THE GALENA & CHICAGO UNION, REDUX. The DeKalb Chronicle reports that the restored Amtrak - Illinois Department of Transportation service to the North West Frontier will call at Belvidere, ending, for the moment, the wrangle between Genoa and Belvidere over the routing.

The train, should it ever begin operating, might involve three railroads: the old Milwaukee Road Omaha line to a flyover west of Randall Road on the west side of Elgin, where a new connection to the Galena & Chicago Union, currently Union Pacific's Belvidere branch, and a connection to the Illinois Central line at Rockford for Freeport, Galena, and Dubuque.

West of Rockford, the line is twisty enough that a Talgo train might make more sense than it would on the relatively straight Madison to Milwaukee line. But Illinois will probably use cars released from the Hiawathas once those Talgos start running.