November 20, 2023:

 

            I got up and got dressed. I went to the lobby for breakfast. After breakfast I went back to my room and finished packing. I then checked out of my hotel and walked to the bus stop.

 

            I had a few hours to kill so I decided I was going to try to ride some electric buses. I knew the articulated buses run on route #70.

 

            The bus came and I rode down to the Gateway terminal. I saw an electric Gillig was in the terminal. I photographed it before I got on.

 

 

            I rode the bus to where the route I was on intersected route #70. I got off and filmed the bus pulling away.

 

            I waited for an articulated bus. I did check Transsee and saw that at least one was out on route #70. I waited but only diesel Gilligs came on route #70. I photographed other Gilligs both diesel and battery electric.

 

 

 

 

            At one point, I saw the Gillig I had ridden was now heading in the opposite direction. I photographed it.

 

 

            I took another picture of a Gillig battery electric bus.

 

 

            Eventually I saw a battery electric Flyer articulate bus coming. I walked to the bus stop and photographed it before I got on.

 

 

            I rode a few stops before I got off. I photographed the bus before I filmed it pulling away.

 

 

            I then filmed the bus pulling away. I then crossed the street to catch the route #70 back to the Metrorail station. The next bus was the same articulated bus. I photographed it before I got on.

 

 

            As I rode the bus back, I saw a White Castle restaurant. I got off and photographed the bus.

 

 

            I filmed the bus pulling away. I went to White Castle and bought lunch I took it to go and waited for the next bus on route #70. I figured I could still make it time for my train.

 

            The next route #70 came. It was a regular Gillig diesel bus. I rode to the light rail and got off. I took the elevator down to the light rail. While waiting for my train, I photographed a train going the opposite direction.

 

 

            My train soon arrived. I photographed it before I got on.

 

 

            As we rode past the yard, I filmed it. I got to Gateway Station is and got off. I filmed the train pulling away and took one more photo of it.

 

 

            I then went inside the station. I had about 90 minutes to kill before my train left. From the station I could see the light rail. I photographed a light rail train still in the older livery.

 

 

            I went outside and photographed a train laying over.

 

 

 

            I then had a Powerball lottery ticket that I had bought in Chicago earlier checked. It was not a winner. I then went to the waiting game.

 

            I lined up for train #318 to Chicago. Around 3:00 pm I was allowed to board. The train wasn’t the train I had photographed earlier but had the same type of coaches. I photographed the train before I got on.

 

 

            I was seated in Siemens Venture coach #4006. This would be my first time riding Amtrak’s new Siemens Venture coaches! It’s interesting that this coach carried the same number of the Big Boy I had seen at the National Museum of Transportation the day before.

 

            The coaches had AC outlets in the seats instead of along the wall like on Amtrak’s other coaches. I would find I would keep knocking the plug from my laptop.

 

            Meanwhile Amtrak train #319 pulled into the station. It had a similar consist as my train. I photographed it.

 

 

 

            Train #318 departed three minutes late. As we left, I filmed train #319. I also photographed the St. Louis arch as well as the front of the train as it crossed the bridge over the Mississippi River.

 

 

 

 

            The train stopped at Alton. The coaches have a screen that shows the route the train takes. I photographed it.

 

 

            I worked on this report some more. The train stopped in Carlinville. Between Carlinville and Springfield, I filmed the Texas Eagle passing. I then attempted to photograph it.

 

 

 

            The train stopped at Springfield. The sun went down. We stopped at Lincoln. I went to the café car for dinner. The train stopped at Bloomington-Normal. We stopped at Pontiac a little while later.

 

            The train stopped at Joliet. We then stopped at Summit which is a shelter and also served by Metra. A little while later we were getting close to Chicago. We were running parallel to the CTA Orange line.

 

            Train #318 arrived into Chicago three minutes late. I got off and photographed the train.

 

 

 

 

            I made my way into Chicago Union Station. I photographed the Christmas tree on display.

 

 

            I then made my way over to the Clinton Blue line station. I had to wait several minutes for my train to come. When my train arrived I saw it consisted of CTA’s new 7000 series El cars. I think they look neat. For some reason, the front of the cars reminds me of the 2200s that retired 10 years ago. I photographed the train.

 

 

            I rode the train to Illinois Medical District station. I got off and filmed the train pulling out.

 

            I then left the CTA and headed towards my hotel which was near a hospital. I checked in.

 

            After getting my room key I went to take an elevator to my room. There was a group of three that would take me to where I would go. Instead of simply pressing a button I held my room key to a screen and selected the floor I wanted to go to. When an elevator arrived, it would display the floor it was going to.

 

            I got to my room and went online. I attempted to phone home. I went out looking for a convenience store but couldn’t find one. I ended up buying something from the stock in the lobby. I went back to my room. I eventually called it a night.

 

November 21, 2023:

 

            I got up and got dressed. I went downstairs for breakfast. After breakfast I returned to my room. I would be going out fanning on CTA today. However, there was one place I wanted to go to first.

 

            I walked to the Illinois Medical District CTA station and boarded a train bound for Forest Park. The train that came first consisted of 3200 and 2600 series El cars. I photographed it before I got on.

 

 

            I rode the train to Forest Park; the end of the line. This was the first time I rode to Forest Park. I got off and photographed the train.

 

 

            I then transferred to PACE route 301. I rode to the intersection of Roosevelt and S Wolf. I got off and photographed the bus.

 

 

            I then crossed the street and went into the Queen of Heaven Cemetery. I saw a funeral procession enter as I went in.

