street cars


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street cars
Posted by: zorchvalve (---.hsd1.wa.comcast.net)
Date: October 08, 2012 08:00PM

Does anyone out there know if there was a street car running on ogden ave?

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Re: street cars
Posted by: Vern H (---.dsl.emhril.sbcglobal.net)
Date: October 09, 2012 04:10AM

Yes, it ran from 1896 to 1951. Scroll down to route # 58 here.[url=http://www.chicagorailfan.com/rte05059.html]link[/url]

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Re: street cars
Posted by: zorchvalve (---.hsd1.wa.comcast.net)
Date: October 09, 2012 01:50PM

Thanks VernH. I didn't think that I was imagining that. As I remember they were green and white,similar to the ones on clark street.

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Re: street cars
Posted by: tommy wilson (---.lv.lv.cox.net)
Date: December 13, 2012 09:10PM

the car barn on 69th so. marshfied was part of our neighborhood good times back in the 1950's

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Re: street cars
Posted by: Jeff_Weiner (---.sub-70-194-72.myvzw.com)
Date: January 07, 2016 05:03PM

Interesting fact: the Madison line was originally a cable car route, and when the operator switched to electric power, the cable troughs were left in place and paved over. Later on, when the traffic signals were modernized at Ogden and Madison, the troughs were unearthed, and the conduits had to be routed under them, raising the cost of the work.

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Re: street cars
Posted by: Dunning1 (---.dhs.gov)
Date: January 07, 2016 05:43PM

Prior to electrification, Chicago, not San Francisco, had the largest cable car system in the world.

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Re: street cars
Posted by: SWEDE (---.lightspeed.iplsin.sbcglobal.net)
Date: January 08, 2016 01:08AM

Growing up in the YARDS we had many street cars down 51st, Western Ave, Ashland you name it. I still remember the old red cars with a sand box for when the tracks were covered with ice.

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Re: street cars
Posted by: Jeff_Weiner (---.sub-70-194-68.myvzw.com)
Date: January 09, 2016 03:40AM

Sadly, I was 4 when the last streetcars ran. I've had to satisfy my interest with books, and websites like this one, and The Trolley Dodger (http://thetrolleydodger.com/).

I did pick up one bit of lore, working for the City as a traffic engineer. Most of the streetcar tracks are still in place, underneath the pavement, as they act as a current return for the L system. I think that's because the CTA inherited all the Chicago Surface Lines substations, and some are still in use to power the L. The current returns have to be isolated, so the traction power doesn't go through the gas and water mains, and cause them to corrode and leak. It the tracks have to be removed, the City has to determine whether they can be replaced with cables, or are not electrically active.

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Re: street cars
Posted by: SWEDE (---.lightspeed.iplsin.sbcglobal.net)
Date: January 10, 2016 11:36PM

When the red street cars were replaced with the green hornets my Dads friend (Tom) was a driver and he gave me his metal trolly tag with his Number that was placed on the outside of the trolly. I still have it and a few of the transfers that were used back then. Good old days.

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Re: street cars
Posted by: Jeff_Weiner (---.sub-70-194-98.myvzw.com)
Date: January 11, 2016 03:57AM

I was looking at the Trolley Dodger recently, and there was an item about CSL's Peter Witt cars, the Sedans. It's too bad they didn't save any for future posterity.

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Re: street cars
Posted by: Richard Stachowski (---.hsd1.il.comcast.net)
Date: January 11, 2016 12:01PM

[b63rd street had blue & white cars. There was an awful accident with on and it burned up with people trapped in it. Wentworth and State had the green hornetes. What other streets had them?][/b]

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Re: street cars
Posted by: Dunning1 (---.dhs.gov)
Date: January 11, 2016 12:45PM

That Green Hornet streetcar disaster happened on May 25, 1950, on the State Street line, at 63rd and State. Just north of the viaduct, as the viaduct was flooded. I just read a good book on it, and you can get it from Amazon. Here is a link for it.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Green-Hornet-Street-Disaster/dp/0875804543

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Re: street cars
Posted by: Jeff_Weiner (---.sub-70-194-96.myvzw.com)
Date: January 11, 2016 05:48PM

The blue and white PCC's were the prewar cars. They originally ran on Madison Street

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Re: street cars
Posted by: SWEDE (---.lightspeed.iplsin.sbcglobal.net)
Date: January 12, 2016 01:16AM

A fellow supervisor that I worked with at American Can lost his sister in that
Green Hornet fire. His name was Jimmy Mennite. I have a photo from the paper on that disaster.

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Re: street cars
Posted by: Dunning1 (---.dhs.gov)
Date: January 12, 2016 01:26PM

Back to top

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Re: street cars
Posted by: Jeff_Weiner (---.sub-70-194-71.myvzw.com)
Date: January 13, 2016 04:14AM

Any one know if any of the 1920's vintage trailers are still in exitence on CTA property?

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Re: street cars
Posted by: Dunning1 (216.81.94.---)
Date: January 13, 2016 12:49PM

You know, as the machine imposes more and more taxes and rules on us, I am seriously considering leaving both Chicago and Illinois when I retire in a few years. It's getting increasingly unlivable here. The machine is stifiling every attempt that Rauner is trying to make at reform, and I have come to the conclusion that if he doesn't succeed, that's it, I'm moving.
One of the cities I am strongly considering moving to is New Orleans, and one of the biggest reasons is the fact they have streetcars. The St. Charles Avenue line, the oldest streetcar line continuously running in the world, goes through the Garden District, which is quite nice, and importantly, high ground that does not flood. So, keep it up Madigan and Cullerton, and you're gonna lose my money and investments in this state. It's not like you ever had my vote!

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Re: street cars
Posted by: Jeff_Weiner (---.sub-70-194-100.myvzw.com)
Date: January 13, 2016 08:01PM

Back to top.

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Re: street cars
Posted by: Dunning1 (---.dhs.gov)
Date: January 14, 2016 12:27PM

BTT

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Re: street cars
Posted by: Jeff_Weiner (---.sub-70-194-69.myvzw.com)
Date: January 15, 2016 05:11AM

BTT.

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