Fans 'Chase' Giant Electromagnet; Rest Stops Include Costco, Hidden Lake

If you couldn't make it out to Bolingbrook or Glen Ellyn over the past couple of nights to see the giant electromagnet making its trek to Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, these two Fermilab-produced videos do capture the essence—and the eerie silence—of the 5-mile-per-hour trip.

The 50-foot-wide particle storage ring arrived at the Ozinga port in Lemont on Saturday after a four-week, 3,000 mile barge trip from New York. On Sunday the ring was transferred to a specially designed truck so it could begin a three-night trek across Illinois roads on Tuesday night.

The ring is one of the widest loads ever to be transported on Illinois roads, according to Fermilab officials; the route takes it across the widest roads available, including Interstates 355 and 88. 

The magnet reached Costco in Bolingbrook early Wednesday morning, and remained there until night. By Thursday morning, it reached Hidden Lake Forest Preserve in Glen Ellyn.

The electromagnet is then expected to arrive on the Fermilab site early Friday morning.

Related Stories:

• Fermilab's Giant Electromagnet Arrives in Lemont

• Road Closures Planned as Electromagnet Continues Trek to Fermilab