The Chicago Transit Authority not only has a severe monetary crunch, but here are a few other things you might not have known about it.
From April 29, 2007, Chicago Tribune "10 Things You Didn't Know" by Mark Jacob.
1. Horsecars-- In the second half of the 19th century, streetcars were pulled by horses.
2. Casey Jones was Here-- John Luther Jones was an Illinois Central engineer who shuttled people from downtown Chicago to the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Jackson Park. Better known as Casey Jones, he was killed seven years later in Mississippi which inspired the folk song "The Ballad of Casey Jones." The Grateful Dead also had a pretty good song about him.
3. Chicago was CTA, Chicago Transit Authority-- The jazz-rock band Chicago originally called itself The Chicago Transit Authority, but changed its name when Mayor Richard J. Daley's office "suggested" they change it.
4. "No L" Merry Christmas-- For decades the Chicago daily newspapers have been wanting the CTA trains to break down on Christmas Day for the headline "No 'L'". Old Mark has a good sense of humor, doesn't he.
5. Worst Transit Accident--Worst Rail Accident--Worst CTA Accident----Worst transit accident--the capsizing of the SS Eastland in the Chicago River, over 800 people died.
Worst rail accident: the 1972 collision of two Illinois Central Gulf trains at the 27th Street Station, killing 45.
Worst CTA accident: the Green Hornet streetcar disaster in 1950 in which a streetcar slammed into a gasoline truck at State and 63rd streets, killing 33 in a tremendous inferno.
6. Most Extensive Cable Car System-- In the 1880s, the horsecar tracks were converted to cable-car tracks. At one time Chicago had the most-extensive cable-car system in the US, even bigger than San Francisco's. The last cable system was converted to electricity in 1906.
7. No Loop-- Contrary to popular belief, the term "Loop" did not come from the elevated track that circled downtown, but from an earlier cable-car route. I didn't know that.
8. "L' not "El"-- The abbreviation for Chicago's elevated trains has always been "L", not "El." I didn't know that either.
9. Good Way to get to Wrigley Field-- My wife and I used to drive into Evanston, park by Dyche Stadium (Northwestern), walk to the elevated, and ride it, along with lots of other Cub fans to Wrigley Field. Sure was an easy way to go.
10. Riding the CTA now costs $2-- I can remember it at $1 and recently saw a Chicago history show where it was a nickel and people had a fit when it was raised to 7 cents.
11. The "L" crossed over Route 66-- in the south Loop at Jackson and Adams.
Get a Horse!! --Da Old Coot
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