Tucker: This is a disaster

 

[VIDEO] Tucker Carlson in his monologue discusses the disaster that took place in East Palestine, Ohio recently. This incident is highlighting the incompetence of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigeg and indeed as Tucker attempts to explain the possible dismissal of the disruption to this predominantly Republican area.

I'm hoping for the best for that part of the nation. What health effects will come from the exposure to these toxic chemicals. 

FOX Business: Elaine Chao wishes Pete Buttigieg ‘good luck’ with solving rail strike

 

[VIDEO] I've been wondering why there hasn't been much Amtrak traffic on the webcam at Ft. Madison, Iowa in recent days. There is a looming railroad strike coming. And most of Amtrak's long distance routes are over freight railways. For that matter this affects suburban commuters in Chicago because Metra also mostly runs over the freight railways....

Another mess, I could see this affecting the supply chain.

OH, I forgot to add. Considering the state of our political leadership, I'm not very sure they're able to solve the issues of railroad labor.

Amtrak 50th - Paint Scheme and Livery History

 

[VIDEO] Well how about something different this morning. This video uploaded today by Amtrak talks about the many liveries and it's current evolution even now. Amtrak will have a new livery in the future and I've seen in some Virtual Railfan grab bags, there is a livery that celebrates Amtrak's 50th anniversary.

Oh yeah that's right Amtrak is now 50 years old. It wasn't that long ago when Amtrak was 40 years old....

Here's hoping our new President who as a U.S. Senator was known for taking Amtrak back and forth from his home to Washington, D.C. will give America's passenger railroad some TLC. It seems he's not giving much to the rest of the nation.

No more Boosted Boards...

[VIDEO] I've never had an opportunity to own a Boosted Board, they're just a bit expensive for me. If only my blogging career could afford me one of these powered skateboards or even an electric scooter.

Well I'm mostly familiar with Boosted Boards from Casey Neistat's YouTube channel and it's his primary way of moving around NYC. Then we see one of his associates above Sam Sheffer talking about Boosted's demise. If you look on their website you aren't able to purchase any of their products.

Like I said I've never owned one, however, it would've been quite nifty to use one to get around Chicago especially to work or just after I get off the CTA. It's too bad that they seem to be shutting down operations. Although I do hope they get back into business soon.

Virtual Railfan Santa Fe junction

[VIDEO] This new "railcam" began streaming on September 18, 2019 so basically just yesterday. Thankfully this is sponsored and thus for the forseeable future this site will continue to be streamed onto YouTube hopefully.

What's exciting for me about this site is that you will see Amtrak trains here. Of course on most railcams operated by Virtual Railfan you will see a number of trains passing along which will include commuter, passenger, and freight trains.

So going through the Santa Fe Junction located in an area of Kansas City, Missouri (KCMO) known as West Bottom. If you click the link in the brackets to view the video you will see the number of rail lines that pass through at any given time. Kansas City Union Station which is a stop for Amtrak's Southwest Chief (with a decent layover according to the schedule) is said to be directly east of this junction. It's expected to see the Chief coming to and from Chicago and the Missouri River Runner between KCMO & St. Louis, Missouri passing through.

If this railcam has staying power it's probably very likely to be included on my Railcam page although what's shown in the vid itself isn't a regular station stop. We're just seeing all trains pass through.

Passing through Ashland, Virginia #olloclip

[VIDEO] On July 17, 2019 I rode Amtrak's Silver Star through Ashland, Virginia which surprisingly is one of the sites of many Virtual Railfan webcams around the country. I expect this won't be the last time this happens. It was cook to see some of the landmarks especially the storefronts that I've only seen only if I tune into one of these cams.

I tried to see if I can find my train on the site, but I had failed to find the time frame where the train passed through. Bummer, but as I stated this probably won't be the last time. Who knows I might be going to the west coast again in the future. You can check out the three cams that I do show on this blog of three stops on the way...

Here's the live webcam from Ashland, VA. On VR's YouTube channel they do show some interesting things such as bears or even cars running onto the tracks for example. Of course you will see special trains or what not also.

Ashland, VA Virtual Railfan cam [VIDEO]

Texarkana, AK live on Virtual Railfan

[VIDEO] Virtual Railfan now has a live video camera in Texarkana, Arkansas (there is also a Texarkana, Texas btw). Texarkana is a stop on Amtrak's Texas Eagle which is one of those city's I have passed through on my way to Dallas, Texas over the years. It's probably time I pass through again.

