Wheaton, located in

Wheaton, Illinois Wheaton is a suburban city in Milton and Winfield Townships and is the county seat of DuPage County, Illinois. It is located approximately west of Chicago. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 52,894, which was estimated ...

, was the western terminus of the

Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railroad The Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railroad (CA&E), known colloquially as the "Roarin' Elgin" or the "Great Third Rail", was an interurban railroad that operated passenger and freight service on its line between Chicago and Aurora, Batavia, Geneva, St. ...

's main line, after which it split into two branches bound for

Aurora An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of bri ...

and Elgin. It opened in 1902 alongside the rest of what was then called the "Aurora Elgin and Chicago Railroad" (AE&C), which at the time only extended eastward to 52nd Avenue in Chicago.

History

The right of way acquired by the AE&C ended up paralleling that of the Chicago and North Western (C&NW, the modern-day

Union Pacific West Line The Union Pacific West Line (UP-W) is a Metra commuter rail line operated by Union Pacific Railroad in Chicago, Illinois and its western suburbs. Metra does not refer to its lines by particular colors, but the timetable accents for the Union Paci ...

), and it was decided to construct its Wheaton station adjacent to the C&NW's station. The AE&C, including Wheaton station, openeds on August 25, 1902. The Elgin branch of the AE&C opened in 1903. The AE&C quickly grew and the station was expanded in 1911. The AE&C became the CA&E in the 1920s.

Closure and demolition

Having been rendered unprofitable by developments in the 1950s, the CA&E closed passenger service on the afternoon of July 3, 1957. The railroad decided to rent out its stations afterwards; Wheaton was leased to the DuPage County Democratic Party, whose headquarters it served. It was later demolished.

Station details

The 1911 station was designed by H. R. Wilson and Company. Radiators were placed in each corner of the station house during the winter to warm it up to . Between 1903 and 1914, trains left Chicago alternating between Aurora and Elgin; afterwards, trains proceeded west to Wheaton, where they were split with the front halves going to Aurora and the rear halves going to Elgin.

References

{{CA&E, Main=y, Aurora=y, Elgin=y 1902 establishments in Illinois 1957 disestablishments in Illinois Former Chicago, Aurora, and Elgin stations