Thank you for watching and glad that you enjoyed this video! We very much enjoyed making that video - our time spent in Geneva - and all along the pathway, even if significant portions of the old railway line are no longer there. There was still much to see along that path. Thanks for the support!
I love these videos - thanks for making them. It makes me think deeper and appreciate the history as I ride these trails. My pipe dream is that signs can get installed at the location of each station with pictures and information from each one! Hopefully one day IPP can make that happen
Hi Daniel! Thanks for watching and for the support! Yes, more historical markers along the IPP would definitely be worthwhile. Lombard and and few communities have done a nice job with this, and we hear that Wheaton is about to step up too. We'd like to see more of these locations, such as Clintonville, become something akin to "IPP destinations", places you can specifically ride to, picnic, take in the history, enjoy the scenery, etc. You can voice your opinion and contact the IPP via their email at info@ipp.org
Brian, Joyce, thanks so much for creating these videos. I know the IPP very well but the historical side adds a completely new dimension. I've watched more than half of the series. In some ways I liked the Geneva Spur video the most. The High Lake station steps caught my attention in the past but I never investigated what the station looked like. I was surprised that so much of the bridge structure at the West Branch DuPage River still exists. I had never seen it. I originally didn't like the DuPage airport portion of the trail but you made it more interesting when you pointed out that it actually hasn't changed that much since the early days of the CAE railroad. Great job!
Thanks for the kind words and for watching the videos, Ken! Very glad that you enjoyed the Geneva Spur video. We agree that it really does have some very interesting and unique aspects, including the High Lake stairs and the DuPage River in situ bridge piers. We enjoyed the making of that video. It also has an interesting connection to the Winfield Mounds, in that it ran so close by - and served as the means by which the early investigators precisely placed the mounds in the landscape. And the connection with the WM Forest Preserve today makes it easy to explore from the Geneva Spur, both 100 year history and 1000 year pre-history rolled into one. And so that's a great branch to ride for anyone looking for something different and a bit of an adventure.
Thanks for watching! Yes, there are all sorts of interesting things to see along the trails - much history and natural history. Good luck in your rides!
Thanks for watching! That's very good to know that the Illinois Railway Museum has both the Fannette and Jewell Road stations. Will have to check that out.
Thank you for this. The Geneva Spur is the one closest to my heart as I grew up in High Lake as a kid from ‘63 to ‘73. We lived at 20 Lake Drive, on the north side of the lake, and the High Lake station was literally in our backyard. Spent many a day on our bikes on the old ‘rite-o-way’ as it was known to us, riding into WeGo or to the Dupage River. Little bit of info for you; my uncle, and a friend of his, both who were named Don, tried to get the lake going again by pumping water into it, back in the ‘50s.
Very glad you enjoyed it, Charlie! The Geneva spur was unique. Very much liked the open feel of the area between Kautz and West Chicago. The High Lake Station was our favorite on this branch - very quiet, peaceful, and a mysterious, elegant stairway leading up to ... grass and trees. Very interesting about your uncle and friend attempting to refill the lake. Will have to visit the lake on our next ride along there. By the way, do you know about when they tore down the brick High Lake station?
I do not know when the High Lake Station was torn down. My grandparents bought the house at 20 Lake Drive sometime I’m the 40s as my grandfather wanted to get out of the city; they lived at 3705 south Wood Street, a bit west of old Comiskey Park. When my grandfather died in ‘63, my mom, dad, myself and two of my siblings at the time, moved in to take cate of my grandmother. I used those stairs many times cutting through the old rite-o-way to go over to a friends house at the northwest corner of High Lake Ave and North Main St. Back then there was one big house on the property and numerous acres. It has long been torn down and the property subdivided with a few houses on it now.
Really good video- you can tell it took a lot of work to put together. One nitpick- you keep using the verb "deprecated (to talk down or insult)" instead of "degraded." Otherwise, kudos. I'll have a look at the Outlaws and Vigilantes series. I've found an e-copy of one of your sources for that series, "Banditti of the Prairies." Really interesting stuff.
Thanks for watching and for the support! You are of course correct. I was using the term too loosely. So thanks for that comment and correction. And I don't feel at all deprecated. :-)
Hi Be Historic. Do you know anything about the Turner Depot on Turner Ct (at 32:25 in your vid) that seems to be near the alignment for the CAE? I ask because the CNW 1892 timetable for their service to San Francisco lists "Turner" as a stop 30 miles from Chicago. But I don't see any reference to "Turner" on any maps of West Chicago from that time. Anyway, thanks also for your videos.
