Artistmac looks at the new Damen stop on the Green Line

 

[VIDEO] Damen/Lake opened last month as the newest station on the CTA Green Line. This station is very close to the United Center and among other options this will be where the delegates or anyone else going to the Democratic convention next week will be getting off the train.

And of course this is perfect for other events at the United Center which means Bulls/Black Hawks games in addition to any other events that will take place there when the NBA or NHL aren't in season.

Trains Are Awesome: The “Secret” Subway Under the US Capitol

 

[VIDEO] Perhaps another thing worth taking a look at when I do some traveling.

One thing on my list is the visit the US Capitol and Thom at the YouTube channel Trains Are Awesome does that and explains that no one should be at the Capitol Grounds without an escort, especially if they're not working there.

If you as a citizen want to visit the Capitol then you should make arrangements with your Member of Congress. That is your Representative or Senator, I'll link to examples from Illinois and that's something I plan to do when I visit D.C. in the near future. Especially take in a session of both the US House of Representatives and the US Senate.

Now as Thom refers to the Capitol Subway is a means to help keep the country running. The US Congress is America's national legislature and this transportation system is a means to ensure that these legislators are able to make crucial votes. Of course I'm not trying to determine what's crucial or not.

And yeah I know there are many in America who's not happy with Congress right now.

Stormy Kara: 🚉 Taking Transit to the State Fair

 

[VIDEO] One goal I have at least for my own YouTube channel is to take a day trip to Springfield, ILL. At the least I do want to visit the Illinois State Capitol and perhaps one day visit the Illinois State Fair.

Stormy Kara who is another YouTuber I follow took Amtrak down there - one of the midwest regional services Amtrak offers - and then took a local bus to the state fair. He definitely has an opinion on the Sangamon Mass Transit District and how they do things. While Springfield is Illinois' state capital city it's still not the "metropolis" Chicago is.

You see what I did there.

Anyway, his visit to the state fair has sparked my interest though the only time I know about is when political events occur there as often covered by the Capitol Fax. Politicians from the Democrats to the Republicans will have their days there and of course what happens there will have consequences as far as elections. For example, there is a hotly contested race downstate going on between former 2022 GOP gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey who hopes to take a congressional seat away from incumbent Republican Congressman Michael Bost.

Of course there will be more press if there is a Gubernatorial race as there was last year in 2022 and certainly in the Presidential race next year in 2024.

Regardless there is still plenty to do there at the state fair beyond politics. There are rides things to eat and of course agricultural exhibits which may well include a cow made of butter.

I really need to try to go next year.

Midway Airport streaming

 

[VIDEO] Live from Midway Int'l Airport a live webcam feed provided by StreamTime Live. It was especially interesting seeing the rain falling out that way this morning as crews took care of the aircraft.

I've shared live streams of railroad stations here, this time I got the ones who are airplane aficionados! 

Grounded Life Travel: We Broke Down... But Amtrak Made It Right

 

[VIDEO] Grounded Life Travel is a YouTube channel I've discovered when Amtrak announced a fellowship program for content creators to record their travels on Amtrak routes. I'm sure this is really seen as free advertising and perhaps these content creators on their social media get compensation in return for this advertising.

On this episode Grounded Life Travel will is a couple (I do believe they're from Atlanta) take a trip from Emeryville, California back to Chicago on board the California Zephyr. Unfortunately this is one of those trips that I have yet to take the train takes you due west through western Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, and California. Emeryville is just east of San Francisco across the bay.

Since you're going west you go through Midwestern farmlands to the prairie then deserts and the Rocky Mountains going through many tunnels along the way. There is a stretch in California called the Donner Pass which is known for the party that got stranded there during a snowstorm.

Another thing Grounded Life Travel did in this video is give a rundown of their first class accomodation and what types of cars you might find yourself on. Better yet what model car you find yourself on I knew there were different models of Superliner Cars but I've never seen those distinctions broken down before. I've never been on a Superliner sleeper that didn't have a small closet for example.

Their photography ended in Ottumwa, Iowa as their train got up to nine hours late. It seems it started off with engine trouble and then there were other delays and it was in the wee hours of the morning that this couple finally made it into Chicago. They made sure to get a voucher for those delays in the days afterwards.

