A tour of Chicago's brown line neighborhoods on a beautiful spring day
With the weather being as gorgeous as it was today, I decided it would be a great day to snap some photos from the different areas located within walking distance of the CTA's brown line. Specifically I focused on areas within about a 4-5 block radius of all eleven stations on the Ravenswood branch of the brown line. Incidentally, these stations were all reconstructed over the last three years to be long enough for 8 car trains and also ADA compliant (with the exception of Western which only had the platforms lengthened as it was already ADA compliant from a renovation in the 80s). The final station reconstruction, Paulina, was just completed one month ago. I started off at Southport and eventually made my way to the very end of the line, Kimball. However in this thread, these photos are presented in reverse order. But enough talk, here they are.
Kimball - Albany Park neighborhood
Kimball station entrance:
Kimball yard:
Kedzie - Albany Park neighborhood
Francisco - Ravenswood Manor neighborhood
The station...
Heading over the north branch of the Chicago River:
I spy the Sears Tower in its final month before the name change...
Rockwell - Lincoln Square neighborhood
The station...
Western - Lincoln Square neighborhood
The station...
Damen - Lincoln Square neighborhood
The station...
Ravenswood stop on Metra's Union Pacific North line:
Montrose - Ravenswood neighborhood
The station...
Beautiful old building located alongside Metra's Union Pacific North tracks between Montrose & Irving Park:
Irving Park - North Center neighborhood
Addison
The view up Lincoln Avenue a few blocks north of Addison Street:
Sweet! Trader Joes!
Paulina
The station...
Roscoe Village starts about 4 blocks west-southwest of Paulina, but stretches several blocks further west (so it's not entirely within a 4-5 block radius):
I did enjoy the tour! Great to see some Chicago neighborhoods on here. I get kinda tired of the usual skyscraper sets in Chicago. There's so much to like about these areas. Hope to get more tours like these.
I didn't know the El had at-grade crossings. Is this the only one, or are there more places it does this? Does the train have to slow down here, or can it go full-speed?
I didn't know the El had at-grade crossings. Is this the only one, or are there more places it does this? Does the train have to slow down here, or can it go full-speed?
That is pretty odd, isn't it?
Good idea on the thread, though. I like the tour.
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I didn't know the El had at-grade crossings. Is this the only one, or are there more places it does this? Does the train have to slow down here, or can it go full-speed?
I -think- there are 4 at the end of the Brown Line, and three at the end of the Pink Line. Speeds are limited to 35mph. When the lines were built/extended by speculative moguls in the early 1900s, they ran through empty farm fields on the periphery of town. Most lines were eventually elevated (or demolished completely in some cases), but some never were, and circa the 1970s the long range strategic plans stopped bothering planning for line elevation after it became clear that getting such a project past the Environmental Impact Study stage would be a very heavy lift politically and there were simply other priorities for scarce capital dollars.
Quote:
Originally Posted by BnaBreaker
IMO, Lincoln Square is one of the most underrated neighborhoods in the country.
Indeed - it should be a model for how a quiet, "peaceful," nearly-suburban family-friendly neighborhood can actually still be quite diverse demographically and built to be transit- and pedestrian-oriented.
I -think- there are 4 at the end of the Brown Line, and three at the end of the Pink Line.
i think there are actually 6 at-grade crossing at the end of the brown line and 10 at-grade crossings at the end of the pink line.
additionally, the yellow line has 7 at-grade crossings as it runs through skokie and the purple line has two at-grade crossing just before it hits the end of the line in wilmette.
EDIT: i just realized that you were probably talking about at-grade stations and not at-grade street crossings.
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Last edited by Steely Dan; May 4, 2009 at 5:09 PM.
I didn't know the El had at-grade crossings. Is this the only one, or are there more places it does this? Does the train have to slow down here, or can it go full-speed?
I didn't know the El had at-grade crossings either; I honestly didn't think it was possible, the El being electrified heavy-rail, right? What about that 3rd rail?
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I didn't know the El had at-grade crossings either; I honestly didn't think it was possible, the El being electrified heavy-rail, right? What about that 3rd rail?
No 3rd rail in the street, obviously - the grade crossings just need to be shorter than the longest distance between 3rd-rail shoes on a two-car married pair so the cars can't get stuck with zero power - I think this is about 85feet, give or take.
No 3rd rail in the street, obviously - the grade crossings just need to be shorter than the longest distance between 3rd-rail shoes on a two-car married pair so the cars can't get stuck with zero power - I think this is about 85feet, give or take.
OK, thanks for the info! I find it really interesting. Here in the Los Angeles area we only see at-grade crossings with our light-rail trains with the overhead catenary wires (with underground and elevated crossings too, of course).
__________________ "I guess the only time people think about injustice is when it happens to them."
~ Charles Bukowski
Chicago is like the T.I. song - you can have whatever you like. You can have a neighborhood within city limits that feels like a small town or you can a neighborhood that feels like a big city.
^ Completely agree with that. It's also attractive for newcomers who wish to live the urban lifestyle, but not give up the car. Still a hassle to find parking, but at least you got the car when you need it. I feel the city satisfies people on so many different levels.
Excellent photography and a beautiful tour. The neighborhoods are especially beautiful in Spring, and the rebuilt stations are a vast improvement.
I preferred the old names for the CTA lines, as compared with the color-coding system that has become the standard for urban rail transit just about everywhere. Ravenswood has a pleasant sound to it; at least they could have come up with something better than "Brown."
Kimball brings back a memory of a 1980s misadventure. I was headed for a stop on the (now) Red Line very late on a Saturday night, sufficiently impaired that I should not have been out by myself. It was colder than blazes, near Zero Fahrenheit, and I waited at Belmont in a semi-haze from the combined effects of alcohol and bitter-cold air. Finally a train came and I boarded, grateful for a place to sit down in the warmth.
After a couple of stops I realized I had boarded a Ravenswood train, the last train of the night. The late-night bus between Kimball and the Red Line ran infrequently, and I was out in the cold again.
Back at the Red Line I boarded the same car with the conductor. Three teenagers, the only other passengers on that car, began hassling me for money and the conductor made no attempt to intervene. I gave them my pocket change, probably a couple dollars' worth, and a couple of CTA tokens. I was very glad to get back to my friend's apartment. That was the last time I went out and got semi-sh!t-faced alone.
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I preferred the old names for the CTA lines, as compared with the color-coding system that has become the standard for urban rail transit just about everywhere. Ravenswood has a pleasant sound to it; at least they could have come up with something better than "Brown."
well, perhaps you'd like the nickname for the brown line better. as evidenced by all of the starbucks in these shots and the general yuppification of the hoods along the brown line, i've heard more than one person refer to it as the "cappuccino trail".
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What's not to love? Thanks for sharing these.
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