ABOUT THIS WEB SITE

I cannot remember a specific moment when I said to myself, "I am going to create a web site about trains and transit in Chicago." It is something I had wondered about doing for a while. But more importantly, I asked myself, "Can I actually do a web site?" But that question was answered, thanks to the wonderful "Dummies" series of books. So in June, 1996, I read "Creating Web Pages For Dummies". And later that month, I was "up and running".

Whenever one writes a book, it cannot be published until it is absolutely finished. And that printed version is final, at least for a while. A web site never has to be really "finished", but can be expanded, revised and updated. So I was able to start "small", but with enough material initially to make the site worth visiting. And I gradually expanded the content, including photographs for the first time three months later.

They say, that some of the most loyal consumers of a particular brand of product, are those who use Apple Mac computers. Prior to acquiring my own computer for the first time, I had sometimes used my father's Mac. And I did some volunteer work at the Information Services department at a museum, which also used Mac computers. So I became a loyal Mac user. One of the more controversial chapters in the history of public transportation, was National City Lines, and its anti-competitive practices in the conversion of streetcar systems to buses. And sometimes I make comparisons between National City Lines, and a certain dominating software company not part of the Macintosh Operating System.

In 1994, I acquired my first Mac computer, a Color Classic model. Which I have replaced with newer models as necessary. Most recently an I-Mac. For photos, I originally used the Kodak Photo CD system, which involved bringing film negatives to a photo lab and having the images put on CD's. But by the year 2000, scanners finally became reasonably priced for me to buy one. To prepare the maps and drawings, I previously used drawing applications bundled with the Mac computers. But Apple subsequently discontinued its drawing applications, and the independently marketed "EazyDraw" application was made available to meet the continued demand for a drawing application.

In December 2009, I acquired a new Kodak digital camera. And in 2012, I acquired my first I-Phone. And I have concluded that my I-Phone takes adequate enough photos for use on my web site.

So basically, anyone with a computer can create a web site. And just as with a new business, a new web site can be successful if it meets a need which is not already being met. Hopefully we are closer to the day, when rail and transit fans seeking interesting information for anywhere, can find what they are looking for on the web.

Bill Vandervoort