governor Stratton's name had to be mentioned....the first to be charged in a line of corrupt Illinois governors
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

the irrelevant hindsight we may have the 'benefit' of now is rooted in old CTA bottom-line machinations. mix in valuable comtemporary foresight with the hindsight and we can see with the CA&E, douglas park branch, Humboldt branch et. al. how the CTA cuts of their nose to spite their face. the paulina street connector would've also been torn down decades ago if it weren't for the occasional p
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

it's merely putting 2 and 2 together. of course the CTA didn't exist though the CA&E certainly did, and once the CTA got its mits on the transit lines it was curtains for the CA&E. like clockwork
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

the extra-track (right-of-way) provisions(s) when the Congress was under construction turned out to be a considerable embarrassment when the CA&E suddenly folded. you can understand specific 'what it was for' mention tends to wipe the old interurban from memory. the CTA looks bad enough without drawing named attention to it
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

the CA&E was a fine interurban that served its passengers very well up through the '40s. with the CTA taking over, some major events would seem to've conspired against them as we get into the '50s--some reward the CA&E got in the end
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

elsewhere on the FC site I know I've seen a picture of the CA&E trestle structure over the DesPlaines river being shifted because of congress expressway construction, and this work was supposedly being undertaken even after the CA&E closed it seems to me the CA&E wanted their paid passengers to remain their paid passengers even after a transfer to CTA @ DesPlaines ave (for such time
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

from about Central westward that old CA&E (extra) right-of-way is definitely material for Eisenhower widening because that's where 4 traffic lanes drops to three, and it's common knowledge nowadays IDOT will begin widening construction as early as 2016 in the Oak Park portion. West of Harlem comes a bit later I think but it'll eventually be 4 thru lanes to Mannheim (each way). Oak Parkers we
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

yes the old store owner was Don's uncle
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

"It was? From where to where? What's the source of this information?" take a long look at it (the blueline right-of-way) sometime, you'll see what many have remarked about.
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

I should know precisely when Gluts closed since I went there so often living in the neighborhood but, I don't. 1998 isn't a bad guess though. The old man who ran it passed on and for a few years his daughter kept it open, even expanding the store area towards the back. The store was known for, among other things, its extensive Cryptocoryne Balansae tank flora
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

even the CTA didn't use that center Lake St 'express track' as such past the '40s, which we know didn't cross the chicago river I think it is good for this FC site to give the CA&E a new even bold defensive voice. It goes with the territory no matter how long ago
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

there's a major omission reviewing all old points - the congress line was built with provisions (albeit incomplete) for a single line CA&E track. These infrastructure provisions just don't happen casually or 'just in case' or 'on the off chance' - the CA&E intended to get to its Wells St terminal and the stockholders knew it. Yet it all fell apart suddenly and there're clues that support
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

of course CA&E's woodbody cars would never run in chicago's subways; everybody (well almost) knows when the state st subway opened in '43 how much public announcement the city gave about it being 'fire-proof'. to me that's what makes the 2006 blueline accident all the more embarrasing--a fire in a subway tunnel resulting from a derailment with serious smoke inhalation injuries. how did that
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

i'm certain the old humboldt branch line never ever had anything to do with the CA&E even as a paper proposal. once the CTA took over their actions over the next few years demonstrated one and only one thing--they couldn't get rid of the humboldt branch fast enough. not that their thinking wasn't as small-minded and officious as they come
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

i agree it was a slightly funny location for a restaurant. me and the mrs then decided not to raise our offer in 1995 for the large raised ranch house that replaced it because we're having reservations about the relatively speedy caldwell traffic with us having 4 young children (so we probably shouldn't've even placed the 1st offer)
Forum: General Discussion

I also recall the restaurant from driving past it in the late '70s when I drove on Caldwell, although when I made the house offer years later I didn't automatically make the association
Forum: General Discussion

in 1995 I placed an offer to purchase one of those 2 houses which was for sale at that time, with a local real estate office. I remember commenting to the agent the house seemed of comparitively recent construction and her reply was yes, there stood a chinese restaurant "that nobody went to" (her words) there previously. I did not close the deal
Forum: General Discussion

the Crosstown was to've been built using the old unused 'Belt line' railway at about 4600 west, which right-of-way was only enough space if the expressway was built double-decker--northbound on top and southbound beneath it. i'm not sure but the railroad could not be acquired for this purpose in the manner first contemplated, and it still stands today many years later
Forum: General Discussion

pa-doom, pa-doom
Forum: General Discussion

modern GPS is the one thing that largely saves drivers from the idiotic confusion of this highway numbering system besides hearing things wrong a person can write down I90 in passing along directions, but their I's look more like 1's, so I90 is confused with 190. when you're behind the wheel you need literal and unmistakeable instructions, not something you have to scratch your head about 'wha
Forum: General Discussion

my young sons say DMV, something they definitely didn't learn from their parents
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

I wouldn't blame neighborhoods, affluent or otherwise, besides the Mayfair neighborhood of the Edens junction could hardly be considered as such
Forum: General Discussion

an insurance agent once gave me his office address as 7148 w. fletcher (chicago) which was perplexing to find at the time because although I knew the street Fletcher it really doesn't exist per se in that block number, but somehow there was just such a number if one walks around and looks for it
Forum: Forgotten Chicago Sightings

if you don't think somebody was verbally told 'to 90' but heard '290' think again
Forum: General Discussion

here's a link to a video for sale about riverview "Laugh Your Troubles Away": http://www.amazon.com/Laugh-Your-Troubles-Away-Riverview/dp/B00069IH8W it's good because in addition to the usual yearly park & ride history, it gets into the ownership politics that eventually led to the closing and park land sale and mr. schmidts trials & tribulations. the matter I'd brought up
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

in the early years for Riverview there was a court settled dispute because several concession operators there were in effect operating their own concession businesses (and keeping all profits) within the park under the belief they could do so because they were co-owners. but in the end they were prohibited as such, and the matter was settled giving george schmidt full park operating control (alt
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

the WGN studios (@ 2501 W. Bradley Pl, not waveland) were built in 1959 (not '72)
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

George Schmidt is to be viewed as a bona fide Riverview hero; since the late '50s he resisted pressures from the majority co-owners for earlier offers to close the park and sell-off the land at a profit. It's to his credit alone Riverview remained open into the '60s as long as it did, and the new rides and ride modifications during those years were all his doing. To the very end he wanted to kee
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

if mr george schmidt had been a little quickier or luckier we'd have enjoyed a terrific 'P.S.' riverview farewell in '67. the demolishing pictures i've seen show the Bob's coaster being wrecked
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

not the north side of Addison st but the south side of addison
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)