Re: 25 Hz power Re: Tie Lines was Re: Foreign Exchange Lines

[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I still recall how Chicago Transit
> Authority used to switch between 'third rail' and overhead (catenary) > wires north of Howard Street on the Evanston line and the Skokie > line. Train would pull out of the station (using third rail), get a > short distance up the track, coast to a stop and while they were in > the process of hoisting the catenary pole into place, one or more of > the clerks would walk through the cars like the proverbial train > bandits of old times, telling the passengers "five cents more to > continue your ride, please". People would get in their purses to find > a nickel to hand over, but thoughtful passengers who made the trip > each day and knew what to expect had already paid their five cent > surcharge at the station where they boarded the train and instead of > a nickle for the clerk would produce a a scrap of paper instead which > I think was entitled 'proof of payment' and hand that over to the > clerks instead. PAT]

I got burned with that.

I was joyriding the Evanston Line to the end and decided to stay in the station to avoid paying another fare to get back in. The train left and stopped as you said. The conductor had this heavy belt with a series of fare registers (counters) for various fare types. I ended up paying a full fare anyway. If I had paid at Evanston that cashier would've given me a reciept for the conductor. Apparently the little stations in between are unmanned.

If I knew that operation I would've gotten off and checked out the ancient station and surroundings and got a few pics.

The Evanston Line is 3rd rail all the way but AFAIK the manual fare collection continues.

I've heard the Skokie Swift line will convert to all 3rd rail. That had an automated home-made pantograph conversion.

BTW, the NYC subway has a light line in Staten Island ("SIRT") where they did away with most fare collection. Most passengers are riding to the ferry terminal at St. George. At St. George one must pay a fare to leave or enter the SIRT line, but no fares are collected anywhere else on the line. So, if you are travelling between any station except St. George you ride free. Some psgrs get off one station early before St. George and walk about a mile to avoid the fare. Since fare collection was all manual, they saved two crewmen for each train who didn't have to swing through collecting cash or tickets.

At one time SIRT had a nice bucolic flavor to it but now it seems like any other subway, just with a lot less people. A recent station rebuilding replaced quaint wood shelters and platforms with heavy steel and concrete. More durable but not as attractive. SIRT was originally a branch of the B&O RR.

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(go to NYC Transit and Staten Island Rapid Transit).

[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Evanston is now third-rail entirely, but many years ago it was catenary for most of its distance. PAT]