In his 1914 ode to Chicago, Carl Sandburg referred to the city as the ‘Hog Butcher for the World, Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat, Player with Railroads and Freight Handler to the Nation’. What was true over a century ago is still true today – Chicago is the heart of America’s railroads. A dizzying array of rail lines radiate out of Chicago serving as vital gateways for goods from the Midwest to the rest of the nation and the world. An amazing variety of railroads also interchange huge amounts of tonnage at many yards surrounding the city. Amtrak uses Chicago as its national hub, and Metra commuter trains convey over a quarter of a million people from home to work and back on weekdays. On average, over 500 freight trains and 700 passenger trains travel through Chicago every day.

This colourful tour, lavishly illustrated with Mike Danneman’s stunning photographs of Chicagoland, offers highlights of this exciting Midwestern city.