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So Many Trains, So Litle Time
Aug. 22nd, 2022 03:39 pmLisa and I do try and combine our love of trains with our SF fandom activity, and that means when possible, we try to visit railway museums on our convention travel when we can do so. Ironically, traveling by train makes it difficult to visit the various rail museums we see along the route; however, this year's Worldcon looks like an opportunity for us to visit the Illinois Railway Museum in Union, Illinois.
Originally, we were working on a plan to visit the museum after Worldcon; however, I finally realized a few days ago that this will not work because the IRM is not open on weekdays after Labor Day (September 5). Furthermore, we try to be on site the day before Worldcon starts. So inasmuch as we are arriving the afternoon of Monday, August 29, that means the only possible remaining day we can go to the IRM is Tuesday, August 30.
So how do we get there? It's not trivial. The IRM is 60 miles / 95 km from the Hyatt Regency Chicago, and unfortunately it is not itself rail served. There is a way to get near it by rail: take the Metra Yellow (UP) line from Chicago to Crystal Lake, but then it would be what looks like an expensive and still not short trip by Uber/Lyft or possibly trying to work with the local "dial-a-ride" service to get to/from the museum from Crystal Lake.
After looking through a number of different prospects, the one that looks to be the most practical (if less fun) is to rent a car. There appears to be car rental available from the Hyatt itself, so as long as we can get back to the hotel by 5 PM (when the car rental return closes), we should be able to make the trip out to Union and back. Possibly traveling reverse commute will make it not so awful as it could be.
Originally, we were working on a plan to visit the museum after Worldcon; however, I finally realized a few days ago that this will not work because the IRM is not open on weekdays after Labor Day (September 5). Furthermore, we try to be on site the day before Worldcon starts. So inasmuch as we are arriving the afternoon of Monday, August 29, that means the only possible remaining day we can go to the IRM is Tuesday, August 30.
So how do we get there? It's not trivial. The IRM is 60 miles / 95 km from the Hyatt Regency Chicago, and unfortunately it is not itself rail served. There is a way to get near it by rail: take the Metra Yellow (UP) line from Chicago to Crystal Lake, but then it would be what looks like an expensive and still not short trip by Uber/Lyft or possibly trying to work with the local "dial-a-ride" service to get to/from the museum from Crystal Lake.
After looking through a number of different prospects, the one that looks to be the most practical (if less fun) is to rent a car. There appears to be car rental available from the Hyatt itself, so as long as we can get back to the hotel by 5 PM (when the car rental return closes), we should be able to make the trip out to Union and back. Possibly traveling reverse commute will make it not so awful as it could be.
