Horseshoe Project.

3D Satellite

A flyover connection still connects the BNSF mainline to a BNSF branch that heads south to a few remaining industries along the South Branch of the Chicago River. And a regular southeast connection still connects that southern branch to the other direction of the BNSF mainline.

Getting photos of the "bridge" that provides a pier for the flyover when it crosses the tracks was an agenda item of a field trip. I got photos from several vantage points starting with a view of the east side of the "bridge."

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While still on the east side of the CB&Q branch, I got some views a couple of blocks south of the "bridge."

Working my way further south.

Now I'm taking photos on the west side of the tracks in the Western Avenue corridor.

This is a reminder that steel is strong in tension. That is why the center member that holds up the west girders of the flyover can be so small.
[Now I wish I had taken a step or two to the left before I snapped this photo. Maybe my unconscious mind was trying to get all of the graffiti.]

This was a deliberate attempt to incorporate the two water towers and the smokestack that I took photos of on the east of the connections.

I also grabbed some shots of the crossing from a commuter train.

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You can see the regular connection on the right and the beginning of the flyover connection in the foreground. In the middle background is the "aerial pier." (The green hue is because the windows on the train are tinted green.)