Day 6: An Electric Station

     Today we are continuing the mini-tour we've been on of the South Loop with this: Today's entry requires a little background information. Chicago's commuter rail system(Metra) has 5 origin stations in Downton Chicago, which branch out to more than 200 suburban stations.  Today we'll be looking at one of the five downtown stations.  Located (once again) in the South Loop, Metra's Van Buren Street Station is one of two downtown terminals that serves the Electric District.  The Electric District has been around in one form or another since 1856. When it was first built, the line ran into Chicago on a railway bridge overhanging Lake Michigan.  After the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, the debris was dumped into the lake, forming what we know of today as Grant Park, but also makng the tracks land-based. From there, the RTA(and then Metra) was formed, which bought the line in 1987.

     Now that we have that out of the way, back to the observations.  There are numerous entrances to the station, and once you get down there, you walk down a tunnel to get to the station proper. At this point, you find yourself in the ticket office, where you can either go to the ticket counter to buy a Metra ticket, utilize one of the vending machines to do so, or buy a ticket for the South Shore Line, which runs from Chicago to South Bend, Indiana. After that, you can advance to the waiting area and then sit down on the benches and wait for a train.  When the train actually arrives, you'll walk outside where you board the train, and then you go on your way.  On your way out of the station, if you take the closest stairway to the platforms, then you'll notice an iron formation above the exit.  Upon closer examination, you see that that is actually a gift from the Paris transit company, given in honor of it's Centennial.  So, now that you've gotten that basic tour, the work of this blog is done for today.    Till Next time...