You can use Amtrak's train tracker to see when the next Texas Eagle will stop by. And here's how you get to the schedule for the full train.

Also just as an added bonus one of my favorite YouTube channels - YouTuuba - showed his years ago journey on the Texas Eagle which not only terminates in San Antonio, Texas it goes even further attached to the Sunset Limited and takes you to Los Angeles. He shows the full journey from Chicago to Los Angeles. [VIDEO]

Greyhound for sale

[VIDEO] The Frugal Travel Guru talks about Greyhound Lines being put up for sale by their UK owners First Group recently. This YouTube channel over the years have mostly discussed how one can ride Greyhound buses which includes often buying tickets, safety, stations, etc. These days his focus is more on frugal travel not only on Amtrak but on the airlines as well. You should check out his excursion to the Phillipines...

Anyway it's in the news Greyhound Lines is on sale. Check out this article from the Communist errrr sorry there goes my bias let's just call them CNN - the most trusted name in news:

Greyhound has been put up for sale after its UK owner caved to activist investors who wanted the company to ditch the bus line.

FirstGroup, which owns the iconic inter-city bus operation, said Thursday that it wants to focus on its school transportation and commuter businesses.

The company said in a statement that Greyhound has "limited synergies" with its other businesses in North America and that "value for shareholders can best be delivered by seeking new owners."

"Our plans will create a more focused portfolio, with leading positions in our core North American contracting markets," added CEO Matthew Gregory.

The question is more changes in store or more of the same. Greyhound isn't going away as long as people need a low-cost alternative to travel.

California high-speed to nowhere...

[VIDEO] Been hearing a lot about this high-speed train in California. The Sunshine State is full of financial and other issues and as well intended as this high-speed rail project is, it's just not necessary. It makes sense if according to this video it connected not only major cities within the state, but certainly connected people to job centers. Instead it would've been a monument to a governor who was looking to have a physical legacy.

And the interesting thing is, it took another Democrat to say lets rethink this. Do we really need this right now? Especially with all of our fiscal issues? Good going Gov. Gavin Newsome.

Jole Kotkin states that the real battle in the Democratic Party is between reality & fantasy. Question is where are the realists? The ones getting the attention currently is someone like an AOC who's the current darling of the left. Perhaps this train is a sign of this fantasy.

Snowday on the south side and no snowday for Metra

[VIDEO] On Friday I shot this video on my iPhone along 95th Street from between Michigan to State. 95th & State is actually the location of the 95th CTA terminal. All the same just scenes during this past weekend's snow storm. I had actually posted this to my more visual blog at My Mind's Eye (you might actually remember that name though in a different iteration).

Via Railstream on YouTube, a video of a Metra train during this past weekends snow storms leaving Union Station. The title appropriately enough was "No snowday for Metra". Alas no embed for this one so just click this >>> [VIDEO]

The Railstream YouTube channel will on occasion have webcams featuring railroad action. Unlike Virtual Railfan - visit their two live webcams feeds here on this blog - they seem to have a free preview of the week that seems to go from location-to-location. This week they have a cam in Fostoria, Ohio. Once they also had a free preview live video from Chicago where you will see trains leaving Union Station. Like Virtual Railfan they also have a paid subscription website where you can view other live video of trains around the world.

How did you fare in this recent heavy snowfall?

Birthday special

As I reflect on another birthday for me, I reflect on the train rides. I like riding the trains especially on a vacation. To reflect on the number of places I've arrived on trains allow me to offer some destinations.

By Amtrak, I've been to Washington, Memphis, Detroit, Dallas, & Los Angeles. With the exception of Detroit all of those have been multiple trips and often to visit family in all of those places. Without a doubt Los Angeles have been the most interesting of these trips as I don't go out west often enough. And sometimes I wonder why with the issues they seem to have out there with immigration and wildfires.

All the same it's exciting to see the parts of America that I don't always see. It's cool to go out east and see those sites that I normally won't see. Which reminds me, I would like to go back to DC in the future. It's such a great place to see historical sites of great political importance. I'm not done with that town yet!

Also it's cool to head out west and see the landscape of this country go from midwestern farmlands, to grazing lands, to mountains, and deserts. To look at dry riverbeds, buttes, sands, bushes, etc. Doesn't matter where my train passes through it's a treat to see some of these small towns and stop in them to see how much simpler it can be outside of our major metropolitan areas.

