juelzkellz

I could see LaSalle/Van Buren being torn down. It's practically right next to Library/State-Vanburen, It's a dump, and it's practically empty every time I go past that station in the loop.

I thought the Metra Electric did not allow the operation of trains longer than 6 cars? I know as far as the South Shore is concerned, the bilevel trains are never longer than 6 cars and the single level trains that are longer than 6 cars have 1 or 2 trailers (200 series) to complete the consist.

I just checked Google and Apple maps, I guessing maybe if they use the long building next to the yard tracks to wash cars.

Maybe an underpass on 25th ave under the tracks? I bet it's more complex than that.

I think AWD could be pulled off on a bus. Look at Lamborghinis and other exotic super/hypercars that have AWD. They are very low to the ground and they have a driveshaft that connects both axles. Also, with Lamborghinis, the engine is towards the rear of the car so the setup is similar to a low floor bus. As for a schematic of an AWD bus, I far as I know, I don't believe one exists. Basically, this is all just theory.

Maybe AWD could be a solution. Costs and maintenance would go through the roof but it would solve the problem of traction. Plus, the buses would be a bit faster for what it's worth.

What type of drive are the artics? (FWD, RWD, AWD, or even 6WD) Do the all plastic seats on the new Nova's make cleaning easier? I'd imagine now with new plastic seats that now that there's no cloth that you have to wait to dry, and the AC vents are up top I think, you can just take a power washer on the bus and use a squeegee-type device to remove the excess water. Makes the most sense to me.

I'm going to stick with my original hypothesis of 99.99% of all Brown Line trains being #3200's a case of logistics. Kimball Yard & Shop is a bit on the small side and as a result, they probably don't have room for the necessary #2600 parts. Say a #2600 brownage has an issue up north, they're kinda screwed. Besides, if some issue were to arise on the #3200's, and they can't use #2600's and to a lesser extent, #5000's too, what will CTA do, just cancel all Brown Line service?

When the CTA reopened the Douglas branch to full service after renovation project, the Pink Line and the Blue Line ran concurrently, with the Blue Line running a few trains per hour during rush hour. The CTA cut Blue Line service on the Douglas branch after awhile because the trains were basically empty.

Congrats and good luck.

The GTX 1070 that was just launched surpasses the Titan X in performance and it only costs $380-$450. The only difference is that it has less RAM. 8GB I believe. Unless you're doing Bitcoin mining or any other heavy computing tasks, 12GB is overkill, especially for gaming. AMD just released their newest card, the RX 480 for $200. The standard card is $200 for 4GB of memory and the 8GB version is $40 more. They say it can handle 4K gaming and 3D via Oculus Rift. Personally, AMD isn't my cup of tea, but if you're looking to upgrade and don't want to spent a lot of cash to have the latest tech, get this card. If you can scratch up $50 more dollars, get the GTX 1060, which is slightly behind the performance of the Titan X. The only bad thing about the GTX 1060 is that you can't use them in an SLI setup as it does not have the connectors necessary. I'm planning on building a new PC. I am torn between buying the new Intel Skylake processors or waiting for Kaby Lake or even Skylake-E. My video card will either be a GTX1080 or 1080Ti when it comes out. For now, my Late 2013 15" MacBook Pro Retina will have to do. The only thing that bugs me about my Mac is the graphics card is pretty weak. GT 750 w/2GB RAM.

I think the Brown Line flyover is the best project that CTA has lined up. What people don't understand is that the flyover does not really speed things up, but provides more capacity. The amount of Red Line trains are constrained by the Clark junction. Build the flyover, and you can add more Red Line trains. I think Red Line riders will appreciate the additional trains during rush hour.

As far as the Red Line extension is concerned, I think it is a pointless waste of money. Spending billions of dollars on an extension that will shave 5 maybe 10 minutes of a commute from that area seems crazy to me. The only way I can see it being a benefit is if the CTA were to implement express service a/la the Evanston Express. Other than that, the commute from that area really doesn't shrink that much compared to the amount of money being spent. An idea that might work would be to make send the 34 and 108 downtown via the Dan Ryan expressway express from 95th. That way, less money is being spent and the quality of service greatly increases. As far as the Grey Line proposal, it's one of those ideas that sounds great on paper, but the logistics involved make it a non starter. Besides, the existing transit options in the area are good enough for the majority of the riders and when you really think about it, the time savings are really not worth the logistical headache .

The Pink Line doesn't need more than 4 car trains except for very rare occasions. In fact, If the Blue Line Forest Park Branch were upgraded and expanded I.E. 4 track express/local service, The Pink Line (and possibly the Green Line also) could be eliminated completely. Obviously, this would never happen due to the political powers that be.

If you look at the rendering closely, you will see that the elevator and passageway are connected to the stationhouse, not the actual train platforms. Hence, whether you use the stairs or elevator, you still have to go through fare control in the stationhouse.

OMSI 2 is on sale on steam. I'm debating whether to buy it.

I just rode the #20 on the Loop Link. Is it just me or does it seem like the buses travel slower now than before? In all, the whole project seems kinda pointless to me.

Which, You'd have to admit is pretty shortsighted. But hey, I'm not running the show.

Ahh, classic CTA mismanagement. So let's not build a station that will draw 20,000+ riders a few days out of every week for a station that's a block and half/two blocks from an existing station that more or less serves the same purpose. That's genius! (sarcasm and the new Cermak station on the Green Line is what I'm referring to.)

