Chicago L2 v03 activities

After posting this in the main trainsim forum, I was heading for route design, and noticed this, I keep forgetting there's a traction forum.http://www.train-sim.com/dcforum/DCForumID3/19512.html

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RE: Chicago L2 v03 activities, P42number1, Aug-26-03, 02:13 AM, (1) RE: Chicago L2 v03 activities, chuckzeiler, Aug-26-03, 09:43 PM, (2) RE: Chicago L2 v03 activities, sniper297, Aug-27-03, 10:18 PM, (3) RE: Chicago L2 v03 activities, ccyko, Aug-27-03, 11:23 PM, (4) RE: Chicago L2 v03 activities, sniper297, Aug-27-03, 11:55 PM, (5) RE: Chicago L2 v03 activities, chuckzeiler, Aug-28-03, 00:17 AM, (6) RE: Chicago L2 v03 activities, sniper297, Aug-28-03, 01:09 AM, (7) RE: Chicago L2 v03 activities, ccyko, Aug-28-03, 01:42 AM, (8) RE: Chicago L2 v03 activities, chuckzeiler, Aug-28-03, 05:29 PM, (9) RE: Chicago L2 v03 activities, ccyko, Aug-28-03, 06:11 PM, (10) RE: Chicago L2 v03 activities, chuckzeiler, Aug-28-03, 07:23 PM, (11) RE: Chicago L2 v03 activities, sniper297, Aug-28-03, 07:45 PM, (12) RE: Chicago L2 v03 activities, ccyko, Aug-28-03, 08:23 PM, (13) RE: Chicago L2 v03 activities, ccyko, Aug-28-03, 10:15 PM, (14) RE: Chicago L2 v03 activities, P42number1, Aug-28-03, 10:34 PM, (15) RE: Chicago L2 v03 activities, johnward711, Sep-02-03, 06:01 AM, (16)

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I liked the activities. I even got my friend who doesent like MSTS to play it! "Dave, the 'D' button is go...NO! 'W' for forward...there you go. Watch, not too clo- Too late."

Mommy says the sun comes out in the morning

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Jim, I had the experience of using the Lake St. El for a couple of years during my college tenure in the late 1960’s. At that time, I would board the Lake St. El at Harlem (Oak Park), ride to State and Lake on the Loop, transfer to the Grand Ave. trolley bus (remember them?), and ride down to Navy Pier, where the college was located.As I recall, the headways were at the discretion of the motorman. At least, I seem to recall close encounters. Picture below.
Regarding train length, I seem to remember signs with the numbers 2, 4, 6, 8, painted on them at specific intervals at stations, where the motorman could see them, telling him where to stop his train, based on the # of cars and platform length. However, various train lengths were found in various situations. I lived on the North Side for a while, and I record this Image on Jan., 1982. I believe this was an ice breaker train.And for those so inclined, you could always use the FreightAnim line to “deliver” the CTA cars that are in the Train-sim.com Library.

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Cool shots! I'm probably senile, I think I was around 11 or 12 years old when they first arrived in mint green and alpine white, but I'm almost certain the 2000 series cars arrived rolling on their own wheels coupled into a freight train, rather than loaded onto flat cars. I've never seen a picture of the C&NW bringing in the 2000 series cars, so possibly my memory is faulty. I remember being surprised that the couplers matched, and there was usually a couple engines, maybe 4 or 8 2000 series cars, then the usual boxcars etcetera, and maybe a string of EL cars at the back of the train in front of the caboose. Vandalism wasn't commonplace back then, but it was rare to see the cars in the middle of a freight train, they were usually right behind the engine or right ahead of the caboose.Hard to tell from that shot, but I think that's a standard knuckle coupler.

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The couplers on the #1 ends are form 5 couplers.

CYKWORKS

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Hee-hee, speak English, Elvis, "form 5 couplers"? Are those standard knuckle couplers or compatible with? I suppose it don't matter, a few wrenches and sledgehammers to knock out drawbar pins and you could change to a different coupler type for the trip. I'd still like to find a picture of those 2000 cars coupled to regular freight cars tho, the only picture I have is in my memory, and you know by now how well THAT works! If that memory is accurate, it's possible they had to do it that way due to overhead clearances, and with all the bridges jacked up for high cube and doublestack these days that's no longer an issue, so they can just stick the cars on a flatcar without worrying about excess height.Haven't heard from you in a while, get your worms and viruses cleaned out okay?

