Mont View
| Location | South Winfield Rd. near Butterfield Rd. Warrenville, IL |
| Established | August 25, 1902 |
| Original Line | Aurora, Elgin & Chicago Ry |
| Rebuilt | TBD |
| Previous Names | East Warrenville |
| Tracks | 1 |
| Platforms | 1, low level |
| Flag stop | |
History:
Mont View was a local station on the Aurora branch of the Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railroad on the eastern edge of the then-unincorporated community of Warrenville in the southeast corner of Winfield Township. As with many other smaller stations on the Aurora Elgin and Chicago Railway, its opening was delayed until a short time after August 25, 1902, when the original line from Chicago to Aurora was placed in service. When it did open, the stop was called East Warrenville, however this name proved to be very short lived and by 1904, the station was renamed Mont View.
Postcard from the collection of Don Bosan-Bruno
Photographs from the early 1900s of the smaller AE&C stops depict a uniform construction plan; stops were nothing more than a short, low level platform (or pair of platforms on double tracked sections) located trackside and built of wooden boards laid perpendicular to the direction of the tracks. Mont View was located on the single tracked portion of the Aurora branch and so only had one platform. This was on the south side of the track located on the east side of the crossing of Winfield Road1 and passengers in both directions boarded and alighted here.
Prior to 1920, the Mont View stop was improved with the addition of a frame building with a flat, shingled roof (which served as the stop’s passenger waiting shelter)2 and platform lighting.3 The original platform was replaced with one of cinder construction and was lengthened to 115 feet,4 slightly longer than the length of a two car train.
It was later equipped with a flag stop semaphore.1 This was a swinging wooden “flag” mounted on a long pole that could be raised by pulling a chain attached to one side. Pulling the chain would raise the flag and signal to the motorman of an oncoming train to stop. Even though times were listed on time tables, the trains did not stop at Mont View unless signaled by a waiting passenger or an alighting passenger notified a conductor.
Mont View remained in service until July 3, 1957, when the Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railway suddenly shut down passenger service. The stop was eventually destroyed. Today, the Illinois Prairie Path (a multi-use trail built primarily on the right-of-way of the CA&E) passes near the location of Mont View, but not through it. The right-of-way is still delineated by a string of power lines, though Winfield Road has been significantly widened in the intervening years.