Englewood station (Chicago)

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Englewood Station or Englewood Union Station in Chicago, Illinois' south side Englewood neighborhood was a crucial junction and passenger depot for three railroads – the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad, the New York Central Railroad, and the Pennsylvania Railroad – although it was for the eastbound streamliners of the latter two that the station was truly famous. Englewood Station also served passenger trains of the New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad (Nickel Plate), which operated over the New York Central via trackage rights.

Englewood

NKP RS36 875; Train 5, The City of Chicago at Englewood on April 21, 1965

General information

Location

63rd Street and State Street
Chicago, Illinois

Coordinates

41°46′47″N 87°37′37″W / 41.7797°N 87.6269°W

Construction

Accessible

Other information

Status

decommissioned

History

Opened

February 20, 1852 (Northern Indiana and Chicago Railroad)

Closed

c. 1970s

Former services

Preceding station	New York Central Railroad		Following station
Chicago Terminus		Main Line	South Chicago toward New York
		Chicago – Cairo	South Chicago toward Cairo
		Chicago – Hammond	South Chicago toward Hammond
Preceding station	Pennsylvania Railroad		Following station
Chicago Terminus		Main Line	Cottage Grove Avenue toward New York or Exchange Place
Garfield Boulevard toward Chicago		Valparaiso Local	Cottage Grove Avenue toward Valparaiso
Chicago Terminus		Chicago – Columbus	Cottage Grove Avenue toward Columbus
		Chicago – Cincinnati	Cottage Grove Avenue toward Cincinnati
		Chicago – Louisville	Cottage Grove Avenue toward Louisville
Preceding station	Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad		Following station
Washington Heights toward Colorado Springs		Main Line	Chicago Terminus
Normal Park toward Joliet		Suburban Service	Chicago Terminus
Preceding station	Nickel Plate Road		Following station
Chicago Terminus		Main Line	Hammond toward Buffalo
Preceding station	Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad		Following station
Kensington toward Evansville		Main Line (1904–1913)	31st Street toward Chicago
Kensington toward St. Louis		Chicago – St. Louis (1904–1913)	31st Street toward Chicago

Location

History

Englewood Station stood at the intersection of several rail lines:

The New York Central (NYC) and the Rock Island shared trackage from Englewood to the north into LaSalle Street Station. At Englewood, they split: the Rock Island headed southwest, the New York Central east into Indiana.
The Pennsylvania Railroad's (PRR) Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railway crossed the Rock Island at this junction. To the north, its trackage headed into Union Station. The PRR then closely paralleled the NYC for several miles into Indiana.

Three-fourths of a mile west of this station, at 63rd Street and Wallace Street, stood another union station, nicknamed "Little Englewood."^[1]^[2]^[3]

The station itself stood near the corner of 63rd and State Streets and opened in 1898.^[2]

Englewood was the first stop eastbound, and penultimate such westbound, for both PRR's Broadway Limited and NYC's 20th Century Limited. Both trains would leave their respective terminals in Chicago, stop to embark passengers at Englewood, and leave the station simultaneously, each racing the other for several miles before they diverged.

At its peak the station serviced 52 of the 100 largest cities in the United States.^[2]

The westbound Rockets of the Rock Island also stopped at Englewood. Connections could be made at Englewood between any of the railroads at that intersection. Rock Island ran their intercity services here as late at 1978.^[4]

Upon the decline of intercity passenger traffic, and PRR and NYC's merger into Penn Central (and that railroad's bankruptcy and reorganization into Conrail), much of the trackage has been removed, and the commuter trains on the Metra Rock Island District no longer stop at the station, which was closed in the late 1970s. The former tracks of the Pennsylvania are now owned by the Norfolk Southern Railway and still carry freight and intercity Amtrak passengers to Union Station. The station was demolished in the late 70s, but some scattered remnants are visible around the railroad overpass near 63rd Street and State Street.^[2]

Scene at the station for the arrival of the 1926 Navy Midshipmen football team in November 1926 ahead of the Army–Navy Game at Soldier Field
A Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad Aerotrain at Englewood on April 21, 1965.
The Rocky Mountain Rocket at Englewood on April 21, 1965.