The Abandoned Station on America’s Longest Platform
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- Опубліковано 9 чер 2023
- Did you know the longest platform in the Western Hemisphere is in Chicago? Though the Windy City is mostly famous for its elevated railroads, there are two subway tunnels that cross the downtown area as well. Both of these tunnels include a section where multiple stations are situated on one long platform. The red line platform, under State Street, is the record holder. Aside from Lake, Monroe, and Jackson stations, it also holds the abandoned Washington station, which was closed in 2006. All of these places are accessible and open, so the perfect opportunity to explore.
And yes, my friend and I were doing this while our wives were at the Eras Tour in Soldier Field.
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Date of filming: June 04, 2023
Camera model: iPhone 12
Guest: my long time friend Eildert - Авто та транспорт
Washington and Jackson used to both be the official transfer stations between the Red and Blue lines, so passengers could pick whichever one came first in their travels, then suddenly Washington went away. I never knew the reason until now, thanks!
Yep with the pedway connection between Lake and Washington opening they never bothered to reopen Washington/State. I’m normally not in favor of closing stations, but honestly, this one isn’t very necessary.
My teenage kid took me on almost this same tour a few weeks ago. Thanks! Also, the Blue Line Milwaukee subway section might just be the LOUDEST subway in the world
This was my "everyday mode" of transportation growing up in and working in downtown Chicago. Having moved to southern Arizona 27 years ago, I really do miss this part of Chi-town. As for walking the length of the platforms featured in this video, I've done it countless times in my younger years. And I still do so whenever I come back to visit my hometown.
As someone from London there are pretty close stations on the Tube here, but never would I have guessed there were stations all connected together in one continuous segment like that elsewhere! Really interesting. Chicago's system looks really amazing and interesting, definitely on my visit list now after this great video.
Chicago’s transit system is definitely worth a visit. Though I’d also highly recommend the systems of DC, New York, Boston, and San Francisco.
@@Thom-TRA NYC's been on my list for a while, didn't know Boston and San Francisco had metros! The more you learn haha
@@hx0d I have some videos of Boston you can check out and I’m in the process of editing San Fran!
More Chicago records: Back in November of 2019, Wicker Park resident Jenny Doan set out to break the world record for hula hooping time and broke it with 100 hours. Though she was not officially the winner until recently due to her hula hoop falling to the floor at one point, Guinness World Records determined that she had still broken the record.
After seven decades of DJ-ing for local radio, Herbert Rogers Kent won the Guinness Book of World Records for longest-running DJ in the history of radio. He started his career when he was just a high school student in 1944.
The Ewers Family, Thomas and Katherine Ewers, broke the Guinness World Record for most consecutive boy/girl births in a family. They had 11 children, first a girl, then a boy, then a girl, then a boy, and so on.
And of course, the Chicago Cubs broke the record of Longest Time Between Baseball World Series Wins at 108 years and 19 days.
Can you imagine the shape of someone’s body after 100 hours of hula hooping??
Herb Kent, the Kool Gent!
The El (Elevated) Underground is like the Oxymoron of Whitechapel station in East London where the Underground (District, Hammersmith and City) cut and cover lines run above ground but the London Overground part of TfL and National Rail runs downstairs in a Tunnel.
So the Overground is underground and the Underground is overground.
That’s funny, next time I’m in London I need to go there! Perfect video idea
@@Thom-TRA you'll be pleased to know it's on the Elizabeth Line direct from Heathrow
@@blue9multimediagroup both are acceptable
Chicago is a helluva impressive place because of these things. A single-platform triple station, pedwalk, a tunnel between Auditorium and Congress hotel. Crazy engineering and planning. I'd say almost ridiculous. I hope I'll have a chance to visit it someday.
The abandoned areas could be painted and used for vending machine areas with people posted there to clean area and provide presence! Hot vending machine coffee yum! 😃
If you want more fun Red Line decorations, head down to Roosevelt and take the tunnel to the Green/Orange elevated station! There's a whole evolution wall art thing.
Suggestion: Check out there old remnants of the old Kenwood branch that is still standing but abandoned and not used anymore. Also I loved this video❤
I love this! I wish DC metro (my local agency) did something like this between gallery place and metro center, two stations that are about a block or two away from eachother in downtown. Can’t wait to see the express train video!