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2000's eh? I happen to be on a fan trip using those cars. This is somewhere near Berwyn. 10/25/64.
You saw them delivered on their own wheels. Could be. They just had to drag them from the South Side (Pullman Plant) to the North side (Skokie) to get them to the CTA.This slide is labeled at Western on the Milwaukee line (Red, Blue, Green Line, I dunno).
Closeup of the coupler. I see a pointy thing that doesn't look normal.

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"This is somewhere near Berwyn", that puzzled me for a minute. I forget what went where, I know the Douglas line ends near 54th & Cermack these days, some other line - CA&E? - used to continue where all them parking lots on 21st place are now. That chimney is a tipoff tho, Danly MFG was at 21st & Laramie in Cicero. No CTA in Berwyn these days."They just had to drag them from the South Side (Pullman Plant) to the North side (Skokie) to get them to the CTA."That's another wierd thing, '64 was a long time ago, but IIRC the ELs-in-a-freight-train were coming eastbound on the C&NW from the direction of Proviso toward 40th Street yards and possibly downtown. The NorthWestern was more of a tangled mess than the Port Ogden & Northern with zillions of secondary lines crisscrossing all over the midwest, so I suppose it's possible they were headed for Skokie. I remember wondering at the time why they didn't run a temporary connection to the CTA Forest Park yards at Harlem & Lake since they passed right by there at the same level. The changover from ground level running to the C&NW viaduct from Laramie west on the Lake Street line had already been completed by the time the first 2000 series cars showed up. Seemed like for a couple months there were C&NW freights with 2000 series cars passing my house eastbound at least once a day, actually got to the point where I didn't stop to stare when one went by. Wish I'd had a camera back then.Yeah, them couplers don't look like there even remotely compatible with standard railroad knuckle couplers, so if they did couple them directly into the trains they must have changed the couplers for the trip. I remember going downtown with my brothers (to the 41 story Prudential building, which at the time was the 2nd tallest building in the world!), and waiting while several 4000 series trains passed by so we could ride on a "new EL". After a while of keeping them seperated they started mixing 2000 and 4000 series cars in the same train, until eventually they replaced all the 4000 series with them new corrugated stainless steel cars, 2200s I think.Got any more pics of them 2000 series cars?

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I'll see if I can dig up some 2000s photos. (Put all my photos in zips on CDs before formatting.)However, the 2000s (High Performance) cars are not electrically compatible with the 4000s, 5000s, nor 6000s. (MU pin configuration does not match.

CYKWORKS

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Do I have more 2000 series pictures? Does Hizzoner have clout?First, I'll let you ponder this photo.
Regarding Berwyn, when I lived in Chicago, there was a loop and small yard at 54th in the Cicero-Berwyn neighborhood. Apparently, at one time, the line continued west to Oak Park Avenue.
Regarding your mention of the Chicago Aurora & Elgin Railroad, as I recall, after the elevated structure was torn down to make way for the Congress (now Eisenhower, or is it the Blue) Expressway, the CA&E was supposed to make a stub connection with the Congress (Eisenhower, Blue) Line at Des Plaines. The CA&E bridges were in place behind the CTA shops for a number of years after the CA&E ceased operations. The CTA parked trains on what would have been the CA&E tracks behind the shops.
On the CA&E stub at the Des Plaines Terminal, the CTA parked a couple of old 2000 series wood cars for the trainmen to use during layovers.
The CA&E stub is to the right, and it's not connected to the rest of the track.
In July 1981, the CTA ran a fan trip to the Skokie Shops. Lawyers would have had a field day with this arrangement today, but were allowed to de-train and wander around the shops. The even lined up some equipment for us to photograph. I imagine that the third rails were de-energized, but I cannot say for certain, and I'm not aware of anyone in our group who tested it to be sure.
Jim, you might recognize this location, west of Pulaski, crossing over the C&NW.
Remember the cracks in the structure crossing the tracks leading to LaSalle Street Station at Cermak? You can see some of the cribbing in this shot, reinforcing the structure until repairs can be made.
Just some general shots of 2000's.
And finally, all I could find on the coupler, which is an Ohio Brass Form 5D. Note that it is hinged for vertical fluctuations in the track.

