So This is Washington. The film shows Washington during World War II. One scene has a couple at lunch before a large window. In sight through the window is a view of standard streetcars — no PCC’s — coming along one after the other in a great display of electric traction of an early vintage. Watching films on TCM often gives a glimpse of the background of streetcars in New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles or San Francisco. There are also great glimpses of classic automobiles with happy conglomera- tions of Packards, Cadillacs, Pierce Arrows, Lincolns,
Thanks to David Harris, Hayward Mack and Lou Fazenda for the idea of this item.
Rail Upgrades and Changes
Cutting the South Shore Line running time between South Bend and Chicago down to two hours or less continues to move a bit closer to reality. The reason: The Indiana General Assembly moved legislation that would provide the means to pay for improve- ments. One improvement will bring the rail- road into the terminal at the South Bend airport from the west instead of the east, as is now the case. That would cut running time because the line will be shorter and many grade crossings would be eliminated. The other change would be the eventual re- moval of tracks from the center of 10th and 11th Streets in Michigan City (the South Shore Line trains take their time running in mixed traffic). Looking back, thank Heaven the South Shore by-pass around East Chica- go, that was put in place in the mid-1950s, took the trains out of the middle of Chicago Avenue in downtown East Chicago. In the Dallas, Texas, area, the Dallas Area
Rapid Transit (DART) hopes to cut down on the cost of expansion. The DART folks have a long range plan to spend about $988 mil- lion for the expansion to North Irving, DFW International Airport and Rowlett, Texas. The cost of steel and cement has been going up sharply and the latest guesstimate is that these extensions will now cost about $1.9 billion. Looking for ways to cut down on capital cost is the order of the day at DART; delaying the opening of some of the exten- sions would delay the imposition of costs, but also hold back the receipt of revenue. New Jersey Transit must be doing some- thing right; on the average weekday 881,700 trips are taken on the bus, light rail and commuter rail services. In 2007, there were five million total trips taken on the light rail lines of the state, 18.9 million commuter rail trips and 40.6 million bus trips. The West Side railroad yards in Manhat-
tan — west of Penn Station — where com- muter cars for the Long Island Railroad and NJ Transit are stored, are likely to be put up for sale. The latest idea is to rezone the area between 30th and 33rd Streets along the west side of 11th Avenue so a developer could build residential or commercial high rise structures. The developer would not pay taxes, but would make regular pay- ments into a fund that would pay the cost (estimated at $2.15 billion) for the exten- sion of the 7 subway line from Times Square to 11th Avenue and the Javits Convention Center. The presence of a new subway line should make the rail storage area air rights very valuable. The rail yards would not be eliminated; the development would take place above the yards. Toronto, Ontario, has excellent trans-
and Desoto taxicabs galore.
portation facilities and very, very good pub- lic transportation service. Now the city is planning to do a major maintenance and up- grade of the beautiful Union Station build- ing. There will be an increase and upgrade of passenger amenities, including a retail mall to serve the thousands of commuters from GO Transit who pass through the station each day. The price tag is C$388 million. Some of the money is expected to come from the Canadian national government and it is also hoped that private development money will be found to help in the improvements. Thanks to Jess Mercy and Kevin Kelly for the news.
More Service Between Worcester and Boston As all our readers know, Boston is the Hub of the Universe — just ask someone from Red Sox Nation to find the truth of that title. The Hub is about to be more closely attached to Worcester as the state of Massachusetts has purchased 45 miles of rail line joining the Hub with that city. In the arrangement with CSX, it is expected that there will be a daily increase of commuter trains from 13 to 20, as well as an increase in freight traffic. The arrangement also includes state acquisition of 37 miles of rail lines linking Taunton, Fall River and New Bedford. How much of an in- crease in service there will be depends to some extent on the delivery of new commuter rail cars from Hyundai Rotem. The cars are seriously late — several years behind time. Thanks to Peter Perreault for the news.
Improvements in Chicagoland Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel has made it clear that the Red Line, from 95th and the Dan Ryan in the south to Howard Street in the north, is to be the backbone of the Chica- go rapid transit service. For the past several years there have been major upgrading proj- ects on the trackage, power supply and sig- nal system. We can expect to see large scale upgrading of the trackage and stations on the south end of the Red Line in the future, including a major upgrading of the 95th Street terminal station. There is also talk, once again, of extending the tracks and serv- ice to 130th Street. The Chicago Transit Authority is not the only rail service to enjoy upgrading and im- provements. Metra, the commuter rail oper- ation in Chicagoland, is working on several station projects; new stations are under con- struction at Cicero and at Fox River Grove, and in other places the platforms will be ex- tended to serve eight car trains and im- provements in station facilities, including warming sheds, are in the plans. Thanks to Steve Scalzo for the news.
Chicago: Metra Time Tracker
It appears that Chicago transit and com- muter service is enjoying a series of im- provements these days. New rapid transit cars are being delivered and bus mainte- nance facilities are being upgraded to help improve bus service and increase depend- ability. In mid-2012 Metra, the commuter rail service in the Chicago region, an- nounced a service in which customers can go to their desktop computer or mobile device and check the status of the next train at every one of Metra’s stations. Called Rail- Time Tracker, the service will let intending passengers know if a train is on time or not, and if not, when it is expected to depart. This will enable commuters to hug their kids, kiss
From Then to Now, To There and Back
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