CTA Ride the Rails: Yellow Line to Dempster-Skokie in Real Time

[@johndavidsuayan9239]

I rode the Skokie Swift a few times. Time really flies by between Howard and Oakton.

[@klhudson9910]

Skokie Swift is my favourite line. mainly because of all the RR crossings.

[@brushcreek42]

It was a lot more fun when they had the old 6000 series cars from the 1940s where you could sit at the front window and see what the motorman saw.

[@qolspony]

I'm always amazed by watching a CTA train video. The incredible acceleration of these train at railroad speed, make them more like path and commuter railroad (crossings) than a nyc subway car system.

[@mattchip]

Love seeing the old North Shore Line tower work, still in place, in Skokie. Do miss seeing the station architecture and platforms you used to see in Evanston. Still existed into the 70's.

[@andyallwood]

A very picturesque line :)

[@sulphurous2656]

I hope they avenge the North Shore Line some day and expand the Yellow Line further north.

[@cats0182]

The ONLY remaining vestige of the North Shore Line (CNS&M).

[@combineadvisor572]

I will ride with my mom. she took me on the purple line yesterday, it was awesome.

[@DOLRED]

Memories last a long time...I remember riding the LAKE Line in the early '60s as a boy. Those transit cars were the 4000 Series and the track still had the click clack sound throughout the route (Before welded rail days I heard). The sound beginning at 3:35 in this video. Not only the sound, but the coaches lurched a bit from the track action. A little discomforting when you are 40' or more above the street. You have to remember the "Coach" is cushioned but the truck bogies are not, so the coach "Jumps" around. Learned the Skokie Swift Right of Way was originally a North Shore RR Branch.

[@brushcreek42]

Actually, it was the North Shore main line after it was built in 1926. The original Shore Line route then became more of a branch line till it was abandoned in 1955. I know I rode on it when I was a little kid in the 40s and 50s but don't remember it unfortunately.

[@carlstclair-it8ij]

GOOD OLD SKOKIE SWIFT

[@VolumedMusicMan]

I remember in 1985 going to old Orchard buying my first typewriter as a teenager on the Skokie Swift..

[@MrKelleyalexander]

This is so unique, the Yellow Line is a heavy rail rapid transit line that runs like a light rail line.

[@TheLocalLt]

Alex Kelley it does not run like a light rail line. You’re looking for the east end of the MBTA blue line which runs exactly as you describe

[@Robbi496]

Hard to beleive that this particular section has been in continuous operation (Except for Jan 1963 to April 1964) since June 1926!

[@jdubw9118]

Robbi496 when I was a kid growing up in Evanston the Skokie swift thru skokie was in many ways the first "light rail" train I encountered! after 2005 its third rail throughout

[@BHV0810]

What happened in Jan 1963?

[@brushcreek42]

@@BHV0810 Howard St to Dempster St used to be a part of the North Shore interurban to Milwaukee. When the NS was abandoned in Jan 1963 the rails north of Dempster ST were torn up.

[@DoncasterA1Music]

brushcreek42 but wasn’t the line replaced by buses from 1948 to the 1960s or something

[@brushcreek42]

@@DoncasterA1Music From 1925 to 1948 Chicago Rapid Transit had single car shuttle trains between Howard St & Dempster St that made seven stops. When the CTA took over in 1948 the shuttle train was cancelled and replaced with a bus. So from 1948 till 1963 only the North Shore used the tracks. www.chicago-l.org/stations/dempster-skokie.html

[@NYCentralSpotter1070]

I sometimes think that the Red and Yellow Lines should be merged together into a single service. It would theoretically allow residents in Skokie to have a one-seat ride to the Loop and the South Side. Although I guess there might be problems with platform lengths: Oakton would have to be lengthened, as would Dempster, and a crossover would have to be installed south of Dempster in lieu of the pocket tracks. And all that costs money.

[@kingj-dog1327]

Now They Are Fixing The Track on McCormick Blvd Because of An Embankment Issue....... Then The Theoretic Project it'll Take A Long Long Time.

