I recall reading how the IC was instrumental in the 1893 World Exposition. Much of Chicago’s magnificent lakefront is a result of that time.
Could the Olympics become an opportunity showcase for HSR and modern rail transit, and further the CREATE project?
Doubt it. Though Chicago’s commuter rail system is one of the best in the nation, it is taken for granted by the locals. And Amtrak is not likely to rise to the opportunity, not that it will be given. Expect record traffic through O’hare, however, should this event actually come to pass.
Expect my tax burden to increase dramatically if “The Games” come to Illinois.
Let’s see, they’ve got money for new stadiums for the Sox and Bears, a park in downtown Chicago that cost $400 million and was well over budget. But they don’t have money for the teachers’ pension fund.
Gotta’ love Illinois Government.
Attempting to get the Olympics, especially the summer Olympics, should be grounds for impeachment. You are depending on squeezing a lot of money out of the Feds.
A recent book, the “Devil in the White City” by Erik Larson is about the incredible problems and the incredible efforts to overcome them – including by the railroads – to get the Exposition put together.
One of my kids recently read the book, and mentioned it to me. I kind of looked at him because for years he had slept about 10 feet from an enormous collection of photo albums about the 1893 World Exposition, put together by the Milwaukee Road. Nineteen volumes to be exact. I asked why he was interested in the 1893 Exposition – had he noticed the photo albums (which would have suggested a general awareness of his environment … uncharacteristic for the time period)?
No, he had no idea they were there. No illusions shattered. Just happened to stumble on the book. So, I brought out the albums – the “White City” was one of the most extraordinary construction efforts I am aware of. Just fabulous. A world apart.
"“A thousand trains a day entered or left Chicago…”
Here’s the Amazon review:
Author Erik Larson imbues the incredible events surrounding the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair with such drama that readers may find themselves checking the book’s categorization to be sure that The Devil in the White City is not, in fact, a highly imaginative novel. Larson tells the stories of two men: Daniel H. Burnham, the architect responsible for the fair’s construction, and H.H. Holmes, a serial killer masquerading as a charming doctor. Burnham’s challenge was immense. In a short period of time, he was forced to overcome the death of his partner and numerous other obstacles to construct the famous “White City” around which the fair was built. His efforts to complete the project, and the fair’s incredible success, are ski
This looks like a great reason for the railroads to Specially paint more Locomotives. Who know, if the 2001 and 2002 are still around, maybe they can team up with a 2016 and 2017. Maybe?
If I am still on this earth when the Olympics come to Chicago in 2019 I will be long retired (my goal is now to retire in 2012), but I hope to see the tremendous results of Olympic Games being here. No doubt, the various highways AND the commuter rail lines will be stretched to their capacity limits for quite a while before and during the games.
Regarding the 1893 Columbian Exposition (World’s Fair) in Chicago:
The railroads played a huge part in getting customers to the site, which was along the lake front at about 57th street and extended west along the Midway Plaisance (through what is now the University of Chicago’s expanded campus). In the months it was open the World’s Fair drew 27.5 million people; the admission was 50 cents ($10.82 in today’s dollars). The biggest attraction was the world’s first Ferris Wheel – 250 feet in height … and a new food item known as the “hot dog.”
The South Side Rapid Transit line (aka “the Alley L”) was built just in time to run fairgoers from the Downtown area to the exposition. It had not yet been converted to electric, so the 4-4-0 Baldwin-built Forneys were kept very busy. (photo below) There was no facility to turn the locomotives around at either end of the line. When one train arrived, the passenger cars were uncoupled from the locomotive. Then the locomotive that brought in the previous train came off a special crossover track and hooked up to the rear of the newly arrived train and pulled it tender first to the other end of the line, where the process was repeated. As soon as a train pulled out, the original locomotive ran onto the crossover arrangement and awaited the next arriving train. South Side Rapid Transit Line trains stopped for exactly 15 seconds at each station along the line, which usually eliminated the need for signals (they were later added when the technology was perfected). However, flagmen along the tracks were employed in case of heavy fog. They would tell the engineer how long (in minutes) the previous train had passed.
