Observations from my visit...

[aaron]

...I came to Chicago on Thursday for a little Railfanning, a little Ryder Cup and a little Chisox.

Arrived Thursday afternoon w/my $9 3 day pass courtesy of Groupon. Validated at O'hare and dropped my stuff at the O'hare Marriott. The North stairs at Cumberland are really in bad shape. Came back to the Blue Line and rode Downtown, probably my last trip on the 2200s. The interiors are still in really good shape. There must have been a schedule problem because we went express from Damen to Clark-Lake. The little red express lights came on inside the car. The Blue seems in pretty good shape. Since I had the 3 day pass, I walked on Lake Street to State and jumped on the Red, rather than ride to Jackson. I rode the Red up to Howard, my old neighborhood as I wanted to see the new station. The Red Line is really in bad shape! Lots of slow zones. Argyle and Thorndale are closed for rebuilding and I don't know what they are doing at Loyola. They always seem to be working on that station. I like the new Howard station, even though they took out the bridge at the North end, you can still get a good view of the yards from the platform. I like the "North Shore Line" sign on the street, though it isn't the original. I rode the Purple back downtown, why do they need to make all those stops like Wellington, Diversey and Armitage? At Clark and Lake, I rode the Blue back to Cumberland.

On Friday, I rode the Blue to Jefferson Park and jumped on Metra, the old C&NW line to Arlington Park to catch the bus to Medinah. After the golf, I rode back down to Union Station on the Metra Elgin line. I think that was Milwaukee Road. There was no chance to foam as the front car was closed. I made my way back to Clark-Lake and took the Green Line to 35th. I hoped to ride the new 5000s but no luck. I had to settle for one of the work motor cars with the striped fronts. We passed a 5000 set by the 14th St. porthole, I think they look just like the 3200s. After the game, I took the Red back to Jackson, it was very slow between 35th and Cermack. I walked over to the Blue and rode back to Cumberland. There was weekend work at Irving Park and Forest Park bound trains were wrong-railing between Montrose Interlock and Addison Interlock. We had to wait about 10 minutes, which was painful because it is a quick trip through Irving Park.

On Saturday, I took the Blue back downtown at 04:45 to catch the Metra Special train to Medinah. I can't remember the last time I was on a Blue Line 4 car train! I allowed some extra time to get thru the Irving Park issue. We went pretty much straight through. I rode to Clinton and walked over to Union Station. It was crazy, I don't think any of the Europeans slept on Friday night. METRA ran 2 non-stop trains to Medinah, at 06:00 and 06:40. I would up taking the second train, it was SRO. I like the METRA $7 Weekend ticket, that's steal. The non stop ride out to Medinah only took 32 minutes. I only stayed the morning as I had to catch my flight back to New York. I rode back in to Union Station, again the front car was closed. I grabbed a Potbelly sandwich and walked to Dearborn and Monroe and caught the Blue back to Cumberland. We went straight thru Irving Park. I gave my card to someone at Cumberland as it was good for the rest of the day and caught the hotel shuttle to ORD.

[CURRENTZ_09]

I would have thought you would have rode other lines, but no avail, your trips along the Red & Blue were spot on. The Dan Ryan is getting a track rehab, with a shutdown for 5 months, with red line trains going to Englewood (63/Ashland), green line operating along to Jackson Park (East 63rd-Cottage Grove). Soon after probably in 2014, the O'Hare track renewal will begin between O'Hare & Jefferson Park. The Red North is currently awaiting federal funding for the RedPurple Moderization Project between Belmont & Linden, so right now a niptuck is being done at 6 stations, each closing for 6 weeks at a time, along with track work finishing up in early 2013. Loyola is undergoing a special rehab provided by a Illinois state senator. BRT pilot project begins in November along Route 14 (Jeffery Express) called the Jeffrey Jump (J14-Jeffery Jump) and Ventra Open Fare System is coming in Summer 2013. Continue to post & comment on Chicagobus.org Fourms for important transit happennings, the fourmers in here are VERY insightful and visit transitchicago.com to learn about all future projects that are discussed on this fourm. Welcome aboard aaron, i hope this summary was insightful & helpful.

[Busjack]

I don't know what they are doing at Loyola.

There is a federal grant project there, the CTA portion is to fix the viaduct, while most of it is for Loyola to demolish some buildings and build a plaza. Some details here.

... why do they need to make all those stops like Wellington, Diversey and Armitage?

The official reason is that the Brown Line was and is overloaded. The unofficial reason is that unless they install helicopter blades on the Purple Line trains, they are going to be stuck behind the Brown Line trains stopped in the station, anyway. Oftentimes, still are.

There is on and off talk about routing the Purple Line into the subway, but it is mostly off talk.

again the front car was closed...

They usually are off rush (on the Milw lines), basically because how they allocate conductors and the old "if we crash the front car" issue. However, since the Medinah specials were SRO, I'm surprised that they didn't open them.

[artthouwill]

I noticed the Medinah station was completely packed waiting for an inbound Metra Saturday evening about 5:30. As my train was heading west, a long, empty, inbound train approached. I don't know if they used all cars.

The Green Line was split in half this past weekend with the west portion operating via the outer Loop tracks. The south portion only operated between 63rd & Roosevelt. Most of the Green Line cars are kept at Harlem Yard on the west end.

[aaron]

There is a federal grant project there, the CTA portion is to fix the viaduct, while most of it is for Loyola to demolish some buildings and build a plaza. Some details here.

The official reason is that the Brown Line was and is overloaded. The unofficial reason is that unless they install helicopter blades on the Purple Line trains, they are going to be stuck behind the Brown Line trains stopped in the station, anyway. Oftentimes, still are.

There is on and off talk about routing the Purple Line into the subway, but it is mostly off talk.

They usually are off rush (on the Milw lines), basically because how they allocate conductors and the old "if we crash the front car" issue. However, since the Medinah specials were SRO, I'm surprised that they didn't open them.

[aaron]

I rode back early from Medinah, so the train wasn't crowded. That's interesting about the "if we crash the front car"...the ICG accident was 40 years ago this month!!!

[Busjack]

I rode back early from Medinah, so the train wasn't crowded. That's interesting about the "if we crash the front car"...the ICG accident was 40 years ago this month!!!

Of course, that's the one place they aren't doing it.

Actually, as others have said here, not on the UP lines, at least originally when the only accessible car was the cab car. Maybe different now.

[busfan2847]

Of course, that's the one place they aren't doing it.

Actually, as others have said here, not on the UP lines, at least originally when the only accessible car was the cab car. Maybe different now.

No still the same. On UP the cab car is always open.