I do love the DC metro. Would be awesome to call it my local agency ;)
Walking the whole platform is a very cool experience. Another great video as always Thom!
I did it with my little sisters once. Called it a rat safari. They were into it.
I remember not all that long ago, when the Washington St station was open and there was an entrance directly from the station mezzanine into Marshall Field's, now macy's. It was pretty handy.
Brilliant video
Yeah that platform is insane. So weird to walk along it and see trains go past without stopping and closed exits.
Beside New York City, I knew Chicago had subway going underground beside being up ground.
My office used to be at Monroe and Dearborn so it was nice to actually have three close options as well as the red line at Monroe to choose from.
This is such a cool video. I've often wanted to walk the whole platform.
Chase?
Interesting! I loved getting off too early and walking these long platforms. Tourist should check it out! Certainly a train geek must visit! I need to visit again soon. Thanks Thom! Great stuff as always.
Definitely worth checking out if you’re a train geek or into records. Otherwise, I’d say the surface has more to offer!
Awesome video!
Thanks!
Wow! I saw those in Chicago when I was there a year ago and was super confused. Thank you for covering this.
Thanks so much for sharing this! I would have never known that there could be just one sole platform used by three train stations, or that the city of Chicago holds the record for the longest train station platform in North America if it wasn’t for your video!
It’s a very strange sight, and I’m still not entirely sure why they did it!
Never ever knew this!!! Interesting!!! Thanks!!!
You should go check it out!
When I was a student at DePaul, I and a lot students usually take the Red Line at Jackson (the Loop Campus) to get the Fullerton stop which is the Lincoln Park campus. It brings back memories of being crammed in the train like sardines going between classes pre-pandemic. I also find it awesome when the Red Line expresses from Fullerton to Lake as a student. It gives me time to get something to eat in-between classes.
So neat! I definitely miss using the Washington stop.
New York has its elevated Subways while Chicago has its El[evated] subways! Quite a coincidence.
Same thing in Philly, The Market Street-Frankford Street Elevated line.
Great video Thom, as always. Hang onto Eildert. He's great comic relief.
Been friends for 5 years now!
I love the long platform on the Blue and Red Lines from Jackson to Washington Stations. Thanks for good videos Trains Are Awesome.
Thank you for making a video on this! I came to Chicago in April 2022, and I was very fascinated by these extremely long platforms yet also unsure if I was allowed to walk there. Next time I'm in the area I'll have to check them out!
Thank you for the video Thom! I've enjoyed learning about the the record breaker. As they say, you learn something new everyday! They are very short distances between the stations. When you were onboard the train, I counted 20 seconds! Here in the UK, the longest platform is Colchester (620 metres) 🙂
Wow, 620 meters! What do they put there that they need that length for?
It’s been quite a while since I was at that Red Line subway station, but it seems to be just as I remember it from going to the Christkindlmarket at the Honorable Richard J. Daley Plaza.
Gotta love Christkindlmarkt. I don’t buy anything except the souvenir mug, it’s all too expensive!
Great video. Thanks Thom.
This was facinating! I had no idea. It makes sense that Chicago would have all that underground walkway, though, given the winters they experience there. I can also see why you brought a friend with you walking down there in Chicago. Hopefully he's a Marine or someone like that! Seriously, I'm catching up on some of your videos since I found your channel, and this was really interesting.
Thank you very much for this fascinating video. The whole scenario makes it very subway-like !
Great video Thom these videos are amazing and let me see more in chicago
Kudos on another awesome clip! I could never make that trip because I'm deathly afraid of rats... so I'm glad you gave us the tour!
I have always wondered about the history of that platform because it is...well...really long. Thanks for covering this!
So interesting and informative! Great job :-)
Thom, thank you for another interesting video,
My pleasure!
Great video! You have to admire the engineering that went into making these stations. There definitely is something erie about walking along the empty bits of those long station, why just the low ambient hum of air. Something akin to the backrooms. It’s definitely something I’d love to check out myself someday!
