2024 12 22
Yesterday it was announced that the CTA was awarded federal funds to expand the red line further south to reach the edge of the city. The project will be wildly expensive and is not without its critics as to how the money could be better spent. Personally, I love to see the addition of new rail despite the high price tag and hope this trend, slow as it is, will continue.
That steel beam in the above image used to support an entire damn elevated train line that ran through Chicagoās Humboldt Park some five decades ago or so. Adjacent to North Avenue, down the street from where I live, was a CTA rail line that connected my neighborhood into the rest of the cityās network. Of course, that line is long dead and gone, with no remnants of its existence beyond some internet images and this one steel column that survived the purge to profitability and consolidation the system undertook during the years of urban decay and suburbanization. We lost many train lines (and an entire amusement park!) as cars became the prioritized method of transportation.
Iāve been dreaming of an automated light rail āBoulevard Lineā running between and connecting the Logan Square Blue Line with the Garfield Park Conservatory Green Line. Itās fun to think about but I doubt this will ever happen. If I find myself bored one day, perhaps I will write up a more formal plan and put it out there for people to look at, along with my much hyped and mysterious Plan For a New Illinois.
-Clayton
A steel column embedded into a brick wall. Thatās it! Chicago, Illinois. July, 2024. Ā© Clayton Hauck
Yesterday it was announced that the CTA was awarded federal funds to expand the red line further south to reach the edge of the city. The project will be wildly expensive and is not without its critics as to how the money could be better spent. Personally, I love to see the addition of new rail despite the high price tag and hope this trend, slow as it is, will continue.
That steel beam in the above image used to support an entire damn elevated train line that ran through Chicagoās Humboldt Park some five decades ago or so. Adjacent to North Avenue, down the street from where I live, was a CTA rail line that connected my neighborhood into the rest of the cityās network. Of course, that line is long dead and gone, with no remnants of its existence beyond some internet images and this one steel column that survived the purge to profitability and consolidation the system undertook during the years of urban decay and suburbanization. We lost many train lines (and an entire amusement park!) as cars became the prioritized method of transportation.
Iāve been dreaming of an automated light rail āBoulevard Lineā running between and connecting the Logan Square Blue Line with the Garfield Park Conservatory Green Line. Itās fun to think about but I doubt this will ever happen. If I find myself bored one day, perhaps I will write up a more formal plan and put it out there for people to look at, along with my much hyped and mysterious Plan For a New Illinois.
-Clayton
2024 07 20
I think a lot about how great trains are and how regrettable it is that this country doesnāt have a robust network of trains like most of the developed world does. Sure, cars are fine, but thereās something nice and freeing about being able to venture out into the big city and not have to worry about where to stash your rolling metal box. Imagine a world with high-speed trains connecting all the great midwest towns and cities. We could wake up in Chicago, do lunch in Detroit and dinner in Toronto with almost no effort! Instead, just getting to Detroit from Chicago is basically an all-day affair, likely by car, or possibly on the six-hour, thrice-daily, āhigher speedā train.
As someone who loves to explore new places, the train is the ultimate tool. While sitting at the bar early one evening in Union (beautiful photos on their website, btw! š) and hearing CTA trains roar overhead as they made a stop across the street at the blue lineās California station, we invented a game. Weād ask the bartender to pick a random number two through ten and use that number to guide the rest of our night. She picked four, so we settled our tab, crossed the street and whatever the next arriving train would be, weād take it four stops down the line and explore any new-to-us businesses in that part of town. It was a nice little way to get out of our routines and see something new.
Later, we made this game into a full day and doubled down. One random number picked from a stranger led us to Bridgeport and another random number from a stranger led us to Chinatown, where we enjoyed some delicious steamed buns that wouldāve never been on our agenda had we not ridden the rails and used the trains as our city guide. We were adventurizing!
-Clayton
El train in the night over Logan Square. Chicago, Illinois. May, 2024. Ā© Clayton Hauck
I think a lot about how great trains are and how regrettable it is that this country doesnāt have a robust network of trains like most of the developed world does. Sure, cars are fine, but thereās something nice and freeing about being able to venture out into the big city and not have to worry about where to stash your rolling metal box. Imagine a world with high-speed trains connecting all the great midwest towns and cities. We could wake up in Chicago, do lunch in Detroit and dinner in Toronto with almost no effort! Instead, just getting to Detroit from Chicago is basically an all-day affair, likely by car, or possibly on the six-hour, thrice-daily, āhigher speedā train.
As someone who loves to explore new places, the train is the ultimate tool. While sitting at the bar early one evening in Union (beautiful photos on their website, btw! š) and hearing CTA trains roar overhead as they made a stop across the street at the blue lineās California station, we invented a game. Weād ask the bartender to pick a random number two through ten and use that number to guide the rest of our night. She picked four, so we settled our tab, crossed the street and whatever the next arriving train would be, weād take it four stops down the line and explore any new-to-us businesses in that part of town. It was a nice little way to get out of our routines and see something new.
Later, we made this game into a full day and doubled down. One random number picked from a stranger led us to Bridgeport and another random number from a stranger led us to Chinatown, where we enjoyed some delicious steamed buns that wouldāve never been on our agenda had we not ridden the rails and used the trains as our city guide. We were adventurizing!
-Clayton