Chicago Stations preview

Having had the pleasure of being asked to beta test this route, I thought I'd post a few shots-to wet your appetite. Hey Sniper-You might want to check this route out. Should be right up your alley-er! I mean track.Hawk"First thing I remember knowin', was that lonesome whistle blowin'-And a yungun's dream of growing up to ride-
On a freight train leavin' town, not knowin' where I'm bound.
No-one could steer me right-But Mama tried."

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RE: Chicago Stations preview., CPR_Malice_96th, Aug-25-03, 10:59 AM, (1) RE: Chicago Stations preview., P42number1, Aug-25-03, 11:16 AM, (2) RE: Chicago Stations preview., Hawk, Aug-25-03, 06:46 PM, (4) RE: Chicago Stations preview., RevnJeff, Aug-25-03, 12:59 PM, (3) RE: Chicago Stations preview., Hawk, Aug-27-03, 09:55 AM, (5) RE: Chicago Stations preview., gatewaycityca, Aug-27-03, 10:45 PM, (6) RE: Chicago Stations preview., buzzbenz, Aug-27-03, 11:02 PM, (7) RE: Chicago Stations preview., GaryH2, Sep-16-03, 09:01 PM, (15) RE: Chicago Stations preview., Hack, Aug-28-03, 00:46 AM, (8) RE: Chicago Stations preview., buzzbenz, Aug-28-03, 01:52 AM, (9) RE: Chicago Stations preview., gatewaycityca, Aug-28-03, 03:52 AM, (10) RE: Chicago Stations preview., sniper297, Aug-28-03, 12:03 PM, (11) RE: Chicago Stations preview., metraRI, Aug-29-03, 05:58 PM, (12) RE: Chicago Stations preview., atsfdude, Sep-13-03, 10:46 PM, (13) RE: Chicago Stations preview., chosenfrozen44, Sep-14-03, 11:24 AM, (14) RE: Chicago Stations preview., zachattack, Sep-16-03, 10:25 PM, (16) RE: Chicago Stations preview., atsfdude, Sep-19-03, 07:44 AM, (19) RE: Chicago Stations preview., CGW409, Sep-18-03, 10:55 PM, (18) RE: Chicago Stations preview., WabashJae, Sep-16-03, 11:35 PM, (17) RE: Chicago Stations preview., Hawk, Sep-19-03, 04:20 PM, (20)

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So ummmmmmmLooks Great.....Hows the FPS ?Tim Kent
96th_Malice
" Power for You "

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I like the track texture!

MYSTERY NUMBER 1284: If Jimmy cracked corn, and nobody cares, how come there is a song about him?

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LAST EDITED ON Aug-25-03 AT 07:13 PM (EDT)

"Hows the FPS ?"I hit a high of 25 in a couple places. Low of 8. Average around 15HawkEdit 1: I guess I could include my system info, to go along with the frames rates.PowerSpec 7805, 250 watt power supply
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA 7ZMM
Processor: AMD Athlon MMX, 3D Now, 1000mhz
Memory: 384mb SDRAM PC-133
Video: PNY Verto NVidea GeForce 4 MX440 64MB DDR RAM AGP
Monitor: NEC MultiSync 95 19"
Hard disks:
Primary: WD Caviar Ultra ATA-100 7200rpm 80GB, 8mb cache (partitioned to 30 and 50 GB)
Secondary: WD Caviar Ultra ATA-100 7200rpm 30GB (partitioned to 20 and 10 GB)
Sound: SB PC-128 onboard chipset
OS: Windows ME,(4.90 build 3000), DX 9.0a (4.09.0000.0900)
BIOS: AMI Ver 1.24a"First thing I remember knowin', was that lonesome whistle blowin'-And a yungun's dream of growing up to ride-
On a freight train leavin' town, not knowin' where I'm bound.
No-one could steer me right-But Mama tried."

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As someone else who grew up in Chicago, I can tell you they look very good.There's only one problem. Everything is just too clean. EVERY single L station I've ever been on has been filthy...dirt, trash, grafitti, bums, etc. Your stations look like something from the Twilight Zone....when Chicago was clean!

Jeff
CNW Fan

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BUMP!"First thing I remember knowin', was that lonesome whistle blowin'-And a yungun's dream of growing up to ride-
On a freight train leavin' town, not knowin' where I'm bound.
No-one could steer me right-But Mama tried."

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Actually, Chicago seems to have cleaned up a lot in recent years. I used to live in Chicago too. I was born there and lived in the suburb Forest Park until I was 9 years old. We moved to California in 1987. There was an El train station just a few blocks from where we lived, on Des Plaines Avenue in Forest Park. The station itself was very clean, but yeah at that time some of the trains were pretty dirty and did have a lot of graffiti. But when I went back to Illinois last spring to visit relatives, we were up in Chicago and it actually looks like they've cleaned it up quite a bit, even since when I lived there. They have these new faster, and much quieter all silver el trains instead of the red and blue striped ones I remembered, and believe it or not...I didn't see any graffiti on the trains. So it has gotten better.That MSTS route does look pretty cool! I want to try it out! Is that one screen shot of the yard at Union Station? I know Amtrak and Metra use it, as well as various freight railroads (it's a HUGE station!) but as far as I remember, the El trains themselves do NOT run directly to Union Station, but on the Loop nearby. Maybe someone who still lives in the area knows a little bit more about how the station is set up, as I was a little kid when I left Chicago and some things are a little foggy for me. I do miss Chicago though! Especially in the winter time. It's too dry here in southern California.Chris Tobar

