The ancestor of today's Metra Southwest Service was a single weekday commuter train between Orland Park, IL, and Chicago's Dearborn Station, inherited by the Norfolk & Western from the Wabash. Passengers prepared to board the inbound train as it pulled into the station at Oak Lawn behind an ex-Wabash GP9.
Several Chicago railroads, including Burlington, Chicago & Northwestern, Illinois Central, Milwaukee Road and Rock Island, provided extensive service to and from the Chicago suburbs.
