Visiting the Quincy L Station
May 20, 2021 09:01:35 #
The Quincy L Station is a rapid transit station on the Chicago "L" system. Quincy is located above the intersection of Quincy Street and Wells Street in the downtown "Loop" of Chicago, Illinois. Having opened in 1897, it is one of the oldest surviving stations on the L system.
Quincy L Station by Paul Sager, on Flickr
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
April 2021
Quincy L Station
Designed by Alfred M. Hedley from wood and stamped metal, Quincy opened on October 3, 1897. It retained much of its original surroundings over the years and is considered one of "150 great places in Illinois" by the American Institute of Architects.
Quincy Station L Station
The station once had a transfer bridge, but this was removed in the 1980s. This means it is not possible to change from one platform to the other without paying another fare or asking for employee assistance.
Quincy Station L Station
A renovation project from 1985 to 1988 resulted in Quincy taking on a look similar to how it looked when opened. Some materials such as signage were changed, although several of the station's features are original to its 1897 opening.
Quincy L Station
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.
Quincy L Station
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.
Quincy L Station
The images in this post feature two different types of expired film. The color images come from Fuji Press 800 (expired Sept 2003) and B&W from Kodak Tri-X 400 (expired Jan 2014). Adjustments were made to the ISO setting when each roll was loaded to an EOS 1v. Details on the exposure and lenses are provided in the EXIF data from Flickr, just use the image titles as URL links to Flickr. The scanned JPEGs were processed in Adobe Lightroom v6.
Quincy L Station
Quincy L Station by Paul Sager, on Flickr
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
April 2021
Quincy L Station
Designed by Alfred M. Hedley from wood and stamped metal, Quincy opened on October 3, 1897. It retained much of its original surroundings over the years and is considered one of "150 great places in Illinois" by the American Institute of Architects.
Quincy Station L Station
The station once had a transfer bridge, but this was removed in the 1980s. This means it is not possible to change from one platform to the other without paying another fare or asking for employee assistance.
Quincy Station L Station
A renovation project from 1985 to 1988 resulted in Quincy taking on a look similar to how it looked when opened. Some materials such as signage were changed, although several of the station's features are original to its 1897 opening.
Quincy L Station
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.
Quincy L Station
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.
Quincy L Station
The images in this post feature two different types of expired film. The color images come from Fuji Press 800 (expired Sept 2003) and B&W from Kodak Tri-X 400 (expired Jan 2014). Adjustments were made to the ISO setting when each roll was loaded to an EOS 1v. Details on the exposure and lenses are provided in the EXIF data from Flickr, just use the image titles as URL links to Flickr. The scanned JPEGs were processed in Adobe Lightroom v6.
Quincy L Station
May 20, 2021 09:36:25 #
May 20, 2021 09:37:02 #
May 20, 2021 09:45:31 #
May 20, 2021 09:57:42 #
Always amazing, the demonstration of civic pride in detail and quality of public structures of bygone days. Things remembered.
May 20, 2021 11:36:35 #
May 20, 2021 12:02:55 #
Excellent visual tour and very interesting history info. This station, although old, appears to be well maintained and clean!
May 20, 2021 13:07:30 #
Thank you diclam, Dennis, Jerry, quixdraw, Joe, Carol! The local PBS had a great 2-hour review of the history of the L system and especially many of the stations and the neighborhoods they serve. I've been on a bit of a tour as a result.
May 21, 2021 05:45:45 #
May 21, 2021 05:54:46 #
CHG_CANON wrote:
The Quincy L Station is a rapid transit station on... (show quote)
Another fine set of images and historical info behind Quincy station Paul. Thanks for sharing.
May 21, 2021 07:02:37 #
CHG_CANON wrote:
The Quincy L Station is a rapid transit station on... (show quote)
A great set of images!!!!
Sharon and I were ran out of a Downtown Metro-Link station quite a few years ago By a Rent-A-Cop a supposed security problem.
Haven't been back since!! now there is a personal safety problem at all M/L stations even in broad daylight.
May 21, 2021 07:25:43 #
Your photos really demonstrate the functional beauty of the elevated stations. Thanks for the trip back in time - so few are left.
May 21, 2021 09:05:44 #
May 21, 2021 10:28:58 #
Fantastic as always ! I love your work and value the history lessons attached to your photos.
May 21, 2021 11:34:18 #
CHG_CANON wrote:
The Quincy L Station is a rapid transit station on... (show quote)
These are spectacular Paul, thanks for the share - Jim
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