CHICAGO HEAVY RAIL
Manor Ave. Crossing

Chicago is like no other heavy rail system in the country in that it has retained various zones where its rail routes cross city streets at grade.  The locations are guarded with gates and lights and warning signs -- signs speaking to road and third-rail hazards -- but all in all it seems very quaint and peculiar.  The outer portion of the Brown Line is the first of four such zones to be encountered in these pages.

This train is traveling due west.  The Francisco station, from where the photo was taken, is on the other side of the Manor Ave. street crossing.  The route here runs mid-block between Eastland and Leland Avenues, two quiet streets which dead-end a bit ahead, routes blocked by the North Branch of the Chicago River. 

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