Forgotten Lands, Places and Transit

Block 61 at Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie has a rare quality that I'm always seemingly chasing: the feeling that something important used to be here… and that the land is still deciding what to do with it. Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie is a federally protected prairie reserve near Wilmington, Illinois, managed by the U.S. Forest Service. Established in 1996, it is the first national tallgrass prairie in the United States and serves as a major ecological restoration project on former Joliet Army Ammunition Plant land, which served the war efforts of both World War II and the Vietnam War. The name chosen was “Midewin,” derived from the Potawatomi word referring to a traditional society or gathering of healers. Today's blog focuses on the Block 61 trail to the east; which in many spots feels less like a nature hike and more like an archaeological survey of the Cold War. Men only want one thing. The thing: Step inside and the temperature drops. Sound flattens. The curved...

There are very few single lane bridges in northeast Illinois remaining, and for mostly good reasons, as the ones that remain are typically substandard and have a streak of being hit by box trucks . Nonetheless, one that I was very sad to see close was in the town adjacent to my hometown, Plainfield's truss bridge over the DuPage River. Roger McCredie, Photographer, December 1991  In a historical narrative about the bridge , historian John B Nolan noted that, as of 1995, it was "the last surviving through truss in Will County, and an example of a bridge type once familiar in Illinois. This truss, built by the Wrought Iron Bridge Company." Before I realized that railroad rights of way were often easily identifiable via aerial images, one of my favorite pastimes was to look at old and unique railroad crossings on Google Maps.  However, this particular crossing wasn't one I'd discovered on Google, but rather out on one of my frequent drives to nowhere; the EJE (now C...

Several years ago, our friend and occasional guest-blogger JetLaggedJaff made a visit to Toronto and the CN Tower , which he was kind enough to share with us.  Recently, we made the trip down to downtown Toronto to visit the Toronto Railway Museum ourselves, which is nestled in the heart of the former Railway Lands , adjacent to the aforementioned CN Tower. For any fan of railway history or urban development, this museum offers a fascinating glimpse into the city’s rich railroading past right in the heart of downtown.  FRRandP photo. Caption from the Toronto Railway Historical Association , "Cape Race was built for the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1929 as the River Liard. The car was one of a series of 15 River cars fabricated at National Steel Car in Hamilton for $66,300 apiece. The opulent interiors were finished at CP’s Angus Shops in Montreal and featured individual ladies’s and gentlemen’s showers, leather-upholstered smoking rooms, ladies’ lounge and observation parlour ...