I recognized just about all the areas these Street cars went by.. Logan Square, Chicago and State St, Milwaukee/Armitage/Western. Even that Old Bank building is still there and it's still a Bank! .. I can't believe how much those areas still haven't changed that much..
Was phenominal! A few of the garages were even featured. North Park and I believe the milwaukee crossroads up close to niles. Cant remember the name of that but it was a hub of various modes of transit. Those trolleys had more horsepower and zip than any gas or diesel could ever demonstrate. Thank You.
OneVancatPlace , yup they sure did. I rode on many of them as a kid. I heard the story of a motorman who was curious on how fast those "green hornets" could go. He and a couple of cooperating motormen tried to find out. They got one up to a little over 70 miles per hour, and chickened out after that. They were not at maximum speed yet, but were afraid of getting fired if the streetcar jumped the track! So they knew those streetcars could do at least 70mph, but typical Chicago streetcars ran no faster than around 30 mph. They could also stop on a dime!
Chicago use to have street cars. I remember the old guys at work talking about them. After the street cars they had electric buses that used the above ground electric cable that the street cars used now those I remember.
Street cars were very high maintenance with the track just like the roads because of the temperature variation of temperature in this part of the country. Now the cable cars they had in San Francisco is exactly why they call those cable cars because cables pull them back-and-forth under the track where our street cars with electric coming from above to contacts on top of the street cars
nice old street cars i come from new west minster a vancouver subburb unfoutunetly our inter urban was not so well documented wish they had more footage like this keep up the good work
The Chicago PCC streetcars had a number of unique features. The theory was that PCC streetcars could allow one-person operation, but because of union concerns Chicago still had two person crews. There were three sets of doors. People boarded using the set of doors in the back and could exit from the center door or the front door, but in the video you see that most people are exiting from the back door. The standard PCC car, if there was such a thing, was operated using foot pedals on the floor so it would be familiar to bus drivers. To protect their unique union skills, the Chicago streetcars had hand controls that mimicked the older type of streetcars. Most other PCC streetcars have cutouts around the wheels to enable the wheels to to make very sharp turns. The Chicago ones just have a solid piece of sheet metal, which made them have a much more limited turning radius. That worked because Chicago is almost all just straight flat streets. The backend was extraordinary long which meant that it swung very wide when going around a corner, but they didn't actually do that very much.
The opening scene is misleading: There were never any PCC's assigned to Milwaukee Avenue. Not sure why, because there was the Imlay Loop on one end, and a round the block turn around downtown. An ealy prototype PCC was used on Milwakee but only for research purposes.
From the. Largest streetcar system to not one streetcar running in the city today other cities going back to the clean transportation streetcars. Wake up CTA
At 2:06 you can catch a fleeting glimpse at a Checker Model Y taxi cab. Only one or two exist today in the world. They were built from 1935 through 1938, and were replaced by the Model A.
I remember getting on the Milwaukee streetcar with my grandma. She paid a dime, and I rode free. They looked like red and yellow versions of the caboose cars that railroad trains used to have in the steam days...
It likely is. The Argo branch ran on a right of way along a half block south of 63rd st. It ran, I think, from Central or Narragansett, to Archer Ave. within walking distance of the Argo corn starch plant, where my grandfather worked for many years.
The music, even though it’s big band, is way over the top for such drab and dreary film footage. Most home movie cameras (for that era) shot much clearer images than this CTA archival film. Why so washed out and gray? Still, there is nostalgic value here.
Mass transit depends on high-density housing. People have left and moved to the suburbs, voting with their dollars. If you ask most people who want to expand mass-transit how many times they rode it in the past month, the answer is usually zero. They want to build mass transit so "those other people" will ride it and make it easier for them to thrive on the freeways with less traffic
Them Streetcars Were Traveling Fast on Chicago City Streets, there was No Direction or Order on the Streets Between Streetcars & Trucks & Cars & Pedestrians.
The dirty time! This is when companies started dumping waste of all kinds in the milwaukee River. Still to this day your taking a risk going in that river
Damn that's right I forgot they would do that. I have heard of it happening before. It has been a while since I have seen someone bring up that happening.
@twilightcitystudios I do a lot of metal detecting, I've read many books about how rivers became dangerous back then. Swimming areas got shut down due to testing. It's said it will take another 60 years before the water is completely rid of any issues.
