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Marker Lights
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Marker Lights
For passengers, the most typical method of identifying trains and their routes is a roller curtain or run board displaying the destination or route. But for towerman, supervisors, and other operating employees (not to mention savvy riders), there's another way: marker lights.
Markers are sets of lights on the front of "L" cars that indicate what route the train is running. There are two sets of lights (one on the right side of the car, one on the left), each having four colors: red, green, yellow (amber), and white. Different combinations of these colors indicate different routes.
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Marker Light History/Operation | Marker Route Identification
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Marker Light History/Operation
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Northwestern
Elevated car 9 (top) shows the typical
marker-headlight arrangement for "railroad roof"
cars while Metropolitan Elevated car 842 (above)
shows how the markers and headlight were integrated
into the squared end of the clerestory on "monitor
roof" cars. For a larger view of NWERR car 9, click
here.
For a larger view of Met car 842, click
here.
(Photos courtesy of the Krambles-Peterson
Archive) The first company that seems to have used marker lights was the Metropolitan West Side Elevated, whose motor cars and controller trailers were equipped with them from the beginning. The Metropolitan had a myriad of different car designs, compounded by the free hand that shopmen apparently had in rebuilding damaged cars, but as far as roof design goes there were two main types. Nearly all of the Met's trailers and control trailers, as well as some motor cars had traditional "railroad" type roofs, a two-level roof with small windows in a clerestory that provided light and ventilation and whose ends curved down, tapering and blending into the lower part of the roof. Meanwhile, a good portion of the Met's motor cars (as well as the 2250-67 series trailers) had "monitor" roofs: a roof topped with a clerestory with square ends, looking perhaps like a coffin or box sitting on top of the roof. The railroad roof motors and control trailers had an elaborate set of hardware on the ends of the roofs that included marker lights and a headlight. The markers were four-sided lanterns, each side with a colored lens, that were mounted to the lower part of the roof, one on each side of the clerestory. A headlight was mounted in the front center of the roof on the sloping part of the clerestory. A horizontal bar ran between the tops of the two marker lights and connected to the headlight in between. The marker lanterns could spin on their mounting, allowing whichever colored lens needed to be used to be spun into the front position. The monitor roof cars, on the other hand, had their headlight and markers built into the squared end of the upper part of the roof. A single headlight was in the middle, while one marker lens was on either side. The color of the light behind the lens must have been changeable from inside the cars. Following the electrification of the first two "L" lines -- the Lake Street in 1895-96 and the South Side in 1897-98 -- the converted motor cars were given marker lights. By this time, their lines had some varying types of runs and were mingling with the other companies' trains on the loop so this type of identification became necessary for towermen. Both companies' fleets consisted entirely of railroad roof cars and a setup similar to the Met's was installed on the Lake Street's motorcars. The South Side's motorcars got the marker lanterns on each side of the clerestory but lacked a headlight or horizontal connecting bar. The South Side's lanterns, which also seemed to be smaller and have fewer lenses than the other companies' cars, were mounted on an L-shaped pipe that went directly into the side of the sloping end of the roof clerestory. The Northwestern Elevated was the last company on the scene and had the same marker-headlight arrangement as the Lake Street and Met railroad-roof cars, though in a slightly different assembly. The Northwestern's roof equipment was further complicated by the later addition of destination sign boxes in front of the roof headlight. These complex entanglements of roof equipment seem to have only lasted a few decades at most. In practice, they were probably overly complicated and a headache to maintain. The roof marker lanterns seem to have last only as late as the 1910s or 1920s. They were replaced by simple brackets on the corner posts of the cars on which colored rectangular marker paddles (for daytime use) or lanterns with colored lenses (for nighttime or poor weather use) could be mounted. This became the system standard and were also used on both the Baldie and Plushie 4000-series cars. Top: The
hatch on car 6101 to change the color of the marker
light at the floor line of the car. This one's
inside the control cab. There were identical
hatches in the cab in the ceiling and outside the
