by Aaron M. Renn
Chronicling life riding the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA)
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Metra is implementing 32 station projects this year at a cost of $68 million. Included are new or rehabbed stations at Praire Crossing, Palos Heights, at I-355 on the BNSF line, Midlothian, and Palatine. Also included are several in city stations in Beverly and Hyde Park. The long awaited reconstruction of Randolph St. Station is close to entering the design phase. [ Source: Chicago Tribune 20 March 2000 ]
The FTA gave a "highly recommended" rating to the CTA's Blue Line project and Metra's Southwest line major expansion for next year's budget. The North Central line and the Ravenswood L projects also were recommended. [ Source: Chicago Tribune 20 March 2000 ]
Also this week it was reported that the CTA is ending its current experiment with fuel cell powered buses and returning the prototypes to Ballard Systems
Graham Garfield wrote in with some additional details on historic CTA uniforms in response to a story that the agency was bringing back throwback garb for its motormen.
There is some historical precidence for motorman on the "L" wearing overalls, but aside from the early, dirty days of steam engines, every picture I've seen also has them wearing a shirt, tie or bow-tie, and jacket with a lapel. It was part of a complete, nicely pressed uniform. It was worn occassionally in the CER/CRT days and made it into the CTA era as well. (Photo of the inaugural run of the 6000s in 1951 show the motorman wearing overalls.) Apparently it was still worn with some frequency until 1987, but I don't remember seeing them much in the 1980s.The only ones to wear just overalls and an undershirt were engineers and firemen in the days of steam operation (1892-1898), as far as I know.
Personally, though, I prefer the surcoat and peaked cap uniform...
And the Wolfman wrote in with this commentary:
I was in town for a (very) brief visit last week. I rode the CTA. It's a damn shame the way they have let their rolling stock (motor buses) go to pot. I witnessed several buses on North Michigan Avenue and LaSalle Street that were in desperate need of body and fender work. Last Tuesday, I jumped on a #125 destined for Union Station. It was a 4000 class MAN (we called them "bricks" because of their boxy shape). The interior of the bus looked as though it had been neglected for several months. Very filthy. The ride was classic jerky upshifts and downshifts. The managers of the Kedzie Garage should be held accountable for putting such equipment on the streets...but, who cares? Imagine what kind of transit service people in the poorer areas have to endure?I was also amused to see the billboard campaign on the Dead Kennedy Expressway urging motorists to "TAKE IT!" Yeah, right! Is there a reason that the photos of buses and railcars are blurry and out of focus? I propose a "Weekly Breakdown" version of the new yellow tee shirts the CTA marketing wizards are trying to hawk; ours would say: "I CAN'T TAKE IT!" Shoot, now I know how Howard Beale felt in the movie Network ( hey, if you have NO clue what I'm talking about, RUN (do not walk) to your fave video store, and see this film!
:: Question for your resident expert bus driver: Is this true about "too :: much weight" on the bus?? If so, is it only on the newer buses?
I can answer that:
"Too much weight" sounds like a cop-out, and to a degree it is. Transit bus transmissions are designed to perform at an incredible ammount of torque just to get 40,000 lbs of bus and passengers out of the curb lane and down the street. Most of the buses in CTA's fleet have electronically controlled transmissions, and a key component in the mix is a little computer device called a "load sensor". As you might imagine, the load sensor makes adjustments in the torque converter to propel the vehicle under various loads. Occaisionally, the sensor starts the bus in the wrong "key" - the right gear, just the wrong "key". The engine is puting out sufficient power, but the tranny is out of sync. If the bus is curbed and shut-down and restarted 3-5 minutes later, the computers have a chance to reset.
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. The views expressed by contributors are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions of the publisher.
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