McHenry station

McHenry is a station on Metra's Union Pacific Northwest Line, located in McHenry, Illinois. The station is the terminus of the McHenry Branch of the Northwest Line; inbound trains operate as far as Ogilvie Transportation Center in Chicago. The station is also the only station on the McHenry Branch after it splits off at Pingree Road, although the line previously extended to Williams Bay, Wisconsin. Proposals exist to expand service on the line by adding stations in Prairie Grove and Johnsburg. It is the fifth furthest Metra Station from Chicago after Harvard, Antioch, Woodstock, and Kenosha, at 50.47 miles (81.22 km). Most Northwest Line trains operate along the Harvard branch to Harvard or Crystal Lake rather than the McHenry Branch. The station only has one track and one platform due to the low number of trains that serve the station. Two storage tracks are used to store two trains during overnight hours as well as weekends and holidays. The station is located at grade level. There is one grade crossing of a road at the station, which is placed under a Federal Railroad Administration horn quiet zone.[2] As of 2018, McHenry is the 198th busiest of the 236 non-downtown stations in the Metra system, with an average of 85 weekday boardings.[1]

McHenry
General information
Location4005 Main Street
McHenry, Illinois
Coordinates42.3434°N 88.2760°W / 42.3434; -88.2760
Owned byMetra
Platforms1 side platform
Tracks1
ConnectionsLocal Transit Pace Buses
Construction
AccessibleYes
Other information
Fare zoneJ
History
Opened1910
Passengers
201885 (average weekday)[1] Decrease 11.5%
Rank198 out of 236[1]
Services
Preceding station Metra Following station
Terminus Union Pacific Northwest
McHenry Branch
 Pingree Road
toward Ogilvie
Former services
Preceding station Chicago and North Western Railway Following station
Ringwood
toward Williams Bay
 Williams Bay Branch Crystal Lake
Terminus
Location

As of May 30, 2023, McHenry is served by six trains (three in each direction) on weekdays. There is no weekend or holiday service on the McHenry branch.

Station layout

McHenry station consists of one platform and two tracks. One track is used by revenue trains while the other is used as siding for out-of-service trains. The tracks, despite no current use, continue to Barnard Mill Road in the Village of Ringwood, Illinois at the Dow Chemical plant, where the Union Pacific McHenry Subdivision ends.[3] The tracks were pulled up between Richmond, Illinois and Ringwood in 1980 when service was cut back.[4] However, UP left trackage for local freight trains that served industries in and around McHenry, all of which are long gone.[5] The only freight customer remaining on the McHenry Subdivision is Terra Cotta Industries in Prairie Grove, 4 miles south of McHenry station.

Pace bus connections

As of October 2018:[6]

References
  1. "Commuter Rail System Station Boarding/Alighting Count: Summary Results Fall 2018" (PDF). Metra. April 2019. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 May 2019.
  2. Pelland, Maryan; Pelland, Dan (2001-06-06). McHenry County, Illinois. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 9781439629970.
  3. "Dow Chemical [Ringwood]". Buzzfile. Retrieved 2019-01-21.
  4. Behrens, P. L. (2002). Steam Trains to Geneva Lake: C&NW's Elgin – Williams Bay Branch. P.L. Behrens, Hebron, Illinois.
  5. Villaire, Ted (2010-06-01). Best Rail Trails Illinois: More than 40 Rail Trails throughout the State. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9780762762897.
  6. "System Map" (PDF). Regional Transportation Authority (Illinois). October 2018. Retrieved 2019-01-21.


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