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In 1988 I was attending Haven Middle School in Evanston, Illinois. At the time our school had a yearly event called "Exploration". The whole point was to encourage learning about the world, and development of interests through asking questions. I have always been interested in business. So the railroad that ran through town caught my attention. I had taken it south into the city. But I had never been north and wondered, "what is up there? Where does the railroad go and what sort of customers does it serve there?" To answer this question my friend Chris and I decided to take a ride from one end of the Chicago & Northwestern North Line to the other. To create something for our Exploration exhibit it seemed like a good idea to videotape the entire trip. My father called the railroad for permission and on March 27, a quiet Sunday when there were no commuters, we rolled the camera.

After Exploration night the tape went into storage and stayed there for close to twenty-five years. After all: we had answered our question and not many people in 1988 would've been interested in footage of a present-day two-hour train trip.

When moving in 2011 the tape came back to light. I watched it and discovered that it has become an interesting document of Chicago history. So much has changed since the tape was made: from buildings to cars to the railroad itself. I have thoroughly enjoyed taking this trip back in time and hope that you will too.