GOING LIVE FROM THE THIRD RAIL.

The Chicago Transit Authority is converting the Skokie Swift to operate entirely as a traditional rapid-transit line, with a third rail providing the electricity to the cars.

The 23,000 feet of contact rail going in along the Skokie Swift is a new aluminum composite used in Europe but just making its way into the United States transit industry. The composite material is easier to handle, install and replace than the heavier contact rails currently used elsewhere on the system. The new rail weighs approximately 450 lbs. per section compared to the older aluminum clad and solid steel rails, which weigh from 1,400 to 1,900 pounds. CTA has all three types of contact rail on its system.

Thus endeth the tradition of changing power collection, on the fly, from third rail to overhead wire. The Metro-North New Haven lines still perform this stunt, going from the old New York Central to the old New Haven routes.

Appropriately, the last call for this tradition involved the use of trolley poles (it is a bit of a challenge to pay out a rope to guide a pole onto a wire, rather than to push a button and raise a pantograph)

on the Chicago Transit Authority's historic train, which the Central Electric Railfans' Association chartered for a farewell to the overhead wire. The historic train crew handled the changeover as proficiently as the North Shore Line once did.

Speaking of the North Shore Line, check out this tribute, which includes some information about rails-to-trails in Greater DeKalb.