cab near the floor and ceiling on the left side of
the front of the car. For a larger view, click
here. The 6000-series and 1-50 series cars used the same type of markers. They were located in the same places in the car body and controlled identically to the 5000-series markers. The motorman set up the cab at the beginning of each run, so he was responsible for turning the color knob to the correct combination for the lower marker lights, and switching off the two red upper marker lights which indicated the rear of a train. The motorman was also responsible for turning the headlight on. If the train entered a terminal where the crew had to "swap ends" (instead of running around a loop-track in the yard), the motorman would usually turn off the headlight, turn on the upper red marker lights, and operate the knob(s) so both lower marker lights displayed red, while closing up the cab. Note, however, that it was officially the conductor's responsibility to insure the four marker lights at the rear of the train displayed red, and that the headlight was off. If a supervisor or "spotter" turned in a crew for improper lights at the rear of the train, the conductor had better not have said "But I thought my motorman had set them!" or he would have been in a lot of trouble! The opposite was true of the front of the train - that was the responsibility of the motorman. The 4000-series cars did not originally have electric markers, but the CTA retrofitted the cars with marker light units in 1953. The markers were put in two vertical oblong boxes on either side of the front door, below the end windows. Each box had four lenses, one of each light color. This represented a change in design from the 5000-, 6000- and 1-50 series markers, which had a single lens for all four lights. At the same time, the 4000s were given a single sealed-beam headlight on the roof, above the front door. To set the markers on the 4000s, there was a box mounted on the front wall of the cab, with two five-position rotating-switch knobs. (The fifth position was OFF.) On the 4000s, the same rules of responsibility for setting and checking lights at either end of the train held as on the 6000s. The High-Performance Family of cars, starting with the 2000-series, continued the concept of separate lenses for each marker color, but now had the lights molded into the end cap of the car. The eight lights were set along the top of the front above the end windows, four on each side of the destination sign. They were, from left to right, RED, AMBER, GREEN, LUNAR WHITE, <the destination sign>, LUNAR WHITE, GREEN, AMBER, RED. This design has been maintained through to the current 3200-series cars. The only exception were the 2200-series cars. These units still had the lights in two four-light sets on either side of the destination sign, but because the end windows extended nearly to the roof line of the car, the lights were actually mounted inside the car, against the window glass. In the High-Performance cars, the knobs that controlled the markers also automatically set the destination sign to the corresponding reading. Another innovation of the High-Performance Family was in the headlights. Starting here, the sealed-beam headlights and sealed-beam taillights became separate units, mounted next to each other on the front of each married-pair car. Previous to this, the taillights were formed by using the two red marker lights on the rear of the train. |
Above Right: The
control panel of a 2000-series car. The color of the marker
lights were controlled by the dials pointed to by the white
arrows. Each dial controlled one set of markers. These dials
are used on all High-Performance cars.
(CTA Photo) Left: The cab switch
panel in the early 6000-series cab. They changed very little
from this builder's view. The white arrows at the top point
to the four switches that turned the marker lights on and
off. The color had to be changed
manually. (Photo from the
Krambles-Peterson Archive)
As described above, the combination of two different colored lights indicates what route and/or class an "L" train is. The combinations have changed over time as new routes and stopping patterns have come and gone.
Excerpt from the Metropolitan "L"'s 1898 public route map, showing the different marker combinations their trains carried. For a larger view of the whole map, click here. |
Although the three original "L" companies -- the South Side, the Lake Street, and the Metropolitan West Side -- each had different patterns of service they operated on their own lines, it was less important for most to need to need to differentiate the trains clearly for towermen before they were all connected via the Loop elevated. The exception was the Metropolitan, which from the beginning had planned and operated a system that consisted of several branches, necessitating an easy way for the towermen to identify the trains from a distance and sort them efficiently. Interestingly, the Met even published their marker light system on their public maps (seen at right), allowing the passengers to take advantage of being able to identify the trains from a distance as well.
