Possible Future Rail Signage?

[TripleTransit1]

You guys know the color-letter on white background signage used on Cottage Grove trains and on UIC-Halsted trains? What if that signage became the standard for all 8 rail lines? What do you guys think?

(If you want to know what I'm talking about, here is a pic of a Cottage-Grove-bound train at Garfield, courtesy of subwaynut.com.)

[jtrosario]

NOTE: The following question is not from any news stories or rumors. This is all based on my imagination.

You guys know the color-letter on white background signage used on Cottage Grove trains and on UIC-Halsted trains? What if that signage became the standard for all 8 rail lines? What do you guys think?

(If you want to know what I'm talking about, here is a pic of a Cottage-Grove-bound train at Garfield, courtesy of subwaynut.com.)garfield54.jpg

Well, it SHOULD be on the Jefferson Park sign for the Blue line...

[Busjack]

Well, it SHOULD be on the Jefferson Park sign for the Blue line...

That makes sense, The reverse is basically only for alternates or short turns.

I assume that the only thing that potential passengers see on the platform is the color, and the color isn't distinctive if it is 80% white.

I'm also sure that the reason CTA went for the tight matrix electronic signs, instead of Spectrum ones was to preserve that color dominance.

[jtrosario]

That makes sense, The reverse is basically only for alternates or short turns.

I assume that the only thing that potential passengers see on the platform is the color, and the color isn't distinctive if it is 80% white.

I'm also sure that the reason CTA went for the tight matrix electronic signs, instead of Spectrum ones was to preserve that color dominance.

Yes, that makes sense. And just like people boarding SB Green line trains can easily tell their destination by mostly Green or mostly White with Green lettering from a distance, and people boarding SB/WB Blue trains can easily tell Forest Park/mostly Blue from UIC/mostly White with Blue lettering, the NB Blue line trains should also match that standard with O'Hare/mostly Blue and Jefferson Park/mostly White with Blue lettering. I would also say that the Rosemont destination should be mostly White with Blue lettering, but haven't seen any "recent" sign rolls with that destination still intact, although at one point in time some late afternoon rush trains would terminate there before going out of service. That previous sign was also mostly Blue with White lettering.

[Around the Horn]

That makes sense, The reverse is basically only for alternates or short turns.

I assume that the only thing that potential passengers see on the platform is the color, and the color isn't distinctive if it is 80% white.

I'm also sure that the reason CTA went for the tight matrix electronic signs, instead of Spectrum ones was to preserve that color dominance.

Yeah that makes sense...

[KedziePink]

Yes, that makes sense. And just like people boarding SB Green line trains can easily tell their destination by mostly Green or mostly White with Green lettering from a distance, and people boarding SB/WB Blue trains can easily tell Forest Park/mostly Blue from UIC/mostly White with Blue lettering, the NB Blue line trains should also match that standard with O'Hare/mostly Blue and Jefferson Park/mostly White with Blue lettering. I would also say that the Rosemont destination should be mostly White with Blue lettering, but haven't seen any "recent" sign rolls with that destination still intact, although at one point in time some late afternoon rush trains would terminate there before going out of service. That previous sign was also mostly Blue with White lettering.

I saw some northbound Blue Line trains with Rosemont signs during the time the O'Hare station was closed after the derailment.

[BusHunter]

Well, it SHOULD be on the Jefferson Park sign for the Blue line...

Actually the reverse should happen, Jeff Pk stays as it is and UIC goes blue. The only reason that was like that was because of the 54th/Cermak branch being part of the blue line.

[Busjack]

Actually the reverse should happen, Jeff Pk stays as it is and UIC goes blue. The only reason that was like that was because of the 54th/Cermak branch being part of the blue line.

But then, only 54-Cermak, not Halsted-UIC, should have been reversed, since Halsted-UIC is on the main line, before the Douglas ramp.

[BusHunter]

But then, only 54-Cermak, not Halsted-UIC, should have been reversed, since Halsted-UIC is on the main line, before the Douglas ramp.

And I don't know why that is. So we're back to what right Jeff or UIC? But if Jeff is wrong Rosemont is also wrong.

[Sam92]

And I don't know why that is. So we're back to what right Jeff or UIC? But if Jeff is wrong Rosemont is also wrong.

Well, before the "UIC" sign we currently have, the former ones displayed "UIC-Halsted" in white letters on blue background. Plus the change was pretth recent. I think it happened around the time 95/Dan Ryan switched to "95th" and "Harlem/Lake" to "Harlem"

[Busjack]

Well, before the "UIC" sign we currently have, the former ones displayed "UIC-Halsted" in white letters on blue background. Plus the change was pretth recent. I think it happened around the time 95/Dan Ryan switched to "95th" and "Harlem/Lake" to "Harlem"

I was thinking that maybe it had to do with that the "B" trains short turned, while the "A" trains went to Forest Park. However, since you say this was fairly recent, and certainly A/B service stopped decades before, that can't be it.

Also, from what others have posted, the sign rolls must have been changed when Jefferson Park became a short turn as part of the Crowd Reduction Plan.

[peterpyterek]

The following signs should be changed for whatever reasons the others were changed:

Pink Line's "54/Cermak" to simply "54th"

Yellow Line's "Skokie" to "Dempster" to avoid confusion with Oakton-Skokie

What date(s) were the others changed and why?

