ON THE (BI)LEVEL August 1994 DOLDRUMS In ten years of our own goofball brand of railroad journalism(?), OT(B)L has always had a tough time filling Page One in August. It's not until September that we can crank out a chart or a graph to show you why we (will) (will not) need a modest fare increase 4 or 5 months hence. It's not until October that we can dazzle your eyeballs with lurid descriptions of The Budget. In November we use poetic prose to tell you how we gear up for winter commuting; in December we use prosaic poetry to salute the holidays and we remind you to support the red-kettle bell ringer. (((ARE WE THERE YET? NO.))) But summertime is not "nothing" time. Regular rush-hour commuters don't see it often, but we have more late trains in July and August than usual. That's because the yellow-hard-hat folks are all over the railroads working off-peak doing heavy track maintenance. Off-peak riders frequently arrive 5 or 7 or even 11 minutes late because the train operated " wrong main ' to get around a track gang; sometimes you have to walk through the train because station stops are made at the street crossing and everyone boards and/or exits from one car only. Occasionally midday customers have their train actually STOP between stations to wait for an "opposing move" to clear a temporary bottleneck. And while we send the yellow-hat set home at the beginning of the evening rush hour, sometimes they've had a glitch and need a few more minutes to get that last angle bar bolted up or get that ballast regulator "in the hole" . (See page 4.) At Metra our top three priorities are Safety, Service-As-Advertised and Good Track. The first two are twelve-month "musts" -- the third one is summer- intense, and we tend to make off-peak customers a little late. Sorry. (((NOW??? NO. ONLY HALF A PAGE . ))) Okay. Other thoughts: Let's play Andy Rooney. Have you ever seen a familiar face on a Loop sidewalk at lunchtime and nodded or even said 'Hi there! ' and suddenly realized that YOU HAVE NEVER MET THIS PERSON AND DON'T EVEN KNOW HIS/HER NAME? It's some- one you see on the train every day, but that's all! An office poll here (we all commute) concluded that we SHOULD get to know each other. Despite what your mother said, greeting strangers is permissible as long as they're not really strangers. And now, to finish up page one in a dull month, your editors submit a list of good things about commuting: Brilliant Midwest summer sunsets as you walk off the train at the end of the day. Wetlands with cattails, red-winged blackbirds and tiger lilies as seen from the train west of Oak Forest, and about anywhere in Lake County too. People who smile, say 'thank you" and "excuse me". The person who sells us coffee (and Coca-Cola)in the morning. Kids who ride trains on weekends with parents and leave nose-marks on the windows and yell "wow when a freight train slams by on the next track. Air conditioning that works. Any Metra employee who says "May I help you . . . ?" . Sunrises carving contrasts on the Chicago sky- line for those of us lucky enough to come in on the first train of the day. Ticket Express. It works. The slow but steady breakdown of gender barriers in the railroad business (although Vallorie says if you still want to call her a "Road Foreman", that's your problem). Train buddies . (((HEY! YOU FILLED THE PAGE!))) Any additions to our List of Good Things are welcome . THE SOUNDING BOARD Q: Will commuter service on the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway (EJ&E) ever happen? What is the main impediment(s) to making it a reality? Where would it operate between? A: Frankly, it is too early to say. If Metra can get local backing and enthusiasm from on-line communities expressing a need for this service it will likely happen. Support gets not only our attention, but the attention of the various congressional committees and the Federal Transit Administration. It is they who decide to allocate big money or not. Because 10 on-line communities along the Wisconsin Central (WC) decided to build their own stations and parking lots, it attracted enough federal and state funding to allow us to aim realistically for Spring 1996 start-up. It most likely would take similar initiative and support on the part of all the on-line communities along the EJ&E for the project -- estimated to cost $85 million -- to become a reality. However, even if all the communities along the EJ&E line decide to back the proposal it could still be years before the project becomes a reality . For example, WC is now 10 years in the making. The EJ&E, which arcs around Chicago at about the 30-mile mark and crosses virtually every one of our radial routes, would run initially from Aurora to Barrington. It opens up the possibility for not only direct suburb-to-suburb service, but cross-suburban service, too, with EJ&E riders able to originate on other Metra lines before transferring to the EJ&E at Barrington, Spaulding, West Chicago or the east side of Aurora for example. With suburban population and job growth it would be far better to turn our radial system into more of a "web"-type system, allowing across-platform changes out in the suburbs. Q: What is light rail? What distinguishes light rail from commuter rail? A: Light rail is an electric railway with a "light volume" traffic capacity compared to commuter rail. The average trip lengths are much shorter than commuter rail. Light rail may use shared or exclusive rights-of- way, high or low platform loading, and multi-car trains or single cars. The CTA 'L' and subway rapid transit system is light rail. Street cars or trolley cars are also referred to as light rail. Q: What's the longest train Metra operates? What restricts you from running a real long train -- say 12 to 15 cars? How much horsepower do your locomotives produce? A: The longest train Metra operates is 11 cars on the C&NW. Basically two things limit us to no more than I l-car consists -- platform length and electricity requirements. First of all, there are very few suburban platforms that will fit more than 11 cars at one time. Second of all, to string 12 or more cars together there wouldn't be enough electricity to sufficiently light, heat or cool all the cars. We would need more and larger cables for electricity if a locomotive were to pull a consist of 12 or more. The myriad of cables between the cars and locomotive transmit electric power. (If electricity was shut off inside all cars the locomotive could pull around 30 cars.) Our locomotives produce 3,200 horsepower. Four-hundred h.p. goes toward generating electricity for lights, heating/air conditioning. Footnote. Only Of l railroads is "consist' a noun. "ON THE (BI)LEVEL" Published monthly by the Media Relations Division of Metra commuter rail and distributed on all rail lines. Send