BusHunter Posted November 30, 2011 Report Share Posted November 30, 2011 On the weekend when they were testing #5061-62, when the train left 54th and showed up at Cicero, the operator had to get off to adjust something. The train had a burning smell, like maybe the brakes were dragging or not releasing properly. Then when we got to Kostner the same thing happened. When I got off the train at Clark/Lake you could still smell the burning smell, but it was more faint. There was this propeller sound (like a fan coming from around the 2nd and 3rd car.) Don't know if that was related or not. I haven't seen the car since. So, they are having a few problems here and there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted November 30, 2011 Report Share Posted November 30, 2011 ...There was this propeller sound (like a fan coming from around the 2nd and 3rd car.) Don't know if that was related or not.... At least on the last generation of cars, there was "forced air cooling" of the motors. I would suppose that the electronic components of this generation also need cooling. So, unless someone is going to let us look at the diagnostic panel, I would assume that they were related. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artthouwill Posted December 1, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 1, 2011 Well last night, they had a sequel to this. (it happened again) This time at 4:45 PM the #5000 train dead spotted at tower 18. As you may notice now, they are running one person crews, which puts more on the operator to troubleshoot. This time the train was unresponsive longer, about 20-25 minutes. It appeared that they had an even more difficult time getting this train going. I don't know exactly what happened but the train was taken out of service after it reached Clark/Lake and I was told it would be laying up on a middle track. (maybe south of Roosevelt) The consist was #5041-42 #5053-54 with #5041 being the head car. Things got really backed up this time. (about twice as bad) There were standing trains on the Lake branch at Tower 18, (stuck train) Wacker (green line) Clinton station (pink) just west of Clinton station (green), at Morgan (pink), at Ashland station (green), and at Paulina junction (pink) On the branch lines there was a 35 minute gap in service at rush hour on the pink line. I can only assume it was as bad everywhere else. The train tracker displays went from showing time arrivals to delayed. I guess they don't want to show you how late the trains are. Even an hour later Clark/Lake was still showing delayed for the Southbound Green line that was delayed an hour earlier going west. Maybe the Pink Line would be better off getting 6 cars, just to stop this from happening. They could actually start that now. They have 38 #2600's and 40 #5000's. I wondered what was going on last night. After 7 p.m. riding northbound on Green Line approaching Roosevelt, there was a SB Green Line followed by 2 Orange line trains. At Tower 17, there was a Pink line turning followed by another Orange, then Purple, and another Orange, and another Pink and another Orange, then a Green Line (at Clark/Lake). At Clark/Lake, the westbound estimated times for trains showed my train departing (first time I saw a Departure on those signs ) and another Green Line Harlem train Due at the exact same time. Prob;em was there was no train behind us in sight, so things must've been out of whack. That 5000 train Bushunter referred to was not laid up at Roosevelt when I came through, perhaps they were able to get it back to either 54th or Skokie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BusHunter Posted December 1, 2011 Report Share Posted December 1, 2011 I wondered what was going on last night. After 7 p.m. riding northbound on Green Line approaching Roosevelt, there was a SB Green Line followed by 2 Orange line trains. At Tower 17, there was a Pink line turning followed by another Orange, then Purple, and another Orange, and another Pink and another Orange, then a Green Line (at Clark/Lake). At Clark/Lake, the westbound estimated times for trains showed my train departing (first time I saw a Departure on those signs ) and another Green Line Harlem train Due at the exact same time. Prob;em was there was no train behind us in sight, so things must've been out of whack. That 5000 train Bushunter referred to was not laid up at Roosevelt when I came through, perhaps they were able to get it back to either 54th or Skokie. There were 3 trains on the pink that followed the gap in service that were extremely packed, then I saw a #5000 that didn't look like it didn't have any riders on it. I think there was a different #5000 that was scheduled to be in that slot, so I dismissed it as not the same train. Ironically, this is the second time I know of #5053-54 were taken out of service. Once they had to pull this train into 54th yard due to defect, making the pink line have a shortage of trains. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sw4400 Posted December 1, 2011 Report Share Posted December 1, 2011 Just a random thought thrown out there.... The problems with the 5000's dying at about Tower 18 at Wells and Lake and the random issues with signal and switching issues downtown at Adams/Wabash on the 24th of November, and now Wabash/Van Buren(both serve Brown, Green, Orange and Pink Line trains(and the 5000's). I wonder if this equipment is causing failures of the signal and switching sections by "shorting them out" somehow. The "L" system has been D/C since it's implementation back as far as the 1800's(depending on the line in service). Nobody has mentioned it, but I think this could be a possibility since both singal and switch trouble areas serve the Pink Line as well as the Green, Brown and Orange. Weather can't be blamed, as there's no snow/ice yet... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sw4400 Posted December 1, 2011 Report Share Posted December 1, 2011 Here's an unusual one for you.... who wants to go to the "L" statiion, get their transit card & complimentary condoms? Of all the places to hand these out, why a facility that has had all sorts of reports of "flashers" on it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted December 1, 2011 Report Share Posted December 1, 2011 Here's an unusual one for you.... who wants to go to the "L" statiion, get their transit card & complimentary condoms? Of all the places to hand these out, why a facility that has had all sorts of reports of "flashers" on it? One would think that the flashers may have a need for them. If you are going in that direction, there may be a connection, one way or the other, to the linked story that the car cleaners got their jobs back. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted December 3, 2011 Report Share Posted December 3, 2011 Today's Pooch Cafe seems to summarize all the sins on the CTA, including the Cooley High riding on the back bumper. Also, looks like a GMC Frankenbus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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