Haven't been down there in years. But wondered if the Mezzanine level tunnel between City Hall and Marshall Field's (Macy's) is still open. That used to be a great shortcut in Winter or rain to get around. I would leave work in the Edison Building, walk through the connected Marquette Building and then exit on the Dearborn side. The subway stairs were 10 feet out the door. Then I'd use my monthly pass to walk the platform to City Hall (Washington) and then go up and take the Mezzanine tunnel to shop at Field's and never have to go outside except for a brief moment outside the Marquette Building. You could also go to City Hall and the Illinois Building that way, or go past Field's (now Macy's) and go the Millennium Station.
I’m pretty sure you can still connect from the Pedway to Macys!
That was VERY cool. Question: did you feel safe walking between stations? There didn't seem to be a lot of space between the walls and the tracks.
I did feel safe! Knowing the facts about crime and being aware of your surroundings make for a pretty good survival strategy.
I took the Blue Line into town from O'Hare, all excited to be passing by Tower 18 and that amazingly busy elevated junction...only to be brutally disappointed when we went into some annoying tunnel instead, on the way to Amtrak Union Station. I survived, though. :)
Yeah, no loop for you haha. Enjoy a gross tunnel instead.
So the Washington Red Line Station was a super long Washington station prior to the CTA adding elevators. When they added the elevators they then created the Lake Station stop. Then obviously the block 37 project closed the Washington station.
I live in Chicago! Nice of you to cover it from time to time! I learn things I didn't know.
I lived there until last week!
@@Thom-TRA Where'd you move to?
I wish to visit America, but our consulate in our country, Algeria, is difficult. I just watch on UA-cam until I get lucky and go to America. The best greetings from your Algerian friend
Have a great day!
Thank you, brother, and you too@@Thom-TRA
Well Thom, you got me reaching for various tomes in my hard copy library (dusted down) then wikipedia/world atlas to check out how my home town station here in Melbourne rated with State Street.
State Street is the 4th longest continuous platform in the world at 3501 feet and my local (Flinders Street Station) has the 18th longest at 2322 feet.
Your State Street was quite a revelation. Lucky you had company on your little excursion in case you bumped into any low life. Had to chuckle when I saw the rat scuttling along the track. Other features of the station interested me as well but I won't go into any detail. Thanks for an interesting and revealing video.
My brother lived at 2 West Chicago for a year in the late 80s, while attending the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. That's when I saw the State Street platform.
Cool!
Absolutely beautiful tilework, signage, and entrances on the Red Line. You should totally do a short feature on the Van Buren Street Metra station’s Guimard entryway before it’s gone next year!
I already have, a few years ago! Might have to remake it.
Why will it be gone next year?
@@iwouldliketoorderanumber1b79 renovations and they “can’t find anywhere to put it”
Aww damn they're taking it down! I remember seeing it newly when I was a teenager and wondering why it looked so "weird" to me. Then making the French connection after doing some research.
Good afternoon I enjoyed the video👍👍
I’m glad!
Thank you
Great, concise, easy to understand video, as are all of your videos, that I’ve seen so far. I think it would be cool to visit the underground “L” in Chicago. Alas, I currently have no plans on going much farther West of the Appalachian Mountains. 👍🏼👍🏼
There’s plenty of great stuff east of the Appalachians :)
@@Thom-TRA indeed, a few miles away are 2 N&W and 1 Virginian (aka 3 NS) mainlines heading East-West or The Virginia Museum of Transportation or an ever growing Amtrak train station.
To those who complain of distances, short or long, they all sound so much better than having to walk 1.5 miles (2.4Km) just to catch a bus …
Ilove you and your videos>
It’s an honor to be the object of your adoration
Shoutout the dude playing cheif keep at 7:45
Why was Washington State station abandoned? They need to sort the station out.
The blue line being less ornate then the red line may be somewhat the result of the delays and cost over runs, but it would have also the result of changing style and aesthetic. By the early 1950s, stripped-down modernism was the style and the ornate art deco style of the 1930s was seen as tacky and old fashioned. Art Deco has stood the test of time better, but the plain stations on the blue line would've been seen as sleek, dignified post-war efficiency when they opened
In anglophone countries they tend to be called subways , undergrounds or metros.Although many of those,in fact most, of those called undergrounds and subways actually have a major part of the system above ground.The only one off the top of my head I can think of which is just under the ground is the Glasgow Subway in Scotland but I suppose that there must be many others.