I still haven't figured out why streetcars existed for so long. The best I can figure is that when they first got invented it was easier to power them with electricity. Plus saw how they can go "off route" too, down alleyways and so forth, which buses can't do
The only reason the streetcars in Chicago went away was cause the President of the CTA didn't like the trolley poles, so the CTA just covered up the tracks, as most of the tracks are still there.
@@jamesf791 - I bicycle around Chicago a lot, so I am well aware of streetcar tracks lurking around all over, like on Ravenswood and Clybourn. Always cross at angles!
Love those old nostalgic films of Chicago. There is just something about them...😊😁😁👄 So busy and success is in the air!
A of dirt and C O 2 was in the air and no climate change then. What BS, now days
I recognized just about all the areas these Street cars went by.. Logan Square, Chicago and State St, Milwaukee/Armitage/Western. Even that Old Bank building is still there and it's still a Bank! .. I can't believe how much those areas still haven't changed that much..
Was phenominal! A few of the garages were even featured.
North Park and I believe the milwaukee crossroads up close to niles.
Cant remember the name of that but it was a hub of various modes of transit.
Those trolleys had more horsepower and zip than any gas or diesel could ever demonstrate.
Thank You.
OneVancatPlace , yup they sure did. I rode on many of them as a kid. I heard the story of a motorman who was curious on how fast those "green hornets" could go. He and a couple of cooperating motormen tried to find out. They got one up to a little over 70 miles per hour, and chickened out after that. They were not at maximum speed yet, but were afraid of getting fired if the streetcar jumped the track! So they knew those streetcars could do at least 70mph, but typical Chicago streetcars ran no faster than around 30 mph. They could also stop on a dime!
im very sad and this cheered me up, very interesting. thank you :)
Chicago use to have street cars. I remember the old guys at work talking about them. After the street cars they had electric buses that used the above ground electric cable that the street cars used now those I remember.
me too
@@luftwaffe6521 Yes to what Brandon stands for.
Great video. Pedestrians really took their lives in their own hands when they ran to board a a street car.
Really tempt the fates with nihilistic existential questions like - do streetcars stop? - Does it really swing around corners?
Nice old film also with nice old tram cars. Thanks for the upload.
The Chicago Surface Lines was one of the companies that was merged into the Chicago Transit Authority.
I kind of wish one day I'd walk out of my house and I'd walk into the downtown area of a major American city in the 50s, what a time
My grandfather worked on the Western Avenue line
Fantastic! Thank you.
Street cars were very high maintenance with the track just like the roads because of the temperature variation of temperature in this part of the country. Now the cable cars they had in San Francisco is exactly why they call those cable cars because cables pull them back-and-forth under the track where our street cars with electric coming from above to contacts on top of the street cars
The Terminal Theatre at 2:48, now the Lawrence Ave. Brown Line terminal.
Some footage in color too, thank you!
Nice video and a Thumbs Up !
nice old street cars i come from new west minster a vancouver subburb unfoutunetly our inter urban was not so well documented wish they had more footage like this
keep up the good work
Great times. Love those trolleys. Sparky the trolley lines.
I have lots of films of Chicago buses and L trains from 1950's, my grandfather recorded them. I got about 7 hours of footage.
share?
Please share i would love to see it.
Please share these with the world! Chicagoans would love you.
Hook it up please.
The Chicago PCC streetcars had a number of unique features. The theory was that PCC streetcars could allow one-person operation, but because of union concerns Chicago still had two person crews. There were three sets of doors. People boarded using the set of doors in the back and could exit from the center door or the front door, but in the video you see that most people are exiting from the back door.
The standard PCC car, if there was such a thing, was operated using foot pedals on the floor so it would be familiar to bus drivers. To protect their unique union skills, the Chicago streetcars had hand controls that mimicked the older type of streetcars. Most other PCC streetcars have cutouts around the wheels to enable the wheels to to make very sharp turns. The Chicago ones just have a solid piece of sheet metal, which made them have a much more limited turning radius. That worked because Chicago is almost all just straight flat streets. The backend was extraordinary long which meant that it swung very wide when going around a corner, but they didn't actually do that very much.
