F40CFan wrote:sipes23 wrote:I'm nearly alone in referring to Ogilvie Transportation Center as North Western Station, but I'm sort of cranky about that particular point. People look at me. I'd say that most people I hear name it call it one of three things. Ogilvie, the train station, the Chicago train station. For most travelers, they only ever use one of the downtown stations, so "the train station" is good enough.
On the L, I'd say that nearly everyone uses the colors. I'm old enough that Ravenswood makes sense when someone says it, but hardly anyone does.
I agree, it'll always be North Western Station. In addition, I ride the Milwaukee Road West Line to Union Station. As for the 'L', I still think of them by their names/route designations; North-South, West Northwest, Ravenswood, etc. When someone mentions the color, my mind translates them automatically into the old names.
F40C and S23:
I agree with you both here - I am one of those now middle-aged people that learned how to navigate
and use the CTA system by their established route names - I am now resigned to using the color names
reluctantly now that they themselves have been in use since 1993...
For me it is personal bringing back many memories of my Chicago "visiting years" of 1973 to 1988...
I think of two songs by the band Chicago: "Take Me Back to Chicago" and "Old Days"...
I remember how North Western Station was re-named for former Illinois Governor Richard Ogilvie which
was no doubt political in nature but I would feel different if the North Western (or Madison Street) Station
building had not been torn down and replaced with a modern office building...
I will also mention Metra Electric and the South Shore Line's Millenium Station which was once known as
many here know as Randolph Street Station - I would have titled this "Millenium Station at Randolph Street"
or something similar to retain the established name alongside the new name...
Has there been any thought of renaming any rail station or terminal in the Chicagoland region by the sale of
naming rights?
I give METRA credit for retaining to some extent the old railroad names for many of their routes and they
certainly did the right thing by designating colors for each route based on historical colors of ancestral
commuter railroads that would evolve into what would become the METRA system...The South Shore Line
to northwest Indiana under NICTD has also retained and uses the old South Shore colors and logo...
In closing the names and designations for rail routes and stations may change but the memories that you
have will always be there...
MACTRAXX
EXPRESS TRAIN TO NEW YORK PENN STATION-NO JAMAICA ON THIS TRAIN-PLEASE STAND CLEAR OF THE CLOSING TRAIN DOORS