[PRCo] Re: [PRCo]End of a Street car line?

[Bob Rathke]

Mark is correct - the beach at Beverly Shores is very nice.  And yes, the 
South Shore is fast running between Michigan City and South Bend - there's 
only one stop in the45-minute stretch through the Indiana countryside betwen 
those two cities. Very interurban-like, even today.

I've lived in the Chicago area for 25 years, and I go downtown on business 
at least once a month, but I haven't driven or parked downtown in 20 years. 
I always take the Metra train which is faster than driving, and parking 
rates at the suburban stations are cheap - from free to $1.50 per day.

However, even at $27, downtown Chicago parking is a bargain compared to 
large metropolitan areas like New York City.  I remember one of the few 
times I drove into Manhattan and parked at a midtown garage for three hours 
and paid $45.  That was in 1986.  I don't want to ask what that Manhattan 
garage charges today.

Bob 8/6/08

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mark McGuire" <macmarka at netzero.net>
To: <pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org>
Sent: Monday, August 04, 2008 6:50 PM
Subject: [PRCo] Re: [PRCo]End of a Street car line?


> Speaking of Chicago, John, I just got back yesterday. My thoughts are if I 
> lived there and worked in the city, no way would I drive. The traffic is 
> absolutely horrendous. We drove into the city on a Sunday to walk around a 
> bit. The traffic was not bad, but the parking charges were out of this 
> world. We parked in a garage and 4 hours later the charge was $27. So on a 
> weekday, if I were to drive and brave the traffic, probably leaving the 
> house an hour or so before a normal day(is there such a thing in 
> Chicago?), I would then be faced with a parking bill off the charts. Yes, 
> people probably pay their parking monthly, but it still has to be 
> rediculous. And with gas prices the way they are, I'd be very much 
> inclined to take the Metra or CTA. I didn't pay much attention, but I'm 
> sure they have "Park and Ride" lots all over the place. The question is 
> how much do they charge to park? If you have a Metra line near your home 
> in Chicago, consider yourself lucky. That way you can walk!
>  to the line and take the train into town watching all the stagnant, 
> bumper-to-bumper traffic on your way.
>  I didn't ride CTA or the Metra, but I did get to finally ride on the 
> South Shore line. My sis and I had to drop my other sis off at Midway 
> airport, so after we did that we drove near the University Of Chicago, 
> found free parking, and hopped on the SS line at 57th St. Station. Never 
> rode it all the way to the end of the line, but I'm regretting that 
> decision as I'm told the interurban train really opens up after Michigan 
> City and we got off at Beverly Shores. But the beach was really nice 
> there. I was very impressed with the smooth ride and the condition of the 
> track and overhead. My ramble is over. Carry on.
>
>                         Mark
>
> -- John Swindler <j_swindler at hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> Steering column guide lines???  Been around for decades.  We had them in 
> Chicago to help the drivers get a 40 ft. bus under the el structures, such 
> as the Lincoln-Wells route.  Suspect they were also at right hand turns to 
> help driver avoid ramming the rear tires into the curb.
>
> J
>
>
>> From: fwschneider at comcast.net> Subject: [PRCo] Re: [PRCo]End of a Street 
>> car line?> Date: Mon, 4 Aug 2008 18:47:23 -0400> To: 
>> pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org> > Wouldn't that make a wonderful 
>> college prank to go out in the middle > of the night and repaint the line 
>> on the street?> > On Aug 4, 2008, at 5:45 PM, Ken & Tracie wrote:> > > I 
>> liked the "railfan" remark I received from a friend a few weeks ago> > 
>> concerning the French Civis trolley buses. It reflected a comment I > > 
>> made> > over a year ago:> >> > "Milwaukee wishes to reintroduce trackless 
>> trolleys. However, these > > will be> > steered by "reading" a painted 
>> line upon the street surface.> >> > "The Marmon-Herringtons and 
>> Pullman-Standards tossed upon the scrap > > heap in> > 1965 seemed to get 
>> along very well with their 'primitive' steering > > wheels."> >> > K.> >> 
>>  > ----- Original Message -----> > From: "Fred Schneider" 
>> <fwschneider at comcast.net>> > To: <pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org>> > 
>> Sent: Monday, Augus!
> t 04, 2008 2:14 PM> > Subject: [PRCo] Re: [PRCo]End of a Street car line?> 
>  >> >> Machinery evolves over time, doesn't it. (Retorical.) We have gone> 
>  >> from breaker point ignition systems to solid station ignition in cars> 
>  >> and from carburetors to fuel injection but they are still gasoline> >> 
> burning behemoths. Our trolley cars have gone from field weakening> >> 
> control to series-parallel control to series-parallel with field> >> 
> weakening for higher speeds to thrystor control to AC propulsion> >> 
> schemes but they are still trolley cars on steel wheels on steel> >> 
> rails.> >> >> >
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