CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

The Chicago "L" (short for "elevated railroad") is the rapid transit system serving the City of Chicago and some of its surrounding suburbs.

Operated by the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), the "L" is the fourth-largest in total route length and the third busiest rail mass transit system in the US, 102.8 miles (165.4 km) as of 2014.

Chicago, IL
Oct & Nov 2020

CTA L Tracks by Paul Sager, on Flickr


The "L" reference has existed since the first lines opened in Chicago in 1882. The reasons for "L" rather than "el" have been lost to history, but theories point to "L" being another way for the Second City to differentiate from NYC that also had an "el" system in the late 1800s.

CTA L Tracks


The "L" system consists of eight rapid transit lines laid out in a spoke & hub distribution paradigm focusing transit towards the central Loop in downtown Chicago. The "L" gained its name because large parts of the system run on elevated track. The "L" system was entirely above ground until the first subway sections were added in 1943.

Chicago River Lake Street Bridge


A French artist visiting the downtown Loop around 1900 commented that “The sky is made of iron, and perpetually growls a rolling thunder … below are wagons of every size and kind, whose approach cannot be heard in the midst of the noise; and the [street]cars, with jangling voice which never ceases, cross and recross.”

Western Station


This collection of images all come from an EOS 1v and either Fuji Superia 800 or Fuji NPH400 (all expired rolls). A variety of lens and focal lengths were used. Specific details are available from the Flickr host pages via the URL links that are the title of each image.

The "L" provides 24-hour service on the Red and Blue Lines and is one of only five rapid transit systems in the United States to do so.

Lake Street Station


Much of the system uses riveted steel-plate that resembles of the Eiffel Tower (1889) and the original Ferris Wheel (1893).

CTA L Tracks


Currently, there are 144 operating CTA stations, and 6 abandoned ones. The most stations there have ever been on the "L" system at one time is 227. Ridership peeked in the 1920s just before the automobile became widely affordable. Since 2005, yearly ridership has again started to increase, including several recent all-time ridership records.

CTA L Tracks


The "L" operated as a network of private businesses until 1947 when the City of Chicago purchased the majority of the private rapid transit operators and consolidated them under the newly-formed Chicago Transit Authority. The CTA was required to be financially self-sufficient. All maintenance and upgrades had to be paid for out of the fare box—out of the pockets of transit riders. This resulted in constantly increasing fares and some service cutbacks. Still, Loop commuters were using the CTA at rates near 80% as late as the mid-1950s.

CTA L Exit


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UTMike Loc: South Jordan, UT

I always enjoy your imaginative and excellent shots of Chicago, Paul. The lockdown has been Chicago's gain of an excellent recorder.

trainlee Loc: Cape Cod, MA

Excellent photos and amazing color. I enjoyed the historic commentary. Thanx.

47greyfox Loc: on the edge of the Colorado front range

Thanks for sharing, Paul. During the late 60s, I spent some memorable attending boot camp and follow on schooling at the Naval Training Center near Waukegan. Since many of us were without cars, the train and L became a transpiration means by necessity when choosing Chicago for liberty. Even then, an oft used comment looking at the raised tracks was, “wow, these could sure stand a paint job!” Then, we’d move on and still climb aboard.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Thank you 47greyfox! If you changed from the Metra (today's Great Lakes station) to the L along the trip from Waukegan into Chicago, you would have been riding the tracks shown in these images. I don't know how often / if they repaint the tracks. The big effort of late is renovating the CTA stations and track maintenance. The Red Line runs up the alley behind the building directly across the street from my building (a few of these pictures). This morning there's a 5-story crane blocking the street as they're again working on a stretch of track that has been a focus for about a month.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Thank you Mike, trainlee, 47greyfox! When I first moved to Chicago in May 1990, I lived a few blocks away on the same street where I've now owned a condo since 2002. In the 90s I did a lot of walking around the area, but it wasn't until 2020 that I did the same amount / more of walking tours, hitting a lot of areas / sites I haven't seen on foot since the early 90s. The L tracks had never been a focused study, where some of these images are from the alley directly across the street, and others just a block or two north. Funny how these things can go.

PixelStan77 Loc: Vermont/Chicago

Paul, Your images and commentary are beyond exceptional. Thanks for sharing. Stay safe and well.Stan

L-Fox

47greyfox Loc: on the edge of the Colorado front range

Ha! I can sort of remember the rides into Chicago from the GL station, but those return trips, for some reason, were almost immediately forgotten after a night's sleep. Can't explain it?

joehel2 Loc: Cherry Hill, NJ

Love the L train set and story, Paul. We have an el train in Philadelphia. Every time I drive under it, I feel like I’m in that iconic chase scene in The French Connection.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Thank you Joe! I think our famous chase seen is in the Blues Brothers.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Thank you Stan! Stay warm and well.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Thank you Loren, glad you enjoyed!

junglejim1949 Loc: Sacramento,CA

Paul this are exceptional and always appreciate the history lesson.
Thanks,
Jim

Lakeman Loc: Cornelius, NC

Paul, Thanks again for the excellent photos which always bring back memories of my younger days in Chicago. The Ravenswood L ran behind our apartment on the North side. In those days, Da Bears (Hope they beat the Saints today) played in Wrigley Field. We lived within a few blocks of Wrigley. We had a garage behind our building and the L was behind the garage. On Sundays when Da Bears were playing at Wrigley, a man used the area under the L to park cars for people going to the game. The parked cars made it impossible to get in or out of our garage so we had to plan our Sundays around Bear games. The other thing I remember about the L was the noise. When we were in our kitchen we had to stop talking when the trains went by. Overall these were good times. My wife and I rode the L many times. I went to school at IIT and got off at the 35th Street station. Thanks again for the memories. Norm