dendraphile ([info]dendraphile) wrote in [info]chicago_el,
@ 2006-07-26 09:20:00
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Current mood: sad
Current music:CLTV

This isn't Grand anymore
I got on the red line to head south to the Sox/Twins game last night, and as we approached the Chicago stop, the disembodied voice on the train said, "Chicago and State is next." No, I thought, please don't let it be true...

Sure enough, to my shock and horror, pulling out of the Chicago stop, the voice said, "Grand and State is next." Don't let it happen! I begged silently, but to no avail. As we pulled into the once grand stop, the once friendly voice mocked, "This is Grand and State."



It's the end of an era, my friends. And I for one am truly sorry.


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[info]miyu_sakura
2006-07-26 02:38 pm UTC (link)
I'm confused... what's going on?

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[info]evilphoenix
2006-07-26 02:41 pm UTC (link)
The voice used to call it just "Grand". So it would be "Grand is next", and then, upon pulling into the station, in all seriousness: "This...is Grand". It was enough for a small chuckle. I always used to like "This...is Chicago" too. Cause I'd be like...yeah? No kiddin.

Moving to Chicago on Friday :-)!

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[info]loki_jr
2006-07-26 02:50 pm UTC (link)
yea... exactly...

oh and by the by i didn't know you were part of this comunity hun... cool.

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[info]evilphoenix
2006-07-26 04:43 pm UTC (link)
Why would you know? I don't say a lot here. :-)

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[info]loki_jr
2006-07-26 05:02 pm UTC (link)
i should have been more clear, i ment the person who started the post, she's a friend of mine

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[info]evilphoenix
2006-07-26 06:43 pm UTC (link)
oic. :-)

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[info]wandering_fiona
2006-07-27 02:38 am UTC (link)
i know you!

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[info]miyu_sakura
2006-07-26 03:15 pm UTC (link)
Oh, I see, I see. Lived here all my life but never really noticed that.

Anyway, excellent choice of cities!

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Ah, the irony
[info]go4baroque
2006-07-28 07:24 pm UTC (link)
The ironic thing is that they added cross streets to the new announcements, but took them off the new maps... at least the Loop stops that used to have them.

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[info]interieur_mort
2006-07-26 03:35 pm UTC (link)
i was quite upset as well

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[info]yeahohahhh
2006-07-26 03:36 pm UTC (link)
What about Grand on the Blue Line? That used to be my destination for work (if I felt like walking a mile or waiting 30 minutes for the 8 Halsted). I would have to laugh if it said "This is...Grand...and Milwaukee...and Halsted."

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[info]herrgooch
2006-07-26 04:17 pm UTC (link)
I'm pretty sure it said 'Grand and Milwaukee' last time I rode past.

I'm waiting to see if the myraid of Western announcments (Brown, Blue, Blue, Pink/Blue, Orange) will change.

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[info]chi_thirdrail
2006-07-26 04:26 pm UTC (link)
It's just Grand and Milwaukee, Chicago and Milwaukee, and Division and Milwaukee on the Blue Line now.

I am a little surprised they are specifying more with the same-name downtown stops, but not ones out in the neighborhoods so much.

Especially on Blue--where there are 3 Westerns (or, well, I suppose only like 2.25, since only part of the day does Blue run on the Douglas now).

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[info]melanctha
2006-07-26 07:17 pm UTC (link)
That totally got me the first time I rode the train home from work after the change. After Grand, Chicago, and Division I was happy that the ambiguity would finally be cleared up. Then it reached just plain "Western". :/

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[info]mangiami
2006-07-26 03:57 pm UTC (link)
Oh no... this is so sad!!!

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[info]chi_thirdrail
2006-07-26 04:32 pm UTC (link)
Here--you can listen all you want here:

http://www.coppoletta.net/ctastuff/sounds/This%20is%20Grand.wav

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[info]fieldsclaphands
2006-07-26 05:41 pm UTC (link)
.....that just made my day. Do you have more recordings???