Red Line's "95/Dan Ryan" to simply "95th"

Green Line's "Harlem/Lake" to simply "Harlem"

Green Line's "East 63rd" to "Cottage Grove"

Blue Line's blue background and white text "UIC-Halsted" to white background and blue text simply "UIC"

Does the Green Line's "Ashland/63" sign stay the same to avoid confusion with Ashland/Lake?

[Busjack]

The following signs should be changed for whatever reasons the others were changed:

Pink Line's "54/Cermak" to simply "54th"

..

Green Line's "East 63rd" to "Cottage Grove"

...

54th would be too ambiguous, as most Chicagoans would associate it with 54th St. (i.e. a block north of Garfield).

East 63rd lived about a decade more than it should have. Its original purpose was that when the Green Line was renovated about 1995, it wasn't sure if the Dorchester station would still be around.

Yellow Line is still historically considered the Skokie Swift, and if you want to get technical about station names, that one is now Skokie-Dempster, but I doubt that would be legible on a digital sign.

And, getting back to it, technically, the name for the station at the end of the Pink Line is 54/Cermak, while the one at the end of the Green Line is simply Harlem.

If one wanted to avoid ambiguity, I argued that the station at the end of the Brown Line should be Kimball-Lawrence, but it isn't. But the stations names Des Plaines Ave. was changed to Forest Park and River Road was changed to Rosemont at about the time of the first destination (as opposed to route) signs apparently to remove ambiguity. I suppose that the Ashland-63 is because there are 2 Ashland stations on the Green Line, one of which is a terminal, while none of the duplicate station names of the Blue Line is a terminal (so I guess you guessed that one).

[garmon757]

The following signs should be changed for whatever reasons the others were changed:

Pink Line's "54/Cermak" to simply "54th"

Yellow Line's "Skokie" to "Dempster" to avoid confusion with Oakton-Skokie

What date(s) were the others changed and why?

Red Line's "95/Dan Ryan" to simply "95th"

Green Line's "Harlem/Lake" to simply "Harlem"

Green Line's "East 63rd" to "Cottage Grove"

Blue Line's blue background and white text "UIC-Halsted" to white background and blue text simply "UIC"

Does the Green Line's "Ashland/63" sign stay the same to avoid confusion with Ashland/Lake?

54th would be too ambiguous, as most Chicagoans would associate it with 54th St. (i.e. a block north of Garfield).

East 63rd lived about a decade more than it should have. Its original purpose was that when the Green Line was renovated about 1995, it wasn't sure if the Dorchester station would still be around.

Yellow Line is still historically considered the Skokie Swift, and if you want to get technical about station names, that one is now Skokie-Dempster, but I doubt that would be legible on a digital sign.

And, getting back to it, technically, the name for the station at the end of the Pink Line is 54/Cermak, while the one at the end of the Green Line is simply Harlem.

If one wanted to avoid ambiguity, I argued that the station at the end of the Brown Line should be Kimball-Lawrence, but it isn't. But the stations names Des Plaines Ave. was changed to Forest Park and River Road was changed to Rosemont at about the time of the first destination (as opposed to route) signs apparently to remove ambiguity. I suppose that the Ashland-63 is because there are 2 Ashland stations on the Green Line, one of which is a terminal, while none of the duplicate station names of the Blue Line is a terminal (so I guess you guessed that one).

I just thought bout this before this was posted and I was going to say what about Purple Line to Wilmette instead of Linden? About Ashland/63, I was going to say Ashland-Englewood but that would be too much hassle to do so.

[Busjack]

I just thought bout this before this was posted and I was going to say what about Purple Line to Wilmette instead of Linden? About Ashland/63, I was going to say Ashland-Englewood but that would be too much hassle to do so.

Station name is Linden, but I suppose your point is based on my observation above that station names were changed to Forest Park and Rosemont.

On the other hand, Cicero-Berwyn station's name was changed to 54-Cermak. While Cicero itself would be ambiguous (both at 4800 and 5400 W), I assume it originally got its name because the Douglas line went to Berwyn, but was cut back there and bus substituted.

The only precedent for your Englewood one is that the name of the 157 bus was changed from "Ohio-Union Station" to "Streeterville." However, very little of the route is on Ohio St. On the other hand, I argued that since very little of 60 Blue Island-26 is on Blue Island Ave. (due to urban renewal and UIC), its name should be changed to something like UIC-26, sort of similar to 1 Indiana-Hyde Park being changed to Bronzeville (but that was necessitated by the route being cut back to 35th, even though it previously had been cut back so it no longer got to Hyde Park Blvd.).

There are very few stations named after neighborhoods, and mostly for more prominent reasons, such as Illinois Medical District, 35-Sox differentiated from 35-Bronzeville-IIT, Cermak-Chinatown, Logan Square, and Jefferson Park. Apparently Van Buren-Library has been changed to Harold Washington Library.

[Busjack]

...

And, getting back to it, technically, the name for the station at the end of the Pink Line is 54/Cermak, while the one at the end of the Green Line is simply Harlem.

...

I have to correct this one. On both the system map and the timetable brochure, the station name is still Harlem-Lake.

Also, on both, the station name is 95th-Dan Ryan, not 95th.

I have the feeling, then, that someone just decided to simplify the roll signs, although they don't necessarily correspond to the platform signs or timetable. Of course, that now also simplifies the electronic signs.