strictures

The one thing I like about the new Novas are all the push buttons for the stop requests. You don't have to reach over to get to the cord now.

The alternate schedule has the last inbound train, #362 arriving Ogilvie at 10:35 PM. In actuality, it's been passing Rogers Park around 10:30 PM. I get the feeling Metra is running it late on purpose to allow stragglers to catch the last train. Since it takes about 5 minutes to reprogram the PTC, #367, the last outbound, can't be the same trainset as #362 unless they're holding it late, to allow stragglers to catch it. But if it is a deadhead with a crew, why not just schedule it & carry passengers? The extra cost of fuel due to stopping, starting is minuscule.

There appears to be changes to the alternate schedule for the UP North Line. The schedule I printed out has the last outbound train leaving Ogilvie at 10:35, but every night, a NB train passes by my house just south of Roger Park after midnight. There's no 11:35 PM train scheduled. So is Metra running an unannounced train, or are they running an empty trainset out to Waukegan or Kenosha? And if they are, why not have passengers on it?

Metra sent out the new schedules starting on Monday March 23. They have cancelled about half the trains on the UP North Line & I expect all the other lines except for the Heritage Line are the same. All of the express trains are gone, except one per day in each direction. UP North Alternate Schedule

The reason they're complaining about the lack of trains at 59th, is that the CTA buses that U of Chicago contracts for, use 59th, as the transfer point.

The only problem with checking receipts at the door is that except for Costco or Sam's Club, where when you signed up, you agreed to the receipt checking, Illinois & most states are part of the Uniform Commercial Code, which states that when you pay for something & get the receipt, you now own the items & checking you is then illegal searching, unless they have evidence you stole something. I always just walk right past the Walmart receipt checkers & they never try to stop me.

As an occasional 192 rider, I have never seen anyone with no value on their card. 85% come into the city by Metra, so they keep with the value as they use the phone app to pay the train fare. The rest board at Roosevelt & they also keep their cards topped up.

The Chicago, Aurora & Elgin went east along the Garfield L to the Fifth Avenue [now Wells St] Terminal at Quincy St. When they built the Congress Expressway, they left room for four tracks in the median, so the Roarin Elgin AKA The Great Third Rail, would continue, but it went bust before that.

The company's name is 'Free Enterprise' from Jeffersonville Indiana.

Why? Every NABI I rode on during the summers from the North Shore garage, had the heat on full blast while the A/C was going!

The sole reason the 53 Pulaski doesn't go north of Peterson were the grade crossings at Granville/Pulaski & at Devon/Springfield of the C&NW's Evanston/Mayfair cutoff. Those two grade crossings have been gone for almost 25 years & yet the CTA has apparently never even though of extending the 53 to Devon/Kedzie, to at least give part of Devon from McCormick west to Pulaski service, since they long ago canceled the 155A. Even doing every other 53 to Devon/Kedzie would be a vast improvement! And I totally agree with extending the 54 Cicero to Devon.

There's a far bigger problem with the University park station & Governor's State U. The university is not near the station, even though all the land around the station is state owned land. What dimbulb thought putting the school a long distance from the station was a good idea? When I was there 25 years ago, it was a long & bizarre bus ride to & from the school to the station.

I actually rode a Nova on the 22 Clark last year.

I was on a Skokie run from Howard a couple of weeks ago, in the evening & it had two green classification lights. I thought that meant an extra run.

I went to the Pace site & there isn't a 699 route. Did you mean 696?