Chicago's Metropolitan Lounge

[NativeSon5859]

With any luck i'll have some time to kill in Union Station connecting from #6 to #59, so I figure I'd head to the Metropolitan Lounge. Is the lounge similar to an airline buisness club with sofas, free non alcoholic drinks, etc? I have heard that the one in Chicago is Amtrak's "flagship" Metropolitan Lounge, so I'm kind of looking forward to checking it out.

 

[AlanB]

Native,

The lounge in Chicago was never the flagship of Amtrak's Metropolitan lounges. It was often overcrowded and during the summer months, it has no A/C on the weekends, since they are dependent on the office building above the station.

However, at present the lounge is undergoing renovations and is not even open. They have set up a temporary area, in the great hall of CUS. I'm not real sure just what they even have over there, but don't expect it to be anything special.

 

[battalion51]

Jon and I went over there in July when we were in town (since I had a First Class ticket). It's not a bad little set up, plenty of seating, coolers filled with sodas and juice, bags of chips, etc. The only real draw back is that they have temporary A/C units throughout the lounge which can be a bit noisy but it's not a bad set up. It is a little ways from the gates so be prepared for that walk over to the gates.

 

[NativeSon5859]

Ah, thanks for that info. Might be worth checking out just to say i've been there I guess.

Speaking of Chicago's station, how is the connection from 6 to 59? Are the tracks pretty close to each other?

 

[GG-1]

Speaking of Chicago's station, how is the connection from 6 to 59? Are the tracks pretty close to each other?

Aloha

Had the same thought. And that you have a great trip.

Mahalo

 

[AlanB]

Ah, thanks for that info. Might be worth checking out just to say i've been there I guess.
Speaking of Chicago's station, how is the connection from 6 to 59? Are the tracks pretty close to each other?

Yes, Amtrak tends to use the highest numbered tracks, while METRA uses the lower numbers. So at most you might have to walk over 6 to 8 tracks from one train to the other if you were that late.

I'd also bet however that Amtrak would try very hard to pull the Zephyr in on an adjacent track to the City.

 

[battalion51]

It seems like all the trains running down the IC and to points on the west coast (except the Builder) run out of tracks on the west side of the station while trains for the east coast tend to go out on the east side of the station.

 

[AlanB]

It seems like all the trains running down the IC and to points on the west coast (except the Builder) run out of tracks on the west side of the station while trains for the east coast tend to go out on the east side of the station.

Um, CUS has tracks that run north & south. There are no east/west tracks at CUS.

Accordingly all Hiawatha service leaves from the north side, along with the Empire Builder (which is usually on a run thru track).

All other Amtrak service departs from the south side of the station.

 

[battalion51]

I meant it arrives/departs from the eastern portion of the southside, or it arrives/departs from the western portion of the southside.

 

[AlanB]

Nope, even that isn't true, unless there are problems.

All Amtrak trains depart from the highest numbered tracks, while METRA gets the lowest numbered tracks. Lowest numbers are the western tracks, while the highest are the eastern tracks.

I've been in the lounge many times, only to watch the Chief depart from the run through track closest to the lounge. Save for one other run through track, that's as far east as you can get.

When I rode the Chief to KC this past Feb, we were one track east of the run though track. The Zephyr was located on the run through track.

 

[battalion51]

Well that's my impression of the way things generally.

 

[meh]

I meant it arrives/departs from the eastern portion of the southside, or it arrives/departs from the western portion of the southside.

I'd have to agree with AlanB on this, impressions notwithstanding.

Here is a track diagram of Chicago Union Station. North is at the top of the diagram; the Chicago River runs north-south along the right (east) edge of the diagram.

On the north side of CUS Metra generally uses the odd tracks #1-15 (although right now there are some track reassignments during an overhaul of the north side tracks). I believe the Hiawathas typically use track #17 or possibly #19, and the Empire Builder often uses the through track nearest the station, although it has sometimes been boarding from the south concourse (still on the through track) during the track work and Metropolitan Lounge remodeling (which has encroached on the north waiting room).