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The El trains run as close as, and i HOPE i'm right, Clinton St. on the subway section of the Blue line. Basically about a 3 block walk from Union Station to the El. I don't live in Chicago, but in Rival St. Louis. I've been there enough though that i can picture exactly how to get from Union Station to the nearest El station! (It's under a bridge!)If you haven't been there in like 10 years, you will be AMAZED at the work Amtrak has done to Union Station. Beautiful!! I wish Amtrak & St. Louis would get their act together and get us SOMETHING that resembles a train station! Right our temporary facility (celebrating its 25 Birthday next year!) is 5 trailers that have been put together and called a station. Lovingly referred to as the classic AmShack.------ BUZZ ------

-- Power For You --

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LAST EDITED ON Sep-16-03 AT 09:02 PM (EDT)

BuzzI took Amtrak from Philly ot St. Louis (via Chicago) in March. I was quite dismayed at the shack being used as a station compared to the glorious Union Station. Its really a shame.Here are a couple pics from our trip back in MArch.The first two are of Union Station and the third is of some traffic going by the "station."The fourth shot is of our train to Chicago. THe A/C was only working in one car. That' wasn't too cool (literally!). We didn't need A/C by the time we made it to Chicago.I also stuck a pic of Horseshoe Curve in there too! GH

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Yikes! Those screens are fantastic! Love the skyline and the details of the multi-track crossings! ...oh, and my Zephyr set looks pretty good there too! Cheers!
Marc - 3DTrains
http://www.3dtrains.comPro Series SuperPacks

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I'm hoping for a Union Station that i can flood with F40s! Hehe!!------ BUZZ ------

-- Power For You --

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Definitely, Buzz! Every time I saw a picture of Amtrak at the Union Station in Chicago, it was always an F-40 at the head end.There was something I wanted to ask you guys about, and in fact this is important enough that I'll probably post it on the Route Builder's forum too. When I lived in Chicago, I used to visit relatives down near St. Louis with my mom and dad. We often took the Amtrak down to Alton, IL (about an hour or so from St. Louis if I remember right). I can distinctly remember on our last trip down there before we moved to California, in the summer of 1987, as we were making our way down the cooridor to our train...and I was getting really excited hearing the rumble of the locomotives...and on one of the adjacent tracks I swear to this day I saw a train with an ELECTRIC locomotive. I remember seeing the locomotive with its pantagraph, and I was like "whoa! What the heck is this?" I had never seen anything like that before or since. Does anyone know what line this might have been? Were any of the lines that came into Union Station electrified? When I went back to visit last April with my parents, I did see what looked like a small yard that did have some track that was electrified with overhead wire, but it was across the street from Museum Campus (where the Shedd Aquarium, Soldier Field, etc. is) not at Union Station. Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to see Union Station while I was there. I was pretty disappointed I've heard too that a lot of work has been done to it over the years.Chris

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Used to be a bunch of them before the interstate highway system took all the business away from the Interurbans. The Chicago Aurora & Elgin and the North Shore line used various combinations of overhead wire and outside third rail since they ran on the rapid transit trackage part of the way. The North Shore ran on CTA tracks in Chicago, switched to overhead wire out in the country, then ran on its own tracks up to Milwaukee where it ran on the streetcar tracks. South Shore line was never abandoned, currently part of the Metra system, and they still use overhead wire.Lower right corner, South Shore, Illinois Central, Rock Island, some of those are still electrified.Shot looking south from the Sears Tower skydeck, Union Station on the right, I forget which station that was on the left but I think it's Metra now.Here's a website with a collection of traction pics:http://www.trainweb.org/vermande/1/traction.htmlMost of the Chicago Transit Authority EL and subway trains have lost their overhead trolley poles and use only outside third rail pickup these days, but I think the Skokie Swift still uses pantographs.

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About that station on the left, its LaSalle Street Station. The only line going into LaSalle is Metra's Rock Island Line going to Joliet.

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LAST EDITED ON Sep-13-03 AT 11:08 PM (EDT)

Here are some shots of the Super Chief leaving Dearborn station. This is a great little route with lots of potential.
-- John Tackett --

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LAST EDITED ON Sep-14-03 AT 11:24 AM (EDT)

Great Job!.....but I believe that ATSF train is going through "hizzoner da mayor`s" house in the present day config.truly awesome job.......looks like I remember itChuck

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where may I ask did you ge the route, ATSFDUDE?

It's the Santa Fe, all the way!

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Should be in the file library as Chicago Stations.
-- John Tackett --

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Sniper
CNS&M was primarily overhead save for it's EL running.
CA&E was the complete opposite with third rail over the entire system save for about a mile of overhead at the end of the three branches,the cook county branch(the ex CA&E/CGW and finally IHB spur that used to run along Mannhiem Rd)and some freight sidings and some yard trackage in Wheaton.
The Skokie Swift(CTA's ex CNS&M trackage)stil runs overhead but last year the CTA announced they intend to go third railGary S

"Some say this country's just out for a fight. After 9/11 man I'd have to say thats right"
"Have You Forgotten"
Darryl Worley

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<I remember seeing the locomotive with its pantagraph, and I was like "whoa! What the heck is this?" I had never seen anything like that before or since.>
If this was in 1987, it could not be Metrolink. I would put my money on this being an electric locomotive moving to or from the Museum of Transport in St. Louis County.

Jae

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In the file library, do a search for this;chista1.zipHawk"First thing I remember knowin', was that lonesome whistle blowin'-And a yungun's dream of growing up to ride-
On a freight train leavin' town, not knowin' where I'm bound.
No-one could steer me right-But Mama tried."

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