As you probably can tell of all the years I've taken the train the highlights of them have been going out west to Los Angeles. I've only done so twice in the first two decades of this century and had been waiting to do so for years. And at that one time doing so with a sleeper car berth which is recommended by me if you do at least two overnights on a train.

This comes to mind because I've been watching a lot of train videos lately. Especially those that involve the Southwest Chief. Look forward to a few more train rides as long as I remain in good health and finding places to go in the meanwhile.

As an extra treat, here's one my favorite pics from my trip in 2016 taken in Mendota, IL from the train. Had a nice rainstorm as we were leaving the state on the way to the Mississippi River to cross into Iowa.

Mendota, Illinois

Also, this is the shortest and best video I could find about taking the Southwest Chief. It's under 10 mins although find any video you want about any train. These are only for if you want to educate yourself. [VIDEO]

Detroit gets a light rail line

[VIDEO] If I were to pay a visit to the great American city of Detroit - a place I visited in 2009 - I would find a light rail line.

Detroit is a city that at it's peak had over a million people has fallen on hard times and now is somewhere around have a million people. That city had significantly depopulated over the last 40 or so years.

It's a city that needs some good news, perhaps this light rail line is it, however, is it viable. Investment in public transit is never a bad thing, but it can be if it receives little use by the community it serves. And if a public transit line such as this Q-Line isn't used by the community then there can be little growth from it.

Either way, I wish I could get up there to ride those rails for free. It's only free through July 1st. When the system starts collecting fares how much will people support it.

Will I ever take Greyhound again?

Nashville, TN Greyhound station

During my time at Morehouse I exclusively took Greyhound to Atlanta. I knew how the ride is supposed to go since it was done so many times. Before finally graduating though the nature of bus travel began to change one of those was for that historic company to shed its seedy image.

I miss the schedule that saw my bus bypass cities such as Nashville,TN on the way down to Atlanta and now it's often a regular stop on the way down to Atlanta. Another change was that at certain points the bus made local stops either outside of Atlanta or outside of Chicago. For example, after leaving Nashville the bus would make stops in Chattanooga, TN; Marrietta, GA; and finally Atlanta.

Once upon a time on Greyhound whether or not you specifically bought a ticket for a particular schedule or departure you could still get a seat on a bus. Or probably more accurately Greyhound officials - drivers or terminal personnel - didn't make a big deal about it if you didn't purchase a ticket for a particular schedule. These days they know how many seats are available on the bus enough to determine whether you can switch your departure at the last minute.

Of course, I see with the 'hound is that now they board people according to their boarding number. Now depending upon who's on duty they may catch that you don't belong on that schedule and decide that you need to change your ticket (and possibly incur a fee). In my recent Greyhound trip, I did this pre-emptively although this was at the last minute and incurred the fee because originally I bought a non-refundable ticket.

While I think it's unfortunate that even though you bought a ticket, you must travel on the the schedule for which you purchased that ticket. At the same time the boarding policy is a nice touch perhaps less possibility of chaos as there had been in the past with boardings.

The only issues I have with Greyhound is that wifi doesn't work in all terminals and on all buses. Most buses at this point have signs indicating they have wifi and the two buses I rode on the way down had either no wifi or it just didn't work for me. Also on one bus the outlets to charge my cell phone didn't work.

What I learned on my way back is that the driver can flick a switch if you let them know for the outlets. Also you'd have to work with the wifi and therefore you can still get on the internet on the bus. The only thing is if you don't stay on the net you'd have to reconnect through the browser from time to time. It works, but a user has to work with it and that goes for at the terminals as well.

One thing I can say for sure is that, it's definitely a good thing that I no longer have to rely on Greyhound. That is at least I don't have to travel back and forth between Atlanta frequently where the bus is the only choice. If bus travel is the future my experience this year will allow me to be much smarter. All the same the 16 hour ride is not something I miss anymore.

WND - Top U.S. general: Look for missing jet in Pakistan

If you're wondered what happened to that plane that took-off from Malaysia and disappeared not long after that this article could provide some answers. How does a plane just disappear and why? Could this disappearance be part of a plot?

Reason.tv: The Glorious Rebirth of Bus Travel & Why the Gov't May Ruin it Again

[VIDEO] Reason takes a look at the bus industry and how government interference helped hasten its decline after the 2nd World War. Today the industry is making a comeback as it appears curbside bus service - especially for intercity travel - is allowing more people to take the bus.

