Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
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and 400 engines and cars, sprawling rail lines crisscross the property. (Be sure
to look both wa ys before crossing any tracks!) The museum has a 5-mile rail
line, where you'll find steam, diesel, and heavy electric trains chugging along,
and a mile -long streetcar loop. On the w eekend you can jump on a st eam or
diesel train from the museum's East Union depot (built around a station dating
from 1851) and take a 40-minute round-trip ride to Kishwaukee Grove, passing
prairie and farmland. Whether you get on a st eam locomotive with its hissing
brakes and billowing steam, a diesel dating fr om the 1950s, or an Elec troliner,
which ran bet ween Chicago and M ilwaukee until 1963 and is po wered b y
overhead wires, you're in for a thrill. Smaller trains depart from the 50th Avenue
rapid transit station built in 1910 and r emoved from Cicero.
A streetcar line encircles the museum grounds so you can hop on and off at
different “barns” that house everything from red cabooses to luxurious private
passenger cars fr om the lat e 1800s. Call
&
800/BIG-RAIL
(244-7245) or 815/
923-4000 in advanc e to find out which tr ains are operating. Diesels operat e
most weekends and holidays, but steam trains run only about 12 times a sea-
son. Electric cars run daily.
The museum is open April through October. Grounds are open from 9am to
6pm on weekends, 10am t o 5pm on w eekdays. Trains run on w eekends from
10:30am t o 5pm, and w eekdays fr om 10am t o 4pm. R ides c ost $8 t o $12
(depending on the trains running) f or adults, and $4 t o $8 f or children, with
family maximums of $25 to $45. To get there, take I-90 to U.S. Rte. 20. Take the
Marengo exit and drive northwest on Rte. 20 to Union Road. Go north on Union
Road.
6
advance if you want to look thr ough those records). Parents should request a “seek and
find” booklet with questions for kids (and get a fr ee Polish Museum pen, too).
984 N. M ilwaukee Ave. (at A ugusta Blvd.).
&
773/384-3352.
www.polishmuseumofamerica.org. Sug-
gested donation $5 adults, $4 students, $3 children 11 and under. Fri-Wed 11am-4pm. Subway/El: Blue
Line to Division.
The Smart Museum of Art
Ages 5 & up.
The University of Chicago's fine-arts
museum looks rather modest, but it packs a lot of talent into a compact space. I ts per-
manent collection of mor e than 7,000 paintings and sculptur es spans Western and
Eastern civilizations and ranges fr om classical antiquity to the pr esent day. Bona fide
treasures include ancient Greek vases, Chinese bronzes, and old-master paintings; Frank
Lloyd Wright furnitur e; Tiffany glass; sculptur es b y D egas, M atisse, and R odin; and
20th-century paintings and sculptures by Mark Rothko, Arthur Dove, Mexican muralist
Diego Rivera, Henry Moore, and Chicago sculptor Richar d Hunt. Built in 1974, the
contemporary building doesn't really fit in with the G othic style of other campus build-
ings, but its sculptur e gar den and outdoor seating ar e av ailable for families, who ar e
