DEPOT ON TRACK FOR NEW LIFE
118-year-old New Lenox train station was moved to farm in Homer Glen
The old and the young lined Cedar Road on Wednesday to witness a moving experience: a 118-year-old train depot left its home in New Lenox and was moved to Homer Glen.
While many were excited about the remote-controlled process, others said they were “sad” the historic building had to leave the station it served for so long but were glad it was not demolished.
“We’re the last generation to care about this,” said Karen Handorf, whose family has farmed in New Lenox for four generations.
Metra donated the depot to the New Lenox Area Historical Society, but it had to be moved to make room for the new Rock Island Station Shopping Center and later a new train station farther east along the tracks.
“We need a new station,” Debra Bettenhausen said, recalling “many a cold morning” at the old station.
The long-awaited move —
originally scheduled for July 10 — became a community event. Crowds gathered and patiently waited along the 5-mile route, from the hectic train station at U.S. Route 30 to its quiet new home amid the cornfields at Walt Konow’s farm, 16849 S. Cedar Road.
Local businesses provided water, coffee and doughnuts for the crews, who swarmed the street to raise, lower and take down power lines along the route to accommodate the station as it inched its way on hydraulic wheels.
“The coordination and cooperation it took to get this done is unbelievable,” Jan Bentley said. “To see the companies, the people and community come together like this is really cool.”
The move began after the 8:30 a.m. train left the New Lenox station. It had to clear tracks before the 9 a.m. train rolled in.
Nine hours and 15 minutes later, it rested in its new place, surrounded by trees.
“It is back in a rural setting, like it originally was in New Lenox,” said Lori Lindberg, chairman of the historical society. “I think the people of New Lenox and Homer Glen showed tremendous support for this effort. I heard nothing but positive comments along the way. They will be talking about this for a long time to come.”
Konow walked the entire 5-mile route.
“People are happy it is being saved. That’s the main thing,” said Konow, who plans to have it reopened in one month.
Konow said the bricklayers will begin Monday to lay a cinder block foundation. The building will be tuckpointed, painted and given a new roof. While the move cost him “hundreds of thousands of dollars,” Konow said he is “excited” to have a piece of local history here.
It will join the Will County-landmarked Tilsey Barn, which eight years ago Konow saved from the wrecking ball.
“It’s important to keep this stuff. People need to know how other people lived back in the day,” he said.
Konow noted that rail transportation “is how people got here.”
Spectators agreed that this was “a nice spot” for the depot.
Shana Cavanaugh, of Lockport, lives across the street from the farm and said she and her family likely will visit the station. For history’s sake, she brought three young girls to watch the move from the corner of U.S. Route 6 and Cedar Road, near the Interstate 355 interchange.
“This is quite a production. How often do you see a train station going down the street?” she said.
For the utility company, it was a complex project, requiring four crews to disconnect and reconnect more than 30 power lines and remove and reattach street lights along the route, ComEd spokesman John Schoen previously said.
Nearby residents and businesses briefly were without power during the day.
Many in the crowd came to marvel at the engineering that allowed the old depot to seemingly move on its own down the road.
According to Devin Hirt, of Indiana-based Wolfe House and Building Movers, it’s a “very smooth” computerized “smart steer system” that Wolfe designed and patented and which allows it to maneuver tight spaces without compromising the structural integrity of the building.
Several Wolfe crew members walked along the building, guiding it around obstacles, and monitored its progress on a computer screen.
Nancy Adams watched from the Hickory Creek bridge.
“Whenever I see a project like this, I always find it interesting. I admire the people doing it,” she said.
The historical society plans to create a booklet and a video about the process to be given to anyone making a $25 donation.