Trolley Tuesday 7/21/20 - The Chicago Transit Authority

We think of Rapid Transit service as a fact of life, infallible and ever-existent since the dawn of time. Hell, people must have thought that when the original constituent companies of the CTA first formed back in the late 1890s. Unfortunately, history has a funny way of being oh-so-reductive. Instead, we'll close out our compendium of Chicago transit with a small history on the beginnings and current operations of the Chicago Transit Authority. We'll keep the intro short this time around, because we have a lot to get through.

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The story of the Chicago Transit Authority begins on April 28, 1969, when their first self-titled album was released to rave reviews. Robert Lamm and Terry Kath...

Wait, not that Chicago Transit Authority? The one about trains?

Oh. Oh, I misread this all wrong. Ok, start again.

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I'm pretty sure this is the right one. Anyway...
(S Jones)

Before October 1, 1947, both the Chicago Surface Lines (CSL) and the Chicago Rapid Transit Company (CRT) handled the Second City's public transit as a private venture. Each company was made up of several constituent companies operating under a single consortium, with the CSL being made up of the Chicago Railways, Chicago City Railway, Calumet & South Chicago, and the Southern Street Railway; the CRT was made up of the Northwest, South Side, Lake Street, and Metropolitan West Side Elevated railways. Both companies employed liberal transfers among their constituents, enabling a pseudo-municipal system that was convenient to the rider and profitable to the operator without anyone screwing each other over. New innovations were also developed in this privatised period, like multiple unit train control on the South Side Elevated, and the new President's Conference Committee (PCC) streamlined streetcars that could reduce operating costs and maximize passenger numbers.

A Chicago Rapid Transit Lines pamphlet cover
from the 1920s.
(CTAGifts.com)

By the end of World War II, though, these private companies were being forced out of competition with the rise of automobile ownership. With rail traffic at a sharp decline, the Chicago city government and the Illinois state legislature approved creating a civic agency to oversee all public transit operations. The various trustees and receivers of the CSL and the CRT sold their ownership to the new agency, the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) on October 1, 1947, with the CRT's elevated assets sold for a cool $12 million ($138 million in 2020). The CSL was transferred shortly afterwards, and the CTA got to work streamlining operations over the next two years. In 1948, track between Howard Street and Dempster Street on the Niles Center Line (now the Yellow Line) was ceded to the North Shore Railroad and the local service replaced by CTA buses. 

The Lake Street L first gained its Skip-Stop service on April 18,
1948, between Hamein and Clinton Streets. This may have
saved the line from a premature retirement.
(The Trolley Dodger)

In 1948, the CTA introduced "A", "B", and "A/B" station codes on the Lake Street Line during rush periods. To combat the limitations of two-track lines and old rolling stock (most of which were still from the early 1900s), stations were split into "A" and "B" stops with the relevant trains only hitting up one or the other. The "A/B" service were designated "All Stops" and considered local trains. In the next two years, 33 "Low use" stations were closed up and down the elevated and even the subways. Yes. Chicago had subways and two were opened and operated under the CTA.

The State Street subway opens on October, 1943, with the first
train outbound to Ravenswood and Albany Park. Don't stand
so close to the tracks.
(Getty Images)

Just before the CTA was formed, Chicago had approved grants and loans for two subways to be constructed starting in 1937. Dubbed the State Street and Milwaukee-Dearborn-Congress Street subways, these operated under the Loop to clear up congestion at street level with the CSL, and above on the Loop which now held all four CRT companies plus the North Shore and Chicago Aurora & Elgin. The State Street opened on October 1943, four years before the CTA, while the Dearborn Street Subway (for short) opened in 1951 and featured plenty of futuristic amenities: the first fluorescent lights in a subway, top-notch ventilation, a sophisticated pumping system to ensure the Chicago River didn't flood the place, and an automatic-train stop interlocking for train spacing and emergency braking. Only two were ever built, despite more planned.

The first 6000 series arrive from St. Louis Car in 1951.
Archival footage provided by CTAConnections.
(CTA Connections)

The opening of the Dearborn Street Subway also brought with it "brand-new" (well, if you could even call it that) rolling stock developed by the CTA shops and built by the St. Louis Car Company. The 6000 series was born from development in 1947-1948 that examined how to use the system's vast fleet of PCC cars for more rapid transit use. This built off the CTA 5000 series, their attempt at copping designs off the North Shore's Electroliners, but without the 3-part articulation. The 6000s were semi-permanently coupled third-rail cars by comparison, seating 98 people in total and moving their near-10,000lb weight at 50 miles per hour. To save on costs, St. Louis recycled various components from Pullman PCC cars during production, totaling 720 in all. The cars could be found everywhere from Logan Square, the North-South route via the Loop, and of course the Subways.

