Metra and Amtrak’s Crazy Rush Hours at Western Avenue - Tons of Locomotive Moves and Epic Consists

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About this video: On July 23, 24, and 25, 2025, I spent time at Metra’s (northern) Western Avenue station. Situated just northwest of downtown and right next to two massive Metra facilities, this station sees more Metra equipment moves and extras than any other I’ve managed to find in the greater Chicago area. Most days, good-sized equipment moves entirely of Metra locomotives come by this station in the late mornings from the Ogilvie Transportation Center, and I have some footage of a few of these near the beginning of the video. Additionally, various lite locomotives are very frequently passing by the station on all sides to replace or be added to sets at Ogilvie and Union Stations. Metra switching locomotives pass by frequently as well, many of which end up picking up sets of equipment in downtown that had the original power taken off for various reasons. Amtrak also makes some appearances here, with services such as the Hiawatha and Borealis (both featured) in addition to the Empire Builder (not featured). Amtrak GE P32-8BWH was a welcome visitor on the Hiawatha and Borealis in this video, as a majority of these locomotives are only seen on yard switching duties nowadays.