When the Loop was competed in 1897 and trains from different companies began intermingling, it became more important for each company to have a system of markers that would identify the trains for the towerman at each junction on and off the Loop. The Met continued to use their system, while the South Side and Lake Street companies initially just had one set of marker indications each. Red, white and green were the only colors used initially, and for many decades thereafter. The Union Elevated Railroad's 1898 Rule Book listed these as the marker combinations in use:
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Lake Street |
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South Side |
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Metropolitan Garfield Park |
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Metropolitan Humboldt Park |
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Metropolitan Logan Square |
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Metropolitan Douglas Park |
Sheet describing the marker lights of the South Side lines from Instructions for Trainmen in Connection with Through Routing, published in 1913 for employees. For a larger view, click here.(Graham Garfield Collection) |
As the South Side Elevated began to built branches, served both the Loop and their old, original "stub terminal" outside the Loop, and added an express track along part of their line, the need for a more complex system of marker indications was needed for their trains. The South Side used green-green for Jackson Park-Loop express trains, red-green for Englewood-Loop express trains, white-green for Kenwood runs, and white-white for any trains going into the Old Congress stub terminal. Any of these markers combined with a white lantern indicated a local train except for those going to Old Congress: here, the white lantern indicated an Englewood-Old Congress train (as opposed to a Jackson Park-Old Congress train). Stock Yards shuttle trains may not have needed markers, since they rarely ventured beyond their own line and separate pocket at Indiana station, but the Stock Yards-Jackson Park trains run in the mornings and evenings until 1949 was well-known among railfans and towermen for carrying blue plate markers, the only known "L" service to use marker colors other than red, green, or white (and later yellow) to indicate routing.
The Rules and Regulations of the Northwestern Elevated Railroad Company employee manual of 1900, meanwhile, stated that two red markers and a headlight indicated an express train while local trains carried a white marker on the right and a green marker on the left. Additional marker readings were added after the North Water Terminal, Ravenswood branch, and Evanston extension entered service. For instance, southbound trains terminated at North Water carried two yellow markers in addition to signs reading "N. WATER ST." on the sides of the cars.
By the 1920s, with four major divisions (the four original companies) and most of those with several branches, stub terminals just outside downtown, and various operating patterns, a more complex system of marker indications had developed. According to a memo from the Chicago Rapid Transit Company (CRT) Office of Superintendent of Shops and Equipment, dated July 1, 1927, concerning getting more marker paddles fabricated and painted, this was the system of marker indications in use at that time:
Metropolitan Division |
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Logan Square |
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Humboldt Park |
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Garfield Park |
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Douglas Park |
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Wells Street |
North Side Division |
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Evanston |
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Wilson Avenue |
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Ravenswood |
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North Water Street |
South Side Division |
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Jackson Park |
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Englewood |
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Kenwood |
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Old Congress |
Lake Street Division |
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Forest Park Express |
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Forest Park Local |
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Austin Ave Local |
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Hamlin Ave Local |
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Market Street |
The CRT's Rules and Regulations book of 1942 stated, as rule #77, that "the required set of signal lights, markers and a destination sign will be supplied for each train. The Conductor will be held strictly responsible for this equipment and for its return to the place provided for it, when it is no longer needed..." Furthermore, rule #79 stated, "Motormen and Conductors must see that markers, destination sign and headlights, when needed, are displayed on the front end of trains before leaving yards or terminals. Under no circumstances will markers be changed while trains are in motion..."
The CTA used marker light combinations for route identification from the beginning of their operation of the "L". Below is a chart, approximating a CTA document dated December 12, 1949 showing the marker combinations from that period. In addition to showing newly created lines like the North-South Route, it also shows the marker combinations for long gone routes like the Westchester, Humboldt Park, Kenwood, Normal Park, and Stock Yards lines. There's also information on CNS&M and CA&E trains. In those days, many trains were identified by hanging a kerosene lantern on the train door chains. The only cars with electric markers in 1949 were the four 5000-series units; the first of the 720 6000-series cars (also with electric markers) would be delivered next year and the retrofitting of the 4000s with electric markers was still several years away. (Thanks to Phil O'Keefe for supplying this document.)