Phase 1 of the Dearborn and State Street Subways, which
eventually connected to the west side of the Congress Expressway.
(CERA)

Further service discontinuations continued through the 1950s, with rail service on the Westchester Branch being replaced by buses in 1951 and the Wells Street terminal being demolished in 1955. The Chicago Aurora & Elgin closing abruptly in 1957 left a major service gap that was not helped when the Stock Yard and Kenwood branches were also closed by December of 1957. In their various attempts to "Beeching Axe" their services, CTA also retired their wooden fleet by the end of the year when the Kenwood branch closed. Most of CSL's lines were converted to trolley or motor bus service by the mid 1950s, and what they couldn't "bustitute" was simply abandoned by 1958. These closures, however, did not stop progress, as by June 22, 1958, the Congress Line opened on the median of the Congress Street Expressway (Now the Eisenhower Expressway) to replace the quickly-demolished Garfield Park Line. Only the 6000s initially ran this line, as it was the crown jewel of CTA's system and the first in-median transit line in the world.

The Congress Line, 1967, with a train west bound at Kostner.
(CERA)

The Skokie Swift's initial service in May 1964, featuring a
spoilered trolley pantograph to ensure the pole maintains
contact at high speeds.
(Roger Puta)

The 1960s brought so many technological advances (and old faces) to the CTA, beginning with the introduction of the train-phone system on board the North-South route (which took over operations between Howard-Englewood and Normal Park). This allowed motormen to contact Operations Control at CTA's Merchandise Mart offices. Lake Street also received new elevated tracks on its west end, sharing right-of-way with the Chicago & North Western. Following the end of the North Shore Railway on January 21, 1963, CTA assumed their operational routes through Niles Center and Evanston and opened the "Skokie Swift" the following year. The "Swift" was a unique operation when it opened, as the addition of a "Park n' Ride" lot in Dempster Street and its federal dollar financing meant it was one of the first examples of "Light Rail" in the world.

The prototype 2000-series from Pullman Standard,
April 22, 1964. Note the "Lake B" destination board.
(Chicago-L.org)

1964 also brought with it the 2000-series "High-Performance" rapid-transit vehicles built by the Pullman-Standard company. These built on the advances made by the 6000-series cars and included sculpted fibreglass ends, remote-controlled destination signs, more powerful motors, and, in 1967, automatic cab signals. These signals were designed to alert the motorman to any obstacle or trains on the line, and soon became a standard for railways all across America. The 2000s assigned to the Lake Street route received their signals first, then it was spread to the whole system. These cars were later surpassed in 1969 by the Budd-built 2200-series stainless steel cars, which were lighter and more fire resistant. They were introduced on the Dan Ryan Line on September 28, 1969, which was Chicago's second in-median rail line following the new Dan Ryan Expressway, but also worked on the Loop Shuttle (a local service using the Loop's inner track) starting the next day. 

The Dan Ryan Expressway on October 1, 1969, with the new 2000-series cars in service.
(CTA Collection, Chicago-L.org)

A CTA electric locomotive hustles towards Buena Yard,
Chicago, in the mid-1960s.
(Bruce G. Moffat Collection)

The 1970s saw both extensions and endings to the CTA, along with two nasty accidents and a threat of an infringement lawsuit towards an unrelated rock-and-roll band (with horns). In 1970, Logan Square and Jefferson Park saw service extensions along the Kennedy Expressway, with the old Logan Square terminal demolished to make way for the subway connector. In 1973, the "L" finished its last freight run, bringing to an end a 53-year old moneymaker. Trolley bus service was similarly ended on March 25, 1973. With the overhead wire at Evanston taken down later in November, the1913-vintage 4000-series cars were all finally retired.

Some CTA 4000-series cars (from a later order in 1923) were retained as part of the MOW fleet.
(Steve Zabel)

A contemporary advertisement for the new 2400-series
by Boeing Vertol, in patriotic red, white, and blue.
(Chicago Patterns)

This gap in the fleet met it possible for Boeing Vertol to introduce the 2400-series on October 1976, featuring new handicap accessibility, a separate motorman's cab, sliding doors, and a lightweight fibreglass body (not just the front). To celebrate the nation's bicentennial, the new cars were dressed up in a flashy red-white-and-blue paint scheme similar to the Amtrak Turboliners, and joining them was CTA's first black female operator, Mary Wallace, who was hired just two years prior on August 29, 1974. The Loop Shuttle was the last closure of the 1970s, discontinuing service on September 30, 1977, and the Loop itself would have gone with it, but this plan to demolish both a Chicago icon and an important element of Chicago's transit system never left the drawing board.