The Illinois Central RR a
When it comes to incoming passengers/sightseers, I suspect that the Games couldn’t even use that kind of transportation. There won’t be enough room for large audiences, and those that can afford to get in will not be traveling by something as mundane as commuter rail (I hope they have enough limousine parking planned for Washington Park and the lakefront!).
I haven’t seen details of the “package” Chicago offered, but suspect that transportation ranked pretty low among the things offered and considered, so far. Keep in mind that this was just the American competition–Chicago has merely become the venue that the U.S. Olympic Committee is now throwing out to the rest of the universe. We have 2.5 years to wait until the decision is made. At that point, if transportation is required, perhaps Federal monies can be leveraged for projects that will have a lasting impact.
I don’t think CREATE will do anything for the 2016 Games if they land here. The ironic thing is that if it were necessary, commuter service could be established between the Lakefront area and western and southwestern suburbs using BNSF, UP West, and RI lines with little difficulty, and possibly other western and northern lines if the CN through route is built according to plan. But that would have to be done over the St. Charles Air Line, which “Hizzoner Da Mare” has been pushing to have torn up.
So, PZ, am I right in speculating that the only transportation infrastructure refinements Chicago will need are whatever it takes to keep the media from harping on the horrendous problems they had in moving from place to place?
After $3 gazillion spent on improving transportation capacity in time for the Olympics, here are the recommendations for travel to and from events.
Leave yesterday.
Make no early dinner plans.
Stop whining. The thing will be over in a couple of weeks.
You got it. The international media has the potential to be the biggest bunch of complainers, even over a free lunch. For some unknown reason the media feels that the general public has a need to know about a few writers’ and broadcasters&
To be sure, Chicago needs a Huge investment in transportation improvements Without the Games. What Chicago don’t need is more hotel rooms, & more sprawl. For the “summer games”, wonder how far they’d go to outsource events? Hope nobody paddles on the Chicago River!
To make this happen, can you see Da Mayor in Washington with tin cup in hand. He better hope the Dems get a President to get them plenty of dough. Get Rosty back on Ways & Means to be sure da new High Tax go to Chicago, not New York. Could be a deal to put Obama at the top of the ticket.
The High Speed Rail folks have had a plan to do HSR with Chicago as a hub. No reason why Detroit-Indy-St Louis-Milwaukee etc can’t be suburbs of Chicago. He may even want to build a Peotone Airport if he can’t do O’Hare & Midway over?
If you have a broadband connection, NBC announced that they plan to show as many events from Beijing as possible live using streaming video; there could be as many as 30+ live streaming feeds available. Also, they’ve reached an agreement with the Olympic committee in Beijing that many events will be broadcast in the morning local time to better accommdate live broadcasts in the evening hours in the USA. Finally, NBC plans to use MSNBC, CNBC, USA Network, and Bravo channel to do live broadcasts also.
I do have a broadband connection – 4000K down, 400K up. But I also just spent my entire allowance for the next two years on a 62-inch HDTV.
The Internet as a broadcast medium still has a long way to go, although maybe by 2016 who knows what the technology will be? I just got through watching the early hours of the Masters last week on my laptop monitor, an Internet streaming video that plays on a teenie-weenie screen the size of a business card. With this HDTV expense still hovering, I have absolutely no interest in watching any more programming on that same eye-straining mini-screen. And I doubt most Internet providers can/would set aside the massive bandwidth required
Why such a small picture? Watching Bahn TV I just open this link directly into Windows Media Player without a browser window being open. It gives me about a 8" X 10" screen, with adequate resolution. Or I can increase to full screeen with a bit fuzzier picture. Just paste the link into the “Open URL” box.
If Chicago gets the games, I hope the rails seize the opportunity.
From today’s Sun-Times:
One thing that will not change is the decision to build a stadium in a sea of green without parking lots.
“The idea about the Olympic movement is not building parking lots. It’s a legacy that you want to build. It isn’t a parking lot. That’s why you use public transportation,” Daley said.