Turner or Turner Junction was the early name for West Chicago, and originated with the Galena and Chicago Union Railroad (later Chicago and Northwestern) in the 1850s. As we recall the Chicago Burlington and Quincy also branched off from here to Aurora. We have not yet researched that small depot building, or the Turner Station, and so we are not entirely clear if that was a depot for the CB&Q or the C&N. Perhaps one of our viewers might know. Hope that helps! Thanks for watching and for the interesting question!
@@BeHistoric In one of those moments where the algorithm leads you to an answer to a previously asked question it seems to have been ex-CBQ moved for municipal reasons. I'm planning a road-trip starting from Chicago for this time next year, and West Chicago seems an interesting spot as a "Mugby Junction" with eight lines of rail converging, for a few decades at least. Happy to have both watched and asked. I don't think you'll be running out of Chicago-centric roads anytime soon...
Do you have any other videos on highlake? We just moved to highlake last year and love the history. Would love if you had any sources you'd recommend for more research
Hi, thanks for watching and commenting! None regarding High Lake per se. We do have a video regarding the accidents and tragedies of the Geneva Spur of the CA&E, which discusses a few accidents near High Lake. The West Chicago Historical Society is a good source for the High Lake subdivision. Archived local newspapers at various online (paid) websites are always a good source too.
Great job. I would have liked the video begin in front of the St. Charles History Museum on Main Street in St. Charles. It is at this point the trains began and had to go west across the Fox River and then turn south at 3rd St. Trains would then travel due south on Anderson Blvd to State Street where trains then headed East. At this point you could rejoin the Geneva Station at 305 W. State. Also in West Chicago, I would have shown how the mainline went down the middle of Fremont Street after leaving the Grand Lake Station. Tracks are still buried under the roadway from this point until Washington Street. I know it would be a safety issue, but perhaps video taken from an automobile from Washington all the way on Main Street to Rt. 59 would be nice. This could have been used in addition to the existing footage. A lot of railroad history in in this short stretch of roadway. Otherwise a nice job.
Hi Jerry - thanks for watching and commenting! Very valid points. We debated about whether to start in St Charles or Geneva - and ultimately decided to go with Geneva, for a variety of reasons. We thought that we'd cover the St Charles connection if and when we did a series on the Fox Valley railway. We also debated about going down Main Street and Fremont in West Chicago, as that was true to the original railway - but we were trying to balance not only our safety - but anyone else that wanted to reproduce our journey. It was also disappointing that the short stretch of trail that angled from Grand Lake to Fremont was not open when we took our trip - and had been closed for quite some time. We will almost certainly do a reprise of this journey at some point - touching on things missed in this original series - so these items will be added the list. Thank you again for the support!
winfield rd was build by 1972 and after 61 before that County farm road was referred to as Winfield rd cuz it was the road you took to get into Winfield
Thanks for commenting. Yes, finding a period map that indicates that road as beomg officially referred to as Winfield Road versus County Road or County Farm Road is very difficult. We looked through many, many period maps but found no reference to that road being called Winfield Road in the first part of the 20th century. Eventually we found one or two newspaper references which indicated that it was referred to as Winfield Road by some of the locals.
Yes, based on the single photograph of the Fannette station, using photometric methods, we placed the Fannette station about 60 feet east of the small stream and bridge artifact. Thanks for the comment!
The Geneva Line opened in 1909, but it was likely street-boarding for the first few months, until the terminal building was completed in 1910. In the video, we stated that the terminal building was built/completed in 1910, and that it was effectively a copy or extension of the building immediately to the west of it - which was built the year before in 1909. I'm sure that one of the local shops or store-fronts sold tickets until the terminal building was completed. The AE&C only leased the building - it was not purpose built for them - the same arrangement that they had in Elgin, Aurora, Geneva, etc. Street boarding was pretty common early on, particularly in the cities, such as Aurora, Elgin, St Charles, etc.
Technically, yes - but it was all part of the AE&C family of railways. There must have been some financialor legal advantage to charter every spur as a seperate legal entity. The Geneva Spur is always shown on the schedules as being part of the AE&C and then later the CA&E.
Thank you for keeping this great History alive.
Thanks for watching, Brian - and thanks for the support!
Best mobile class ever! Glad to join the
Cardinals & Robins along the way! And thankful for your efforts! Keep wheel'in!
Thanks for watching and for commenting! And thanks for the support!
Born and raised in STC so I'm familiar with this area, great background on the historical locations and significance of the names.
Thank you for watching and glad that you enjoyed this video! We very much enjoyed making that video - our time spent in Geneva - and all along the pathway, even if significant portions of the old railway line are no longer there. There was still much to see along that path. Thanks for the support!
Thank you for this interesting video on the Geneva Spur of the Chicago, Aurora & Elgin Railroad!