Mary Wallace, first female operator for the CTA. Read more about her
at The Wonder Woman Project.
(Wonder Woman Project)

The aftermath of the 1976 CTA Collision.
(Chicago Fire Department)

The 1970s also saw two of the worst accidents in Chicago transit history, happening back to back in 1976 and 1977. On January 9, 1976, two trains collided during the morning rush hour at Addison Street Station, along the Kennedy extension. Southbound "B" train 316 struck "A" train 104 after continuing issues with the automatic train control (ATC) meant train 316 bypassed its cab signal at Irving Park (the previous station) and continued on as normal. Visibility factors and glare meant the motorman had little time to react, colliding at speed with the standing train 104 and crashing both. Only one of the 381 passengers injured died, and the National Transportation Safety Board found the CTA negligent in handling its operating procedures and the motorman negligent of speeding and failing to stop and call when he passed through Irving Park. This was considered the worst accident in CTA history, until...

February 4, 1977. Dubbed "The Loop Crash", it was the worst accident in Chicago Transit history due to its unusual circumstances, the level of damage, and the fatalities. It started with the Evanston Express being diverted onto the outer loop track and performing "left-hand running" due to switching problems. (American trains in general drive the same as American cars, on the right. Unless you're weird like certain sections of the C&NW.) While this switch issue was eventually fixed, many Evanston-bound trains were still running on the opposite line, leading to a situation where now a Ravenswood-bound train was stuck behind and an Oak Park-bound train was unloading in front at Randolph/Wabash Street. Motorman Stephen A. Martin, a veteran of the CTA since 1969, seemingly forgot about the Evanston and Ravenswood trains and started up his Lake-Dan Ryan-bound train, even after cab signals were telling him about the block and the Ravenswood train waiting at the end of the curve outside Randolph/Wabash. Due to his speed falling well under 15-mph, the ATC could not stop his train. A collision was imminent.

The first three cars of the Lake-Dan Ryan train, and the
rear car of the Ravenswood train, on the ground at Wabash
and Lake, February 4, 1977.
(Chicago Tribune)

The Lake-Dan Ryan train hit the Ravenswood train after rounding the curve past State/Lake at 15 miles per hour at 5:27PM. For whatever reason, Motorman Martin continued applying power across his 8-car train in... some attempt to push the Ravenswood train out of the way. Due to some of the cars being on a curve, the track buckled and the train launched itself into the air. The first three cars of the Evanston leapt up, jackknifed and fell onto the street below, with the last cars still remaining berthed at Randolph/Wabash. A contemporary report by Barbara Coats, 35, noted, "It wasn't a big impact, but it was like we hit something and couldn't go any farther. After the front wheel went off, I was just praying we couldn't fall off - but we did." Emergency services arrived quickly to help people trapped in the wreckage, with 180 people injured and eleven people killed in all. Service was restored by 6:30AM the next morning, and Stephen A. Martin, who miraculously survived the fall, was held responsible after his safety record uncovered a history of marijuana use. He was held responsible and ultimately terminated by CTA.

CTA 2600 No. 2842 at the Cicero-Berwyn Terminal of the
Blue Line, July 17, 1994.
(Leon Kay)

1981 hoped to start the 1980s strong with the introduction of the 2600-series cars. These were the last railcars ever produced by the Budd company, this time under the name Transit America, and were not much different from their 2200s other than folding seats to make room for wheelchairs and increased interior floor space. This strong start was quickly brought down on the next month, as due to structural defects over the Illinois Central, the Jackson Park branch was suspended to 61st Street. This was later resumed in 1982 up to University Avenue, when the defective bridge was demolished. The 1984 opening of the O'Hare extension also brought new traffic to the CTA, as the airport convenience through River Road meant more people used the line to get to downtown. The other new extension was the Clark/Lake station, a three-story elevated, street-level, and subways station connecting the L, Dearborn Street Subway, and the State of Illinois Center.

Morris Knudsen 3236 lines up next to Heritage retainer 2489
at Clark/Lake, July 24, 2003
(Oren's Transit Page)

The 1990s saw massive retirements of what were once stalwart members of the CTA fleet, with the 6000-series cars being retired in December 1992 following introduction of new Morris-Knudsen 3200-series rapid transit cars. This was the era of DOS, with microprocessors and solid state logic for propulsion taking over from old PCC-style relay boxes. The 3200s were so adaptable, a few even received trolley pantographs mounted with spoilers to run on the higher-speed Skokie Swift service. The 1990s also saw the first new "L" line since the 1950s, with the "Midway Line" opening between the Loop and Chicago Midway Airport on Halloween, 1993, giving the city the only two-airport rail connection in America. By the end of the year, the 2000-class cars were retired.

