{"id":2853,"date":"2013-06-16T07:06:57","date_gmt":"2013-06-16T11:06:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/?p=2853"},"modified":"2013-06-16T20:52:10","modified_gmt":"2013-06-17T00:52:10","slug":"rondout-tower-illinois-june-12-2013","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/rondout-tower-illinois-june-12-2013\/","title":{"rendered":"Rondout Tower, Illinois, June 12, 2013"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

Visions of Milwaukee Road Hiawatha<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s impossible for me to visit Rondout Tower and not see the ghost of a streamlined F7 Hudson blasting by with the Hiawatha <\/i>in tow. Ghosts only; I\u2019m not nearly old enough to have witnessed such a spectacle.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday 12, 2013, Chris Guss and I paused on the footbridge to have a late lunch and watch a couple trains. Nothing unusual, just an outbound Metra<\/a> train for Fox Lake<\/a> and Amtrak<\/a>\u2019s Chicago<\/a>-Seattle Empire Builder<\/a> a few minutes later.<\/p>\n

\"Rondout<\/a>
Metra F40PH 115 leads a Union Station-Fox Lake commuter train at Rondout Tower on June 12, 2013. Canon EOS 7D with 100mm lens.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Rondout<\/a>
Amtrak number 7, the westward Empire Builder blasts by Rondout Tower on June 12, 2013. Canon EOS 7D with 100mm lens.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Back when the Hiawatha<\/i> raced between Chicago and Milwaukee, Milwaukee Road was operating the fastest regularly steam powered trains in the world and the famous for its order, \u2018Slow to 100\u2019 for the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern<\/a> crossing at Rondout.<\/p>\n

Today, maximum speed on the line is 79 mph. Occasionally someone mentions \u2018progress\u2019. For me this abstract concept has little meaning. Change, certainly.<\/p>\n

Someday, change will mean that Rondout Tower, too, will only be a ghost.<\/p>\n

Related articles<\/h6>\n