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This article appeared in the Home Owners' Association "Westchester News" in March 1950.  The shut-down of the Westchester "L" began with discontinuation of service south of the Roosevelt Road station and, in 1951, the whole thing went down not long afterwards. 


Guest Speaker

George F. Nixon, one of the popular builders here in Westchester, came out to speak at the Village Board meeting of February 14.  An invitation was extended to Mr. Nixon by our village president, Mr. Petersen, to address the Village Board and interested residents who attend these bimonthly meetings.

Mr. Nixon was asked to talk on the present transportation situation, namely the present stand of the CTA in regard to the Westchester "L".  "We all know that Mr. Nixon is a County Commissioner and is able to get to the bottom of many controversies that are of public interest - such as transportation."  Mr. Nixon expressed an opinion that he had formulated by various meetings with the executives of the CTA.  The Westchester "L" will not be discontinued in the near future as the rumors have indicated.  However, he did state that there would be a curtailment of service between the morning and evening rush periods.  That we can expect.  It was further pointed out that the citizens, not only of the Westchester but of all villages that are being served by the Westchester "L", must take a more vigorous attitude towards the "L" service and make better use of the service it now offers.  Mr. Nixon mentioned in his talk that peoples lives are regulated by habits, and the fact that we are in the habit of driving downtown everyday in our automobiles certainly hasn't increased the number of passengers, which might in turn, give the CTA a better idea of the value of this particular spur that serves the western suburbs.  It was proposed by Mr. Nixon that a committee be formed that would be made up of representation of the neighboring villages served by this particular line.  This committee should work along with the CTA in publicizing the advantages that the "L" now offers and also make suggestions to the CTA on how they could improve their service, thus giving them a larger number of riders.

At the conclusion of Mr. Nixon's talk, who, by the way, answers many interesting questions asked by members of the audience, it was felt by a great many of these people in attendance that such a committee should be voiced immediately, not only for the purpose of publicizing the CTA and the service it offers, but also to act as a watch-dog on future developments in regard to transportation.

Mr. Lesak, a member of the audience, mentioned that if the "L" should discontinue its operations in our village, out property would immediately drop $1,000.00 in value.


The Mr. Lesak mentioned in the last paragraph of the article is Mr. Edward Lesak.

Last Modified:  06/01/2006