Thank you for watching! Glad that you found it of interest!
Ty for posting
Thank you for watching our videos! We appreciate it!
I love these videos - thanks for making them. It makes me think deeper and appreciate the history as I ride these trails. My pipe dream is that signs can get installed at the location of each station with pictures and information from each one! Hopefully one day IPP can make that happen
Hi Daniel! Thanks for watching and for the support! Yes, more historical markers along the IPP would definitely be worthwhile. Lombard and and few communities have done a nice job with this, and we hear that Wheaton is about to step up too. We'd like to see more of these locations, such as Clintonville, become something akin to "IPP destinations", places you can specifically ride to, picnic, take in the history, enjoy the scenery, etc. You can voice your opinion and contact the IPP via their email at info@ipp.org
Brian, Joyce, thanks so much for creating these videos. I know the IPP very well but the historical side adds a completely new dimension. I've watched more than half of the series. In some ways I liked the Geneva Spur video the most. The High Lake station steps caught my attention in the past but I never investigated what the station looked like. I was surprised that so much of the bridge structure at the West Branch DuPage River still exists. I had never seen it. I originally didn't like the DuPage airport portion of the trail but you made it more interesting when you pointed out that it actually hasn't changed that much since the early days of the CAE railroad. Great job!
Thanks for the kind words and for watching the videos, Ken! Very glad that you enjoyed the Geneva Spur video. We agree that it really does have some very interesting and unique aspects, including the High Lake stairs and the DuPage River in situ bridge piers. We enjoyed the making of that video. It also has an interesting connection to the Winfield Mounds, in that it ran so close by - and served as the means by which the early investigators precisely placed the mounds in the landscape. And the connection with the WM Forest Preserve today makes it easy to explore from the Geneva Spur, both 100 year history and 1000 year pre-history rolled into one. And so that's a great branch to ride for anyone looking for something different and a bit of an adventure.
Another great one guys ! My rides are going to be a lot more interesting this summer .
Thanks for watching! Yes, there are all sorts of interesting things to see along the trails - much history and natural history. Good luck in your rides!
Fanette station shelter still exists, its at IRM, in a green and white color. It's stored next to the Jewell Road shelter which is also at IRM.
Thanks for watching! That's very good to know that the Illinois Railway Museum has both the Fannette and Jewell Road stations. Will have to check that out.
Thank you for this. The Geneva Spur is the one closest to my heart as I grew up in High Lake as a kid from ‘63 to ‘73. We lived at 20 Lake Drive, on the north side of the lake, and the High Lake station was literally in our backyard. Spent many a day on our bikes on the old ‘rite-o-way’ as it was known to us, riding into WeGo or to the Dupage River. Little bit of info for you; my uncle, and a friend of his, both who were named Don, tried to get the lake going again by pumping water into it, back in the ‘50s.
Very glad you enjoyed it, Charlie! The Geneva spur was unique. Very much liked the open feel of the area between Kautz and West Chicago. The High Lake Station was our favorite on this branch - very quiet, peaceful, and a mysterious, elegant stairway leading up to ... grass and trees. Very interesting about your uncle and friend attempting to refill the lake. Will have to visit the lake on our next ride along there. By the way, do you know about when they tore down the brick High Lake station?
I do not know when the High Lake Station was torn down. My grandparents bought the house at 20 Lake Drive sometime I’m the 40s as my grandfather wanted to get out of the city; they lived at 3705 south Wood Street, a bit west of old Comiskey Park. When my grandfather died in ‘63, my mom, dad, myself and two of my siblings at the time, moved in to take cate of my grandmother. I used those stairs many times cutting through the old rite-o-way to go over to a friends house at the northwest corner of High Lake Ave and North Main St. Back then there was one big house on the property and numerous acres. It has long been torn down and the property subdivided with a few houses on it now.
Really good video- you can tell it took a lot of work to put together. One nitpick- you keep using the verb "deprecated (to talk down or insult)" instead of "degraded." Otherwise, kudos. I'll have a look at the Outlaws and Vigilantes series. I've found an e-copy of one of your sources for that series, "Banditti of the Prairies." Really interesting stuff.
Thanks for watching and for the support! You are of course correct. I was using the term too loosely. So thanks for that comment and correction. And I don't feel at all deprecated. :-)
at 6:48 the pic of the trolley going up the Geneva Hill from Rt 25, its on a Culvert Bridge .. that bridge is still there
That's very interesting. You're saying that it's the original culvert - or that a culvert of some sort still exists there today?
Hi Be Historic.
Do you know anything about the Turner Depot on Turner Ct (at 32:25 in your vid) that seems to be near the alignment for the CAE?
