Sometimes referred to as "Jay Tower," this junction is on the south side of Chicago Heights, a large suburb about 30 miles south of downtown Chicago. From Illinois Rte. 394--the southern extension of the Bishop Ford (or Calumet) Expressway--exit at US Rte. 30. Go west about three miles to East End Avenue (there's a stoplight there and a railroad bridge crosses Rte. 30 just beyond East End). Turn left and head south about a mile to a double track rail crossing. Cross the tracks and turn right at 23rd Street. There is another crossing about a block further and the junction is just to the north.
Union Pacific's ex-MP, ex-C&EI north-south main line crosses the east-west Elgin, Joliet and Eastern, Chicago's "outer belt" terminal road. CSX is a part owner of the line but it is dispatched and maintained by UP. CSX is the sole owner of the ex-L&N, ex-C&EI Evansville line which feeds into the UP-owned St. Louis/Southwest line at Woodland Junction, about 60 miles to the south. CSX seems to operate more trains on the joint route than UP; most of their trains between Chicago and points south use the Evansville gateway. A few Indiana Railroad trains can also be seen here on trackage rights. They operate to Terre Haute, Indiana, where they reach their own (ex-Milwaukee Road) rails that were purchased from Canadian Pacific in 2005. From Terre Haute, the line runs to Bedford, Indiana, where INRD trains access CSX's ex-Monon line to Louisville.
The UP route is a busy, double track line--over 40 trains a day on average--but has quiet periods with little traffic. The EJ&E (or just "the J") is also double track and sees about a dozen or so trains a day, some of them UP and Canadian National run-throughs. CN trains access the J at Griffith to the east, and UP trains at West Chicago to the northwest. The tower, labelled "Jay", still stands but was shut down in 1993. It is in the southwest quadrant and was operated by the J. The northwest quadrant once contained a connector track, but it is now just a stub used by the J to store MOW equipment. The southeast quadrant contains an interchange track often used by EJ&E trains to set out and pick up cars from a small UP yard to the south. UP run-through trains sometimes use it as well.
Frequencies
UP: 160.410, 160.470
EJ&E: 160.350
The J's police do not like people hanging around the tower area, so it's a good idea to stay clear of it. The area west of the UP tracks between the tower and 23rd Street offers plenty of space and provides a good view of the junction. It is not posted but you should stay at least 30 feet from both sets of tracks. Some nice photos of J trains crossing the junction can be taken here, as well as southbound trains on UP/CSX. The neighborhood around the junction is a bit seedy but seems reasonably safe.
For more on UP (ex-C&EI) junctions, see Dolton Junction and the Thornton Junction listing on the Other South Suburban Junctions page.
For more on EJ&E main line junctions, see Griffith Junction, Turner (West Chicago), Rondout and Pine Junction. See also Van Loon at Other Northwest Indiana Junctions and Eola at Other West / Southwest Suburban Junctions. See also Rondout, Leithton, et al. at Other North / Northwest Suburban Junctions.