Chicago, IL

“Hog Butcher for the World/Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat/Player with Railroads and the Nation's Freight Handler/Stormy, Husky, Brawling, and City of the Big Shoulders” is how poet Carl Sandburg described Chicago in 1916. At that time, Chicago was the world’s largest rail hub.

Since its beginning in 1834, Chicago has been a center for trade. The opening of the Illinois and Michigan Canal in 1848 permitted shipping from the Great Lakes through Chicago to the Mississippi River. The same year, the first rail line to Chicago, the Galena and Chicago Union Railroad, was completed and the Chicago Board of Trade was founded. Today, the city is an important component of global commerce, as it is the third largest intermodal port in the world after Hong Kong and Singapore. Additionally, it is the only city in North America where six Class I railroads meet, and about 1/3 of the nation’s freight trains move through Chicago

Chicago Union Station is the busiest passenger terminal in Chicago and is most intact of the four remaining downtown train stations. Begun in 1913 and completed in 1925, Chicago Union Station was built for a consortium of five railroads, headed by the Pennsylvania Railroad. Daniel Burnham, Chicago’s famous architect who was also responsible for designing Washington, D.C.’s Union Station, was the initial designer, although others finished the work after his death.

Union Station is the only example in the United States of a “double-stub” station, where the 24 tracks approach from two directions and most do not continue under or through the station. The exterior of the station is clad in Bedford limestone and was quarried in Indiana. Together with the approach and storage tracks, the entire station facility takes up nearly 10 city blocks. The original complex incorporated two different buildings on either side of Canal Street, connected below street level.

The station’s Great Hall features a 300-foot-long barrel-vaulted skylight that soars 115 feet over the room, with pink Tennessee marble floors, Corinthian columns and bronze floor torches. The Jazz Age seems very much alive in the Great Hall, one of the country’s great interior public spaces. The Great Hall is used for major events and has been used in TV and films such as Union Station, The Untouchables, My Best Friend’s Wedding, Chain Reaction, ER and Early Edition. Redevelopment for the entire Head House is being considered, including plans to improve the passenger concourse and relocate more passenger service functions into the Great Hall.

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In cooperation with the National Park Service, a limited edition National Parks Passport Cancellation Stamp has been created with the Amtrak 40th Anniversary Exhibit Train.  The cancellation stamp will be available for one year and only at select stops along the tour—such as this one.   Collectors will appreciate this cancellation stamp as a unique addition to their National Park Service passport. Find out more information on the National Park Service Passport Cancellation program.