South Shore train 12 arrives at Metra Electric 55-56-57th Street (Hyde Park) Station

 

Metra Electric new bi-level cars - pretty spiffy. I think the 14 new cars on order for South Shore are similar.

 

 

Older Metra Electric cars

 

 

I stopped at the Meta desk and obtained permission to take these photos inside Millennium Park Station (Formerly Randoph Street Station). South Shore and Metra Electric trains terminate in this below-ground station at Michigan Avenue and Randolph Street.

 

 

The retail shops are starting to open up, giving the station a more complete look. Several are still under construction, but yay for Starbucks and a Vente Caramel Macchiato!

 

 

 

There were some wonderful colors inside the flower shop, but the employees declined my request for permission to take photos inside.

 

 

South Shore trains lined up ready for passengers to Indiana.

 

 

Looking from the entrance onto Randolph Street

 

Cool shots!

Nice pics

 

It appears the upstairs seats on the double deckers are singles.  The LIRR doubles are much different.

Good stuff, Rob. Does the Millennium Station have escalators/elevators from street level to track level?

Nice!

Great stuff!!!  I'll be arriving at the Ogilvie Transportation Center via the Union Pacific West Line tomorrow evening!!!!  Gotta love the Metra and Chi-town!

Super cool.  I saw a new Metra Electric set when I was there last summer -- they look compatible with double-deckers used in Metra's mainly diesel division.  And, to address Electric-commuter's longstanding gripe, the newbies finally have rest rooms: an IC/Metra Electric first!.. Good to see the attractive upgrades at Millennium station.  Randolph, its former incarnation, always seemed such a dingy hole.  Also, I know finally Chicago has completed a tunnel/walkway (complete with retail) that connects Millennium all the way to State Street and beyond (with a large underground entrance to (former) Marshall Field/(now) Macy's: a mega boost for Metra Electric/South Shore commuters during Chi-town's elongated chilly season.

Good stuff, Rob. Does the Millennium Station have escalators/elevators from street level to track level?

I wish! On arrival by South Shore and after passing through that classy station, it's a comedown to encounter the somewhat dingy stairway up to Randolph Street. There's an elevator for handicapped access between street level and concourse level, and the South Shore platforms are at concourse level. Some of the transit elevators require that you request activation via an intercom; I think that one may be set up that way.

 

There's a ramp between concourse level and the lower-level Metra Electric platforms, but I never noticed whether there's an elevator. The Metra platforms and ramp are adequate to their purpose, but they sure could benefit from a pressure-washing and an update to the lighting.

 

... the newbies finally have rest rooms: an IC/Metra Electric first!.. Good to see the attractive upgrades at Millennium station ... finally Chicago has completed a tunnel/walkway (complete with retail) that connects Millennium all the way to State Street and beyond ...

... and they've eliminated the turnstiles and mag-strip tickets. The electric lines were the only place Metra subjected riders to the aggravation of passing a ticket through a turnstile to enter/leave a station. Arriving South Shore passengers sometimes had to holler, "South Shore" to get the agent to unlock the turnstile.

 

The Pedway has been there for years, but it was closed until recently for renovation. I used it and the tunnel between the CTA State Street and Dearborn subways around 1995 to connect between in incoming South Shore train and a subway to O'Hare, and it showed many years of use then. I haven't checked it out since they reopened it.

Thanks a bunch Rob!   I bet you are old enough to remember the cars before the "older" Metra Electric bi-level ones....the black ones from the 1920s.   If I recall right they didnt have air conditioning, but the engineer kept the front door open, and with the windows open there was a nice breeze coming trhough.

 

 

I rode one of those to the end of the line (Richton Park?) and back once, when I was a kid. 

 

***

 

They sure did a nice job on that old  Randolph St Station, though.  It used to be pretty stark in there, from what I recall.

Thanks a bunch Rob!   I bet you are old enough to remember the cars before the "older" Metra Electric bi-level ones....the black ones from the 1920s. 

 

I remember seeing those, but I never rode them. That photo looks like it was taken at Van Buren, by the Art Institute. I have a slide that I shot near there, probably around 1971.

 

I think they were a very dark green, and you're right about the AC. The windows were opened to get some air flow.

 

The old South Shore cars were a similar design, I think, but they were orange and some of them had been retrofitted with air conditioning.

Yeah, the SS cars were Pullmans, like those old IC "Al Capone" era cars..maybe a bit more "deco" in design.

 

The SS Michigan City shops did do a modification to some of the original cars...putting in fixed-pane "picture windows", AC, new interiors, and I think they lengthended the cars, too. 

 

These improved cars ran from Chicago to South Bend.  Older, unmodified cars ran on the commuter run to Gary.

(which reminds me on how the CTA used older L cars on the Evanston Express rush hour run to the Loop)

 

 

Yeah, the SS cars were Pullmans, like those old IC "Al Capone" era cars..maybe a bit more "deco" in design.

 

The SS Michigan City shops did do a modification to some of the original cars...putting in fixed-pane "picture windows", AC, new interiors, and I think they lengthended the cars, too. 

 

These improved cars ran from Chicago to South Bend.  Older, unmodified cars ran on the commuter run to Gary ...

 

Yep. These should bring back some fond memories of the South Shore and Randolph Street in the "good ol' days". Millennium Park now occupies this space, with underground parking garages where the freight cars sit in these photos.

 

 

 

Whoa, what a fun set of pics.  And that station is cool looking (but no escalator  :roll:).  Thanks for the pics and info.  Not sure if I could get my big behind into one of those upper level seats though. :-o

Wow...that station looks VERY cool!!!  Thx for sharing the pics with us; I'll definitely have to check it out next time I'm there.

Finally, there's actual retail going in down there.

It's been a long time comin'. First they had to gut the original station and set up supports for reconstruction of the street overpass that runs above it, and then completely reconfigure the station area.

 

When I was there probably fewer than half the shops were complete and open; that was still a great improvement to the ambience of the place.

 

I'd still like to see them spruce up the boarding areas. The Metra lower-level platforms are dim, dreary and dingy; the South Shore boarding area is mostly new, so it's nicer, but it's all sterile gray concrete and needs sprucing up somehow, and lighting with a less industrial feel. I'm thinking along the lines of the photos I've seen of overseas subway stations where the platforms are enclosed and colorfully tiled and have glass walls with sliding doors between the platforms and the track pits.

 

I know it's just maudlin sentimentality, but in a way I miss the seediness of the old station with its old-school food shops and vendors, and the open-air South Shore platforms, especially when waiting to board an Indiana-bound train at night. The reflection of platform lighting off shiny stainless-steel trains, with the backdrop of lighted towers and the sound of traffic coming and going, frequently punctuated with sirens, was a quintessential Chicago experience.

 

The platforms before Millennium Park - now that they're in a cave, something should be done to make them less claustrophobic.

 

 

 

Sweet pics, thanks Rob!

I completely agree.  The platforms are pretty depressing for the station being so nice.  They could start by adding a few more lights.

I added some photos from the open-air platform era to my post above.