CSX: Day in the Life of a Freight Conductor

 

[VIDEO] Perhaps for your interest for those of you looking for a job, and hopefully one that pays very well here's a video for being a freight train conductor for the CSX railroad. I didn't really look up much information as far as pay or even benefits, however, it does seem that in general if you work in transportation when you start you must be available anytime your employer calls.

I think this is standard in the transportation industry you must have a mandatory 10 hour rest period between shifts. Also once you begin to gain some seniority that you will eventually get your choice of shifts. Say you're tired of working nights so instead you work mornings for example.

The one fascinating thing about working for a railroad - or transportation in general - you can visit a lot of places in America or around the world. Who's to say in your 10 hour rest period you decide to do some tourism type activities depending up where you might wind up after you get off work.

Check out the CSX Careers page if perhaps you might have the interest. And yes I will say for the record that this video is a bit corny as far as it's presentation but then look at it this way. If these companies want you to work for them they have to sell to you as much as you have to sell to them so that they can hire you.

Amtrak keeping their trains clean #Pandemic

[VIDEO] I haven't used this blog to maintain any consistent updates to the coronavirus. Lately we're seeing the numbers as far as hospitalizations, ICU hospitalizations, deaths, and other factors go in the right direction. I appears through many efforts including social distancing and sheltering in place orders that gov't officials can finally say we're beginning to flatten the curve.

I'm an Amtrak fan and often enjoy traveling the country via railroad. And before all these shelter in place orders around the nation there was unfortunately one report of an Amtrak passenger -  a student who came home from study abroad in Italy one hotspot for this contagion - was found to be sick when she took the train from Chicago to St. Louis.

I'm sure in light of that story at least we see this video posted on Amtrak's YouTube account showing cleaning procedures on their trains. Perhaps this will keep Amtrak's customers base assured that America's passenger railroad will do their part to keep their vehicles clean.

Regardless with these measures put in place I hardly see anyone traveling. I like to watch the webcams of Virtual Railfan through their YouTube channel and although I often focus on one location - a live camera in LaPlata, Missouri a stop of Amtrak's Southwest Chief - I see there arent as many passengers getting on or off trains there. On a normal train there would be a decent crowd getting on or off the train there. Also note this location has become a popular one and is said to be world famous and imagine that in a small town in Missouri.

I'd say right now it's hard to want to go somewhere right now regardless of the mode of transport. One dream of mine had been to go to WrestleMania and although I let time fly on going to this year's event - which in light of this pandemic was moved to a closed set with no fans and pre-recorded instead of the expected venue in Tampa Bay, Florida in front of 70,000 spectators. Still, once it became apparent that the coronavirus was really going to be a problem this year became the year I wouldn't have achieved my dream. At least there's L.A. for next year's WrestleMania.

Business Insider: Why do school buses still look the same?

[VIDEO] Add this to a list of things we never really thought about: schools bus designed hasn't changed in over 80 years. Why are school buses yellow? What is the thought process about school bus design?

I never had to be bused to school back in the day. The only uses for a school bus for say my classmates back in the day was primarily for field trips perhaps to a zoo or a museum or an aquarium or more often a trip to Bennett's computer lab. 

Train Odyssey: Amtrak City of New Orleans

[VIDEO] One of my favorite YouTubers is youtuuba who likes to make videos about his various train odysseys on the Amtrak system. Recently he took a trip south on board The City of New Orleans train which he documents for us. This three hour video is only a part one, presumably part two shows us his journey on board Amtrak's Crescent train from New Orleans to Philadelphia. I will show part two once it's available.

As a frame of reference using some of my own YouTube videos. This train when it leaves Union Station backs out of the station and heads west on tracks that are a few blocks from 18th street. Or the tracks it heads west on will take you towards Cicero, Berwyn, Naperville, Aurora. Once the train backs up the train moves forward heading through the Sloop and then moves south along Lake Shore Drive through McCormick Place.

The train continues south eventually going through the neighborhoods of Bronzeville, Hyde Park, Woodlawn, Grand Crossing, Chatham, Roseland, and Pullman. Basically as it goes along Lake Shore Drive eventually the train will be coasting along Stony Island then Cottage Grove until leaving the Chicago city limits. The train will continue to go south going diagonally through the state of Illinois making stops in Kankakee, Champaign-Urbana, and Carbondale before leaving the state into Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, and then to its final destination in New Orleans.

