When Western Springs built its current railroad station in 2005, the plan was to recreate a little bit of the past. But, the architects didn’t stop with just the station.

Crossing Gate Tower – 2013

In 1891, Western Springs built a “permanent” railroad station to replace an earlier wood structure that had burned to the ground. With a slate roof and brick walls, the station would seemingly last forever.

Unfortunately, when built, the station extended into Burlington Avenue.  Over time, this posed a hazard to the increasing amount of auto traffic. And, as time passed by, the financially-strapped village neglected the aging structure, replacing the slate roof with tin material, chopping off part of the south wall to widen Burlington, and painting the structure an unattractive white, presumably to hide some of the masonry repairs.

Despite a hard-fought battle by local preservationists, the village succeeded in demolishing the old station in 1972, replacing it with a more contemporary structure. But, after just 32 years, the new building began exhibiting major foundation problems. After considerable study, a decision was made to replace the structure.  But, this time, a new village administration decided to design the new building to resemble the original 1891 structure as closely as possible.

As shown in the fourth photo, the old station had a tower located on the north side of the tracks near Lawn Avenue.

This tower provided a vantage point for railroad employees who were required to monitor the approaching trains and then lower (and raise) the crossing gates in the downtown area. Over time, these towers were replaced by automatic, electrically-operated crossing gates. However, in keeping with the design of the vintage station, the village decided to include a crossing gate tower, as well as a coal shed, in the plans.

While the original tower had a ladder, the new one does not. And, as for what (if anything) occupies the interior of the modern-day crossing gate tower, only the village knows the answer to that question.

Original brick train station – circa 1940

Current Western Springs train station

Original station (left) and crossing gate tower (right) – circa 1920