by Aaron M. Renn
Chronicling life riding the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA)
Visit The Weekly Breakdown on the web at http://www.urbanophile.com/breakdown/
This week marks the first anniversary of the Weekly Breakdown. Happy birthday!
Railfans might be interested in the following site, which is dedicated to the history of the Chicago Tunnel Company:
http://members.aol.com/POKeefe571/tunnel1.html
This is the company that operated freight rail tunnels underneath the Loop. While the railroad no longer operates, many of the tunnels still exist.
Aldermen in wards hard hit by the snowstorm are calling for a City Council investigation into the CTA's performance woes. CTA president Frank Kruesi says that the agency is already bringing in a team from the American Public Transit Association to perform an independent review of the way the CTA handled the storm. "It is an experience we are committed to learning from"," he said. [ Source: Chicago Sun-Times 21 Jan 1999 ]
I had another classic CTA L trip this week. I caught the train at Fullerton relatively on schedule. But at Belmont, the train stood with the doors open for several minutes due to a sick passenger on the train. Shortly after we resumed moving, a couple came into our car and announced they were going to lead us all in a round of "Row, row, row your boat". A woman said loudly that there was no way this was going to happen, that she was tired after having just gotten off work and was in no mood for this stuff. The stunned couple moved on to the next car. As soon as they left, the Most Notorious Beggar on the CTA(TM) came in and started to do his "Please, I'm homeless. Can you help me?" The same woman who routed our would-be campfire singers promptly laid into this fellow. At first, he continued this speech, but she just got more intense saying, "I can talk louder than you." For the first time ever, this guy basically shut up and simply walked through the car with his hands out to collect donations. Nothing like a bit of entertainment for your trip. Too bad that the delay at Belmont caused me to miss my Evanston connection at Howard by two minutes. Hope the person wasn't too sick.
The Weekly Breakdown is a small Internet journal devoted to the trials and tribulations of being a regular rider of the Chicago Transit Authority. I would be happy to hear about and include your experiences. Just send mail to breakdown@urbanophile.com.
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