Geneva Station new hours
Weekdays 5am to 9pm
Contact info for
Rail Fans, TOAST,
Iron Horse Tours & Talks
& Station Reimagined
email: gastorybook@gmail.com
tele: 815/483-7494
Call 815/483-7494 for info.
Newsletter​​​​​​​​
Contents
Geneva Passenger News
Metra Board News
Amtrak News & Trips
Local & Western Rail History
​​
Local engineer, conductors tell
their stories
Scroll Down
Station
Reimagined
Tired of Track Anxiety
in La Fox?
Geneva Station Wish List and
Station
Reimagined
Scroll down
and La Fox Station News
Please email Rusty If you
don't see your name,
Choo Choo for Kids
Updated: July 25, 2025
Table of Contents
Diners closed on Sundays
Two Toots & Whistle Grill
Glen Ellyn & Batavia
Choo Choo Diner -Des Plaines ​
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Train Merchandize for kids/adults
​ Shoppes at 127
located 127 3rd St Geneva
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Ride Trains
Fox Valley Trolley Museum
Illinois Railway Museum
Polar Express
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Museums
Bartlett Train Museum Depot
Museum of Science & Industry
layout, Zephyr train, locomotive
West Chicago
Batavia (with a caboose)
Plainfield
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​
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Train Watching
Geneva
Naperville
Rochelle
South Suburbs
4 railfanning locations
plus rail activities
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Other
Chicago Union Station Great Hall
Great Midwest (Model) Train Show
Rail Webcams
Chessie Restaurant - Barrington
Bull Moose Bar & Grille - Somonauk
Riding Chicago's 'L'
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Bonus:
Kids Stories
Animal Stories
Glen Ellyn Bartlett
closed on Sundays
Two Toots & Whistles Grill
Kids love 2 Toots
GLEN ELLYN 2 TOOTS & WHISTLE
Many Geneva families take the Metra Union Pacific West train, get off at Glen Ellyn and walk 1 block west of the train station.
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BARTLETT 2 TOOTS & WHISTLE
COMBINE YOUR VISIT WITH
BARTLETT TRAIN MUSEUM.
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​
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Both are located within 1 block of each other on Metra's Milwaukee District West line in downtown Bartlett.
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The Bartlett Train Museum has several hands on activities for children including activating the train horn and putting on a conductors uniform.
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Check the Museum hours as it is open only a few days each week.
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Check for Museum hours at their website.​​​​​
​Choo Choo Diner Des Plaines
​
Ride Metra UP West to Ogilvie Chicago station,
then board Metra's UP Northwest line
(located in same station), get off in Des Plaines.
Walk 1 block to
​
CHOO CHOO DINER
600 Lee St, DesPlaines, IL
providing smiles since the 1950's!
Train Clothing & More
for Kids/Adults
​
Shoppes at 127
127 S 3rd Street Geneva
(across from Court House)
Rt 31 South Elgin
Fox Valley
Trolley Museum
​
Highly recommended for little kids.
​
The train goes slow through the forest and along the Fox River. After a 10 minute ride, it stops at a Forest Preserve. You can get out, have a picnic, or just walk around before catching the next train back to the station.
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The train travels about 4 miles round trip.
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A beautiful big red caboose sits next to the station and is accessible.
Great Midwest Train Show (s)
I'm a paragraph. Click here to add your own text and edit me. It's easy.
I'm a paragraph. Click here to add your own text and edit me. It's easy.
Usually 1st Sundays of Month
9am to 3pm at the DuPage County Fairgrounds.
​
3 Buildings full of Trains
Operating Model Train Displays
TRAINS KIDS CAN RUN!
Museum of
Science & Industry
A really gigantic train model train layout! .
Twenty (20) operating trains
Check it out at
Also, home of the Burlington Zephyr
Wow, the entire train is at the museum!
Board the train, sit down, and imagine yourself running the rails at over 100 miles per hour between Chicago & Denver.
Locomotive 999
The first steam locomotive to go over 100 MPH
CHICAGO UNION STATION
built 1925
There are just no words to adequately describe the Great Hall at Chicago Union Station. Kids (and adults) are in awe!
The kids will notice people waiting for their Amtrak train as well was observing people walking fast (even running) to catch their commuter train. Although not the best place to see trains, nevertheless, it's atmosphere will be memorable.
West Chicago
City Museum
This was a railroad town. The Museum has lots of train pictures. Kids love ringing the bell and watching a little train run around a track.
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Two train lines cross the town for train watching. Check out the locomotive , next to the Metra station.
Bartlett
Bartlett Depot Museum
Exhibits that highlight Bartlett's rail history.
Metra photographer Mark LLanuza 's "Ticket to Ride" features his photos.
The Junction Diner Forest Park IL
Union Illinois
45 min from Geneva
Illinois Railway Museum
Consistently voted the best railway museum in the United States!
This is the place to see and ride trains!
Train sells out fast!
Mid July at
Illinois Railway Museum
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Batavia
Batavia
Depot Museum
Visit the caboose too!
Former Depot built in 1855 to serve
the Chicago & Aurora RR which eventually became the Chicago Burlington and Quincy Railroad
​
Mendota
Joliet
Train Station
Plainfield
Rochelle
The story of railroads in Rochelle begins in 1854 when the Air Line Railroad was completed between Chicago and the town of Lane (Lane was the first name of Rochelle). The railroad later became the Chicago and North Western and today is owned by the Union Pacific (UP).
Sixteen years later the Chicago & Iowa Railroad was built through Rochelle in 1870 and it crossed over the Air Line Railroad between 11th Street and 12th Street. The railroad was later called the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy
Lake Geneva, Wisconsin
Although now condos,
still an interesting
place to see all
these cabooses together.
Themed & Holiday Rides
Polar Express
(various Metra lines)
Fox Valley Trolley Museum
Illinois Railway Museum
Miscelleanous
Chicago's 'L'
Some recommend riding the 'Brown Line'
all above ground
numerous curves
not too long a ride
Favorite: Galesburg Rail Cam
Sandwich Illinois
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Bull Moose Bar & Grille
Enjoy an historic setting incorporating an 1893 Pullman Palace dining car used by President Roosevelt in his 1912 “Bull Moose Party” presidential campaign.
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Barrington
BONUS