When I attended school in Atlanta, my mode of transit was mainly Greyhound. I can see how curbside service could be attractive as it costs money to maintain stations and terminals. In the meanwhile with such services such as Megabus all you need is a bus, possibly a garage, and then a place for the bus to pick-up or drop-off passengers. Also I forgot about labor, the buses can't drive themselves.

Another thing reason correctly notes, in the years I've taken the bus even before the Morehouse College years Greyhound has changed. They repainted their buses, made changes to their terminals, they've even added amenities to their buses with places to charge mobile devices and free wi-fi. Also it helps that you don't have to go to the terminal to pick up a ticket you can even print it off at home. For the context of this video, Greyhound owns some of the bus services popular in NYC's Chinatown.

I have to think, this video portrays starting a bus transit service as being particularly easy back in the past. Just buy a vehicle and start picking up people and yes I realize it's not entirely that simple as well you have to let people know you're in business to start. All the same this could go for a number of industries.

How did it happen that government comes in and sets all these rules for what they expect businesses to do? How is it for anyone who wants to operate intercity bus services that companies must have a permit? Even then how is it government decides that cracks in the frame of a bus is a huge issue while an organization represented bus companies have acknowledged that these cracks aren't a serious safety issue?

There are a lot of questions to be asked for sure. It makes me want to support the strictest definition of laissez-faire.

United sorry for reviving Sept. 11 flight numbers

Noted in this AP article, Flight 93 had crashed in Pennsylvania & Flight 175 has crashed into one of the twin towers on 9/11. United Airlines attempts to explain what they call a technical error:

Spokesman Rahsaan Johnson blamed the reuse of flight numbers 93 and 175 on a "technical error." He said the airline has taken steps to have the numbers removed from its computers.

"We apologize for the error," Johnson said in an interview. "The numbers were inadvertently reinstated."
...
Johnson said he didn't know when the flight numbers went back into use, but it was probably just in the past few days. The airline stopped using the flight numbers shortly after Sept. 11.

A notice posted Tuesday on the airline schedule website Airlineroute.net said United planned to reactive the two flight numbers Saturday, but that Continental Airlines would operate the flights in a code-sharing arrangement. A code share allows one airline to book seats on a flight operated by a second airline. Often the flights operate with the name of the airline that did the booking rather than the airline operating flight.

United and Continental recently merged and become United Continental Holdings Inc., but are in the process of combining their operations. Under the merger agreement, the combined airline will fly under the United name.

The notice on Airlineroute.net said the new flight 93 would fly from Houston to San Jose, Calif., and that flight 175 would operate from Boston to Newark.

The original flight 93 flew from Newark, NJ to San Francisco and the original 175 flew from Boston, MA to Los Angeles.

Amtrak Runs Off The Rails

I left Memphis via Amtrak on board The City of New Orleans on Friday night. The train ride was nice as always, unfortunately I was left cold on the train because I had the misfortune of leaving my 10 year old sweatshirt in Mississippi unknowingly (although I'm glad to know that I will eventually see it again since my country relatives were able to retrieve it). Well what I mean is that the climate controls on the train goes up and down and thankfully it wasn't left stuffy however it was too cold for me!

Anyway this mention of a train ride back from the south allows me to talk about Amtrak and I found this great article from a man who is an American who have lived in Switzerland for nearly two decades now. Basically, he talks up what he likes about Amtrak, but is somewhat cynical about the government investment that has been inserted into Amtrak since the Obama administration took over.

From Matthew Stevenson at New Geography:

Even though the American freight-train business has enjoyed a renaissance in the last twenty years — companies like the Burlington Northern Santa Fe and CSX are admirable for their competitive spirit and financial results — I am skeptical that Amtrak is the company that can lead the way to the re-birth of U.S. passenger service. Freight, let's remember, only flourished when Conrail was privatized and the industry deregulated.

To be clear, the $8 billion appropriated for high-speed corridor service has yet to be earmarked, and is best understood as discretionary funding that can be doled out to the states, if not to loyal unions. For his part, Senate majority leader Harry Reid hopes to open a drawbridge to fund high-speed rail service between Anaheim and Las Vegas.

Somehow, it is hard to imagine that the U.S. can restore its economic prosperity by rushing heavy rollers to the blackjack tables in Vegas.

