CTA Beeps . . .

Normally I try to get in the last car of the CTA (Chicago Transit Authority) 'L' train when I get on at the Addison Station, the one next to my house as I come into work. Today, for some reason, I opted to get in the first car, which means I walk down to the 'other' end of the platform. Since I usually go to the end of the platform where the last car would land, I normally don't here what I heard today.

As the train was just about to pull up to the platform, way at the far end, I (standing at the top end) hear this beeping . . . kinda like a 1980's beeper with a low amplitude, slow whine (beeeep, beeeep, beeeep, beeeep . . .) I thought, what the hell is that, a time bomb? So I walked up and down the track as the train pulled in, the beep was everywhere . . . weird, I thought. When I backed away from the tracks, the beep went away. I finally realized, the train tracks were beeping . . . at just a level that, if you happened to be attuned to using your ears a lot, you would here it. Ohhhhh . . .

It is a warning for the visually impaired . . . it says, with it's little beeps, the train is approaching. Sure enough, after the train pulled up, the beeping stopped.

Or, I could be just hearing things.

jason