This might sound stupid, but what if the continuous stations had trains slow down to a crawl through the entire tunnel, but hear me out, they open their doors while still moving and have people board via a moving sidewalk like Disney's Omnimover?
It’s not a stupid idea, I’m just not convinced that people in Chicago wouldn’t break/abuse it. It’d probably get shut down within days.
I can agree that is a more likely issue than mechanical stuff. It's a sad reality we have to live in
Love the memories of traveling the red and blue lines. Hearing voice guys is always a good and happy memory for me.
He has an iconic voice!
Too bad the Block 37 was abandoned. As a Chicago airport user the ability to go to one station to get to or from a CHI airport would be a real boon for casual out of towners like me. Chicago has such potential to be the main city of the US.
It's like the pedway for railfans
Thanks for the video Thom! The L has always been a special interest of mine. Not being from Chicago or the USA I had no idea there were interconnecting pedestrian tunnels between red line and blue line tunnels. What are the two numbers with N S E or W that are next to every station name on the L? They seem to be some sort of coordinate system. Maybe something you could cover in a future video sometime.
Love your videos.
They determine the addresses in Chicago. State street and Madison street are both 0. Then each street is numbered based on how far it is from those.
@@Thom-TRA thank you! Now I remember about Chicago’s unique address system!
6:24 😂😂😂😂
Having grown up in NYC and working there occasionally until 2021, I could definitely see the similarities between the systems and designs. But there is one major difference... while your Chicago rat looked very casual down there on the tracks, NYC Subway rats sometimes wear Yankees caps and sell tiny sandwiches to tourists. 😂 nice work, Thom... do Chicago subway stations have the same distinctive odor as those in NYC? Hope you took off your shoes before going into your new place.😊
I never wear shoes at home so don’t worry about that! That’s why living in Japan for 10 years will do to you…
Yeah Washington hasn't been used since about October of 2006 because of Mayor Daly and one of his grand schemes to create a super train from O'Hare airport to downtown to Midway. And then that project went bankrupt two years later. I wish that station were still open so we could use it. Then you wouldn't have to go to lake and State to get on the train. I'm still angry at that.
Block 37 does connect the blue and red lines, at lake (redline) and washingon (blue line)
Yes, but it’s not the Block 37 superstation that was planned
Once upon a time, the State/Lake station was actually part of the zwashingron/State station
After Monroe. NORTHBOUND trains stopped as they currently do now. But the station was still considered Washington. Southbound trains only stopped at what is the now abandoned Washington/State station. This was before what we know today as the Red Line.
After the creation of the Red Line and before 2006, CTA decided that trains should stop at both ends of the Washington station. They renamed the northernmost platform the State/Lake station to help people identify the transfer point to the Loop zl station by the same name . It also meant that Northbound Red Line passengers coming from the Washington Blue Line station through the transfer tunnel didn't have to walk or run the length of a platform to catch their train. Today free transfers can still be made at Washington between the two lines, but a Ventra card is required AND the transfer has to be done at the mezzanine level. That is part of the Pedway that links the Metra Millennium station to the County Building,/City Hall. Block 37 has shops between the two subways.
Prior to 1992. Englewood and Jackson Park trains ran southbound through the State street subway. Now those trains are the Green Line and the Dan Ryan trains that ran on the Loop elevated are now running through the State street subway as the Red line
I forgot to mntion that the current State/Lake station went under a rehab which forced NB trains to stop at the then southbound Washington station. When that rehab finished trains stopped at both ends as mentioned earlier.
I also found out the State Street Subway platform is the fourth longest railway platform in the world, as well as the longest railway platform in the English speaking world
And a lot of those like Jackson on the red line were rebuilt in modernized in the early 2000s. Pretty much that whole Subway was pretty dingy up until then. I know they could rebuild like Monroe on their period I think Washington was rebuilt in the early '90s. But they were pretty nasty and dingy before all of that.
The Block 37 station was intended for express trains to O'Hare and Midway. To substantially reduce travel times for airport travelers the proposed project plan also included a bypass track alongside portions of the el.
You think that's long? Try to figure out where to stand to wait for the SEPTA Regional train at Jefferson, Suburban and 30th. Street, both upper and lower levels. You could miss your train! OY!
Thom, have you seen the film Stranger Than Fiction? I recall the transfer tunnel used in a scene in that film but the decor it has suggests to me that it's not at Jackson, too plain walled.
