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[quote]QUOTE: Originally posted by bnsf97 So let me get this strait, BNSF and a few other roads, HAD commuter service until...? Then metra took over and thats how it is today. WOW. So when was the timeframe of all this? Thanks for the great info! [/quote] Since you're in Devore, you might be surprised to know that ATSF ran what amounted to commuter trains and pax locals between San Bernardino and LA back in the early part of the 20th century. In Chicago (and this is admittedly an incomplete list and may be somewhat inaccurate), commute service was run by (at least) CNW, MILW, CB&Q, RI, Wabash (Orland Park "Cannon Ball"), NYC, PRR, IC, CSS&SB, CNS&M (North Shore Line directly into the Loop on the El tracks), C&WI, (I think) Erie and C&EI, and probably a few more that I'm forgetting. Much of this lasted until Metra took over, and Metra is currently expanding. When RI went under, they got and own those lines. The original Metra rolling stock fleet (cars and locomotives) was inherited from the private railroads (CNW, MILW, BN, NW, RI and IC). The CSS&SB equipment, which crossed a state line, was inherited and replaced by a bi-state transportation authority (IL/IN) whose name escapes me at the moment. Amtrak took the Valpo Dummies from Union Station to Valparaiso IN, but cancelled them in the early 80's in one of their cutbacks. The standard modern car type (CNW, BN, MILW, RI) is the two-level gallery car run in push-pull (as opposed to the bi-level you see in LA on Metrolink), which is much less ADA-friendly than the bi-level, requiring Metra to add lift-equipped cab cars. The ex-BN/CB&Q cars, along with some of the ex-RI cars, are SS. The ex-CNW , MILW, and some RI cars are carbon steel with smooth sides, similar to the ones SP ran in Peninsula commute service in SFO (to get it a little closer to your home), although the CHI cars came first. The BN line ran with E units until Metra replaced them with F40 and similar units. The ex-RI line ran with just about anything that could be coaxed to run that day. Hope this is useful. Chicagoans, please correct and/or supplement as need be.[:D]
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