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A gritty ride through the city's history and landscape.

Friday Mar 30, 2007.     By Kate Rockwood

Travel + Tourism Feed

For some, the CTA is a necessary evil, a down and dirty means of getting from Point A to Point B. But for anyone who has lived outside a city—where your options include either buying a car or waiting for a once-an-hour suburban bus—riding the rails can feel like freedom. No matter where you reside or how jaded you've become, many of us (born and raised suburbanites and urbanites alike) have a soft spot for the CTA. The Chicago History Museum's L tours are just the way to feed your inner train geek.

The second-oldest train line in the city (the first is the Green Line South, which was known as the "Alley Line" because it traveled over alleys), the Green Line West travels from the heart of the city, through the west side and out to Forest Park and Oak Park. After cruising along on the Green Line with a history-buff guide, one thing became abundantly clear: The train lines are even more of a living, breathing beast than you would imagine.

Sign me up: The two-hour Chicago History Museum L tours run every Sunday at 1 p.m. Each week covers a different train line: the first Sunday of the month is the Brown Line, second Sunday is the Green Line South, third Sunday is the Green Line West and fourth Sunday is the Blue Line. Tickets cost $15 ($10 CHM members) and include a one-day CTA pass.

Sites you'll see: Hopping on the Green Line at Lake and Clark, you'll zip along with your guide to Oak Park and back, with a stop to smell the roses at the Garfield Conservatory and another to admire the skyline and architecture at the Ashland Street stop. But the majority of your time will, indeed, be spent on the train and train platforms.

Golden nugget: Disembarking at the Conservatory stop to check out the tropical paradise inside the Garfield Conservatory is a real treat. The lush greens and warm heat will kick you into spring mode, and the on-site plant doctor can offer a few quick tips on how to heal your ailing spider plant. The tour's foray into the conservatory is woefully brief, but it's just enough to tempt you into returning later.

Who's da guide: Docents that volunteer at the Chicago History Museum lead the L tours, so they're typically extremely knowledgeable. Our guide rocked the absent-minded professor persona hard, with sheaves of notes in tow and a tendency to get so into train-talk that he'd lose track of our whereabouts on the line.

Fuel your tank: Even if it were permissible to nosh on a CTA train, odds are slim that you'd actually want to. Instead, load up before the tour on a hearty lunch of ooey-gooey quesadillas from Midtown Bar + Kitchen.

Snooze-fest or eye-opener: While taking a train may not be titillating, the conversations onboard will keep you stimulated, as tour guides happily answer questions just about anything. Always wondered why the Yellow Line is a dinky little tack-on to the main lines? When the lines became know by colors? Why some trains travel over alleys (Green Line South) and others over streets (Green Line West)? Now's your chance to find out.

Even locals will learn: Before the elevated train system moved into town, Chicago had the world's largest system of trolley cars in the U.S. during the 1880s. But transit riders in the 19th-century weren't any more immune to freezing Chicago winters than us modern-day whiners, and the trolley system stayed in business only about 10 years. It's also no surprise that the modern rail system reflects incomprehensive designs. Competing companies built and ran different rapid transit lines until 1947, when the Chicago Transit Authority took over the entire operation.

To find out more information about the Chicago History Museum L tours, visit www.chicagohs.org.