I'm not as familiar with Metra's operations on the south side of CUS, but it appears they generally make very full use of the western even-numbered tracks, #2-18 or perhaps #2-20. The rest of Amtrak's trains (besides the Hiawatha and Empire Builder)--which means the eastern, southern, and western long-distance trains and the other IL, MI, and MO corridor trains--depart from the eastern tracks on the south side of Union Station. Every Amtrak departure I've made or seen on the south side has been on a track numbered in the 20s, meaning those to the east side. I don't think I've ever seen an Amtrak train west of track #20.

It probably is hard to find a pattern in what specific track any given Amtrak train uses. Metra does extremely well at running on-time, thus a given Metra train often will use the same track day after day. But with so few tracks available and so many late trains, Amtrak will pretty much put a train wherever it can. As I arrived on the California Zephyr Sunday night, our track assignment changed from #22 to #24 within the last two miles of our approach, and that was not even during the afternoon peak of Amtrak traffic.

 

[gswager]

Wow! That's a lot of switches out there! Can you imagine for the switchers crew in old days figuring out where the trains go to the platforms!

 

[MrFSS]

Wow! That's a lot of switches out there! Can you imagine for the switchers crew in old days figuring out where the trains go to the platforms!

Here is a picture I took in the 50's in Chicago from the Roosevelt Road Overpass. It will give you and idea of the switching complexity.

Chicago in the 50's

 

[Guest]

Here is a picture I took in the 50's in Chicago from the Roosevelt Road Overpass.  It will give you and idea of the switching complexity.
Chicago in the 50's

This is a great picture! Call me old-fashioned but those E-type locomotives are the best-looking ones that ever pulled a consist. And, the Santa Fe war-bonnet scheme is the best-looking livery, too.

 

[Bill Haithcoat]

MrfSS---Thanks a bunch. I say wow, wow and double wow. Brings back some neat memories for me, and obviously lots of memories for you.

In some cases I know what trains they are, sometimes not.

Do you have a way of identifying them for us if we have questions?

 

[MrFSS]

In some cases I know what trains they are, sometimes not.
Do you have a way of identifying them for us if we have questions?

If you are referring to the pictures on my OLD RR PHOTOS PAGE, I can try to identify if you have a question. I'm 63 now and took those when I was a teenager!

 

[Bill Haithcoat]

In some cases I know what trains they are, sometimes not.
Do you have a way of identifying them for us if we have questions?

If you are referring to the pictures on my OLD RR PHOTOS PAGE, I can try to identify if you have a question. I'm 63 now and took those when I was a teenager!

I will take you up on that offer.Unfortunately I a three hour seminar to attend today so that kind of blows my time. But in the next day or two I will post you back and ask you about some of them. I am 59 so guess we have some similar memories, though I am from the southeast. My usual approach to Chicago was on the C&EI.

Of course I rode all sorts of railroads once I got there.

You will hear from me later!!

Thanks again.

 

[whc6]

These are easily some of the best train pictures I have ever seen. Chicago must have been Mecca for trainspotting.

I agree that the E-series locos are the best looking. They were sleek and modern, and gave the impression of great speed.

With regards to livery, I also like the Santa Fe. However, my favorite has always been the green livery of the Southern Crescent. Two of the Southern E-series locos have been preserved at the North Carolina Transportation Museum. I go by every year or so just to look at those engines. The musuem will fire them up every month or so and for $10 you can ride in the cab as the engineer rolls them around for about 20 minutes.

 

[Bill Haithcoat]

In some cases I know what trains they are, sometimes not.
Do you have a way of identifying them for us if we have questions?

If you are referring to the pictures on my OLD RR PHOTOS PAGE, I can try to identify if you have a question. I'm 63 now and took those when I was a teenager!

when you have a chance I would like for you to identify the following slides:

Numbers 16, 26, 44, 49, 67, 80 and 90.

