STL DPB UNDERGROUND - CTA

 

 

The Chicago Transit Authority's (CTA) Lake Street Station on the Blue Line. You could take it to the airport, often in the same time as driving because the traffic is so bad. Not the best metro architecture around.              

Evening On The Street

On the street in the Wicker Park neighborhood of Chicago as night falls. 

The family is going to the Cardinals game tonight so I'll get some new local material.                       

Night On The L

Most but not all of Chicago's train system is above ground on steel structures running above the streets. Some of it is underground but people generally call the whole thing the L, for elevated.

People can get worn out by big city life and may drift off on their journey homeward. Some may stay alert, hunched up against a chilly evening like son Andy.

I apologize for leaving no comments for so long. Work is leaving me very little spare time. There is a particular reason that doesn't bear repeating. It will continue for a while longer, then ease off. Haven't forgotten you and your work.           

Portal

Free to pass this way, $2.25 to get back in. A few cities have no barriers on the transit system but passengers are subject to spot checks of their tickets. St. Louis and Berlin are examples. Most, however, are not so trusting, as shown here in Chicago.

Still scraping for material and probably won't get out to shoot new stuff until Saturday. I think this one is okay, though. It's got some urban rhythm.                                        

Red And Gold Underground

Colors aglow beneath the streets of Chicago at the Logan Square station. Not at all emblematic of the Blue Line but still vibrant.

Scraping the hard drive for material. Gotta get back out on the streets this weekend.                   

Carpe Diem

A sign found at the bottom of the stairs to the street from the California Avenue el station on the Blue Line. Do you, um, use it? Every day?

Below, an ominous sign on the platform railing, there for the edification of those who know nothing about electric train systems.                              

Meanwhile, In Chicago . . .

On the way back to Andy and Claire's after dinner Sunday night. Photo taken on the California Avenue station on the Blue Line. 

Good meeting up here. Home tonight. I may bounce back and forth between Chicago and the Pridefest parade until I can shoot some new material this weekend.                

Public Transit Party

One of the best things about Andy And Claire's wedding is that everybody took the CTA Blue Line from the ceremony in Logan Square to the reception in Wicker Park. No bourgeois limousines for this couple. The other riders were dumbfounded. I love the juxtaposition in the top pic of the two ad signs, the sign the woman is holding and the very puzzled boy in the lower right.

All of this was going out live on a web video stream from Andy's iPhone mounted on a tripod. The young man does have a masters in computer science.

I think A and C get to Paris today, staying somewhere in the 10eme near the Gare De L'Est. Ah, to be young, in love and in Paris.                     

On The CTA

Chicago has a pretty good public transit system. The CTA (Chicago Transit Authority) trains run in a hub and spoke pattern, in and out of the the famous Loop downtown. Mrs. C and I are supporters of public transportation but it was a bit of a schlepp to get from our hotel on Michigan Avenue back to the Loop and out again to O'Hare Airport.

Most of the system is elevated above ground (hence The L) but there are parts underground. The first shot was taken at the Blue Line stop at Lake Street. Several stops later I got the second shot on my phone of two of the runners.

Bottom, what Jon Stewart on The Daily Show calls your moment of zen. Red Line, Chicago Avenue stop.        

The Lonliness Of The Blue Line

Images from the Chicago Transit Authority Blue Line from Logan Square to O'Hare Airport. Even in the huge city it is easy to be alone.       

And if that isn't isolated enough, have a look at the laundromat on Diversey Avenue, around the corner from my son's home.