The faregates at the northern entrance. Word of caution to filmmakers - do not try to film and tap into the CTA at the same time. No fare evasion was committed here, even though Caleb did hop the turnstile.
The adventure continues! Yes, there’s a gap in the story skipping over a few sites, but don’t worry about that. The three of us were at Hamburger University (which is the McDonald’s headquarters) when we read out our next clue. We were headed downtown to the Sears Tower (no Caleb, it’s not any other name). The closest L station to Hamburger University is Morgan, on the Green and Pink Lines. As I was new to the city (well, I still kind of am), this was my first time riding on that section of the L west of the Loop.
Morgan is a newer station on the system. There was originally a Morgan station way back in the day from 1893 until it closed in 1948 due to low ridership and stop consolidation (well that’s five minutes of research). There was a station located at Halsted two blocks east of Morgan to serve the neighborhood. That station closed when the Green Line was renovated in the 1990s, and this neighborhood was in a gap along the Green Line for nearly twenty years, when the current Morgan station opened in 2012.
This station definitely looks like it’s new. It’s clean and sleek, and has a glassed-in walkway over the tracks for easy transfers. Funny enough, there is a missing panel of glass in there that was still there a couple of weeks after my first visit. My only gripe with this station is what happens if you enter the wrong entrance. There are two entrances (maybe more, but definitely at least two), one on the north side and one on the south side of the station. Each entrance is signed for the respective direction, so the entrance we used was for 63rd and Loop-bound trains. However, there is a free transfer to the opposite direction using the previously-mentioned bridge. If you use the wrong entrance, you have to go up the stairs to the platform level, walk down the platform a bit to the separate set of stairs that take you to the overbridge. (Adams/Wabash downtown is like this, but you can transfer both above and below the tracks there). Oddly enough, this may be bypassable if you use the elevator, I didn’t check, but I think all three levels are served by one elevator.
The faregates at the northern entrance. Word of caution to filmmakers - do not try to film and tap into the CTA at the same time. No fare evasion was committed here, even though Caleb did hop the turnstile.
The steps from street level to platform level. I think at the top of this image is the separate staircase to the bridge level (I need to return to check I guess).
Looking east along the platform.
Looking west along the platform. So do you know the “I like trains” gag from asdfmovie? I hope you do, because that’s where Stormy recreated the iconic gag with the CTA.
Posted: Oct 12, 2022 15:52
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