 

 

            I came here because I knew that my friend Greg was buried there. While the cemetery was large, I knew he was in section 35. There was a map and found section 35 was at the opposite end from where I entered. I made my way over to section 35. The problem was I wasn’t sure where Greg’s grave was. Section 35 was still a fair size chunk of land.

 

            To complicate matters leaves had covered the headstones. I began walking past each row looking for Greg’s grave moving the leaves to see the names. I eventually found a grave with Greg’s last name. However, the first name read Dorothy. I realized that it must have been Greg’s late mother. I knew I was close. Sure enough Greg’s grave was to the right. I had found it.

 

 

            I placed my backpack in front of Greg’s grave and photographed it with a landmark so I can find the grave sooner on future trips to Chicago.

 

 

            I reflected on the times I met up with Greg. As I said in my Three Rivers trip, I met him on a PCC streetcar charter in Toronto 20 years ago. He had given me the idea for what eventually became my Washington-Cleveland trip.

 

            Prior to 2005, Greg had been telling me to visit Chicago. When I came on the Three Rivers, he was disappointed I had only come for a day. While I came for 2-3 days between 2006 and 2010, he was still disappointed that I was doing strictly transit stuff. He was hard to please. However my 2012 trip to Chicago finally pleased him because I did some non transit things.

 

            He may have been pleased, but if his spirit could have talked to me, he might have said something along the lines of, “It didn’t count meeting up with me when I was alive! So it shouldn’t count when I’m dead!” That was the kind of guy Greg was.

 

            I feel that navigating Chicago would have been more difficult if I hadn’t known Greg. There are parts of Chicago which are bad areas; mostly on the south side. When booking hotels, I asked Greg if the hotel was in a safe area. If he was to tell me no, I would have booked another hotel. I am pleased to have known him. However I still miss him.

 

            I made my way to the bus stop and caught a PACE bus back to Forest Park. I would have liked to have ridden to Forest Park for a less somber occasion.

 

            There is a CTA yard next to Forest Park. I went and took a look from the sidewalk and took some photos.

 

 

 

 

            I made my way back to Forest Park station. I saw two El cars painted in the historic Alpine Green and White CTA Livery. I photographed them.

 

 

 

            I boarded a Blue Line train and rode downtown I got off and rode to Jackson. I got off. I found some vintage pictures of Chicago and photographed one.

 

 

            I got off looking for an Arby’s I remembered from 2012. However they moved. I went into a bank and used the Wi-Fi and found a location a short ride away. I got on the Red line and rode to Washington station. I walked a few blocks before I found the Arby’s. I had lunch.

 

            After lunch, I boarded a pink line train at the adjacent Washington/Wells station. I rode one stop to Clinton.  I was hoping to see the Empire Builder pass through the railway crossing a few blocks away but it passed when I was half a block from the crossing. It was led by one of Amtrak’s new ALC-42 locomotives. I did photograph an ex Amtrak F59PHi owned by Metra but still in Amtrak West colours.

 

 

            I then made my way back to the Clinton station and rode a train one stop to Clark/Lake. I got off and transferred to the Brown line. I boarded a Brown line train. I then rode to Fullerton.

 

            At Fullerton, I got off and transferred to a Red line train. I rode the train to Howard. A couple stations were closed for work. We also passed through the modernized Wilson station.

 

            At Howard I got off. I would have normally been going for a ride on the Skokie Swift, but there had been an accident where a train on the line collided with a work car sending several riders to the hospital. The train was a set of 5000 series El Cars had suffered major damage. As a result, the Yellow line was being run with shuttle buses.

 

            I saw two cars that are decorated with Christmas lights which are to be assigned to CTA’s Holiday train. The Holiday train consists of six El cars decorated with lights bracketing a decorated CTA flat car that traverses the CTA system.

 

            I also saw two of the 2400 series El cars that were retained as historic cars. They have been repainted in their as delivered paint scheme. I took some photos.

 

 

 

 

            I boarded a Purple line train and rode to Linden; the end of the line. I got off and photographed the train.

 

 

            I left the station and looked around the area. I then returned to the station and caught the next train. The train departed. As we passed the Howard yard, I attempted to photograph the historic 2400s.

 

 

            The train continued downtown. We ran express. We passed through the modernized Wilson station that looked completely different than it did on the 2200 series El car charter 10 years ago.

 

 

Here’s the charter train at the old Wilson station.

 

            I rode the train to Merchandise Mart and got off. I looked around the mall for a few minutes and then got on a Brown line train and rode one stop to Clark/Lake. I got off and photographed a train of 3200s that originally ran on the Skokie Swift as the roof had been reinforced for pantographs which were long since removed.

 

 

            I then transferred to the Blue line. The train I took had the new 7000 series El cars. I photographed the train when it arrived.

 

 

            I rode to Clinton. I got off and photographed the train.

 

 

            I walked to Union Station but found the restaurant I had hoped to have dinner at but it was closed. I considered going to Five Guys which was the last restaurant I ever had dinner with Greg during my layover on my 2018 San Francisco trip. However I decided against it.

 

            I eventually bought dinner from a 7-11. I took a picture of Christmas lights before I boarded a CTA bus back to Clinton.

 

 

            I soon got back to Clinton and went to catch a train to my hotel. It again had some 7000 series El cars. I photographed it when it pulled in.

 

 

            I rode to Illinois Medical District and got off. I photographed the train.

 

 

 

            I filmed the train pulling out. I then made my way back to my hotel. I went online and worked on this report some more. I eventually called it a night.

 

Click to read about my trip to Kenosha and my trip home:            Kenosha 2023