For immediate release
Chicago, IL - March 5, 2026
The whistle of a locomotive. The rumble of steel on steel. In Chicago, trains aren’t just a mode of transportation – they’re part of the DNA of the city. After all, Chicago has been America’s railroad capital for more than 150 years. In the new 60-minute special RIDING THE RAILS, lifelong train enthusiast Geoffrey Baer hops aboard to tell the story of how railroads shaped our city. Along the way, he uncovers clues all around us to railroads of the past, recalls the colorful characters who built them and the unsung workers who toiled on them, and reveals why our current rail system remains just as vital to Chicago’s existence today.
RIDING THE RAILS WITH GEOFFREY BAER premieres on Monday, April 13, 2026 at 7:00 pm on WTTW, the PBS app, and wttw.com/rails. Watch the trailer >>
Highlights:
- Geoffrey begins at the Des Plaines Choo-Choo restaurant, where meals arrive by model train.
- Riding Metra, he reveals how its lines once stretched far beyond today’s commuter routes to destinations nationwide.
- He revisits the golden age of rail travel, when passengers – including Hollywood royalty – dined in lavish style.
- He looks back at the debut of the sleek Zephyr Streamliner at the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair and views the original at the Griffin Museum of Science & Industry.
- At the Illinois Railway Museum, he rides in a private Pullman car with luxurious accommodations for passengers and cramped quarters for the formerly enslaved men who went on to work as Pullman porters.
- He stops at Union Station and the Ogilvie Transportation Center, Helmut Jahn’s modern replacement for the old Chicago & Northwestern terminal.
- With author and poet Eve Ewing, he traces the Great Migration and the role of “The City of New Orleans,” immortalized by Steve Goodman, in bringing hundreds of thousands north.
- He dons a hardhat to tour a multi-billion dollar, decades-long project that will ease freight and passenger train bottlenecks with new bridges and underpasses.
- He boards Chicago’s very first locomotive, the steam engine Pioneer, at the Chicago History Museum.
- He visits the remote site of the largest train robbery in U.S. history – a 1920s heist near Libertyville – and learns the mistake that doomed the thieves.
- He explores the history of Chicago’s cable cars, trolleys, and buses, and the entrepreneur behind much of today’s ‘L’ system.
- At Millennium Station, he boards the South Shore Line to northwest Indiana.
- He hikes the Illinois Prairie Path, where a Chicago-area woman pioneered the idea of converting abandoned rail lines into walking and bike trails.
- And finally, he gets a once-in-a-lifetime chance: driving a steam engine himself.
“Riding the Rails explores an aspect of Chicago that is central to its identity, and that still today impacts our everyday lives,” said Sandra Cordova Micek, WTTW President and CEO. “Geoffrey Baer is uniquely suited to tell this story – his extensive knowledge of Chicago’s history and architecture, along with his insatiable curiosity, make for an engaging, informative, and entertaining journey.”
“I’ve been obsessed with trains since I was a little kid, when I would rush to the dining room window each time a train passed by,” said Geoffrey Baer. “So creating this special was a lifelong dream. I’m excited to take viewers along with me and my crew on this virtual ride aboard every kind of train imaginable, modern and historic.”
Visit the companion website (wttw.com/rails) on April 13 to discover the artistry of Union Station, visit Chicago's bygone downtown train stations, and dig deeper into the stories of the Rondout train robbery and the inspiring local founder of the "rails to trails" movement. Plus, watch exclusive videos, including an animated exploration of how railroad companies helped create a standard time system in the United States.
Geoffrey Baer is an Emmy Award-winning writer, producer, and host for WTTW. Known for programs about the architecture and history of Chicago including Chicago Works, Touring Chicago’s Lakefront, Chicago Mysteries, The Most Beautiful Places in Chicago, Chicago by ‘L’ and The Chicago River Tour, Geoffrey also hosted the PBS series 10 that Changed America and the PBS special Weekend in Havana. Geoffrey has been a docent for the Chicago Architecture Center since 1987 and has been honored by the American Institute of Architects Chicago, the Society of Architectural Historians, the American Society of Landscape Architects, and the Chicago Headline Club.
RIDING THE RAILS WITH GEOFFREY BAER is hosted and co-written by Geoffrey Baer, and co-produced and co-written by Dan Andries and Tim Ferrin.
Lead support for RIDING THE RAILS WITH GEOFFREY BAER is provided by The Negaunee Foundation. Lead corporate support is provided by BMO. (as of 2/19/26)
WTTW is the PBS member station in Chicago, committed to creating and presenting unique media content across distinct television and digital channels – WTTW, WTTW Prime, WTTW Create, WTTW PBS Kids 24/7, wttw.com, and the PBS/WTTW video app. Recognized for award-winning journalism and local productions – such as Chicago Stories, Firsthand, Chicago Tonight, Touring Chicago’s Lakefront, and Chicago Works – WTTW presents the very best in public affairs, arts and culture, nature and science, history and documentary, and children’s public media content. Connect with WTTW on Facebook, X, Instagram, and YouTube.