[@NYCentralSpotter1070]

I know about the unstable embankment.

[@kingj-dog1327]

***** ok, I just wanted to Let You Know.

[@pawpawnorth]

***** In theory, it's possible, but only certain Red Line trains could continue from Howard, especially because there are so many grade crossings in Skokie. Especially during rush hours, where Red Line trains come every 2-3 minutes, only 1 out of every 3 or four would go to Skokie, because there is a max. frequency of trains every 7.5 minutes. Very interesting idea though, I would also like to see that extension to Old Orchard soon.

[@kingj-dog1327]

Andrew Dunham Kinda agree on this rather then my theory.

[@ScottysAir]

Yes! We rode on Yellow Line from Skokie-Demspter to Howard and then change to Red Line to Addison station. I knows how to get there. I am very good transportation.

[@VolumedMusicMan]

if you go further north, you can still see the old rails of the old North Shoreline.

[@dongshuowu3454]

Damn fast! What's the top speed?

[@GofaqYusef]

55 mph, they are designed for 70.

[@kevinhoward9593]

they should build highspeed cars just for this line. those rails don't look so hot.

[@jacksugden8190]

Sounded like a runaway train sounding the horn like that.

[@larrywharf1583]

Was the driver singing 'Oh my papa' to himself?

[@MJBYouTubeNetwork]

Ahhh, so this is the Skokie Swift, is it? Looks like a shuttle train to me..

[@tylerkochman1007]

Was until they built an intermediate station

[@AjaniDGleason]

Feels like I'm on a fast version of the 5 train

[@stellarremnant3597]

Just wanted to look at how my girlfriend gets home from UIC since she lives in Skokie

[@chelseaburns7928]

Why dont they use overhead power seince it is so long

[@ThatcherChannel]

They did until the early 2000s on the west end.

[@tylerkochman1007]

They did before. But using it means they needed cars modified with centenaries, and could not use the cars utilized by other lines

[@VolumedMusicMan]

What year did Skokie switch to 3rd rail power?

[@TheLocalLt]

VolumedMusicMan 2004

[@VolumedMusicMan]

@@TheLocalLt Thanks 🙏🏻

[@trencito3700]

Whats the maximum speed on this line?

[@waxinggibbous2974]

70mph, I guess...

[@brushcreek42]

55 or 60 at the most.

[@Tac_Kids_2107]

Same with Brown Line

[@cogniterra]

Too bad it was in a bare season--- a little green or a little snow would have been so much prettier!

[@squidrailink4308]

cta train Howard 5461 And like 5910

[@Solitaryman70]

Sounds like a kid 🧒 playing with that train horn. GEEZ 😒

[@martinborman4195]

America. I lived there for many years. It's so old fashioned an quaint. Especially their 19th century railways and silly electrical system and plug. How I hate living in the modern world of England and Europe. Let me return to the old slow railways they have in the USA where a steady 15 -25 mph allows you to see the countryside....aaaah, those halcyon days.

[@KwamaPinnock]

This is a Metro system not a commuter train

[@scenicdepictionsofchicagolife]

You have fun with your inefficient 50hz, I'll stick with 60hz. Having 240V over 120V has no real benefit. Most countries in the EU are small enough to consolidate high speed rail. What are these halcyon days you speak of? I'd take America any day anyway. Rail is expensive anywhere you are and having a country built on it is a huge benefit. It's just a nice icing on the cake that Chicago was built with mass public transit in mind since it is a microcosm in itself large enough and also small enough to justify low speed mass transit rail connections. Why so many anti American trolls? If you hate America so much why you watching a damn video about something America-related?

[@brushcreek42]

"15-25 mph?" The Skokie Swift travels the 5 miles in 6 1/2 minutes. That's moving pretty fast. I rode it many times from 1965 till about 1986.

[@erik_griswold]

Have you ridden the former Network South East trains South of London?