Lots of unbranded but obvious CTA in that movie.
Have not seen the movie but stranger than fiction is a perfect description for what happens in those tunnels…
My dad was in that movie. He actually got to hang out with Will Ferrell all day.
Do you like gum Thom? Great video as always!
I’ve been known to chew some from time to time
Blue Line stations on the CTA underground sections look almost too alike with a typical MTA subway station that is underground
Ding ding doors open up on the left
I love the Chicago transit system. Now only thing that may be off is the timing of the announcement. When the brakes are first applied near the station, THAT is when the announcement says "This is ---" is supposed to activate. That way if you are a business person and have stuff like a briefcase with you and a laptop, you would have a much better amount of time to get prepared to detrain. And if you are in a wheelchair, the much more advance time for the announcement would give you time to be prepared to roll off when the train stops.
It depends on the individual train when the announcement goes off. A lot of them are out of wack.
In the 90s the MBTA in Boston had an announcement that said, "Next station... [station name]" when the train departed any station and when it slowed down for the next one another announcement said, "Entering [station name]." IDK if they have it anymore though.
Are there any explanations for having a tunnel that includes platforms through a 4 station length?
I know the CTA map shows the red and blue are parralel and not on top of heach other, but what about in physical reality? If they are on top of each other, I could see a cut/cover construction where it might be simpler to keep the same "shape" of rhe structure all along and likely provides pylons in middle to support the street or building above. It is however interesting they didn't wall off station ends. Are there signs to tell peoppe where the head/tail of train is?
@@blue9multimediagroup Thanks. We they built at the same time? one right after the other, or many years apart? (can understand oe after the other if cut/cover so as to not colose too many streets at same time). But still quite curious on why they were built as one very long station with central platforms.
Chicago's ONLY subway tunnels which were created with the cut/cover method is the Blue line section which encompasses the Logan Square and Belmont stops. This section was created when extending the line out to Jefferson Park in the late sixties and was necessarily a subway to get from Milwaukee Avenue to the center median of the Kennedy Expressway. All downtown subways were actually tunneled construction and the tunnels which go under the Chicago River were prefab'd, floated down the river to where needed and then sunk.
ua-cam.com/video/Sme0dqrxLbg/v-deo.html
@@brzzzaaaPP Thanks. Using pressurized tunneling has such huge challenges with airlocks. It wouldn't be done today ! (IThis was also used to dig the Hudson tunnels to prevent water infiltration).
however, the video doesn't explain why 2 sections were built as a single very long station with platforms instead of 4 distinct stations with normal tunnels in between.
@@brzzzaaaPP ah yes, BUT, the mezzanine stations that are 1 story underground WERE constructed with cut and cover, then digging down to the platform level to meet the rail tunnels.
"What do you mean i have to pay?? I didnt ride the train!"
That’s why I thought ahead and made him buy a day pass hehe
Fascinating and worth watching. Give us more of the subway during Yuletide with the decorations.
I have several videos from December showing those trains, worth watching!
This is really fascinating. I was just there. I went to Chicago at the end of April and took the CTA for the first time in my life - the Blue Line from O'Hare to Monroe. I had no idea when I got off the train that this was the configuration of the stations! I was actually hoping I'd end up on the Loop, but c'est la vie.
If you got off at Monroe then you were in the Loop dude
@@scrappyanimations4096 Well, first of all, I think I would have known if I was above ground (i.e., "ON the Loop, as I said, obviously meaning the elevated line and not the section of the city) or below ground. Second, there is a Monroe stop on the blue line, dude.
We could of bumped into each other during this filming
Why’s that?
so great chicago has so much tunnel infrastructure! along with the pedway if you know the secret ways you can skip a lot of crosswalks
i do wish they at least left the entrances to Washington open. It really annoys me when I have to walk extra blocks north or south and cross more streets to get to monroe or lake
Yeah the entrances are kind of sitting there, doing nothing. And I never actually used the Pedway, always found the surface to be more interesting, even in the cold.
Strange man following you around.
Did you say exactly how long it was? If so I missed it.
Of course you had to show off the rats!
They’re almost kind of cute
@@Thom-TRA *inserts blinking guy gif*
What is a purporse of building platform instead of tunnel? What is a proffit?
