Ranya's Ramblings

27th Street is a station on Metra's Electric District line. The station is the least used Metra station, and possibly one of the least used train stations in the midwestern US.  History Not much is known about the original history of the station, though it's assumed to have first been built sometime around the 1870s. On October 30th, 1972, the 1972 Chicago Rail Crash happened at this station, the worst crash in all of Chicago's history, with 45 deaths and 322 injuries.  The station was originally made to serve Michael Reese Hospital, with the hospital having been directly connected to 27th Street station. Michael Reese Hospital went out of business in 2008, and was demolished. Chicago tried to build an Olympic Village at the site of the former hospital for the 2016 Olympic Games, but this failed. This is because of two important factors: staunch opposition from residents, and radioactive waste buried between the former hospital and the station, and a...

18th Street is a station served by the Metra Electric rail service. All lines serve this station, and it is a flag stop. The station is located on 18th Street and Calumet Avenue in Chicago's Near South Side neighborhood.  Tour Old signage for a shuttle bus program that at the time was not happening.   Right off the bat, outdated signage. This is a great sign of what's to come.     Not that what's to come seems very nice, either   Pretty view.   Stairs. These stairs are awful. They barely feel as though they can hold your weight, much like the crossover to the rest of Chicago.  View from side of stairs. Schedule. More outdated signage. Metra map and fates. Platform. This station is incredibly bare-bones. 18th Street/Soldier Field is a wooden platform with a shelter or two.  One of the shelters. Almost everything here is made out of wood.  Another shelter, this one with the TVM.   This is one...