Joliet 10-3-12

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INSIDE

SPORTS Europe wins Ryder Cup PAGE 13

NEWS Last Laugh Film Fest brings laughs to Joliet

ONLINE More news at buglenewspapers.com

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Our Village, Our News

www.jolietbugle.com

OCTOBER 3, 2012

Vol. 5 No. 5

CELEBRATING 100 YEARS Joliet’s Union Station reaches century mark By Jonathan Samples Staff Reporter

Submitted Photo/Joe Petric

Rock Island commuter train passes in front of Joliet’s Union Station in 1969.

Joliet’s Union Station turns 100 this month, and despite the building’s uncertain future, the city and local railroad enthusiasts are not letting the milestone pass without celebration. “We decided that this occasion should not go by unremarked because it’s just too significant,” said Bill Molony, President of the local Blackhawk chapter of the National Railway Historical Society. “The station is a part of the history of Joliet. It’s a landmark and a significant building on the landscape of Joliet for the last 100 years.” The Blackhawk chapter is hosting a banquet in honor of the anniversary on Oct. 14 at Union Station, and Molony said the celebration will do more than simply memorialize the completion of the historic building, which celebrated its grand opening

on Oct. 14, 1912. Molony said planners are attempting to have this banquet duplicate that original celebration from beginning to end. “To the extent possible, we’re trying to replicate the original event,” Molony said. “We’re even replicating the original menu.” As a life-long railroad enthusiast and 20year member of the NRHS, Molony has come to appreciate the significant role the station has played in Joliet’s history. The station was built in the early-20th century, and it made possible the consolidation of four separate train stations in downtown Joliet. Molony said this was significant because train traffic peaked at around 120 trains a day in the city. “Slow trains were tying up town and fast trains were running people over,” Molony said of train traffic prior to the station’s See UNION STATION, page 2


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