Now in its thirty-ninth year of operations, the government-controlled Amtrak provides good service between Boston, New York and Washington, and Los Angeles and San Diego. Elsewhere, it’s a land cruise company.
Beyond the corridors, Amtrak plies routes that were hastily drawn in 1971 to insure that they touch as many congressional interests as possible. That means meandering sleepers from New Orleans to Los Angeles, or Chicago to Seattle, which are a delight to vacationers (myself included), but inconsequential to the business of America, which drives or flies in order to get somewhere. Amtrak handles less than 1% of America’s intercity travel.

To defend Amtrak for a moment, it has been chronically under-funded, owns little of the track on which it operates, defers its schedule to freight interests, and is hostage to union rules, Congress and microwavable food. European trains get more subsidies in a year than Amtrak has gotten in its lifetime.
...
While I am all for spending stimulus money, or any money, on American passenger service, I have yet to see anything remotely like a good strategic plan for its restoration. The glossy maps projecting new corridor services depend on the states, not Amtrak, to realize the dreams.

Nor am I sure that throwing money at the Amtrak model will do much more than refurbish some Amfleet coaches and make congressmen look good in mid-term elections. The railroad, like many in American history, strikes me as better at delivering pork than passengers. The current chairman is a former small-town, Illinois mayor, and Joe Biden’s son was a board member until February 2009.

Perhaps equally important, where is Amtrak’s passion for railroading? Why hasn’t the route map changed in forty years? Where are the car-carrying trains, the elegant stations, the sleepers that cater to business people with showers and wi-fi, or even the special tourist trains that would take travelers across America to Civil War battlefields, major league baseball games, rock concerts, or national parks?

Why do cities like Phoenix or Louisville have no trains at all? Where are the creative railroad financiers, selling sleeping cars as timeshares or condos? If it’s truly a government-run corporation, why aren’t there more investment-grade Amtrak bonds in world markets?
...
I would love to think that for $8 billion, corridor service would flourish and that German-style trains would pop up around the country. Heck, I would love to ride a Romanian sleeper between New York and Bangor, Maine.

Despite my hopes, my fear is that the transportation stimulus money is probably going to end up on a roulette wheel in Vegas.

You know many years ago I described taking a long distance Amtrak train in exactly the way Stevenson described, "land-cruise". I more or less described such a train as a cruise ship on land. Meals are made aboard the train and there is a diner in addition to literally having rooms aboard the train. Although perhaps cruise ships aren't the only example to compare a train to.

I think that's Amtrak's asset. Besides you can't have on the plane what you have on the train. I like the idea of a sleeper car and getting a full course meal in the dining car. On the train you have to spend a lot of time riding, but one could either sleep or enjoy the scenery. Of course for some they don't want to spend a lot of time doing that. Their time is best spend getting there as soon as possible.

The question that could be asked after reading this article is whether or not their are entrepreneurs out there who can make train travel appealing again? This is something I should ponder, but what do you think out there. Should Amtrak eventually be privatized with the possibility that an Amtrak network could eventually expand and do record business?

Taking Amtrak to Detroit

Basically this is the all-time shortest trip I have ever taken on Amtrak. It's about five hours between Chicago and Detroit. The train I was riding "The Wolverine" terminates in Pontiac, Michigan (the former home of the Detroit Lions location of the Silverdome). In my lifetime my shortest ride on Amtrak would be riding on "The City of New Orleans" where I would get off from that train in the we hours of the morning like maybe 5 or 6 AM in Memphis, Tennessee that train continues to New Orleans, LA. Recently the shortest ride would have been riding on the "Capitol Limited", but the all time longest would be riding  the "Southwest Chief" that was almost 40 or 42 hours going to Los Angeles, California.

BTW, that is too long to just ride away in a coach seat and when I do go back by train, I plan on getting a sleeper berth. That's more money, but nothing beats hopping on a train for that length of time with a bed ready to go and with complimentary bottled water, coffee, orange juice, and even complimentary meals in the dining car. Of course for the meals that's included in the price of a sleeper car ticket. Essentially this is considered first-class for train passengers.

Anyway Michigan is known as the center of the automotive industry, but they're also home to the breakfast cereal industry. We stopped in Battle Creek, Michigan which is home to Post and Kellogg's. In fact we would ride by a Post plant and Kellogg's was on the other side of the train and I couldn't get a good look at that site. By about Dearborn, Michigan, the next stop before Detroit we saw hints of Ford seeing the site of a research building and even the Ford Museum.

