Chicago Union Station in the context of "West Loop, Chicago"

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⭐ Core Definition: Chicago Union Station

Chicago Union Station is an intercity and commuter rail terminal located in the West Loop neighborhood of the Near West Side of Chicago, United States. Amtrak's flagship station in the Midwest, Union Station is the terminus of eight national long-distance routes and eight regional corridor routes. Six Metra commuter lines also terminate here.

Union Station is just west of the Chicago River between West Adams Street and West Jackson Boulevard, adjacent to the Chicago Loop. Including approach and storage tracks, it covers about nine and a half city blocks (mostly underground, beneath streets and skyscrapers, some built with the earliest usage of railway air rights).

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👉 Chicago Union Station in the context of West Loop, Chicago

The Near West Side is one of the 77 community areas of Chicago, United States. It is on the West Side, west of the Chicago River and adjacent to the Loop. The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 started on the Near West Side. Waves of immigration shaped the history of the Near West Side of Chicago, including the founding of Hull House, a prominent settlement house. The near west side comprises several neighborhoods. In the 19th century railroads became prominent features. In the mid-20th century, the area saw the development of freeways centered in the Jane Byrne Interchange.

The area is home to the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC), Chicago-Kent College of Law, and City Colleges' Malcolm X College. the United Center, the Illinois Medical District, Union Station, Ogilvie Station, and the Jane Byrne Interchange are also located in the community area.

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Chicago Union Station in the context of Baths of Caracalla

The Baths of Caracalla (Italian: Terme di Caracalla) in Rome, Italy, were the city's second largest Roman public baths, or thermae, after the Baths of Diocletian. The baths were likely built between AD 212 (or 211) and 216/217, during the reigns of emperors Septimius Severus and Caracalla. They were in operation until the 530s and then fell into disuse and ruin.

Both during and since their operation as baths, they served as inspiration for many other notable buildings, ancient and modern, such as the Baths of Diocletian, the Basilica of Maxentius, the original Pennsylvania Station in New York City, Chicago Union Station and the Senate of Canada Building. Artworks recovered from the ruins include famous sculptures such as the Farnese Bull and the Farnese Hercules.

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Chicago Union Station in the context of Ogilvie Transportation Center

The Richard B. Ogilvie Transportation Center (/ˈɡəlv/), on the site of the former Chicago and North Western Terminal, is a commuter rail terminal in downtown Chicago, Illinois, United States. For the last century, this site has served as the primary terminal for the Chicago and North Western Railway and its successors Union Pacific and Metra. Intercity services had disappeared by the 1970s, but commuter services on the three ex-CNW mainlines, Metra's UP District lines, continue to terminate here. The tracks are elevated above street level. The old CNW terminal building was replaced in the mid-1980s with a modern skyscraper, the 500 West Madison Street building. The modern building occupies two square city blocks, bounded by Randolph Street and Madison Street to the north and south and by Canal Street and Clinton Street to the east and west. It is the second busiest rail station in Chicago, after nearby Union Station, the sixth-busiest railway station in North America, and the third-busiest station (after Grand Central Terminal and Jamaica station in New York City) that exclusively serves commuter traffic.

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Chicago Union Station in the context of Railway yard

A rail yard, railway yard, railroad yard (US) or simply yard, is a series of tracks in a rail network for storing, sorting, or loading and unloading rail vehicles and locomotives. Yards have many tracks in parallel for keeping rolling stock or unused locomotives stored off the main line, so that they do not obstruct the flow of traffic. Cars or wagons are moved around by specially designed yard switcher locomotives (US) or shunter locomotives (UK), a type of locomotive. Cars or wagons in a yard may be sorted by numerous categories, including railway company, loaded or unloaded, destination, car type, or whether they need repairs. Yards are normally built where there is a need to store rail vehicles while they are not being loaded or unloaded, or are waiting to be assembled into trains. Large yards may have a tower to control operations.

Many yards are located at strategic points on a main line. Main-line yards are often composed of an up yard and a down yard, linked to the associated direction of travel. There are different types of yards, and different parts within a yard, depending on how they are built.

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