BRINGING THE SPECTATORS HOME.

There's a simulation of the canonical Solari Board that makes use of Amtrak train location data to show the status at various stations.  Here's a screen shot for Chicago at just before eight this evening.

The City of New Orleans will have to work its way south on the single track against the scheduled Illini (which arrived in Carbondale after totality, but could offer seats for people who wanted to stay overnight and then leave) and the extra, which was on time at eight, but reported ten minutes late as of this writing.

Coverage from Carbondale suggested that spectators at the Southern Illinois University stadium might have had an obstructed view of totality, while people just outside the fence could have seen around the clouds.

In DeKalb, the Northern Illinois University astronomy department set up some projecting telescopes, and shared some eclipse glasses around.

That's just after the eclipse began.  Shortly thereafter, some thick rain clouds moved in.  Yes, it did get dark, but attributing that to partial eclipse or to overcast is beyond my powers.  The Weather Channel coverage I went home and watched showed enthusiastic watchers in parts of Carbondale, at Clemson, and on a cruise ship out to sea.