Big Timber Road
Big Timber Road is located in Elgin, Illinois and is the terminus of Metra's Milwaukee District West Line. The station opened as part of a short 3 mile extension of the Metra Milwaukee District west line in 1986 to provide further service into what was farmland when the station opened and is today surrounded by subdivisions. The station only receives service on the weekday schedule (there is one Saturday morning arrival at 1:59am), with nearly all off-peak and evening trains serving the station (and relaying in it) with some peak hour trains terminating and originating at Elgin (with a few terminating at other stations farther down the line), although there is NO weekend service. The most likely reason for no weekend service is that the train primary yard for the line is located down the line between the other two Elign Stations; (Downtown) Elgin, and National Road. Since Big Timber Road is primarily a Park & Ride station and the other two Elgin stations have plenty of excess parking on weekends the assumption is customers can drive the extra few miles and make railroad operations simpler.
For trains, the station has two side platforms only connected by a pedestrian crossing at their eastern ends. Each platform is simply and paved with pedestrian tactile warning strips. The southern Platform 2 doesn't normally see train service but has the stations only blue Big Timber Road normal Metra signs. The northern Platform 1 is where most trains terminate, layover and originate. At the southern end of this platform is a small modern brick station house in a 'farmhouse-style' with a weathervane on the roof. Big Timber is etched into blocks along the exterior walls. Inside is a small waiting room and coffee/newspaper kiosk run by a concessionaire. Next to the depot is an entrance plaza containing a bicycle rack and and two shelters that cover the pay stations for the station's 700 parking spaces.
All access to the station is from a dead-head extension of Lyle Avenue (that includes a sidewalk) from a traffic light at Big Timber Road. Lyle Avenue ends at a small drop-off loop near the small station depot. The 700 parking spaces in large lot beyond the platform nearly lead back — with just a small patch of grass but no additional driveway — to Big Timber Road.
All Photos taken on 5 June, 2017
