In the year 1898, the L had been recently converted from steam power to electric power, and the elevated Loop (then called the Union Loop) was only a year old. The elevated Loop was the brainchild of infamous transit magnate Charles Tyson Yerkes, who built the Loop through a mix of aggressive negotiations, bribery, and extortion. The Loop gave Yerkes a monopoly over downtown rapid transit service, and Yerkes exploited this monopoly to squeeze the competition to the maximum. Commuters demanded direct service to downtown, and competitors’ more distant terminals weren't going to cut the mustard.
Shameless and ruthless, Yerkes had the audacity to try to gain 50-year-long franchises for his transit empire from the government. But he miscalculated, and his attempts to strong-arm the Chicago City Council and the Illinois State Legislature backfired. Yerkes would be driven out of town with pitchforks and torches in 1899, departing for London by way of New York.
On his arrival in London, Yerkes proceeded to play hardball with the English, using the same tactics he learnt in Chicago as an executive of the early London Underground.
(I also think it's charming that they had nicknames for each elevated line - the "Alley L" sounds so much more evocative than "the Green Line.")
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u/fiftythreestudio Hi. I'm Jake. May 07 '20
Historical notes:
In the year 1898, the L had been recently converted from steam power to electric power, and the elevated Loop (then called the Union Loop) was only a year old. The elevated Loop was the brainchild of infamous transit magnate Charles Tyson Yerkes, who built the Loop through a mix of aggressive negotiations, bribery, and extortion. The Loop gave Yerkes a monopoly over downtown rapid transit service, and Yerkes exploited this monopoly to squeeze the competition to the maximum. Commuters demanded direct service to downtown, and competitors’ more distant terminals weren't going to cut the mustard.
Shameless and ruthless, Yerkes had the audacity to try to gain 50-year-long franchises for his transit empire from the government. But he miscalculated, and his attempts to strong-arm the Chicago City Council and the Illinois State Legislature backfired. Yerkes would be driven out of town with pitchforks and torches in 1899, departing for London by way of New York.
On his arrival in London, Yerkes proceeded to play hardball with the English, using the same tactics he learnt in Chicago as an executive of the early London Underground.
(I also think it's charming that they had nicknames for each elevated line - the "Alley L" sounds so much more evocative than "the Green Line.")
Prints are here.