More Blue line problems...

Aug 12, 2006 8:02 am US/Central
CTA Train Switches Off Tracks On Northwest Side
Three People Taken To Hospital For Medical Problems


(CBS) CHICAGO A CTA Blue Line train switched off the tracks early
Saturday along the Kennedy Expressway on the Northwest Side, shutting
down part of the line for a period of time.

The five-car train left the track at Central Avenue between the
Jefferson Park and Harlem Blue Line stations around 3:30 a.m.,
officials said. The train was straddling two different parts of the
track due to a problem with switching.

"All of a sudden it went black and it stopped," said a woman who was
on the train. "They came out and said there was technical
difficulties, and then two hours later we found that the train
derailed; switched off track. We were standing there for probably a
good, like, three hours."

The Fire Department said the incident did not technically qualify as
a derailment. One car was stuck on two tracks in a switching position.

Passengers said they were told the train operator was speeding, but
the CTA would not confirm that information.

"I was trying to take a nap so I could get to work. I work out at
O'Hare," said passenger Kenneth Singleton. "But when the train
derailed, they said the lady was speeding. They're supposed to do 15
miles an hour. I think she was doing 30-35."

Aside from the long wait, passengers said they did not experience
much of anything. They did not even feel the train go off the track.

"Nothing – they just came to a stop," another woman who was on the
train said. "We thought they stopped to pick up other people."

All the passengers offloaded to a southbound train, Chicago Transit
Authority spokeswoman Wanda Taylor said. That train and other
southbound trains were sent to the nearby Jefferson Park station.

The Fire Department called for an Emergency Medical Services Plan 1,
which automatically sends five ambulances.

A total of 139 people were on the train, fire officials said. There
were three peope taken to Resurrection Medical Center, two with
diabetes and one with a headache. The other 136 people aboard the
train refused medical treatment, fire officials added.

After the incident, the Blue Line was shut down between the Montrose
and O'Hare stations for a period of time. But by 6:40 a.m., rail
service in both directions had been restored, Taylor said.

CTA crews were on the scene conducting an investigation of the
incident, Taylor said.

Yeah, that was either a typo, or just a careless job of counting. At that time of morning, it was most likely a four-car train....

I would agree with the five-car statement, unless any of the 1-50 St. Louis cars are left on the Blue Line. Back when the Green was down, and the Blue had no outside connection, they used to run revenue trains every few months with the 1-50 cars to cycle them from storage, at one end of the line, to maintenance, at the other. However I doubt they were operating a regular train even if they still exist on CTA property.

I remember seeing those cars at Rosemont yard about a decade ago (2 six or eight car sets, IIRC), and a transit worker confirmed he had seen them used in revenue service periodically, even though the rest of the 6000's had been "officially" retired a few years earlier. Wish I could've gotten pics, but they're lost to history now...

They had to keep them around and in ready-to-go shape until a certain date (15 years seems likely) after they were rehabbed in the mid-80's. The government requires this on rehabs that it finances, but since the CTA had a sufficient number of newer (and handicapped-accessible) cars laying around, the 1-50s mostly just sat around after the delivery of the 3200s.