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 th
Forum: General Discussion

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Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

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.
Forum: General Discussion

Btt.
Forum: General Discussion

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Forum: General Discussion

Anyone old enough to remember when they ran 4000's on the Ravenswood, and the trains entered downtown through the State Street Subway?
Forum: Forgotten Chicago Sightings

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Forum: General Discussion

davey7 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > My understanding is that coal gas was prevalent > before natural gas was available and that the > burners are rather different - which is why > heating wasn't done with it before the advent of > natural gas (I would assume cost was part of it > and not just burners, etc). Yes, the coal gas had diffe
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

Richard Stachowski Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Going north entering the subway there was a > abandond tunnel going east. A friend of mine > walked through it and said there were rats as big > as cats down there. I could not find any facts > about that tunnel but it did and could still > exist. I SAW IT OUT THE WINDOW OF THE TRAIN. Thi
Forum: Forgotten Chicago Sightings

I remember the old plant on Western. We moved to Waukegan in 1969 because my father got a job with Abbott Labs in North Chicago. While I was going to IIT in the 70's, I worked for Abbott's in the summer, and one year I discovered their library, which had bound copies of their old house organ, the Pharmagraph. I discovered a picture that showed that American Can had a facility up there, next do
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

SWEDE Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Another game that we played during the football > season was Electric Football table game. I still > have that one and Electric Baseball. They were > both popular in the 50's 60's The one with the buzzer? How exactly did that work?
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

BTT.
Forum: General Discussion

Btt.
Forum: General Discussion

the_mogra Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > "nobody uses that underpass" is just about as > officious 'reasoning' as one can get (me and my > family certainly used it frequently). anyone can > see at that point there's a need for pedestrians > to get around the blockage to access stores, as > opposed to walking over to paulina or e
Forum: General Discussion

Too far from Chicago...
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

Year Of Manufacture. Now I understand!
Forum: General Discussion

WayOutWardell Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > ^ Yep. It once belonged to a railroad executive > so it had all the options besides air > conditioning. He must have been a junior exec > though, because it was a New Yorker Deluxe, not an > Imperial. > Come to think of it, that car came with YOM plates > too - green field with white rai
Forum: General Discussion

Dunning1 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > The Tucker was a fascinating car. I believe only > 51 were built. Once upon a time, many years ago, > I was walking home from St. Priscilla Grade > School, and on the northwest corner of Cornelia > and Oak Park, I saw a really unusual car parked. > I stopped, and was looking all over it, and a &g
Forum: General Discussion

WayOutWardell Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Ours is similar to other states, whereby if you > have current antique vehicle plates for a car, you > can display plates from car's year of manufacture > as long as you carry the A/V plates with you. I > display YOM plates on my car. > > I once had a '54 Chrysler that had a '71 Chicago &
Forum: General Discussion

Spam is not an acceptable pizza topping.
Forum: General Discussion

Just imagine what might have been if Tucker had succeeded.
Forum: General Discussion

Yeah, the heavy metals come from various small companies that discharge into the sewers, and they get concentrated through the treatment process. It would be interesting to see if the metals could be coaxed out using the biosolids for non-food growing.
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

And speaking of old gas holders, here's a shot on The Trolley Dodger, showing the old Throop Street bridge, with an adjacent gas tank:
Forum: General Discussion

Elaine W Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > not Whole Foods--Treasure Island (and many of us > long-time Hyde Parkers get tangled up in trying to > explain which store we're going to--"where the > Co-op used to be" is how many people say it). > Whole Foods is supposed to be coming in to a newly > constructed building at the corner of
Forum: General Discussion

Supposedly, there has always been a building with that horse's head on it, since the first building went up. We'll see how long it survives after the City puts in their goofy run-around to kill Elston traffic.
Forum: Forgotten Chicago Sightings

I seem to recall that the City was moving offices out by the mid 90's, which was about the time they also sold the Central (Reid-Murdoch) Building. Traffic Court moved out before Transportation (formerly Public Works) had.
Forum: General Discussion

the_mogra Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > 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
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

1972 Dodge Dart Swinger, I was 23, and it was 1978. Bought it from my grandfather. Nice car, except for the d*mned 4-piston caliper disk brakes in the front. Lost an argument with a short concrete bollard at slow speed.
Forum: Questions and Answers (Q&A)

I've had mine since 1984, when I bought my first new car, a Volkswagen Golf. I've had it with my 1991 Ford Festiva and my 2001 Ford Focus, but unless I win the Lucky Day Lotto soon, I'll have to retire it, since I'll have to sell the Focus before we move to our farm.
Forum: General Discussion

And can I help clean up the current bunch of manual spammers, too?
Forum: General Discussion