Rochelle Illinois: Quad Diamonds For The New Year!

There are places people have that are special to them, that connect with the core of their being, where a lot of happy moments were spent that left an impression. For me, the Rochelle Railroad Park is one of those places.
As a kid, my family and I would often spend whole weekends in the Central Illinois town, spending the night at one of the local hotels. Days were spent at the park, watching Union Pacific and BNSF hustle seemingly endless traffic east and westbound through the junction, playing on the Whitcomb engine and rummaging about the gift shop. Nights were spent in the hotel pool, ordering Vince's Pizza for dinner while watching UP continue the nonstop action across the highway and the field that separated their mainline from the hotel, or the never-ending rise of the steam cloud from the nuclear power plant in Byron Illinois if we were on the other side of the building.
Now, 20-plus years on, much has changed at Rochelle, but the allure and love I've had for the place still remains. Sure, the old Searchlight Signals have been replaced by PTC-equipped "Darth Vaders" on aluminum cantilevers. A "Quiet Zone" now surrounds all seven of the town's grade crossings, as the residents finally got fed up with noise of constant horns 24/7. The Global 3 Intermodal Terminal west of town may have lost its practicality as a "Chicago Intermodal Bypass", and subsequently was converted into a general freight yard. Even the fire pit at the hobo jungle has been removed, thanks to some dumb kids who started way too big a bonfire in there one night. But for me, the happy memories and moments I have spent here override all of this, and in spite of the naysayers, I always seem to find my way back here sooner or later. There truly is nothing quite like this place, and there never will be, at least in my book.
So for New Year's Day, that was exactly what I did, booking a room in a local hotel for the night before, actually getting a good night's sleep on New Year's Ever for once, then headed off to the park bright and early before sunup. All in all, a shade under 12 hours was spent here, and the action did not disappoint. Both railroad's put on a show that made "PSR" seem nonexistent, with plenty of good motive power to go along with it. As I've said, things may have changed here, but I love this place too much to stay away for long. I will be back.....
Enjoy Everybody! There is plenty more to come!