BusTalk

NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 · Posted: Fri Sep 19, 2025 11:05 pm Post subject:

OUTSTANDING selection of rare "L" photos; man, if we could only travel back in time! Rolling Eyes

The colorful diversity of the rolling stock, the complex ganglia of elevated trackage, the fascinating varieties of operations......all are recalled here in great (nostalgic!) detail........ENJOY! Very Happy

"NYO"

https://thetrolleydodger.com/2021/05/30/outtakes-from-chicagos-lost-ls-part-one/

NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 · Posted: Sat Sep 20, 2025 9:17 am Post subject:

Note:

Most non-railfans/historians, when visiting Chicago and seeing the "L", have no idea at just how extensive the "L" network once was, and how many branches were once in existence.

So much was destroyed, especially during the 1940s..........

"NYO"

["CHICAGO RAPID TRANSIT"]

NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 · Posted: Sat Sep 20, 2025 9:24 am Post subject:

Further:

In Brian J. Cudahy's "DESTINATION LOOP", he reports that, at its peak, the CRT's "L" car roster hovered around the 1,700 car mark.

But, later in the 1950s, after the introduction of the "6000s", and the closing of several branches of the "L", the car fleet was reduced to roughly 1,200 cars (recall, also, that the CTA retired all of the wooden cars in 1957)............

"NYO"

["DEMPSTER"]

Cyberider · Joined: 27 Apr 2007 Posts: 1132 Location: Tempe, AZ

More Chicago. Chicago Streetcar & Elevated Lines - 1952 to 1956 and a lot more.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hd-8pBS9IxA

NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 · Posted: Sat Sep 20, 2025 6:27 pm Post subject:

Cyberider:

Thanks for the link! Wink

Interesting that, at its peak, the CRT/CTA rostered 1,700 rapid transit cars.

Circa-1950, there were over 13,000 subway/elevated cars in use in New York! Shocked

"NYO"

["CITY OF NEW YORK"]

NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 · Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2025 5:31 pm Post subject:

Interesting...........

Both the CA&E's and the CNS&M's trains entered the Loop via "L" trackage; now, imagine "Westchester" trains entering Manhattan via an "El" connection in the Bronx.

There had been some talk at one point, but the cost of rebuilding the El structure to handle the heavy steel "Westchester" cars, plus the cost of having to shave back/rebuilt platforms, relocate signals, etc., was simply far too costly an endeavor, and never discussed again.........

"NYO"

["WHITE PLAINS LOCAL"]