inquiries and information to: 'On the (Bi)Level, " c/o Metra, 547 W. Jackson. Chicago, Illinois, 60661-5717. We cannot guarantee that all letters will be printed or answered personally. SOUND OFF "...setting new standards of thoughtlessness, grouchiness, pettiness, elitism and self-absorption." CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, June12,1994 "I applaud Metra for not only printing the Chief of Police's letter last month, but for your on-going concern for passenger and pedestrian safety as well. If some people are so reckless and shortsighted that they can't wait for the 'big giant blue thing' with big flashing lights and a blaring horn to go thundering by, then I can't feel real sorry for them. I have sympathy only for their next of kin and any unfortunate witnesses to the bloody incident. When I say witnesses I do include the engineer. A railroad can only do so much in a free society. It's really up to each individual to be aware and act responsibly. Keep reminding us of safety around the rails. I'm one that doesn't mind the 'repeated rantings and ravings'." "Sound Off " is your corner of the newsletter--- where we have had endless fun letting you squawk about whatever bugs you . It 's worked because we've let you be anonymous. This month we deviate from the norm in two ways . What follows isn't a complaint, and Rebecca Anne Gilmore of Downers Grove wanted her name attached as the writer. We felt what she has to say is important. "To Whom It May Concern: I have been a Metra commuter for the past three years from the Fairview, Downers Grove stop. It has taken me a week to write this letter as I am still feeling the effects of the July 14 unfortunate casualty on the 7:28 a.m. inbound trip. I always sit in the front car as I like the people, the conductor and the constant chatter that abounds in that car. I, of course, am the one person in the front car who instantly would fall asleep. (This was mostly due to the fact that I felt comfortable with the sounds that go on around me in the front car.) But, on Thursday morning, I was awakened by the engineer (door still closed to his compartment) shrieking at the top of his lungs, "Look out, look out. We're going to hit. Please get out of the way. Oh, please...(silence for a few seconds) . . .thump . " . We all instantly knew what had happened. It seemed to take such a long time until the impact. . .surely this person could have gotten out of the way, I thought...but of course what seemed like a long time to me was in fact just a few short seconds. We stopped. My car was silent. We knew, we saw, we were horrified. My favorite conductor came on with a choke in his voice that there had been an accident. A fatality. Our car knew, we saw, we were horrified. We sat for an hour and a half in almost perfect silence. An occasional glance out the window (not to see the accident but to watch the boisterous crowd growing outside). The crowd full of people staring, laughing, not looking like they cared. When I got to my office, the shock had worn off and I collapsed. I had many thoughts going through my mind (not knowing the particulars of the accident). A few of these thoughts were about how could anyone risk their own life in such a foolish way; if it was a suicide, how could anyone put the people in the train through such a horrible experience. . .these were just a few of my thoughts. But now a week has gone by. The people in the first car (yes, I still ride in the first car) are back to talking, laughing, joking. And 1 am back, finally, to sleeping when I get on the train. But I will never forget July 14,1994 for as long as I live. I want to thank the conductor on the 7:28 inbound train for such compassion. I want to thank the engineer on the 7:28 inbound train for his caring that someone was in front of him. I feel that what I am going through must be minute compared to his pain. (He has not been on my train since the accident, but I do want him to know that he is missed.) And for all the people in the front car of the 7:28 inbound train, thank you for the caring and concern that you showed that day. But most of all, thank you for the familiar chatter, the laughter that you give to the front car. That laughter and caring is what makes me want to continue sitting in the front car after July 14,1994. Maybe the other commuters will get the message that when they disobey a signal or try to cross in front of a train, their lives are not the only ones that could change, but the people in the front car will have to live with their mistakes as well!" Rebecca Anne Gilmore KEEPING TRACK Rule Of The Month... Walk steadily to guard against sudden movement of the train; use firm handhold where provided. Da Bears Shuttle Is Back Metra and the CTA will again offer the popular "Bears Shuttle" connecting bus service to Soldier Field from Chicago Passenger Terminal/Union Station during the 1994 football season. Cost to ride the " Bears Shuttle" is $1 each way. (CTA monthly passes and Link-Up tickets may be used.) In addition, south siders can take advantage of direct commuter service to and from the stadium via Metra/Electric. For fans coming from the South Side, get off at the 18th St. or Roosevelt Rd. station and walk to the game. A special post-game train will depart Roosevelt Road about 20 minutes after each game. Call (312) 322-6777 during business hours for schedule information. Our Love Affair with Automobiles Approximately 430 million vehicles clog the world's streets today. There are over 145 million vehicles driven in the U.S. alone. Each emits 255 pounds of pollutants into our air annually; 30 pounds of hydrocarbons; 208 pounds of carbon monoxide; and 17 pounds of nitrogen oxides. Over 100 major U.S. cities fail to meet current clean-air standards. Americans each year spend more than two billion hours of work and family time snarled in traffic jams . Metra loves cars so much we give 60,000 of them a place to rest all day while you' re at work. Cause of the Month The Illinois Department of Public Health provides information and referral regarding child health and safety issues, including child abuse prevention, immulliations, and prenatal care. For more information, call 1-800-545-2000. Railroad Jargon Occasionally Overheard on Train P.A. Systems Railroad Talk English "Where're you at?" "What is your location! "We're going in the hole." "The dispatcher is placing our train in a siding." "The signal is pumping. "Signal keeps changing colors, is obviously malfunctioning." "Where're you at exactly! "You didn't tell me enough the first time." "Jerry, get on the intercom." "Jerry, get on the intercom." "I put it in the big hole." "I used the emergency brakes." "I'm highballing it." "I'm operating express (top speed) straight to our destination." "The deadhead" "A non-revenue train'