Wednesday, January 8, 2020

Looking South From Willis/Sears Tower and Aerials

The Willis/Sears Tower has its own notes.

Along the right side we see the GM&O/C&A, Pennsy and REA buildings. We also see part of the CB&Q Central Warehouses and SOO freight house and team tracks. Crooks Terminal Warehouse is barely visible in the distant mist. Unfortunately, Grand Central Station was torn down just a year earlier than this photo.
Richard Pitchford posted, 1972
A construction worker stands atop the attenna of the Sears Tower,
nearing completion, 1972, Chicago. He is untethered, about 1485 feet in the air.

Gary Sturm posted
Southern view from the Sears Tower in 1975.
There are enough railroad related facilities in this photo that I have labelled it below.

A: Meadow Gold cold storage before it was converted to condos
B: Erie freight house
C: container gantry crane in Rock Island 12 Street Yard   The white land is fill of the old river bed
D: The Santa Fe roundhouse has been torn down and the Orange Line has yet to be built
E: Santa Fe coach yard
F: The B&OCT bridge is down.
G: Union Station Powerhouse    This still stands, but Amtrak wants to tear it down for a parking lot
H: Santa Fe grape yard
I: Allied Metal Co.
(GM&O used to have a branch that ran up Grove Street between the Cuneo buildings and terminated at the Allied Metal Co.)
J: Cuneo Press   (the letter is up on I-90)
K: Crooks Terminal Warehouse
L: CB&Q engine house and powerhouse, the vertical white line in front of Crooks Terminal Warehouse was the smokestack.
M: REA
N: Soo freight house

Gary Sturm posted plus Paint

Tabitha White Sox posted
Downtown Chicago from above (1930) 
Photo from Calumet412
Thomas Leaton: Also visible is the dome of the old federal courthouse. Across the street was the Atlantic Hotel, then named the KaiserHof.
Michael O'Connor: Union Station looks brand new but the Northwestern Depot is already covered in soot.
Stuart B. Slaymaker: La Salle Street Station before the trainshed burned.
Paul Webb shared
Ean Kahn-Treras: Union Station, Northwestern Station, Grand Central, LaSalle St Station and finally Dearborn Station. [The only intercity station not in this photo was Illinois Central.]
Matt McClure: So much change, you would think it was another city now. The Dearborn Park I and II where the shed and approach tracks were is one of the wealthiest zip codes in the nation.
[The river straightening project is still in progress. And this reminds me that the Civic Opera House was a significantly tall building for its day.]

Gary Sturm posted
The southward view from the Sears Tower in 1974.

Gary Sturm posted four photos with the comment: "Views from the observation floor of the Sears Tower at Chicago in 1974."
1

2

3

4

2 of 3 photos posted by Ryan Sykes with the comment: "A few pictures of the Amtrak Chicago yard & BNSF Metra yard from the Willis Tower Skydeck. Taken 04/13/24."
1

2, cropped
[It will be interesting to see what 78 finally becomes.]

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