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Those are GREAT photos, I'll take all I can get. Saving every one you've posted.As far as the couplers, I BELIEVE that all the 'L' cars, wooden on use the form 5 couplers, and can all physically connect with each other. However the 4000s, 5000s/6000s, and 2000s on forward are al electrically exclusive from each previous series.A couple of the issues involved are...
4000s have air braking, and door controls (5000s on forward are all electric)I believe the 2000s were the first to use solid state controllers, and thus were not able to trainline with the 5000s/6000s. (Among other things)The Chicago Aurora and Elgin when it began operations into the loop operated over the Metropolitan West Side Elevated's Mainline from Forest Park to a stub terminal at 5th, between Jackson and Van Buren. It then granted the Chicago Rapid Transit Company, and later the CTA rights over its Westchester branch to a terminal at 22nd (Cermak) and Mannheim (1926-1951). In 1954 construction began on the Congress Expy, and the CA&E opted not to operate over the CTA's temporary trackage (adjacent to Van Buren) to the loop, and thus was operated stub at Des Plaines. In 1957 (a year before the Congress Line opened) the CA&E discontinued service.The Congress Expy was designed with ROW for express trackage for the purpose of handling CA&E trains. This is evident where the Congress enters the Dearborn subway past Halsted. There are four subway portals, and two tracks.After the CA&E was abandoned the CTA submitted a proposal for it to assume the services of the CA&E over existing trackage. Funding was never found, and the proposal dropped. As far as I know, there are still tail tracks extinding westward from the Des Plaines yard where the CA&E would have run.
The ROW extending westward from the end of the Douglas branch was actually part of the Douglas branch. At its peak it extended westward at grade to 22nd (Cermak) and Oak Park Ave. It was trimmed to its current terminus at 54th and Cermak in 1952. Service from 54th to Oak Park was initially suplemented by an express bus making stops where the 'L' once had. The ROW was eventually converted to parking lots.

CYKWORKS

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Chris, if you are looking for a photo on any particular location on the CTA, let me know. I may have something that can help. I got around on the system a bit in the 1960's-1970's. Jeez, a dollar would get you a tour of the whole CTA system, and a few more cents would include Evanston and the Skokie Swift. What a bargain.BTW, I got chased off a CTA platform once by one of the CTA police while shooting photos. He cited a WWII law prohibiting photographing vital transportation equipment, and this was in 1964.Reading from CERA Bulletin #115, the wood cars had whatever coupler they were built with, generally Van Dorn, as the CTA absorbed several independent companies. The 4000's had Stearns and Ward couplers. None of these cars had the automatic MU connections that are below the coupler on the Ohio Brass model. Sorry for the crappy photo, it's all I got of these two pieces of equipment next to each other.

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One of the worst things with photographing anything is ignorant cops who are under the impression that it's illegal to take pictures without permission. I wave my ACLU card at them and they usually back off in one hell of a hurry. It's a real sin, if anyone should know the law a police officer should. I got hassled by a couple of rookie cops last week for parking on the vacant lot next to my house, and finally I told them if you think it's illegal write me a ticket and we'll settle it in court, cuz I ain't moving the car. Needless to say they didn't write me a ticket because there's no state law or municipal code against parking on abandoned property.At least I got the Berwyn thing straight, they're calling it Berwyn/Cicero terminal, but the eastern boundary of Berwyn is 62nd Avenue, a mile west of there. As Chris said the EL hasn't run into Berwyn since 1952. Hee-hee, you get right down to it the Congress line has a "Forest Park" terminal since everything at Desplaines & Harrison is within Forest Park. The Lake Street EL discharges all its passengers on the Oak Park side of Harlem Avenue, but since the yards are in Forest Park everyone calls it the "Forest Park" terminal anyway.

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The Lake St. line once had a "Forest Park" terminal, though the line was trimmed back when Harlem Yards were created since the terminal would have been in the middle of the yards.As far as CER goes, I believe I've gotten all the track, and stations I'm going to put into v0.4. Right now I'm working on sinage, and loose ends. I believe I'm going to place a little bit more scenery also. (Depending on what I feature)I will definitly remember your offer when I begin modeling again.What I plan to includ in the next version is.....Red Line - 35th to Division
Orange - Loop to Halsted
Green - Racine to 19th
Brown & Purple Lines - Chicago to Loop
Possibly Blue Line - Halsted to Division
(subway is complete with exception to sinage, deliberating on whether to place scenery around UIC-Halsted, or to wait)

CYKWORKS

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.

CYKWORKS

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Chris, you never fail to amaze me.I always thought the Series 2000s looked alot like the SOAC cars...

Mommy says the sun comes out in the morning

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Hi Chuck
Somebody posted a question in a year old thread about trolly
busses, and you posted a picture of a CTA Marmon. Do you have any more?

john

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