“Any Olympics you go to, you don’t see people driving…When I went to Atlanta, you took buses. It didn’t matter who you were. They drove the buses up there. You went through security and you went to the sites. It worked out very well.”
Dedicated bus lanes will make it work, just as they did when Chicago hosted the 1996 Democratic National Convention, said Doug Arnot, director of sports and operations for Chicago 2016.
“We provide an Olympic transport system that supplements the existing transit system in the city – with shuttles, with park-and-rides. That’s how people get to the Games…This is not like going to a Bears game. This is not like going to a Sox game or a Cubs game. You don’t drive your car there. You take…the Olympic system,” he said.
http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/343626,CST-NWS-olymp16.article
If Chicago gets the 2019 Olympics, no doubt the public transit systems will be put to the test. With some good planning they might do a very good job moving the crowds. Consider this. In the hours between the morning and evening peak commuter traffic movement, maybe 50% or more of the equipment is sitting idle. There is a huge amount of public transit capacity available for people that don’t need to be some place around 8:00am and leave to go home at 5:00pm. I think that there will be added trains and buses scheduled for “daytime” operations. I wouldn’t be an unusual step. Service is often beefed up for special events such as the annual Taste of Chicago. Take that effort plus special park and ride operations with shuttle buses and the crowds will get to events in good shape.
I don’t know how well things played out in Atlanta, but that town has just a smattering of public rail transit service. No doubt many regular commuters also took some vacation time during the games. My bet is that there won’t be that much in the way of infrastructure expansion.
Jclass, there are ways that Metra–and Amtrak–could seize the opportunity, as I described earlier, but from the sound of the article you quoted it looks like they’ll depend more on buses. I guess I’m not totally grasping the Olympic event, because I still see it being more like a football game (or maybe several games) in terms of spectator capacity, rather than an evente like the Taste where crowds come and go all day. Is the public really going to be able to hop on a bus, get to the stadium, and go home when it’s all over? I doubt it–those seats and skyboxes are going to be filled with dignitaries from the countries involved (coming in dedicated buses or limos), friends and relatives of the Olympians (same thing), and members of the media with their own support vehicles. Whatever seating capacity is left will probably be handled well by shuttle buses.
Jay, at least in my experience the extra trains Metra operates for larger events or early holiday schedules are merely reshuffling of existing schedules–for each of those extras, a normal rush-hour train is annulled.
Someone said last night that when the Federal government becomes involved (i.e., assuming Chicago gets the nod), their involvement will be mainly along the lines of transportation and security. I’m sure that if Chicago wanted D.M.U. shuttles instead of buses, it could be arranged, and there would be uses for the cars after the games are over. But investments in railroad systems or highways specifically for the Olympics will probably not happen–these things are things that should be done anyway as part of the evolution of the transportation system.
IIRC the Illinois Central exhibited No.638, the “world’s largest locomotive”, a brand new 2-8-0 there. One of the IC engineers temporarily assigned to Chicagoland to run commuter trains to and from the fair became so enamored of the engine that he was somehow able to finagle the IC to assign it to him as his personal engine after the Fair. The engineer?? John Luther “Casey” Jones…who oddly enough, was mated in history to no. 382, the IC 4-6-0 that he was running to cover for another engineer’s illness when he was killed in an accident in 1900.
BTW it’s possible if there is a Chicago Olympics that some soccer events will be held in Mpls / St.Paul MN - so maybe a special run of the Empire Builder to move people is possible??[:D]
With some of the locations “Da Mayor” has chosen supplying the attendees with suffficient police protection will be more important then how they get there. Illinois is over 150 bilion dollars in debt and growing. My tax return from the feds was in the bank and the state response on their web site about tax returns was saying allow ten weeks from the time they acknowledge receipt of the return. Both were mailed the same day. Apparently Kansas City is closer to Chicago then Springfield. Anybody who has been in Chicago for the annual marathon knows the city comes to a halt and is one massive traffic jam. Expect that times ten IF they win the olympics. I am out of Illinois at the first opportunity. It is not friendly toward business. The pols keep spending what the don’t have and won’t stop. Their only solution is more taxes and it ain’t their money!