It was the 30's and 40's, profit wasn't the primary motivator for everything.
So, can you buy a ticket to travel from one end of the platform to the other, since they are different stations?
Chicago is a flat fare so any journey you take costs the same. You basically pay to enter the system.
I have noted these long platforms on viewing CTA cab ride videos and wondered why they were constructed in this fashion. Presumably it would have been far cheaper to construct separate stations. What was the rationale?
I don’t know! Probably to share exits to the surface and give people more choices in terms of where in the city they get off.
Don’t quote me on this, but I think one of the benefits was potential use as a bomb shelter. These subways (State Street and Milwaukee-Dearborn) were build around the Second World War and shortly after.
I noticed that the station platforms are each between two deep level bored tunnels and the platform itself has a barrel vault ceiling so I guess it was easier to have a tunnel boring machine make one continuous cut underground rather than to attempt to cut and cover chambers at each station, and someone in a decision-making position decided to make the platforms one long platform for the safety and convenience of maintenance personnel.
@@brianmolina8818 that would make a lot of sense..... But maybe closer to the Atlantic Ocean in NYC......? Would love to know the real reason.
This is very cool, but as a Chicagoan I would not feel safe walking through the unused sections of the tunnel.
It’s completely safe. Education about crime and safety is so lacking and so necessary in Chicago.
@@Thom-TRA I've lived in Chicago for 6 years now, and while I don't think the crime here is anywhere as bad as the media makes it seem, that doesn't mean it's not a problem at all. I've seen a lot of icky stuff on the CTA, mainly on the red line, and while it doesn't deter me from taking it, I can't blame others for thinking twice. Especially women who are often sexually harassed, or tourists who are "easy victims". I really do wish it was better because the red line has such great service. But no, I sadly don't think it's completely safe.
@@paulcastle7007 you make a good point. The tunnel doesn’t attract many people though, I’ve only once seen someone lounge around there.
I wonder what the underground parts smell like!
As a Chicagoan, not very pleasant at times...
@@dangelohartley5977 the London Underground does have a distinct smell, but maybe I’m used to it. It’s not bad and don’t often think about it! I’ve been on the NYC subway and that had a distinct smell! I will find out Chicago’s scent soon
Usually urine or weed
It is not at all taboo to call the subway the subway. We use The L, the subway, and the train interchangeably. Also, the reason the State Street subway entrances are so ornate compared to the Blue Line is because State Street is a major shopping district for suburbanites and tourists, so it has been made to look all pretty.
Haha that's what I said too 😅 I call it "the [color] line" or "the train"
7:57 Cinéma vérité
Why ?
Why these multi-station-platforms have been built?
How long is that platform???
Very long
It is a 1/2 mile long, so approximately 2600 feet.
I am looking forward to your future posts on both the loop and subway. I'd love to know more about the curtailed Block 37 scheme.
It looks to me that the subway sections are a wonderful resource in dire need of heavy grade modernisation. Imagine throwing a ton of cash at station art, access and wayfinding, surfaces, platform screen doors and LED lighting to bring them up to world class standard.
Sorry, daydreaming again!
Can I join you in that daydream?
Posted 2 min ago. Damn I’m early
1:19 Hate to say it man but I don't hear a goddamn person call it the L except suburbanites. Everyone in the city just calls it "the train" or "the _ line." I hear people call it the L once in a blue moon but it is more normal to hear "subway" than "L"
I’m literally from Chicago? And everyone I know calls it the L. Suburbanites are the ones calling it the subway or whatever.
Don’t know where you pulled out this nugget of false information but I’d encourage you to listen around.
@@Thom-TRA I'm also from Chicago so I guess we talk to different people 🤭
planned obsolescence at it's best
Sixth or seventh comment depending on if replies count, but either way I’m early!
Weird.....
Ah, the wafting of cool urine scented air! The rumor was you would get zapped if you peed on the third rail.
You probably would. And it doesn’t smell like urine that bad, the elevators are usually worse.
@@Thom-TRA I used to take the El to go to Oak Street Beach when I lived in Cicero. There were even surfable waves there, once. Lol. That was high school, before I moved back to California. I stuck out like a sore thumb. PS The DTLA connector is opening here soon. You will have to take a trip here and ride the extremely long A/Blue Line.