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ALL A
& B ROUTES: MEANING
OF SYMBOLS: .SEO
X-4692 |
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One thing that is interesting to note about the above marker list is the absence of a yellow (amber) marker. Although the early roof-mounted marker lanterns of the wood cars and the 5000-series cars were equipped with an amber setting, it apparently was not incorporated into the "L"'s route identification system until April 18, 1954 when a new classification light system using amber color for first time came into use. By then, a larger number of cars (namely the 6000s and retrofitted 4000s) had the amber setting.
Below are the marker combinations for the CTA from the mid-/late-1950s. The chart is an approximate reproduction of a pamphlet issued by the CTA Training & Accident Prevention Department circa 1958 for motorman, towermen, and supervisors. (Thanks to retired CTA employee Peter Christy [Badge #23234] for supplying this document.)
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A few questions might immediately arise from looking at this document. It appears that there might be room for confusion because certain combinations are used more than once (e.g., both the Howard-Jackson Park "B" and Douglas-Milwaukee "B" use the Green-Green combination.) Although there are theoretically enough possible combinations to prevent the need for duplication, those routes with duplicate light combinations from the North-South and West Side Divisions never used the same tracks, and never pass the same towers, so there would be no chance for confusion.
Note that the card refers to settings for North Shore Line interurban trains. Not only did the North Shore Line use the CTA "L" tracks to reach the Loop and Roosevelt Road until it closed in 1963, but starting in 1942, "L" crewmen operated the North Shore trains between Howard or Linden and the Loop. (This resulted because because on January 31st, North Shore trainmen ceased to be members of the Amalgamated Association of Street, Electric Railway and Motor Coach Employees and thus CRT employees [who were still members] refused to handle the trains. Starting February 18th, an agreement was struck that "L" crews would operate the trains south of Linden for Shore Line trains and Howard for Skokie Valley trains. This arrangement ended July 1, 1953 for the Shore Line and February 1, 1954 for Skokie Valley trains.) Thus, not only did towermen and supervisors need to know NSL marker combinations until 1963, but for a time, so did motormen!
It might also seem confusing that some trains used the red-red marker combination for route identification, the same combination used for the tail lights at the rear of the train. Might a towerman be unsure whether such a train was coming or going? Not so! First of all, the headlight would be illuminated on the front of the train, identifying the front from the rear. Additionally, on the rear of the train, there would be four Red markers (2 lower and 2 up higher) and of course, no headlight showing. (On the 5000-, 6000- and 1-50 series cars, the four reds were made up of the four marker lights at each corner of the car's front. On later cars, two of the four red lights were the markers along the top; the bottom two were the separate, sealed-beam taillights.)
(A quick note on headlights: It was considered a serious no-no to leave a headlight burning at the rear of a train. Although it seems unlikely that anyone got time off without pay for that infraction, if you were turned in several times for doing so you might have to take a "retraining" ride with a Supervisor, and it would be on you permanent record.)
In 1969, the Lake Line was through-routed to the new Dan Ryan Line. It seems likely that the same markers shown above for Lake Street trains were retained for the Lake-Dan Ryan trains.
