McHenry is a station on Metra's Union Pacific/Northwest Line, located in McHenry, Illinois. The station is the terminus of the McHenry Branch of the Northwest Line; inbound trains operate as far as Ogilvie Transportation Center in Chicago. The station is also the only station on the McHenry Branch after it splits off at Pingree Road. Most Northwest Line trains operate along the Harvard branch to Harvard or Crystal Lake rather than the McHenry Branch, and the station is only served by three inbound and three outbound trains a day on weekdays and is closed on weekends. The station only has one track and one platform due to the low number of trains that serve the station. Two storage tracks are used to store two trains during overnight hours as well as weekends. The station is located at grade level. There is one crossing at the station, which is placed under an FRA horn zone.Station layoutMcHenry station consists of one platform and two tracks. One track is used by revenue trains while the other is used as siding for out-of-service trains. The tracks continue to Barnard Mill Road in Ringwood, Illinois, where the Union Pacific McHenry Subdivision ends. The tracks were pulled up between Richmond, Illinois and McHenry in 1980 when service was cut back, however, UP left trackage for local freight trains that served industries in and around McHenry. The final local on this line ran in 2006 and the line has been Metra-only ever since.
