BusHunter Posted January 2, 2014 Report Share Posted January 2, 2014 I was looking on CTA's website and they list some of the details for this upcoming project as well as have a few station renderings. http://www.transitchicago.com/yournewblue/ I was actually surprised they want to give the stations so much attention. I noticed someone put up one of these banners on the subway walls of Division/Milwaukee. I was thinking why would they do that ahead of the project. That's going to get ruined at Division because the walls leak so bad there. I was thinking instead of doing that, they should just put up acoustical panels and put it on there to keep it from getting wet. To really get Division looking good again they could add marble/granite flooring tiles right over the red platform. (I saw the tile guy do just this at Clark/Lake (subway) 5-10 years ago). That along with some better lighting and you can see the difference between Clark/Lake (subway) and Division/Milwaukee. Upon reading the project details, it sounds like they may be doing something similar, minus the acoustical panels. I wonder would they put the tile ceiling like what's being done at Clark/Division. (they do mention retiling) Some things I needed to look up like an armor deck for California/Milwaukee. http://www.armor-deck.net/transit-platforms It appear Metra uses this already. A look at it's application to a wood surface can be viewed below. http://www.armor-deck.net/gallery I was also surprised they want to add a wavy ceiling at Jefferson Park similar to what is being built soon at Washington/Wabash. They want to remove all skylights Addison through Cumberland and replace those also. It would be nice to add some doors to some of these stations too, they get cold in the winter wind waiting for a bus. Overall it sounds like a nice upgrade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted January 2, 2014 Report Share Posted January 2, 2014 Two things that stand out: The reference to cracked concrete ties in the Dearborn subway are to ties that were installed as a result of ARRA within the past 3 years, so they better not be too damaged. The Jefferson Park canopy to which you referred seems to be over the expressway between the train station and bus terminal, if it is the one indicated in the illustration. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BusHunter Posted January 2, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 2, 2014 Two things that stand out:The reference to cracked concrete ties in the Dearborn subway are to ties that were installed as a result of ARRA within the past 3 years, so they better not be too damaged.The Jefferson Park canopy to which you referred seems to be over the expressway between the train station and bus terminal, if it is the one indicated in the illustration. You saw that too. Well if they are damaged there sure is an absence of slow zones. Lately the big slow zones are in the kimball subway. I'd be more concerned with that. They have a bad leak at logan square on the platform right through an electrical box. If we get this deep freeze next week they might have a skating rink on the platform!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MetroShadow Posted January 5, 2014 Report Share Posted January 5, 2014 I was looking on CTA's website and they list some of the details for this upcoming project as well as have a few station renderings. http://www.transitchicago.com/yournewblue/ I was actually surprised they want to give the stations so much attention. I noticed someone put up one of these banners on the subway walls of Division/Milwaukee. division blue signs.png But that's been there for the longest time. They still needed the same signage regardless of condition (even though the station would get some major upgrades)... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BusHunter Posted January 5, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2014 But that's been there for the longest time. They still needed the same signage regardless of condition (even though the station would get some major upgrades)... If your referring to the division sign that's new. (You can see the shiny brackets holding the sign, anything down there with all that water will age rapidly or weather. ) The CTA announcement was from the 16th of dec. btw. My hunch is that all the blue line subway stops will get those and this is just a pilot. I think the congress stops are coming next as part of the congress rehab. So eventually they will all have one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juniorz Posted January 5, 2014 Report Share Posted January 5, 2014 Those Station Directional Signs are exactly the ones posted on the Red Line North Station Rehabs, looks likely these will become an L Signage Standard at most stations Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BusHunter Posted January 6, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 6, 2014 Those Station Directional Signs are exactly the ones posted on the Red Line North Station Rehabs, looks likely these will become an L Signage Standard at most stations Most of the subway stops that got rehabbed or renewed got those signs, that's why Division/Blue looks so weird. The water is already removing the repainted tunnel walls there. Some other Blue line stops have them like Logan Square or Jackson and I believe Clark/Lake. Belmont didn't get any though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBrunswickBowler Posted January 12, 2014 Report Share Posted January 12, 2014 Yesterday as I was driving past Rosemont Yard, I looked in and saw a few 2400s (wrapped in red, white, and red stripes). I didn't get the car numbers but the destination signs said Howard. Could it be work cars for the Blue Line rehab? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted January 12, 2014 Report Share Posted January 12, 2014 Yesterday as I was driving past Rosemont Yard, I looked in and saw a few 2400s (wrapped in red, white, and red stripes). I didn't get the car numbers but the destination signs said Howard. Could it be work cars for the Blue Line rehab? They are work cars, but have been work cars (at least part time) for maybe 20 years.* Contracts have not been awarded, and, in fact, there is no source for 80% of the needed money. _________________ *See chicago-l.org 2400s page. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BusHunter Posted February 23, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 23, 2014 Looks like they may be starting to work on the tracks at Kimball portal according to this picture. http://ow.ly/i/4GgOU It was actually kind of cool riding the single track in the subway, they have these yellow strobe lights that flash about every 100 feet. I wonder are those in place to warn of a train running against traffic? They also had the #2400's work train parked at Belmont. Cars were from Midway, I think #2415-20. It was nice seeing #2400's on the blue line again. Too bad I didn't get a picture. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garmon757 Posted February 23, 2014 Report Share Posted February 23, 2014 Looks like they may be starting to work on the tracks at Kimball portal according to this picture. http://http://ow.ly/i/4GgOU It was actually kind of cool riding the single track in the subway, they have these yellow strobe lights that flash about every 100 feet. I wonder are those in place to warn of a train running against traffic? They also had the #2400's work train parked at Belmont. Cars were from Midway, I think #2415-20. It was nice seeing #2400's on the blue line again. Too bad I didn't get a picture. That's probably why the Forest Park bound trains were so close by each other around 11:30pm (Sat). They must had to put the 2400s over there this past Friday night/Saturday morning via Paulina Connector. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MTRSP1900-CTA3200 Posted February 23, 2014 Report Share Posted February 23, 2014 Looks like they may be starting to work on the tracks at Kimball portal according to this picture. http://http://ow.ly/i/4GgOU It was actually kind of cool riding the single track in the subway, they have these yellow strobe lights that flash about every 100 feet. I wonder are those in place to warn of a train running against traffic? They also had the #2400's work train parked at Belmont. Cars were from Midway, I think #2415-20. It was nice seeing #2400's on the blue line again. Too bad I didn't get a picture. Did they have the orange cars like in the photos? Also the strobe lights sounded like they looked pretty cool. *I don't know why the stupid pictures rotate funny. They were fine when I took them and when I looked at them on my laptop. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garmon757 Posted February 23, 2014 Report Share Posted February 23, 2014 Did they have the orange cars like in the photos? Also the strobe lights sounded like they looked pretty cool. *I don't know why the stupid pictures rotate funny. They were fine when I took them and when I looked at them on my laptop. 20120924_103416.jpg 20120618_124424.jpg You're correct. Great shots from the car you were in! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BusHunter Posted February 23, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 23, 2014 Did they have the orange cars like in the photos? Also the strobe lights sounded like they looked pretty cool. *I don't know why the stupid pictures rotate funny. They were fine when I took them and when I looked at them on my laptop. 20120924_103416.jpg 20120618_124424.jpg If you look at the picture I linked too, (link's working, I fixed it) those yellow lights you see attached to the subway walls were the lights that were flashing. So those lights are always there, they are just turned on for special occasions. As far as the pictures you uploaded, those are #2600's and I believe they had the flatcar with them. I thought I read on the alerts this is going on today too. So maybe I have another chance for some pictures. http://www.transitchicago.com/travel_information/railstatus.aspx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted February 23, 2014 Report Share Posted February 23, 2014 ... *I don't know why the stupid pictures rotate funny. They were fine when I took them and when I looked at them on my laptop. 20120924_103416.jpg 20120618_124424.jpg That's strange, but what I usually do is open them in a paint program and if they look screwy use the rotate tool in the program and save them as jpg. And, as they say on the clips programs, hold the camera landscape. But why one was inverted is totally beyond me. On the main topic, while there was a Press Release that some contracts were awarded, the scope of the work that has started seems much greater than what was indicated a couple of weeks ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MTRSP1900-CTA3200 Posted February 23, 2014 Report Share Posted February 23, 2014 You're correct. Great shots from the car you were in! Thanks garmon757! If you look at the picture I linked too, (link's working, I fixed it) those yellow lights you see attached to the subway walls were the lights that were flashing. So those lights are always there, they are just turned on for special occasions. As far as the pictures you uploaded, those are #2600's and I believe they had the flatcar with them. I thought I read on the alerts this is going on today too. So maybe I have another chance for some pictures. http://www.transitchicago.com/travel_information/railstatus.aspx I was wondering what those lights were doing there... I wonder if they were attached recently, or if they were there for a long time. Either way, I'm probably traveling too fast to see them normally. Huh, I thought in the picture rotated left they were 2400s. That's