ONCE AGAIN THANK YOU EVER SO MUCH JWUBBEL FOR YOUR IN DEPTH WEBSITE ON THE CHICAGO GREAT WESTERN & THE WINSTON TUNNEL/ELIZABETH,IL. PHOTOGRAPHS. I AM A HUGE FAN OF THE CGW RAILROAD & LIVE ONLY A BLOCK AWAY FROM THE FORMER CGW RIGHT OF WAY IN BERKELEY,ILLINOIS.I DO REMEMBER SEEING THE LARGE FREIGHT TRAINS RUNNING THROUGH HILLSIDE,IL.WHEN I WAS JUST A KID.I AM NOW JUST ABOUT 50 YEARS OLD & THE MEMORY JUST NEVER FADES.I HAVE BEEN DOING RESEARCH ON THE CGW & CA&E FOR ALMOST 30 YEARS & HAVE A NICE COLLECTION OF BOOKS, PHOTOS,& EVEN HARD TO FIND VIDEOS MYSELF INCLUDING A PERSONAL VISIT WITH PHOTOS OF THE WINSTON TUNNEL IN THE 1980'S.I EVEN HAVE SPENT A SMALL FORTUNE ON O-GAUGE MODEL TRAINS DECORATED FOR THE GREAT WESTERN,IT TOOK A VERY LONG TIME,I HAVE SEVERAL COMPLETE TRAINS.I HAVE BOOKMARKED YOUR WEBSITE IN GREAT ERNEST.KEEP UP THE GREAT(WESTERN)WORK! DAVE.
Wayne
07-Sep-2008 02:15
Thank you jwubbel for your article and original pictures from the 70's. I live near Clair and Sycamore Illinois where the CGW once traveled through. Unfurtunatly, I missed actually ever witnessing the CGW by the misfortune of both space and time. The tracks did still exist as I was growing up and I remember crossing the tracks on Anne Glidden Road, (North of DeKalb & West of Sycamore), many times when my parents would take us to visit relatives in DeKalb, IL. I drove across the tracks myself, (after turning 16), in 1976 on 5 Points Rd after getting my drivers liscense. For whatever reason some of the tracks in this area didnt get taken up until the mid or late 70's. I always wondered about the history of this unused railroad and thanks to you and many more for posting the stories articles, book exerps and pictures. Now at 48, I spend a ton of my non-working time learning the real history of my local area & at the national level. Often the subjects are like a jig saw puzzle and many different people post their piece of the puzzle to put these historic subjects ino a whole perspective. Again, thanks to all those out their who continue to do so!
