[PRCo] Re: Run numbers

[James B. Holland]

I had heard that CTA took on summer drivers  --  vaguely remember 
inquiring about same  --  may have filled out application but don't 
remember ever having an interview  --  don't know how I would work it 
out with my full time job in North Chicago  --  strictly bankers hours 
there 8 to 5 but then I would have not a little commute to CTA and have 
to work evenings / owls.       Probably wouldn't work.

Always enjoyed riding the El.       If going to the hobby shop downtown 
I would drive to Skokie and take the Swift to the El to ride downtown.   
    On the 3rd rail portion of the Swift was an abandoned North Shore 
Station that bridged the tracks with a  PERFECT  imprint of the Swift 
Bow Trolley in it  --  All The Stucco in the center fell out!       Must 
have been one horrendous noise!       Once when returning I got on the 
El  (in the subway downtown)  but it was the wrong direction and had a 
Very Interesting Ride.

Something else to imagine that the Electroliners and other Name Trains 
on the North Shore rode around the Elevated Loop in Downtown  --  those 
must have been the days.

Quite interesting also is that, when stationed at the Naval Hospital in 
San Diego, the strip parking lot along the road was the former 7 and 11 
TrolleyCar lines into Balboa Park.       My employer in North Chicago 
also had such a strip parking lot that was the former North Shore prw 
for the local TrolleyCars into Waukegan!

When I joined Uncle Sam's Canoe Club, I got a choice of Great Lakes or 
San Diego for boot camp and chose the latter knowing that Military Half 
Fare was not yet available  --  although it was shortly later.       I 
knew that the LATL system was on the way out and was hoping to see it 
along with SF-Muni but Alas And Alack, LATL abandoned early  --  March 
instead of June  --  and I wasn't out of Boot until very early 
June.       Headed direct for LA and saw the impeccable overhead  --  
tracks on most streets were already tarred over!

Traced out some of the PE as well  --  quite a rich history of 
TrolleyCar lines in SoCal that still showed evidence of their one time 
existence!


Jim



John Swindler wrote:

> Would not be surprised if 1/2 min. schedules were also thing of pass 
> in Chicago. Being from Pittsburgh where rt. 64 had 20 min. peak 
> schedules (how's that for getting a PRC connection <gg>), recall being 
> surprised with CTA - we would leave Howard St. on rt. 22 Clark every 
> three minutes, and get a leader at Devon. Same on Broadway. Wonder if 
> the attempt was to get a bus through each light cycle? And then there 
> was Archer - where CTA tried to run a rapid transit line with buses. 
> It's the Midway airport corridor.
>
> Gosh, that was a long time ago.
>
> John
>
>
>> From: "James B. Holland" <PRCoPCC at P-R-Co.com>
>> To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
>> Subject: [PRCo] Re: Run numbers
>> Date: Sun, 07 Aug 2005 15:46:37 -0700
>>
>> John Swindler wrote:
>>
>>> In the summer of 1969, the 22 Clark St. bus with run number 861 in 
>>> the window (on Friday's) was my run number - I still have the run 
>>> card where time was calculated at time points within the half-minute.
>>
>>
>> Muni gave up on the 1/2 minute schedules about 1978 or 1979. Shortly 
>> after this we had computer printed paddles -- before that we had to 
>> calculate our own times at each time point from running times for a 
>> line dependent upon the time of day.
>



Jim__Holland


I__Like__Ike.......And__PCCs!!

down with pantographs ---- UP___WITH___TROLLEYPOLES!!!!!!!