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VERY RARE! CSX GP15T # 1520 short train on the B&OCT Altenheim Subdivision

1,560 views · Published 25 October 2011 · 1:20 · Indexed 6 October 2026

Channel: Chicago Airport Spotter · 2011 · Autos & Vehicles

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I was very lucky to have been in the right place at the right time to catch what is a very rare and unpredictable freight train movement on CSX's all-but-defunct B&OCT Altenheim Subdivision on Chicago's west side and reaching into Oak Park, Forest Park, and beyond into Chicago's western suburbs.

Today, the line exists as a revenue line from a connection with the Belt Railway of Chicago at Rockwell Junction, then parallels I-290 and CTA's Blue Line 'L' public transit train line to the Ferrara Pan Candy Company plant in Oak Park between Harlem and Circle Avenues. The once-daily or as-needed (depending on traffic levels) local short train works the few still-open factories and plants along this line as far west as here, before returning and leaving its cars for the BRC. North of here, the line changes to CN ownership at Madison St, then connects to CP/Metra and the IHB at Franklin Park. Despite its position as an apparently strategic line, the Altenheim has been downgraded for service by this local, and for storing well cars. Very, very occasionally, (a couple times a year, perhaps) if both the BRC and IHB are clogged with trains at Franklin Park, CN will send a train into the city via this line. B&O and Soo Line trains used to operate into the city via the Altenheim, however.

Here, seen from the adjacent Harlem Avenue station on the Forest Park Branch of the CTA Blue Line 'L' rapid transit line, an outbound 'L' train heads to Forest Park, as CSX YN3-painted GP15T #1523 works the local, picking up one empty car from the candy factory and adding it to its consist to bring back to the Belt. The factory's electronic sign reads a hot, muggy 95F as a CTA train heads for the Loop and the local heads east on the Altenheim. A little transfer caboose brings up the rear of the train.

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