As time went on, routes were added, dropped, and realigned and stopping patterns were altered. The realignment of the Red and Green Lines in 1993, the end of A/B skip-stop service in 1995, and other alterations brought enough changes that it was eventually required to rework the Route Identification Markers. Beginning in 1993, the marker combinations were reconfigured as seen below. The chart is an approximate reproduction of a pamphlet issued by the CTA Training & Instruction Department:
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.......cta 183.20 (07/93) Training & Instruction |
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When the CTA introduced terminal-specific destination signs in 1996-97, the marker lights generally stayed the same, and were associated with generally the same routes and destinations as in 1993. The main difference was that on the Green and Blue lines, which had branches, the terminal shared by trains serving both branches (Harlem and O'Hare, respectively) and the (what would have formerly been) the "A" terminal (Ashland/63rd and Forest Park) shared the same marker lights, with only trains going to the "B" terminal (Cottage Grove and 54th/Cermak, respectively) having different markers. Previously, the "B" trains (or, post A/B skip-stop service, any train serving those branches) displayed the alternate markers in both directions. The change was due to the marker light setting being associated with specific destination sign readings, not a service pattern per se, and since trains departing either branch heading, say, to O'Hare would use the same destination sign setting they would display the same markers, regardless of which terminal the train was actually departing from. Additional short-turn destination sign readings were also added at this time, and most of these also had their own unique marker lights aspects, adding some additional combinations to the mix.
These are the marker light indications used between approximately 1996 and 2008, and the destination sign readings they were associated with:
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Red Line |
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Yellow Line |
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Howard, 95/Dan Ryan |
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Skokie, Howard |
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Wilson, Roosevelt |
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Purple Line |
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Green Line |
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Loop, Linden |
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Harlem/Lake, Ashland/63 |
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Howard |
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East 63rd |
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Loop |
Blue Line |
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O'Hare, Forest Park |
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Brown Line |
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54/Cermak |
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Kimball, Loop |
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UIC-Halsted, Rosemont, Belmont*, Jefferson Park* |
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Belmont |
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Extra Readings |
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Orange Line |
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Express, Not in service |
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Midway, Loop |
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CTA logo reading |
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Ford City |
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| * There were no destination signs for Jefferson Park or Belmont Blue Line short-turns at this time, but trains that ended their trips at these stations used white-white markers according to some sources. What signs were displayed is not clear. | ||||
In mid-2002, to help customers with hearing impairments identify trains that are given mid-line express runs, the marker lights for the "Express" reading were modified to be flashing white-white, rather than a steady white-white. This, along with the flashing red light inside the car next to the destination sign, helped differentiate these trains from Purple Line and out of service trains. This modification is also designed to help towermen differentiate these trains. When the white-white marker lights are flashing there is a noticeable clicking noise coming from the motorman's control panel, much like the sound of a turn signal on a car. The marker light modification to display flashing white-white markers began the weekend of May 18-19, 2002 on the Purple Line-assigned 2400-series cars at Linden and Howard Shops.
In spring 2006, Blue Line cars were equipped with new roller curtains with additional readings for the Pink Line, which began service on June 25, 2006. The first generation of roller curtains containing the Pink Link readings were only installed on cars assigns to O'Hare, Forest Park, and 54th terminals. For the Pink Line, white-red was chosen for the markers for two reasons: First, white and red pigments combine to make pink. Second, back in the days of the Metropolitan West Side "L", the markers for Douglas branch trips was white-red, the use of the markers for trips on that branch had historical precedent.
The curtains also had an additional interesting reading: a Green Line "58th" reading, in green text on a white background, apparently for a possible short-turn operation at the then-abandoned 58th station. Because this reading was never used in revenue service, it is not clear what the marker combination for it was, although green-white or white-green seems likely.
All of the other readings remained the same for the time being. The "54/Cermak" Blue Line reading was retained because initialled there were still O'Hare-54th trips during the weekday morning and evening rush periods.
Pink Line |
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54/Cermak, Loop |
The Green Line "58th" reading was short-lived, as the following year all cars received new roller curtains, and the "58th" reading disappeared.
In late April 2007, railcars began to be equipped with the new roller curtains. There were three versions of the roller curtain, with several readings appearing on more than one curtain type. The Red Line's primary readings -- "Howard" and "95th" (shortened from the previous "95/Dan Ryan" verbiage) -- were on all three. The idea was to equip some cars on each line with two or even three of the curtains so provide a level of flexibility if cars needed to be transferred between lines.