Here's some video I shot about my last trip on The City of New Orleans during the summer of 2018 as we ride through Bronzeville, Hyde Park, and Woodlawn. [VIDEO]

Large Big Boy steam locomotive pass through Chicago area

[VIDEO] I should've been out in West Chicago, Illinois with Artistmac to check out this history Union Pacific No. 4014 The Big Boy. It's an old steam locomotive delivered to the Union Pacific railroad in 1941 and retired in 1961 and restored to operation beginning in 2013. It has been on tour around the nation especially the midwest and made it's presence known in the Chicago area.

It's of interest to myself because it's not often you see a steam locomotive on the tracks anywhere. A fascinating piece of railroad history that's worth seeing when the opportunity presents itself. Who knows when it will be put into operation by Union Pacific.

Here is another video of Big Boy in the Chicago area from another of my favorite YouTubers - YouTuuba who was in Roselle, Illinois to catch a glimpse of the locomotive and consists [VIDEO]

Day in the life of an Amtrak conductor

[VIDEO] Once upon a time back in about the first grade, I wanted to work on trains. During that time I took my first cross country train trip to Washington, DC on board Amtrak. I got some nice children's activities books and example of which I got somewhere at home. It reminds me of my very first train trip, my parents even allowed me to keep the ticket stubs and the ticket jacket which unfortunately I've since lost.

I didn't know what they called all the people onboard the train. I didn't know anything about conductors or engineers or even the attendants. So I gave them jobs such as train owners or train drivers. Hell I didn't even know who did what on CTA as I dealt with them far more often than Amtrak over the years.

Either way transportation is fascinating, dealing in the movement and delivery of people and goods. Keeping things on a consistent schedule and insuring the safety of people and quality of goods. And to be able to see plenty of different places on your travels, potentially travel the world no matter the mode of transport is a very exciting career.

This is why I'm sharing this video from Amtrak careers which shows the day in the life of an Amtrak conductor. If only YouTube had existed in the 1980s I'd know more about this job and what it entails. Good thing for me is, it's not too late to take on this role and enjoy some of the peripheral benefits of travel that it entails.

1970: 95/Dan Ryan CTA terminal

As of now the CTA terminal at 95th endures. It has undergone some changes over the years, a reconstruction in 2003-04, the shutdown & reconstruction of the Red Line south in 2013, and of course the expected overhaul expected to be completed in 2018. The ig post below from the CTA's ig profile shows a scene not too unfamiliar to today's transit riders who begin or compete their commutes at 95th street.

This 1970 photo (from our historical photo collection) shows a busy 95th/Dan Ryan bus terminal as people get off of buses and make their way to the train, not long after it opened. In 2014, construction began on the 95th Street Terminal Improvement Project, which will expand and greatly improve the 95th/Dan Ryan station (the south terminal of the CTA Red Line). #cta #cta70 #chicago #ctaredline #buses #terminal #busterminal #princetonpark #westchesterfield #roseland #longwoodmanor

A post shared by Chicago Transit Authority (@chicagocta) on Mar 11, 2017 at 5:20pm PST

DNA Info: CPS Changes Start Times For 82 Chicago Schools (FULL LIST)

In addition to change start times at 82 city schools, CPS also plans to consolidate school bus stops:

In the past, CPS buses have picked up magnet and selective-enrollment students at 450 stops — stops located at their neighborhood schools — across the city. But this fall, CPS plans to consolidate the number of bus stops to 180.

According to a statement, "the plan to shift bus arrival times resulted from an analysis that revealed that CPS’ transportation costs far outpace those at other large, urban districts."

At an LSC meeting at Andrew Jackson Language Academy last week, Martin Ellinger, CPS manager of student transportation routing, said the district is working to ensure the security of students and to make sure no children have to cross gang lines or other unsafe areas.

The eliminated bus routes will force some kids to walk up to 1.5 miles to their nearest stop, the district said.

Click on the link to DNA Info's article for the list of schools and see if your neighborhood school's start time is expected to change. We also hope that if your child takes a bus to school no major changes as far as where they should catch their bus.