All Elevated 'L's Stopped

[chicagopcclcar]

It is widely known that there was a "no-fly zone" over downtown Chicago...there was perhaps a "no-run zone" too.

On Sunday, I overheard on my scanner CTA Rail Control announce that the Brown line was standing at Chicago and at other nearby stations due to a "police action." That's a normal occurance.

I really didn't pay too much attention after that. There were some more reports of trains standing...operators were being instructed to stand at stations and make announcements but along with the scanner I was surfing the net, listening to NewsRadio 78 and reading the Tribune, really multitasking...then I heard a strange announcement that all trains on the Red, Green, Orange, Pink, are standing. It didn't hit me until this morning when I read a story in the Monday Tribune that certain passengers aboard a Brown line train had no idea of why their trip was interrupted....the Presidential motorcade was travelling on the Ohio/Ontario street feeders and they didn't want an 'L' train to cross overhead.

So maybe what I heard was a once in a lifetime event...all CTA 'L' trains halted to allow the President to move between his hotel and Mc Cormick Place. The route was via the Kennedy-Ryan and Stevenson. They would have crossed under the Brown, Green and Pink, crossed over the Orange, and then under the Red and Green. Well, that won't happen again for a long, long time.

David Harrison