My Last Flxible Ride

Hello, well yesterday, the 2ND day of February, 2010 was indeed a sad day. I took what will most likely be my very last ride on a Flxible Metro transit bus, in the city of Chicago & most likely the last time I will ever get to ride a Flxible Metro. Of course, there is always the slight chance I can make it to another city that still operates Flxibles, I have a better chance of riding one at a bus museum. I hope that I can make it to one that has some Flxible Metros, that would be great! Anyway, I went to Shedd Aquarium & after going there, I took a New Flyer Artic, to catch an Orange Line train to Midway Airport, my plans were to ride a Flxible on the 55 or X55 routes but, instead I rode a Flxible on the X54 Cicero Express. FLxible Metro 6045, nice long ride from Midway to Jefferson Park Blue line station, it was a nice ride. It was sad to have to leave the bus, but apparently the CTA is not as friendly when it comes to riding the bus from the beginning of the route, to the end of the route, & back to the beginning, or what I call "Riding Around" like Transpo is. I was pretty pissed off, but came to accept this & decided to stick around the station for about 20 minutes, taking pictures of the buses as they pulled into & out of the station. I saw some more Flxibles & other buses. Finally, I took the Blue Line Subway to Clinton station & walked to Union Station. Along the way to the station, I took more bus photos & saw a few Flxibles in downtown, after staying outside for about another 20 minutes, or so, I finally went inside the station, I proceeded to the ticket counter & was shocked when the agent, asked me about my Flxible hat, which is rare! He asked "is that the same Flxible that made buses", I said "yes" & we talked for about 5 minutes, he apparently grew up riding on CTA buses, the older Flxible-Twins, & New Looks. After getting my ticket, I ate at Gold Coast Dogs & then waited to board the train & at around 6:25 or so, boarded the train, The Capitol Limited. That is all! Hope you enjoy my blog!

Riding buses in Chicago

Hello All, I should have put something about this topic on here a while ago! I live in South Bend, Indiana, this is nice because the great City Of Chicago is about a 2 hour drive or a 2 1/2 hour or so train ride from here! I like to try & make it to Chicago at least once a year, last year I set a record, I went to Chicago about 5 times, I think that is all. I looked through my photo albums & the dates I went to Chicago were: 1-31-09, 2-28-09, 3-1-09, 9-15-09, & 10-2-09. On the September & October Trips, I did ride on a Flxible Metro each time. About the CTA's fleet, they once had 800 Metros, the number is down to around 275, they were built in 1995 & will soon be retired. When I rode a Flxible on September 15th, 2009, I swear I damn near started to cry, I was so Happy I was able to ride one! Why did I almost cry, Well Because like I said, I grew up riding flxibles in South Bend & Mishawaka, so the Flxibles mean a lot to me! Anyway, I was in Chicago for the Bus Con Expo @ Navy Pier, after leaving there, I took an Orange Line Train to Midway Airport, then went to the bus station, I waited about 20 minutes just to ride a Flxible! I was waiting for one to pull in as a 55 or X 55 garfield bus, of course numerous New Flyers were running those routes, I said I have all the time in the world, to wait & I did! Then a Flxible came, 6303, one of the last ones in the order, the last one being 6329! I was happy, I rode a Flxible to the corner of 55th & Lake Park in the Hyde Park area, ate at a Pot Belly's sub shop, great food, better than SUBWAY! Then I took the South Shore back home. I also rode a Flxible on 10-2-09, I'd have to say that this poor bus was in bad shape, I rode through some pretty rough areas as well, I did not care though! Then hopefully on February 2nd, 2010 I ride one last Flxible, before being retired on or around the 7th.