strange, but what I usually do is open them in a paint program and if they look screwy use the rotate tool in the program and save them as jpg. And, as they say on the clips programs, hold the camera landscape. But why one was inverted is totally beyond me. On the main topic, while there was a Press Release that some contracts were awarded, the scope of the work that has started seems much greater than what was indicated a couple of weeks ago. Thanks for the tip, but since I don't have a go to paint program (I'm on a Mac), I'm thinking next time I'll take a screenshot of the righted image, then post the screenshot. Interesting note. I'm hoping the next few weeks will also show what's going on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted February 23, 2014 Report Share Posted February 23, 2014 ... Thanks for the tip, but since I don't have a go to paint program (I'm on a Mac), I'm thinking next time I'll take a screenshot of the righted image, then post the screenshot. ... However, that would get you a very low res image. I go back to where there was actually MacPaint. I'm sure they have some other utility with that function, in the photo tools or an app. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KedziePink Posted February 23, 2014 Report Share Posted February 23, 2014 Thanks garmon757! I was wondering what those lights were doing there... I wonder if they were attached recently, or if they were there for a long time. Either way, I'm probably traveling too fast to see them normally. Huh, I thought in the picture rotated left they were 2400s. Thanks for the tip, but since I don't have a go to paint program (I'm on a Mac), I'm thinking next time I'll take a screenshot of the righted image, then post the screenshot. Interesting note. I'm hoping the next few weeks will also show what's going on. You should try opening the image in Preview (in the Applications folder) and rotating it there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chicagopcclcar Posted February 23, 2014 Report Share Posted February 23, 2014 BusHunter, on 22 Feb 2014 - 23:02, said: Looks like they may be starting to work on the tracks at Kimball portal according to this picture.http://ow.ly/i/4GgOU It was actually kind of cool riding the single track in the subway, they have these yellow strobe lights that flash about every 100 feet. I wonder are those in place to warn of a train running against traffic? The original signal system that was put in when the WNW line was extended from Jeff Pk to Rosemont and on to O'Hare had bi-directional capacity and had the gum-ball lights that would flash when trains are run in the wrong direction. Over the years the CTA removed the signal capacity but kept the gum-ball lights. You could see them on the right-of-way. Do they flash with the newer signals system now in place? The other gum-ball lights installed are on the North-side, on track 4, between Addison and Belmont. I remember a charter that ran SB on track 4 and did a lunch stop at Belmont. In those days, the Ravenswood only used track 1 on Sunday as a shuttle and didn't run to the Loop. I think those gum-balls are still there too. In Atlanta on their MATRA I saw white strobe lights that flash about every 1000 feet in their subways for regular trains on regular tracks as a warning for workers or anyone. Gum-balls between NB and SB tracks. Gum-ball between tracks 3 and 4 way on the right of the photo. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BusHunter Posted February 24, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 24, 2014 Today they were doing the NB track surprisingly. So they are going to do tracks on both sides, first one and then the other in one weekend? That would really speed up the project. The work train was parked on the kimball incline today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garmon757 Posted February 24, 2014 Report Share Posted February 24, 2014 Well folks, let the rehabs begins. California station will be closed on weekends starting March 21st. Here's the rest of what's going on in the future: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/ct-getting-around-cta-blue-line-renovation-met-022-20140224,0,2203386.column Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted February 24, 2014 Report Share Posted February 24, 2014 Well folks, let the rehabs begins. California station will be closed on weekends starting March 21st. Here's the rest of what's going on in the future: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/ct-getting-around-cta-blue-line-renovation-met-022-20140224,0,2203386.column Saw the TV news headlines and then this. But those getting pictures of the ballast trains and the like indicated that something was already going on, so we beat the press by about 23 hours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garmon757 Posted February 24, 2014 Report Share Posted February 24, 2014 Saw the TV news headlines and then this. But those getting pictures of the ballast trains and the like indicated that something was already going on, so we beat the press by about 23 hours. Yeah, tell me about it. Also, it's most likely that there will be substations for California and Damen stations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted February 24, 2014 Report Share Posted February 24, 2014 Yeah, tell me about it. Also, it's most likely that there will be substations for California and Damen stations. Not sure what you mean here. Electric substations (probably an independent project) or auxiliary entrances? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garmon757 Posted February 24, 2014 Report Share Posted February 24, 2014 Not sure what you mean here. Electric substations (probably an independent project) or auxiliary entrances? Electric substations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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