17-12-01 PHOTOS: Purple Line UP North

It's December so what better time to travel to Chicago! As I mentioned in the associated video post it is getting harder to find convenient METRA express runs to video, however with a little bit of creativity one can assemble an action packed outing and get back to one's friends in time for lunch. This day I traveled on the CTA Purple Line from the Loop to Evanston Davis Street where I transfered to METRA for an express run into the CNW station.

Not yet satisfied I hopped on the CTA again and walked over the the famous 16TH ST JCT, south of downtown and then walked up to Roosevelt Ave along the Rock Island District trunk line into LaSalle St. From there I enjoyed absolutely perfect weather conditions in which to photograph the Amtrak Chicago Union Station operations from the Roosevelt Ave Viaduct. Yup, that's pretty much it. You can see the entire photo set here.

To catch an inbound peak period express train usually involves getting up at insane-o-clock in the morning to get downtown and then get back out to a suburban station. While on the purple line I didn't get reasonable light until my train was passing through CTA BELMONT junction, which is still controlled by the tower seen here as an inbound Purple Line train passes by.

It was still pretty dark when my train pulled into Howard past the doubleslip crossovers south of the station.

Here we see CTA 5000-series car #5522. Destination wasn't marked, but it might have been a Skokie Swift shuttle.

CTA 5000-series car #5352 sitting in the Howard layup yard.

CTA Purple Line station at Davis St. Evanston.

Platform of the adjacent Davis St METRA Station on the former CNW North Line.

Inbound METRA UP North Line train with gallery cab car #8472 leading.

METRA F40PH-2 #169 pushing out of Evanston Davis St. Fill light provided by the morning sun reflecting off a nearby office building.

F40PH-3 #141 leading an outbound local train. The CNW ran trains in the European (left hand) fashion ostensibly because it would allow inbound passengers to keep warm in stations build on the eastern side of the tracks on this very line. Note the small windowed gallery cars are of Budd manufacture.

METRA cab car #8425 bringing up the rear of the outbound local.

CAT 5000-series car #5402 passing over the Davis St bridge in Evanston.

METRA cab car #8420 pulling into Evanston Davis St station.

Third time was the charm as METRA cab car #8408 was leading the express train I was waiting for.

METRA F40PH-3 #144 hanging out on the CNW Terminal's west side engine track.

Route into track 10 cleared through the LAKE ST interlocking plant.

The still active LAKE ST tower features an early 20th century GRS Model 2 pistol grip interlocking machine, similar to the one installed in Grand Central Terminal when it opened.

Closeup of a LAKE ST interlocking double slip switch.

Track gates and cab cars lined up at the CNW Station stub end.

Crew boarding METRA F40PH-3 #121 parked on one of the CNW Station tracks.

METRA Lightning stripped F40PH-2 #171 with classic painted F40PH-2 #137 on one of the CNW terminal's east side engine storage tracks.

Skipping across town, I was fortunate to catch a CN C40-8 #2106 pushing at the end of a long string of oil cars traveling over the St Charles Air Line.

Here we have the famous photo location south of 16TH ST JCT with a Metra MoW crew in the foreground and the manned interlocking tower in the background. The tower dates from 1902 and is still active with it's Taylor Model 2 interlocking machine.

Money shot of METRA F40PHM-2 #203 crossing in front of the 16Th ST interlocking tower.

The crossing features 10 diamonds, although the number of switches has declined over the years, A modern set of crossovers was added north of the main plant, controlled from a unit lever machine inside the tower.

Walking across the Chicago River on Roosevelt Ave we find the Amtrak private car storage track in their Chicago yard and shoppe complex.

Here we have Amtrak P42 #67 pulling into the yard with a consist of superliners. Presence of an extra baggage car suggests this is a downstate Illinois train as CN requires a minimum axle count.

Looking inside Amtrak Superliner #32067 through an open rear door.

METRA F40PH-2 #117 and F40PHM-2 #210 threading their way out of Union Station through the double slip ladders of CP-ROOSEVELT.

Long BNSF Aurora Line train pushing into Union Station with F40PH-3 #179 at the rear.

'V' and 'W' ladders at CP-ROOSEVELT.

Perfect weather and light at CP-ROOSEVELT with the Sears Tower in the background.

Twilight photo of a 3-track signal bridge on the METRA Milwaukee West line.

Sunset from my Southwest Airlines 736 as it departs Chicago Midway field.

Well that's all for now. Next week I'll be headed back to New York City to ride the Nostalgia Train on the Second Avenue Subway.