The CTA as it appears now, with more added services like
the Pink Line (which opened in 2006).
(CTA)

After extensive refurbishment of the Lake-Englewood-Jackson Park (Green) line that dominated much of  1994, the CTA rebranded its elevated lines with color codes for easier accessibility, while still keeping the route names. The list went as follows: Red (Howard-Dan Ryan), Orange (Midway Airport), Yellow (Skokie Swift), Green (Lake-Ashland/63rd-East 63rd), Blue (O'HareAirport-54/Cermak), Purple (Evanston), and Brown (Ravenswood). The last line saw one-man operations trialed by the next year, and other old practices like the A/B skip stop service were removed between February and April, 1995. The Green Line resumed service in 1996 after a long and controversial period of rehabilitation. 

In 1997, the CTA celebrated its 50th anniversary and the Loop celebrated its 100th anniversary. One of the oldest pieces of the line, the Cottage Grove-Dorchster section of the Green Line, was finally removed after 105 years of service. The fact that it was removed without warning the communities involved increased hostility between the CTA and their neighbors. Many employees were also laid off at this time, as the Red and Blue lines went into one-man operation, the last of the elevateds to do so. Conductors are still used on the subway for safety reasons, while ticket agents were rendered redundant in favor of automated ticket machines. Further service cuts in 1998 were worse for the buses, but Owl (nightly) service being cut on the Green, Purple, and Blue Lines (via Douglas branch) was softer on rails by comparison.

CTA 2600-series No. 2762 is southbound on the Red Line
out of the State Street Subway in 2013.
(Kevin the Krazy 1)

By 1999, after a massive snowstorm in July knocked out half the system, several corrections and flaws were exposed to help the CTA prep itself for the new millennium. Conductors were returned to the trains due to a reduction of service and cars were reshuffled when nearly 300 2600-series cars go down, requiring 3200s to take over all over the system. CTA also used this time to retire tokens in favor of Transit Cards and cash fares as payment, and reopen the Grand/Milwaukee Station once more after it was closed in 1992 during service revisions. The last "tradition" of the CTA to go, the conductors, finally went on March 25, 2000 when they were replaced by automated voice announcements and safety monitors for the motorman to control.

The new Bombardier 5000-series in 2009.
(Graham Garfield)

Over the next 20 years into the 2000s, the CTA continued to improve and expand its service, starting with the conversion of the Skokie Swift to third rail. This brought about a change in the rolling stock as well, with the new Bombardier 5000-series cars arriving on the scene in 2009, still running on an antiquated 600V DC third rail. While futuristic, and making up the bulk of the CTA's fleet (including the new Pink Line which opened in 2006 between 54th/Cermak and The Loop), passengers complained that the combination sideways and front-facing hybrid seating arrangement was incredibly clunky to work around. New stations like the Cermak/McCormick Place station on the Green Line also showed the importance of "infill stations" (where a specific station is built along an existing line to satisfy demand for service). That being said, the two decades were still full of excitement, like when a Blue Line train overran a bumper and tried to climb an escalator at O'Hare airport due to the operator falling asleep at the controls. It may sound funny, but 34 people were injured.

"Pardon me, where's Gate 32?"
(NTSB)

A pair of Bombardier 5000 classes move aside for the
Cincinnati Car Co. 1923 4000s to pass them. The heritage run
is en route to Howard station during the CTA's 2017
Transit Jamboree.
(Jonathan Lee)

Today, the CTA is continuing to look into the future with new extensions, improvements, and rolling stock to ensure the elevated remains competitive. Plans like the "Red Ahead" propose flyovers to replace diamond junctions to reduce service backups, while a southern extension for the Red Line would see it meeting the South Shore Line down Michigan Avenue. New cars like the CRRC Sifang 7000 class are also imminent to replace the aging 2600 fleet. On the flipside, the CTA has still not forgotten its heritage, with a small fleet of two 1923 4000-series CRT cars, four 6000-series cars, eight Red-White-and-Blue 2400-series cars, and three 1960s buses all giving Chicagoans a taste of the past. After its long, convoluted, and extensive history, the wind continues to rise for the CTA, and this is only the beginning...

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Once again, I'd like to credit Jonathan Lee for serving as this month's Chicago transit expert, as always, and my editor for suffering through my word salads. If you would like to learn more about the history of the CTA, hit up Chicago-L.org and tell them the motorman sent you. Next week, we move the Chicago railways aside and cover the Illinois Terminal Railway! Until next week, you can follow myself or my editor on twitter if you wanna support us, and maybe buy a shirt as well! Ride safe out theah!