I ask because the CNW 1892 timetable for their service to San Francisco lists "Turner" as a stop 30 miles from Chicago. But I don't see any reference to "Turner" on any maps of West Chicago from that time.
Anyway, thanks also for your videos.
Turner or Turner Junction was the early name for West Chicago, and originated with the Galena and Chicago Union Railroad (later Chicago and Northwestern) in the 1850s. As we recall the Chicago Burlington and Quincy also branched off from here to Aurora. We have not yet researched that small depot building, or the Turner Station, and so we are not entirely clear if that was a depot for the CB&Q or the C&N. Perhaps one of our viewers might know. Hope that helps! Thanks for watching and for the interesting question!
@@BeHistoric In one of those moments where the algorithm leads you to an answer to a previously asked question it seems to have been ex-CBQ moved for municipal reasons.
I'm planning a road-trip starting from Chicago for this time next year, and West Chicago seems an interesting spot as a "Mugby Junction" with eight lines of rail converging, for a few decades at least.
Happy to have both watched and asked.
I don't think you'll be running out of Chicago-centric roads anytime soon...
Do you have any other videos on highlake? We just moved to highlake last year and love the history. Would love if you had any sources you'd recommend for more research
Hi, thanks for watching and commenting! None regarding High Lake per se. We do have a video regarding the accidents and tragedies of the Geneva Spur of the CA&E, which discusses a few accidents near High Lake. The West Chicago Historical Society is a good source for the High Lake subdivision. Archived local newspapers at various online (paid) websites are always a good source too.
Great job. I would have liked the video begin in front of the St. Charles History Museum on Main Street in St. Charles. It is at this point the trains began and had to go west across the Fox River and then turn south at 3rd St. Trains would then travel due south on Anderson Blvd to State Street where trains then headed East. At this point you could rejoin the Geneva Station at 305 W. State.
Also in West Chicago, I would have shown how the mainline went down the middle of Fremont Street after leaving the Grand Lake Station. Tracks are still buried under the roadway from this point until Washington Street. I know it would be a safety issue, but perhaps video taken from an automobile from Washington all the way on Main Street to Rt. 59 would be nice. This could have been used in addition to the existing footage. A lot of railroad history in in this short stretch of roadway. Otherwise a nice job.
Hi Jerry - thanks for watching and commenting! Very valid points. We debated about whether to start in St Charles or Geneva - and ultimately decided to go with Geneva, for a variety of reasons. We thought that we'd cover the St Charles connection if and when we did a series on the Fox Valley railway. We also debated about going down Main Street and Fremont in West Chicago, as that was true to the original railway - but we were trying to balance not only our safety - but anyone else that wanted to reproduce our journey. It was also disappointing that the short stretch of trail that angled from Grand Lake to Fremont was not open when we took our trip - and had been closed for quite some time. We will almost certainly do a reprise of this journey at some point - touching on things missed in this original series - so these items will be added the list. Thank you again for the support!
winfield rd was build by 1972 and after 61 before that County farm road was referred to as Winfield rd cuz it was the road you took to get into Winfield
Thanks for commenting. Yes, finding a period map that indicates that road as beomg officially referred to as Winfield Road versus County Road or County Farm Road is very difficult. We looked through many, many period maps but found no reference to that road being called Winfield Road in the first part of the 20th century. Eventually we found one or two newspaper references which indicated that it was referred to as Winfield Road by some of the locals.
i was once told Fannette Stop was just east of a Stream/Culvert/bridge
Yes, based on the single photograph of the Fannette station, using photometric methods, we placed the Fannette station about 60 feet east of the small stream and bridge artifact. Thanks for the comment!
Rewatching - im confused the Geneva Depot opened in 1909 but was built in 1910? so was it just a street stop with no building when it opened?
The Geneva Line opened in 1909, but it was likely street-boarding for the first few months, until the terminal building was completed in 1910. In the video, we stated that the terminal building was built/completed in 1910, and that it was effectively a copy or extension of the building immediately to the west of it - which was built the year before in 1909. I'm sure that one of the local shops or store-fronts sold tickets until the terminal building was completed. The AE&C only leased the building - it was not purpose built for them - the same arrangement that they had in Elgin, Aurora, Geneva, etc. Street boarding was pretty common early on, particularly in the cities, such as Aurora, Elgin, St Charles, etc.
wasnt the Geneva sub built by Chicago Wheaton & Western and not CA&E?
Technically, yes - but it was all part of the AE&C family of railways. There must have been some financialor legal advantage to charter every spur as a seperate legal entity. The Geneva Spur is always shown on the schedules as being part of the AE&C and then later the CA&E.