Hello Grand Trunk Western Fans, my name is Brian Morgan.
I grew up on Chicago's Southwest Side in the no mans land between Chicagolawn and Westlawn community's a block east of the throat of the Elsdon Yards of the Grand Trunk Western Railroad on 59th Place & Lawndale Avenue. I remember as a young child my Aunt Barb would take me on long walks around the neighborhood and my favorite places on my Aunt Barb's walking tours were the former Passenger Station located at 63rd Street & Central Park Avenue. I can remember seeing from the street level below the tracks the GTW EMD GP-9 4900 series units pulling a string of four to six passenger cars at a time past my and Aunt Barb and I and seeing these passenger trains heading towards 63rd Street with passengers and crew waving to me and Aunt Barb as they passed.
Throughout my life I was a devoted to the Grand Trunk Western Railroad and her operations and in my elementary School days at Ferdinand W. Peck after school and especially during the summer months I would spend hours at the various locations, The Tower at 55th Street, the bench at the former location of the Freight Station at 51st Street, or just inside the gate just around the corner peering at the engines being turned, maintained, fueled, and sanded at 49th & Kedzie Avenue.
I am in the planning stages of building a model railroad of the very places of my youth to as far as Haskells, Indiana. So that is why I started this blog in order to obtain research material, provide what I know and just for those whom share the same general interests in the Grand Trunk Western Railroad from Chicago to South Bend, Indiana as I do. I plan to model the era from the late 1950's to the mid 1960's since this is th era I remember the best.
I am currently looking for the following a Sandborn Fire Insurance Map of the Elsdon Yard especially one that indicates where the Coaling and Watering facilities are located in the Elsdon Yard, a structural schematic and floor design and blue print of the Chicagolawn GTW station located at 63rd & Central Park Avenue and the same for the following stations Saint Mary Cemetery Flagstop, Evergreen Park, Illinois, Blue Island, Illinois, Harvey, Illinois, South Holland, Illinois, Thornton, Illinois, Munster, Indiana, Lottaville, Indiana, Ainswoth, Indiana Sedley, Indiana and Haskells, Indiana.
I hope I peaked the interests of those whom remember the Grand Trunk Western that ran from Chicago to the South Bend Union Station for if anyone is interested in helping me out or has any photo's or fond memeories feel free to share them with us.

Brian Morgan.