When you have time. .

Thanks.

 

[MrFSS]

These are easily some of the best train pictures I have ever seen. Chicago must have been Mecca for trainspotting.

Thanks - I took all of those pictures in the 1950's with a Kodak Pony 135 camera. I was in my teens and my love for trains began at that age.

I had grandparents in Chicago, I lived in Louisville. We would visit each year and in those days it was safe to roam around and take pictures.

Roosevelt Road crossed over all the major rail lines that approached from the West, East and South. In one day you could see every major train that came to Chicago from those directions just by walking a few blocks back and forth.

The pictures were take on slide film and I kept them all these years. Last year I was able to get a good scanner that would scan 35mm slides and negatives. Using Photoshop Elements 2.0 I scanned and "cleaned" them as best I could. Some of them came out pretty nice, I thought.

My wife and I are riding the EB in Sept from Chicago to Seattle and then down to Portland. I hope to have a report and lots of photos from that trip after we get back.

 

[MrFSS]

when you have a chance I would like for you to identify the following slides:

Numbers 16, 26, 44, 49, 67, 80 and 90.

When you have time. .

16 - An L&N train in Louisville Union Station. I can't tell you which one it is.

26 - I think this is part of the Broadway Limited coming into Chicago Union Station. I have put that photo out to other groups asking if anyone recognized the car and no one could.

44 - A PRR car on the Southwind in Louisville Union Station. They would have some strange consists in those days.

49 - A C&O Train (George Washington?) in the old Central Station in Louisville. Why there was a Pennsy car on a C&O train is beyond me.

67 - Same as 49 - that is Jim Herron of Herron Rail Video. We went to high school together and were both rail fans in those days.

80 - Not real sure, but I think it is a C&NW somewhere in Wisconsin. we used to go there on vacations.

90 - One of the AT&SF Chiefs coming into Chicago.

Hope this helps.

Tom

 

[Bill Haithcoat]

MrFSS - Tom,

Many thanks for clarifying the photos. I had somehow mis-understood and thought they were all from Chicago, thus part of my confusion. (esp. slide 16)

As to the "mystery car" in slide 26 I strongly suspect that is "Katy" (i.e. established nickname for the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad). It would be a little far from home but that was not unusual in the days of the pullman company. Sleepers were frequently switched around all over the country as needed for extras, special movements, temporary replacements for bad ordered cars, etc. , as you no doubt realize.

Since it and the car to the left are both heavyweight, I kind of wonder if that really was the Broadway. I know steamliners sometimes had heavyweight equipment mixed in, but I sort of thought they protected the Broadway a little better than that. But, after all, I did not exactly get to see the Broadway every day so I could be wrong.

As to slide 49 being a Pennsy car on a C&O train, didn't C&O interline with Pennsy say, between Cincinnati and Chicago? I could be all wet, not sure.

As to slide 90 I found myself squinting and getting really close to the screen and I think it says " San Francisco Chief".

Anyway, thanks muchly for the glorious memories. I, too, remember when you could wander around with abandon all up and down the platforms at the stations in Chicago. Guess you remember the old Parmalee(spellling?) taxi , van, etc transfer service between the big major downtown stations.

BIll

 

[MrFSS]

Anyway, thanks muchly for the glorious memories. I, too, remember when you could wander around with abandon all up and down the platforms at the stations in Chicago. Guess you remember the old Parmalee(spellling?) taxi , van, etc transfer service between the big major downtown stations.

Thanks, Bill. KATY sounds right for that car. The only reason I thought Brdway Lmtd was I had other pictures of it that day, but maybe it was another PRR train.

We used to go from Louisville to Wisconsin and used the Parmalee (sp?) between stations. Wow - that was a long time ago.

Glad you enjoyed the pictures. Wish I had more.

Tom