In addition to the changes intended to promote flexibility of car assignments, the curtains' graphics were updated to accommodate new train routings and short-turns. They were also designed to include readings for projected future services, like the proposed Airport Express service. At the same time, some marker lights were changed. Transition to the new roller curtains and marker lights was completed by fall 2008.
These are the marker light indications used beginning in 2007 through the present, and the destination sign readings they were associated with:
Red Line |
Yellow Line |
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Howard, 95th |
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Skokie, Howard |
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Roosevelt |
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Purple Line |
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Green Line |
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Loop, Linden |
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Harlem, Ashland/63 |
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Howard |
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Cottage Grove |
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Blue Line |
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.Brown Line |
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O'Hare, Forest Park |
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Kimball, Loop |
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54/Cermak* |
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Belmont |
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Rosemont, Jefferson Park, UIC |
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Orange Line |
Pink Line |
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Midway, Loop |
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54/Cermak, Loop |
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Airport Express* |
Extra Readings |
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O'Hare, Downtown, Midway |
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Express |
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Out of Service |
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At 2am on Sunday, May 19, 2013, the Dan Ryan branch of the Red Line was closed for renovation as part of the Red Line South Reconstruction Project. During that time, Red Line trains shared the South Side elevated with the Green Line trains. Red Line trains were routed to and from the South Side elevated via the old 13th Street subway incline located between 13th Interlocking in the subway and 17th Junction on the elevated. Red Line trains ran between Howard and Ashland/63rd, while Green Line trains continued running between Harlem and Cottage Grove (but discontinued service to Ashland/63rd). Some Green Line trains from Harlem were also short-turned at Roosevelt in the morning rush and around the Outer Loop in the evening rush due to limited capacity on the South Side elevated for both Red and Green line trains.
New roller curtains were only made up for the Red Line, which placed a new red "Ashland/63" reading were the red "Roosevelt" reading had been. The red 'Roosevelt" reading was changed to the yellow-yellow marker combination (although it was also left as the "95th" markers, since during the project both destination signs would not be used at the same time). The red "95th" and green "Ashland/63" readings stayed on the curtains but were not used. The new green "Roosevelt" and "Loop" (the latter returning after a six year absence) only existed as digital readings on the new 5000-series cars, while the Red Line trains short-turned at Roosevelt in the morning rush period also had to use 5000-series equipment to use the digital reading on those cars since that slot on the mylar roller curtains was now taken up by the red "Ashland/63" reading.
These marker light readings were added to all 5000-series cars, while the yellow-green "Ashland/63rd" reading was added only to those older cars (mostly just 2600-series cars) that received the roller curtains to operate that service:
Red Line |
Green Line |
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Howard, 95th, Roosevelt |
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Harlem, Ashland/63, Roosevelt |
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Ashland/63 |
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Cottage Grove |
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Loop |
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This continued until the work was completed and the Dan Ryan branch was reopened on October 20, 2013.
The Red Line Ashland/63rd reading and markers came back into use for two periods due to the $280 million 95th Terminal Improvement Project to expand and greatly improve the 95th/Dan Ryan Red Line station -- as construction continued on the new terminal, including foundations and structural steel work next to the tracks, track alignment work, and platform construction, CTA needed to close both the east and west platform tracks (at separate times), severely constraining capacity during rush and requiring a reduction in the number of trains in and out of the station. Select Red Line trains were diverted to/from Ashland/63rd during weekday rush periods; during most times, normal service via the Dan Ryan branch continued. The Red Line Ashland/63rd service was operated between April 3 and November 22, 2017, and again between July 30 and late 2018.
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Thanks to retired CTA employee Peter Christy [Badge #23234], Phil O'Keefe, and Roy Benedict for supplying additional information for this page.
