As a Loyola Alum I'll chime in. Its been a while since I was an active rider/student/resident of the Red Line but I'll give it a go...
When taking the Red line south to the Water Tower/Loyola's Water Tower campus/North Michigan Ave., get off at Chicago/State subway station. Michigan Ave. is three short blocks to the east following Chicago Ave. Loyola's Water Tower campus is right there at Pearson and Rush. Get off at Chicago, walk east to Rush and turn north. The actual Water Tower is there also at Michigan and Chicago.
The ride should take about 25 - 30 minutes and the current fare is $2.25. You can put $$$ on a transit card for multiple trips. There are vending machines in the stations...put in $10 for example and you get a card with $10 on it. Slide through turnstyle and away you go.
As for which side of car...what do you want to see? City? If so, side on the opposite side of the car when you enter...away from the Loyola platform. You'll have a good view of city life, Wrigley Field and the interchange at Clark where the Brown line meets up with the Red. I would recommend sitting on the side of the train that is against the platform. That way, you get city views, view of the tracks, trains going in the other direction and views of the stations.
As for sights...you'll be on a embankment/fill until Wilson. Wilson is an interesting station as it used to be the end of the line and a stop on the North Shore. Unfortunately the Wilson shop and yard burned down a few years back. From Wilson south it is four track elevated structure. Check out the nice views from the curve at Sheridan and see Wrigley Field at Addison. Once you pass Fullerton the tracks descend into the subway. Subway running is brief (about 5 - 7 minutes).
Since Wilson burnt down there aren't any shops to view along the way. However, a quick side trip would be to head north to Howard and view the action there. Its about a 5 - 10 minute ride north of Howard. There you can switch to a Purple Line to Evanston and even visit Northwestern University. The Purple Line runs through the Howard yard.
As for equipment, I would say mostly 2600's.
CTA Transit Fan
Chicago Transit Fan