National St
Metra, IL
Arrivals & departures
Next ~4 hours. Live trip updates from the operator's GTFS-RT feed where available; schedule-based otherwise. Delays surface as a red chip when the feed reports them.
- Metra MD-W_MW2215_V2_AArr 5:51:53 PMscheduledOn time
- Metra MD-W_MW2217_V1_AArr 6:47:09 PMscheduledOn time
Plan your visit
Hotels and rail experiences nearby. Links earn us a small referral — we only surface partners we'd use ourselves.
Gear up
The starter kit serious railfans wish they'd bought day one. Each link earns us a small Amazon Associates referral — we only list gear we'd actually carry.
Identify any modern diesel by its hood, cab, and radiator profile. Once you can spot the difference between an SD70ACe and an SD70M-2 at 400 yards, you've crossed the line into real railfanning. Kalmbach's editions are the standard. ($20-$30)
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Class 2 reflective vest. Not for trespassing — for legitimate trackside viewing on public sidewalks and parking lots near busy lines, so the engineer sees you and you don't get a friendly 'move along' from BNSF police. Looks the part too. ($10-$20)
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Reading a CSX road number off a passing unit at half a mile = magic. 10x42 is the railfan sweet spot — enough power, still light enough to hold steady. Nikon's PROSTAFF 3S is the standard recommendation: under $150 and the optics punch above the price. ($120-$170)
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Nearby railfan spots
Curated viewing locations within 7 miles of this station.
No curated spots within range
None of our seeded railfan spots fall inside the radius for this station. Submit one via /spots.
Nearby community sightings
Within 7 miles, last 24 hours. Community-reported.
No recent sightings nearby
Be the first — log a sighting from this station's vicinity.