The opening scene is misleading: There were never any PCC's assigned to Milwaukee Avenue. Not sure why, because there was the Imlay Loop on one end, and a round the block turn around downtown. An ealy prototype PCC was used on Milwakee but only for research purposes.
Amo y atesoro estas imagenes de esa hermosa epoca😘😘😘🇨🇱🇨🇱🇨🇱🇨🇱
Wish they had streetcars today, they would be rebuilt with a driverless elevated railway, it would be part of a new system now as the E
From the. Largest streetcar system to not one streetcar running in the city today other cities going back to the clean transportation streetcars. Wake up CTA
At 2:06 you can catch a fleeting glimpse at a Checker Model Y taxi cab. Only one or two exist today in the world. They were built from 1935 through 1938, and were replaced by the Model A.
wow... like a different town altogether.
I remember getting on the Milwaukee streetcar with my grandma. She paid a dime, and I rode free. They looked like red and yellow versions of the caboose cars that railroad trains used to have in the steam days...
It was.
each and every city that gave up their street cars / trams has later deplored that stupid act
Back before GM and the oil companies convinced cities that their product was better.....
Chicago had the world's largest network of street cars at one time.
I wonder if the PRW color sequence at 7:32 is on 63rd street. Certainly would be fun to ride it!
It likely is. The Argo branch ran on a right of way along a half block south of 63rd st. It ran, I think, from Central or Narragansett, to Archer Ave. within walking distance of the Argo corn starch plant, where my grandfather worked for many years.
Looked like the Cottage Grove ROW to me. The 63rd Street PCC's had the distinctive "Tiger Stripe" paint job.
Wish some of the locations were identified, especially the street intersections.
The music, even though it’s big band, is way over the top for such drab and dreary film footage. Most home movie cameras (for that era) shot much clearer images than this CTA archival film. Why so washed out and gray? Still, there is nostalgic value here.
Why not bring back street cars on selected routes? Imagine how much big city charm and tourist appeal (and revenue) that would create.
Imagine the cost of infrastructure and maintenance also.
@@rickybee Well, nothing is for free.
Mass transit depends on high-density housing. People have left and moved to the suburbs, voting with their dollars. If you ask most people who want to expand mass-transit how many times they rode it in the past month, the answer is usually zero. They want to build mass transit so "those other people" will ride it and make it easier for them to thrive on the freeways with less traffic
Them Streetcars Were Traveling Fast on Chicago City Streets, there was No Direction or Order on the Streets Between Streetcars & Trucks & Cars & Pedestrians.
Wayne Wright
There was plenty of “Direction and Order”. Back then it was called “common sense”
@@applesucks2633 Sadly common sense no longer exists in this world
@@applesucks2633 Common sense is uncommon today.
Cool
The dirty time! This is when companies started dumping waste of all kinds in the milwaukee River. Still to this day your taking a risk going in that river
Damn that's right I forgot they would do that. I have heard of it happening before. It has been a while since I have seen someone bring up that happening.
@twilightcitystudios I do a lot of metal detecting, I've read many books about how rivers became dangerous back then. Swimming areas got shut down due to testing. It's said it will take another 60 years before the water is completely rid of any issues.
🫂🌎🫂sharing🫂thankYOU
more more
Time machine...👍 Lol.. City of Milwaukee.. 2018 Yeah⭐👍✌
This is Chicago you know right, Milwaukee Avenue?
This is Chicago
I know it tastes good in the year 1940s Yum....👍
I love old video’s of America building instead of destroying like they do today. No protests good old Americans working making a living.
3:30 - Gee, that doesn't look dangerous at all.
I still haven't figured out why streetcars existed for so long. The best I can figure is that when they first got invented it was easier to power them with electricity. Plus saw how they can go "off route" too, down alleyways and so forth, which buses can't do
The only reason the streetcars in Chicago went away was cause the President of the CTA didn't like the trolley poles, so the CTA just covered up the tracks, as most of the tracks are still there.
@@jamesf791 - I bicycle around Chicago a lot, so I am well aware of streetcar tracks lurking around all over, like on Ravenswood and Clybourn. Always cross at angles!
Rode them as a child
Mostly Chicago
It's also Chicago, this is Milwaukee Avenue
Sure makes it look like Streetcars were driven rather recklessly. I’m not sure I would have ridden on them. I wonder what their accident rate was.
What’s the point