CTA in the autumn
This seemingly bucolic November scene belies the fact that we are barely over a mile from Chicago's central business district (known as the "Loop"). The roll sign and twin yellow marker lights indicate that this is a northbound Red Line train heading into the subway portal that will lead to the State Street subway through the Loop.
The open space through which the train is traveling was once occupied almost entirely by railroad tracks. The Santa Fe main line, and the Chicago & Western Indiana main line to Dearborn Station were here, and were used by passenger trains of the C&WI, Santa Fe, Grand Trunk Western, Wabash, Chicago & Eastern Illinois, Monon, and Erie until Dearborn was closed with the coming of Amtrak in 1971.
The old railroad right-of-way laid fallow for a couple decades until CTA pushed through its new Orange Line service in the early Nineties to serve Midway Airport. In a major realignment of services that took place the day the Orange Line opened in 1993, CTA swapped endpoints for a handful of services. The trackage seen here was built as part of that realignment: It serves as the connector for trains to to travel from the route that operated in the median strip of the Dan Ryan Expressway into the State Street subway.
The ramp in the background is the connection was previously used (1969-1993) by Dan Ryan trains to access the South Side elevated tracks and in turn the Loop "L"; it is currently non-revenue trackage. The bridge leading across the frame in the background was new in 1993, and connects the "L" tracks with the then-new Orange Line.
The "DR1/539" sign marks the location of a "phantom signal" – in other words, a trackside block boundary without a wayside signal. Most of CTA's network is equipped with automatic train control and cab signals, and hence wayside signals only exist at interlockings and in their approaches.
CTA in the autumn
This seemingly bucolic November scene belies the fact that we are barely over a mile from Chicago's central business district (known as the "Loop"). The roll sign and twin yellow marker lights indicate that this is a northbound Red Line train heading into the subway portal that will lead to the State Street subway through the Loop.
The open space through which the train is traveling was once occupied almost entirely by railroad tracks. The Santa Fe main line, and the Chicago & Western Indiana main line to Dearborn Station were here, and were used by passenger trains of the C&WI, Santa Fe, Grand Trunk Western, Wabash, Chicago & Eastern Illinois, Monon, and Erie until Dearborn was closed with the coming of Amtrak in 1971.
The old railroad right-of-way laid fallow for a couple decades until CTA pushed through its new Orange Line service in the early Nineties to serve Midway Airport. In a major realignment of services that took place the day the Orange Line opened in 1993, CTA swapped endpoints for a handful of services. The trackage seen here was built as part of that realignment: It serves as the connector for trains to to travel from the route that operated in the median strip of the Dan Ryan Expressway into the State Street subway.
The ramp in the background is the connection was previously used (1969-1993) by Dan Ryan trains to access the South Side elevated tracks and in turn the Loop "L"; it is currently non-revenue trackage. The bridge leading across the frame in the background was new in 1993, and connects the "L" tracks with the then-new Orange Line.
The "DR1/539" sign marks the location of a "phantom signal" – in other words, a trackside block boundary without a wayside signal. Most of CTA's network is equipped with automatic train control and cab signals, and hence wayside signals only exist at interlockings and in their approaches.