Railroad: Erie Lackawanna Railroad
Location: Griffith, Indiana
Date: 1971
Credit: Bon French, courtesy of the photographer

An Erie Lackawanna local freight train crosses Broad Street and a mess of other railroads in Griffith, Indiana, in 1971.

Griffith was a busy railroad junction located southeast of Chicago and known for its many “diamonds,” a nickname for intersections whose rails make that shape. At its zenith, Griffith had rail lines converging from ten directions, with many of them crossing one another at Broad Street.

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Trail: Erie Lackawanna Trail
Trail length: 17.7 miles
Date: August 1, 2021
Credit: Bon French, courtesy of the photographer

Bikers ride the Erie Lackawanna Trail near the Griffith Trailhead in August 2021.

Half of the rail lines that once passed through Griffith are gone, but the remaining lines are busier than ever under the current owner, Canadian National. In place of the former Erie Lackawanna track is a rail-trail that connects Crown Point and Hammond, Indiana. With signage that acknowledges its railroad past, the Erie Lackawanna Trail shows the potential of rail-trails to provide new connections in urban areas like the Chicagoland suburbs.