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[info]chi_thirdrail
2006-07-26 11:42 pm UTC (link)
Oh, I have a modest collection.

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Old manual
(Anonymous)
2006-07-26 06:04 pm UTC (link)
What I really want to hear is a recording of the old Racine Congress manual announcements. "[crackle crackle] ...RAY-seen, RAY-seen, change for the Douglas Blue Line. RAY-seen." Except that usually you could only hear 2 or 3 of those ten syllables, making the entire thing a hilarious exercise in futility.

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Re: Old manual
[info]chi_thirdrail
2006-07-26 11:55 pm UTC (link)
Yeah. I only have the automated one.

Although, who knows? Maybe they fixed it recently? They had him redo North/Clybourn, so now he says "cly-born" rather than "CLY-burn."

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[info]obscurethought
2006-07-28 06:12 am UTC (link)
you rock my socks :)

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[info]lost_on_belmont
2006-07-26 04:00 pm UTC (link)
Personally, I like that it says "This is Chicago and State." For people who are unfamiliar with Chicago and its transit system, this is a great benefit. However, "Grand and State" is just overdoing it. There's absolutely nothing funny about "This is Grand and State"!

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[info]dw_duck
2006-07-26 04:05 pm UTC (link)
Meh.

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[info]jeremaineiac
2006-07-26 05:00 pm UTC (link)
I was on the brown line last night going to yoga and it said "This is Chicago and *whatever cross street*" and it kind of surprised me because when I rode it last week it just said "This is Chicago." I've only been here for 2 months and even I noticed.

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[info]melanctha
2006-07-26 07:13 pm UTC (link)
Weird. I first noticed the "Chicago and Franklin" thing on June 27th. I thought it had rolled out with the pink line on the 25th.

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[info]strangelittlex
2006-07-26 11:55 pm UTC (link)
I hate that they say Chicago and Franklin because Franklin is not any kind of major cross street. You might as well just add random streets onto every other train stop also, it's not going to help anyone find out where they're going.

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[info]scarlet_wayne
2006-07-26 06:25 pm UTC (link)
Alright, then. It's clear what we have to do. We all must start using "grand and state" in place of the word "grand". For example, you step in a puddle, and sarcastically say, "Well, isn't this just grandandstate?! My new shoes are ruined."
Pretty soon, grandandstate will become a word of its own, and it will again be charming when we come to that stop, and the voice says, "This is Grand and State."

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[info]interieur_mort
2006-07-26 10:10 pm UTC (link)
lmao. definitely.

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[info]scarlet_wayne
2006-07-28 06:27 pm UTC (link)
My second plan was for everyone to all shout (but still in the pleasant-recording tone), "This is Graaaaaannnddd" extending the word grand over the part where the guy says "State".

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[info]strangelittlex
2006-07-26 11:55 pm UTC (link)
lol

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[info]scarlet_wayne
2006-07-28 06:28 pm UTC (link)
Thank you :)

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[info]isneezeii
2006-07-27 04:20 am UTC (link)
oh my gosh but the exertion for the extra syllables! how would i manage?

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[info]scarlet_wayne
2006-07-28 06:29 pm UTC (link)
Hmm... Oh! I know, we could work in my second idea (see comments above) for those who don't like syllables! Eh? Eh?

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[info]lost_on_belmont
2006-07-27 03:24 pm UTC (link)
Sounds like plan!

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[info]scarlet_wayne
2006-07-28 06:34 pm UTC (link)
Indeed! We'll have to specify certain circumstances, though, cuz I think things like "Grandandstate Opening!" or (at Denny's) "I'd like a Grandandstate Slam, please." and "Oh boy! I got a birthday check from my grandanstateparents!" would grow tiresome...

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[info]elisabethnara
2006-07-26 09:00 pm UTC (link)
I was rather upset at that as well. Nobody else seemed to understand why I'd care so much about the voice announcement, but it made me smile every time I heard 'This is Grand'. Heh.

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[info]whereinchicago
2006-07-26 10:48 pm UTC (link)
I thought the era ended when they introduced those automated signals eons ago?

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