Tracks of the Chicago L Book Project in Progress

As of October 25, 2025

Updated: October 25, 2025

Progress is moving along! The “progress bar” now shows about 25% complete. So far, I’ve finished 16 pages of detailed Chicago L track maps, covering:

• Linden to Clark Junction (just north of Belmont)

• Entire Skokie Swift (Yellow Line)

• Ravenswood Branch (Brown Line)

I’m still digging into the former switches and interlockings so I can accurately mark the gray dashed switches. My goal is to complete all the track map pages by the end of January, then move on to other sections, which will include:

• Introduction & Thank Yous

• Track & Signals

• Rail Control Center & Towers

• Traction Power

• Abandoned Stations and Lines

• Rolling Stock & Car/Yard Assignments

• Work Equipment & Yard Maps

• Historical Track Maps

• CTA Holiday Train

Excited to keep building this project...thanks for following along!

September 21, 2025

I’m excited to share that I’ve started working on a new book project: Tracks of the Chicago L

Why this project? Because I love maps, transit, and digging into the details that make each system unique. I’ve already spent years making track maps of the Sacramento light rail system, and after a lot of encouragement from family & friends, I decided to take on Chicago’s famous L.

A huge part of my inspiration comes from Peter Dougherty's excellent Tracks of the New York City Subway — a book that showed me just how fascinating and meaningful a detailed track map can be.

This project is about more than just maps — it’s about creating something railfans, riders, and history buffs can enjoy. My goal is to design a full track map of the Chicago L system, show how the lines connect and operate, and present it in a way that’s both accurate and fun to explore.

I’ll be experimenting with design ideas, typefaces, and how to best show tricky things like shared tracks, flyovers, and duck-unders. Most importantly, I want this to be a book people enjoy flipping through — with clean maps, clear details, and perhaps even some cool extras, such as popular railfan photo spots, transit-related businesses, museums, murals, and more.

This is a long project, but I’ll keep sharing updates as I go. Thanks for following along — and stay tuned for more!