Metra Electric DMB Concert Performance

This should have been a great opportunity for Metra Electric to show some high capacity carrying since their right of way was within blocks of the southeast lake front concert. Running six or eight car trains at concert close should have been an easy operation. The CTA would have 75 buses massed from one source.

David Harrison

I made the mistake of driving through that area yesterday evening ... I almost got routed into a parking lot instead of where I wanted to go!

Plenty of police working the area for traffic ... and announcements were being made at stations to tell people how to get there. I stopped at Kensington and heard a cheerful voice telling people to change at 69th for a South Chicago train to 87th St. Metra officers were on hand at 87th St. to handle traffic.

I had considered taking the South Shore in from Indiana and bouncing back down, but considering the wait for shuttle busses for the El, lots people ended up taking the Metra, so I’m glad I didn’t. Managed to get out of the parking lots all three days without a flat tire or speared radiator. The car needed a serious wash on Monday, but no worse for the wear.

About a month ago I was on the directions page of the caravan website and noticed they were telling people to transfer to the SOUTH SHORE LINE at 69th. I sent several E-mails to someone who obviously is not here in Chicago, explaining that if they tell people to take the South Shore, they will end up somewhere in Indiana and not happy about missing the show!

virtualchuck wrote:About a month ago I was on the directions page of the caravan website and noticed they were telling people to transfer to the SOUTH SHORE LINE at 69th. I sent several E-mails to someone who obviously is not here in Chicago, explaining that if they tell people to take the South Shore, they will end up somewhere in Indiana and not happy about missing the show!

The South Shore Line doesn't stop at 69th St ... it stops weekdays once or twice a day (depending on direction) at 63rd but there is no 69th St NICTD stop.


BTW: Based on Service Alerts METRA did fine over the weekend.

Friday: 2:18pm - Outbound Train #323 the 1:57 p.m. Arrival to 93rd South Chicago Stopped

Train #323 scheduled to arrive 93rd South Chicago at 1:57 p.m., is stopped at the 87th street station due to police activity. The duration of the delay is unknown. Updates will follow.

Friday: 6:53pm - Outbound Train #339 the 6:39 p.m. Arrival to 93rd, South Chicago Stopped

Train #339 scheduled to arrive 93rd South Chicago at 6:39 p.m., is currently stopped at Windsor Park, due to police activity.

Friday: 7:02pm - Outbound Train #339 the 6:39 p.m. Arrival to 93rd South Chicago 28 Minute Delay

Train #339 scheduled to arrive 93rd South Chicago at 6:39 p.m., is on the move operating approximately 28 minutes behind schedule due to earlier police activity.

Saturday: 1:58pm - Outbound Train #323 Scheduled to Arrive 93rd Street at 1:57 p.m. - Filled to Capacity

Outbound Train #323, scheduled to arrive 93rd Street at 1:57 p.m., has become filled to capacity and will not pick up passengers between 47th Street and 87th Street. The next outbound train will be #325 Scheduled to depart Millennium Station at 2:20 p.m. and arrive 93rd Street at 2:57 p.m.

Sunday: 1:02am - Inbound Train #350 Scheduled to Arrive 63rd Street at 12:27 a.m. - 30 Minute Delay

Train #350, scheduled to arrive 63rd Street at 12:27 a.m., is operating 30 minutes behind schedule due to earlier delays and heavy passenger loading.

I realized right way when they were telling people to take the SOUTH SHORE LINE trains on their website, it would have created a HUGE mess for people not familiar with the difference between the two lines, and they would either be waiting for a train that would never arrive, or get on a South Shore Line train downtown and realize their mistake sometime around the state line. They did finally correct the mistake, but only a few days before the show.

Chuck

NICTD employees are pretty good at telling potential passengers that their trains go to INDIANA. And the Metra station announcements over the weekend likely helped.

It's a different band, but the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (Ricardo Muti conducting) performed a FREE concert on Thursday, 7:30 PM September 22 at the Apostolic Church of God at 63rd and Dorchester. This is the church Obama gave his Father's Day remarks at.

I rode Metra Electric down from Millennium Station to 63rd "Woodlawn" station and found that at that time of the day (PM rush hour) Woodlawn was a flag stop on the Blue Island train Highliner I was on.

I counted about two dozen concert-goers taking the return 10:37 PM train back downtown. We got the new stainless steel AC traction bilevels, and I noticed the acceleration was faster and you could hear the AC motor whine. Only two cars were open, but it was an 8-car train, I think.

The ICRR/South Shore Line station building (which had ticket windows and a baggage room) under the tracks which, before A-Day, used to handle intercity IC and certain NYC trains has been completely "vaporized" with all three outside walls removed. You can still see the floor material underneath. The third stairway (to the intercity platform) has been bricked up. I think where the IC used to have a multi-story brick office building is now the church's parking lot. There's a stairway at 64th street, and I think it may have been there originally because of the office building.

Needless to say, the 63rd & Dorchester stop on the Jackson Park Elevated is no more. The CSO website said you could reach the church from downtown by either taking Metra Electric to 63rd or "the CTA Green Line to '63rd Street Station' (sic) and walking one half mile east".

I stopped at 63rd St last weekend in an attempt to finish up taking photos of every station the NICTD South Shore stops at. I did not photograph the former station under the tracks, but I did notice the flooring and concrete filled holes where plumbing and other fixtures once were. The platforms themselves were in good repair - and I was treated to both a outbound and inbound pass of South Shore trains in the few minutes I was there.