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Elmhurst, Illinois, circa 1899. "Chicago & North Western Railway station." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Photographic Company. View full size.
Having been a resident of Elmhurst recently, I was moved to visit once more after seeing the 1899 photo above.. I tried to approximate the same position where the original photograph was shot here, 120 years later:
This picture reminds me so much of the St.Louis and San Francisco (StlSF) depot in my hometown of Columbus, Kansas. The milk cans were all on the freight platform ready to load when the train arrived plus any boxes or crates that needed shipped. In the spring, after the train had been, there might be crates of chicks cheeping that people had ordered from a supplier and other assorted boxes and crates that had been unloaded. With the steam, bell ringing, chuffing of the engine while it was in the station, and people debarking, It all seemed to be magic to me.
I'm thinking this is not the CNW station, which was a frame structure. Instead I believe it's the Chicago Great Western station (alternately the Chicago, Alton & Elgin), which was constructed of brick and was torn down sometime after 1960. (The CNW station survives, and is used by the Elgin parks department.)
[Incorrect. Searching eBay for "elmhurst postcard" would be a super-easy way to check. Click to enlarge. - Dave]
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