The Loop
The southeastern corner of The Loop
Info
Type	Rapid transit
System	Chicago 'L'
Status	Operational
Locale	Chicago, Illinois, USA
No. A rapid transit, underground, subway, elevated railway or metro(politan system is an electric passenger railway The 'L' (variously and sometimes, styled "L" El EL or L) is a Rapid transit system that serves the city of Chicago (ʃɪˈkɑːgoʊ is the largest City by population in the state of Illinois and the American Midwest of the United States. The State of Illinois ( roughly ill-i-NOY is a state of the United States of America, the 21st to be admitted to the Union. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the of stations	9
Operation
Opened	1895–1897
Operator(s)	Chicago Transit Authority
Technical
Track length	2 miles (3. Chicago Transit Authority, also known as CTA, is the operator of mass transit within the City of Chicago, Illinois. 2 km)
Electrification	Third rail

The Loop (historically Union Loop) is the name given to the two mile circuit of elevated railroad that forms the hub of the 'L' rapid transit system in Chicago, Illinois. A third rail is a method of providing Electricity to power a railway through a continuous rigid conductor alongside the railway track or between the rails The 'L' (variously and sometimes, styled "L" El EL or L) is a Rapid transit system that serves the city of A rapid transit, underground, subway, elevated railway or metro(politan system is an electric passenger railway Chicago (ʃɪˈkɑːgoʊ is the largest City by population in the state of Illinois and the American Midwest of the United States. The Loop is so named because the railroad loops around a rectangle formed by Lake Street (north side), Wabash Avenue (east), Van Buren Street (south), and Wells Street (west). The surrounding area is also known as The Loop, although the use of this term predates the elevated railroad, coming from a streetcar loop constructed in 1882. Population According to the 2000 Census, 16388 people live in the Loop

Operations

A Brown Line train departing from Madison/Wabash

The Loop includes nine stations: Clark/Lake and State/Lake are on the northern leg; Randolph, Madison/Wabash, and Adams/Wabash are on the eastern side; Library and LaSalle/Van Buren are on the southern leg; and Quincy and Washington/Wells are on the western side. History Clark/Lake is a 'super station' consisting of two stations that have been merged into one History State/Lake station opened on September 22 1895 as part on the Lake Street Elevated Railroad's extension into the Chicago Loop that later became the north CTA Bus Connections 14 - Jeffery Express 20 - Madison (Owl Service 56 - Milwaukee 60 - Blue Island/26th (Owl Service CTA Bus Connections 1 - Indiana/Hyde Park 7 - Harrison X28 - Stony Island Express 126 - Jackson 151 - Sheridan CTA bus connections 2 - Hyde Park Express 6 - Jackson Park Express 10 - Museum of Science and Industry 22 - Clark CTA Bus Connections 1 - Indiana/Hyde Park 7 - Harrison 22 - Clark 24 - Wentworth 36 - Broadway CTA Bus Connections 1 - Indiana/Hyde Park 7 - Harrison 11 - Lincoln/Sedgwick X28 - Stony Island Express 126 CTA Bus Connections The Washington/Wells station lost all eastbound bus service when construction on Block 37 began and Washington bus routes were diverted to Wacker Drive In 2006 18,298,706 passengers entered the 'L' via these stations. ^[1]

Five of the eight 'L' lines use the Loop tracks. Two of the remaining three lines, Blue and Red, run underground through the center of the loop, connecting to loop stations. The Yellow line is the only CTA line that does not run on or connect to the loop.

The Brown Line and Purple Line (weekday peak hours only) enter from the north at the northwestern corner and make a full circuit in the anticlockwise direction. The Brown Line (Ravenswood Service of the Chicago Transit Authority Chicago 'L' Rapid transit system is an 11 The Purple Line of the Chicago Transit Authority is a branch line on the northernmost section of the Chicago 'L' rapid transit network The Orange Line enters from the south at the southeastern corner and the Pink Line enters from the west at the northwestern corner; both making a full clockwise circuit. The Orange Line (Midway Service, is a rapid transit line in Chicago, Illinois run by the Chicago Transit Authority as part of the 'L' system The Pink Line (Douglas-Loop Service is a rapid transit line in Chicago, run by the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA as part of the Chicago 'L' system The Green Line runs in both directions but does not make a full circuit, using the north and eastern sides of the Loop only. The Green Line (Lake-Englewood & Lake-Jackson Park Services is part of the CTA Rapid transit system known as the Chicago 'L'.

Two towers control entry to and exit from the Loop. Tower 12 stands at the southeastern corner. Tower 18 stands at the northwestern corner, which at one time was the busiest railroad interlocking in the world. In Railway signaling, an interlocking is an arrangement of signal apparatus that prevents conflicting movements through an arrangement of tracks such as junctions or crossings

Tower 18 at the northwestern corner of the Loop

History

Prior to construction of the Union Loop, Chicago's three elevated railway lines—the South Side Elevated Railroad, the Lake Street Elevated Railroad, and the Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad—each had their own terminal on the edges of downtown Chicago. The South Side Elevated Railroad (originally Chicago and South Side Rapid Transit Railroad) was the first elevated Rapid transit line in Chicago, Illinois The Lake Street Elevated Railroad was the second permanent elevated Rapid transit line to be constructed in Chicago, Illinois Charles Tyson Yerkes masterminded the linking of these railroads. Charles Tyson Yerkes ( June 25, 1837 &ndash December 29, 1905) was an American financier born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ^[2] The Union Loop was constructed in separate sections: the Lake Street 'L' was extended along the north side in 1895; the Union Elevated Railroad opened the east side along Wabash Avenue in 1896 and the west side along Wells Street in 1897; and the Union Consolidated Elevated Railroad opened the south side along Van Buren Street in 1897. Originally there were 12 stations, three on each leg of the loop.

The Loop in popular culture

The Loop has appeared in a number of films. In The Blues Brothers (1980) Elwood lived in a flophouse on Van Buren Street next to the 'L' tracks, and the Chicago Police car pile up was underneath the Lake Street section of the loop tracks. The Blues Brothers is a 1980 musical comedy directed by John Landis and starring John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd A flophouse (English doss-house or dosshouse) is a place that offers very cheap Lodging, generally by providing only ^[3] The lead character of While You Were Sleeping (1995) was a fare collector at State/Lake station. While You Were Sleeping is a 1995 Romantic comedy Film directed by Jon Turteltaub and starring Sandra Bullock, Bill Although set in New York City, a scene featuring elevated trains in Spider-Man 2 (2004) was filmed in the Loop. The City of New York Spider-Man 2 is a 2004 American Superhero film directed by Sam Raimi, written by Alvin Sargent and developed by Alfred

In The Matrix (1999), subway cars indicated their destination as "The Loop," as well as street locations given as Loop-related locations ("Wells and Lake")^[4]. The Matrix is a 1999 science fiction - martial arts - Action film written and directed by Larry and Andy Wachowski and

See also

• 1977 Chicago Loop derailment
• Chicago Central Area Transit Plan

References

1. ^ CTA ridership reports for 2005
2. ^ Chicago-"L".org
3. ^ The Blues Brothers - Chicago Filming Locations
4. ^ The Matrix IMDB entry