Well, I saw the Ford Museum leaving Detroit on the train. Not sure why I didn't notice when the train was pulling into Detroit. I saw buildings and trains that indicated this was from The Ford Museum, but it took me a while to recognize that I was looking at the museum from "The Wolverine".

Also my train would pass thru two college towns in both Ann Arbor and Kalamazoo. We see some magnificient small city skylines passing thru Michigan in Jackson, Albion or Kalamazoo. Detroit from a distance looks great as our station is quite away from downtown Detroit.

The clientele on the train was diverse. People of many different backgrounds coming back and forth thru Indiana and Michigan by train. If these riders chose not to drive the train was the only option especially if there were no airports nearby to take them where they needed to go. Or perhaps you don't need to hop on a plane if you were within hours of home.

Anyway, I know Amtrak isn't without it's problems. There are those who insists that it must be privatized and it must be free from government subsidies. People might focus on the accidents and perhaps the issues of service.

Still I like Amtrak. I may not necessarily have an answer to it's long term viability, but there is certainly need for passenger rail in the state, especially if the idea is to give Americans an alternative to using their cars especially when commuting to work or traveling short distances such as between Chicago and Detroit.

Well let's ask the question. Does Amtrak have a vital purpose as a transport mode in America?

On the bus

I decided to take a trip to Hyde Park today before I continued thru downtown Chicago. If you didn't know Hyde Park is the home of the Democratic nominee for President, Sen. Barack Obama. Also it's a vibrant and diverse neighborhood right on the lakefront with parks on the west (Washington Park) another on the Lakefont (with Promontory Point) and of course one to the south (Jackson Park).

There's the Museum of Science and Industry in Jackson Park. There's also the wonderful campus of the Senator's former employer, the University of Chicago. In addition there is some nice housing stock abound as well. You might find mansions that I'm sure wouldn't look out of place in the suburbs, but it's right in the city. Of course if you were looking for housing in Hyde Park there's always apartments and probably some condominiums as well.

As for transit well there is no direct L access there. You do have Metra if you want a train to take downtown. Of course Hyde Park is easily served by CTA buses. If you're lucky you might catch an express bus to downtown. Or perhaps you can catch a bus to an L line such as either the Green Line or the Red Line.

I was on the bus when I took this pic today. I took the route 6 Jackson Park Express into downtown today. A nice view of the lakefront and it was cool riding thru the nice parts of Hyde Park.

BTW, this is the excuse to provide some advice.

If by any chance you're going to be taking the bus for any reason, I would suggest you get the Chicago Card. The reason being is that you get and extra 2% fare by adding $20 to your card. And when you board a bus especially some of the low-floor buses, all you have to do is turn to your left and scan that card.

While one can still use the transit card you won't have the economic advantage on those cards as you would with the Chicago Card. I've seen one too many black folks boarding a bus using a transit card though even with the transit card when it was the most common fare card in use there were those who insisted to pay their fare in cash. of course this was before it cost $2.00 in cash to ride the bus or train and these days there is no longer a transfer unless you use a transit card or Chicago Card.

I had the misfortune of losing mine. I didn't but mine back in my wallet and it did have the tendency to fall out of my pocket. I'm still in pain from that because I had just put $20 on it. Never fear though I went to CTA headquarters to get another one and thankfully it didn't cost me a dime.

Well thankfully with the new card I have a PIN number to use so that the next time my card gets lost, CTA will replace the card although they will subtract the amount as a replacement fee. You have to provide the PIN number however. I don't know if there's such an assurance for those with the transit card.

I remember one time I used a transit card and I had put a few dollars on it. Unfortunately it got bent and when I attempted to use it on a rail turnstyle, it didn't work. I never did get a reimbursement if there would have been one. Oh and yeah this includes defective or damaged Chicago Cards if you need to replace one.

Sorry for the distraction. There's one more thing.

Notice how crowded this bus was? It was only noon and there wasn't a seat on board the bus to be had! Hyde Parkers will use a bus for sure.

Links
Chicago Card website
Historical CTA fares

National Train Day!

I've seen news that suggest that there's an interest in upgrading more rail infrastructure. I can only hope that this results in an upgrade for passenger rail. It's a needed service especially as an option against the rising gas prices. Hopefully what's good for freight rail might prove to be good for passenger rail. Consider me a supporter of passenger rail in this country. I suppose in light of the whole fuel price situation being passed onto consumers as far as food for example.

Now go visit the official website for National Train Day. There's certainly a market amongst travelers for passenger rail. I hope that there's some good to come out of this.