And we just got the cars. This is why we can't have nice things. Life in jail is too harsh, I say have the clean all of the piss and puke and everything else off the cars for the next 10 years. and when I say clean, I better be able to eat off the floor! lol

I always wondered why there is no stop on the Pink Line at Madison for United Center events. When I go to and leave events at the UC, it just seems silly to unload off of and wait for packed buses when a near empty Pink Line train just rolls on by less than a block away. Also from a daily operations perspective, the Madison Pink Line station could take sizable number of riders off the #20 west of the Pink Line and free up capacity east of the Pink Line on the #20 for the growing West Loop area.

A week ago, I took a trip to visit Boston and NYC to celebrate my 30th birthday. I was in Boston for 1 day and NYC for two days. Boston is an ok city and NYC is amazing. Like a bigger, better version of Chicago. The entirety of my trip was spent on public transit so I got experience a small taste of the public transit infrastructure in both cities. Stating off with Boston, The city has a horrible design so it is easy to get lost and the way their their public transit is set up there, doesn't really help things. Also, everything stops running at midnight so if you happen to be out later than that, you are screwed. The rapid transit trains don't really mesh well there like they do here in Chicago, Sort of, they just designed all the lines and they just happened to meet up at certain points and those point aren't where you want to go and can place you far away from where you want to go. Getting from Logan into the city is a pain in the neck compared to getting into the city from O'hare on the Blue Line, which coincidentally is the same name of the Boston "T" train that goes closest to the Airport. You have to take a bus to the Blue Line Train station. It's not that bad of an inconvenience but being used to either taking the Blue or Orange lines after arriving at O'Hare and Midway, it seems like a huge oversight. Logan Airport is nicer than O'hare though, albeit smaller. The Green Line, which is basically a light rail train, is the line that goes to Fenway Park. Again, with the way Boston is set up, it's really easy to get lost even though the train station is basically across the street from Fenway. Pro Tip: when leaving Red Sox games at night (or day games for that matter also) the "T" commuter rail also stops at Fenway and it is closer than walking to the Green Line station. Take that train instead to avoid the crowds on the Green Line and possibly not even pay at all. (The conductor did not collect fares either on the train nor at South Station.) As far as the physical condition of the system, the trains and stations appeared very old and dirty. The trains in particular were very old, dirty and rusty and looked like they haven't been touched since whenever they were purchased. (even our oldest #2600's looked like Rolls Royce's compared to these cars!) The commuter rail trains weren't as bad but still looked kind of rough. In total, I think Chicagoland area public transit, despite it's flaws has Boston beat by several miles. To get to NYC I took the Acela Express train. The trip was uneventful as I fell asleep during the high speed section. (I spent the whole night looking for a 24 hour Starbucks and/or McDonald's to charge my phone and computer. I didn't find one. When I say Boston shuts down at midnight, IT SHUTS DOWN!) Arriving at Penn Station in NYC was a bit of a bummer. It is basically a bigger, glorified subway station, which I might also add is the most confusing train station in the world! I visited Grand Central Terminal before I left NYC and the two are like day and night. Grand Central Terminal is not just a station, but a living breathing work of art. I might even say it is the Wrigley Field and/or Fenway Park of train stations. As far as the actual NYC subway is concerned. I think both systems are about at the same level, the only area they have us beat is the more extensive express service throughout the city.The quality of the trains are about the same and the cleanliness is about the same also. The NYC subway system is very extensive so it helps to do your homework before you go because unlike in Chicago where every route pretty much runs the same route every day, One route can have several variations throughout the day. (I.E. The B runs weekdays only, but during rush hour, runs local in the Bronx and express in Brooklyn and Sixth Avenue in Manhattan. It's full time counterpart, the D, runs express in Manhattan at all times, down both Sixth and Eighth Avenues and also in the Bronx in the peak direction. Local everywhere else.) Yes, and that's just one route. I stayed in the Bronx the duration of my time in NYC and therefore, I spent a lot of time on the 6 train. the Lexington Avenue line is not as bad as I thought it would be, my only gripe was the trains would back up around Grand Central, causing delays. I also went to a Yankees game on 9/11. the 4, B, and D trains stop at Yankee Stadium. I don't understand how both stations are local stops (the 4 runs on the elevated, while the B and D trains are in the subway.) but then again, I don't understand why the CTA hasn't built a station on Madison on the Pink Line to serve the United Center. I went to the NYC subway museum. It is actually old decommissioned subway station. It is very nice albeit limited in exhibits. I wish Chicago had something like this. After my time in NYC, I took the Lake Shore Limited home. I had dinner in the dining car and it was surprisingly good. You get to see the Hudson River valley before nighttime hits and in the morning, you can see a little bit of Lake Erie. Overall, Boston was ok.The only reason I would go there was to attend a Red Sox game. NYC was amazing. In fact, I'm seriously thinking about moving there. They are hiring conductors for the subway, so I think I'm going to apply.

A shutdown like the Red Line a few years ago wouldn't even be possible on the Blue Line because of the number of riders and there isn't a nearby line like the Red Line had with the Green line to take up some of the traffic, and the Brown Line doesn't count.

Exactly, 99% of CTA riders don't care what kind of equipment shows up as long as it shows up in a decent amount of time and doesn't smell like booze or human waste.

Today and once last week I spotted a Red Line train with all #2600's and Brown Line Belmont signs. The first time, I spotted the train leaving 95th around 6:00 last week and today arriving into Roosevelt around 6:25-6:30. Both trains were northbound trains during AM rush. Any explanations?