Rondout, Illinois Sulphur Glen[1] | |
|---|---|
 AmtrakEmpire Builder at Rondout station in 1983 | |
  Rondout Location in Illinois Show map of Illinois Rondout Location in the United States Show map of the United States | |
| Coordinates:42°16′48″N87°53′43″W / 42.28000°N 87.89528°W /42.28000; -87.89528 | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Illinois |
| County | Lake |
| Township | Libertyville |
| Time zone | UTC−6 (CST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−5 (CDT) |
| Postal code | 60044, 60045, 60048 |
| Area codes | 847, 224 |
Rondout is anunincorporated community inLake County,Illinois,United States that first formed around a railroad junction. The area is located withinLibertyville Township. As Rondout is anunincorporated community rather than a municipality, it lacks clearly defined borders, and sharespostal codes withLake Bluff,Lake Forest andLibertyville, Illinois. It has its own elementary school which comes underRondout School District 72.Illinois Route 176 passes east–west through Rondout, serving as the "main street" of the community, where it is also called "Rockland Road".[2]
Between 1870 and 1872, the Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad (later theMilwaukee Road; since 1986 theCanadian Pacific Railway - CPR) completed a railroad line betweenChicago, Illinois andMilwaukee, Wisconsin. In 1880, a branch line was built toLibertyville, Illinois, and the new junction was known asLibertyville Junction. People referred to the community around the junction asSulfur Glen, due to the high amounts ofsulphur in the water nearby. In 1888, the community was renamedRondout, afterRondout, New York. One account has the community renaming itself in an unsuccessful attempt to attract a business from the aforementioned town in New York. Another has a Sulfur Glen resident asking the railroad to rename the community after his former hometown.
In 1951, Peter Baker & Son Co. moved theirasphalt plant from Lake Forest to Rondout, contributing to the development of the area.
As noted above, the initial north-south and northwest three-way railroad junction was built in 1880 by a predecessor of the CPR, which still operates it.
In 1889, another railroad line was built that crossed the Milwaukee & St. Paul/CPR northeast-southwest at grade, just south of the first Rondout junction point. This new 1889 line was built by theWaukegan and Southwestern Railway, then acquired shortly thereafter by theElgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway, which was in turn acquired in 2009 by theCanadian National Railway (CNR). The crossing and the freight interchange connecting the CNR newer line to what is now the CPR still exist as of 2017. This new 1889 crossing necessitated the construction of aninterlocking tower southeast of the expanded junction.
Then, in 1902, theChicago & Milwaukee Electric Railway's branch toMundelein was built, parallel to Rockland Road and passing over the EJ&E and Milwaukee Road above grade, almost directly above the existing Rondout junction. In 1916,Samuel Insull purchased and reorganized the Chicago & Milwaukee as theChicago, North Shore and Milwaukee, often called the North Shore Line. The North Shore Line's freight interchange with the Milwaukee Road, and its above-grade Rondout Station passenger platforms and shelters, survived until the entire North Shore Line went out of business in January, 1963.[3][4][5]
In the first decade of the 20th century, Rondout junction's original grade-level interlocking tower was replaced by a brick structure. By 2013, it was one of the few remaining railroad interlocking towers in Illinois. In early 2015, it was closed with control transferred to the CP dispatching center in St. Paul, MN. The structure remains in use as an office for Metra maintenance staff.[6][7]
On June 12, 1924, Rondout was the site of the largesttrain robbery in United States history.[8][9][10] Several outlaws, including the "Newton Gang" and a corrupt postal inspector, targetedMilwaukee Road'sFast Mail train and successfully carried out a robbery of more than $2 million of cash, jewelry and securities. All of the conspirators were caught and prosecuted shortly afterwards, all but $100,000 of the stolen goods were recovered, and a historical marker was built to commemorate the event.[11]
As of 2017[update] commuter trains still pass through Rondout on theMilwaukee District North Line, and they formerly stopped there at the main Rondout Station located on Rockland Road, just south of the junction's split between the Libertyville/Fox Lake, Illinois, branch and the Chicago-Milwaukee main line at the diamond with the EJ&E. The station house was removed on January 1, 1979, butRegional Transportation Authority/Metra commuter trains continued stopping at Rondout station until November 22, 1984. The station platforms and signage remained for a time. Most of the platform was demolished in 1997, and access to the remaining platform was officially restricted on January 1, 2002.
| Preceding station | Milwaukee Road | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wilson towardMilwaukee | Chicago –Milwaukee | West Lake Forest towardChicago | ||
| Libertyville towardWalworth | Suburban Service | |||
| Libertyville towardMadison | Madison –Rondout | Terminus | ||
Metra'sMilwaukee District North Line commuter trains, betweenChicago andFox Lake, via Lake Forest and Libertyville, continue to pass through Rondout junction to the present day (2017). So doAmtrak'sHiawatha,Borealis, andEmpire Builder intercity passenger trains, using theChicago-Milwaukee-Minneapolis/St. Paul main line.
At the Rondout railroad junction today (2017), just south of Rt. 176/Rockland Road, theCNR's single-track Waukegan Subdivision (operated by CNR'sWisconsin Central subsidiary) still crosses the north-southC&M (rail) Subdivision. TheUnion Pacific Railroad hastrackage rights on the Waukegan Subdivision. TheFox Lake Subdivision still branches off to the northwest, through Libertyville. Metra now owns the Fox Lake Subdivision and the portion of the C&M Subdivision from Rondout south, while theCPR still owns the north portion, and the CPR'sSoo Linedispatches all of both subdivisions. Railroads that have trackage rights over various parts of the two subdivisions include Amtrak, the CPR, Metra and theWisconsin and Southern Railroad.[12]
Since 2017, the former North Shore Line's Mundelein branch is now the North ShoreBike Path, arail trail paralleling Rockland Road and still elevated over Rondout junction.[3][4][12][13][14]
Rondout is served byRondout School District 72, consisting of a lone elementary school, Rondout School. The school provides education fromKindergarten throughEighth Grade to students living in Rondout and several adjacent communities. Graduates of Rondout School attendLibertyville High School.
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Municipalities and communities ofLake County, Illinois,United States | ||
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| Footnotes | ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties | |
Places adjacent to Rondout, Illinois | |
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