It’s not too often that I take the CTA Red Line past Roosevelt, but whenever I do, I always make a point to give a mental salute to the massive hunks of rusted steel that smile back at me as the train pulls away from the Cermak Chinatown stop. The Two Towers have been taunting me since my arrival in 2009, but until about three weeks ago, I hadn’t gotten the chance to climb up and wipe that smirk off of those crusty fuckers. My encouragement spawned from an adventurous young lady who said she was up to the task, but when we came face-to-face with the 150-foot beasts, the girl changed her mind, opting to cheer from the sidelines instead.
I hopped over a few active Metra and Amtrak rails as I sprinted past what looked to be a guardhouse, and started to climb. After some nimble navigation of the massive X-shaped support beams, the stairs were within reach. In case of unfamiliarity, I should mention that the “Two Towers” is a vertical drawbridge system with active Amtrak lines running on the rails in the middle. What I didn’t realize was that the actual drawbridge function was active as well. I was taking this shot at the top, when for no apparent reason, loud sirens erupted from below, and the massive wheel in front of me started to turn.
The bridge (and subsequent control room perched in the middle) rose closer, and closer to the top. I frantically pack my gear, deducing that with no boats in sight I must have been spotted, and that some grouchy guard was raising the control room up to the very top in hopes of snagging a rabid terrorist. I only made it down a few steps when I heard the wakes of a small sailboat splashing the shoreline. The bridge was raised just high enough for the modest mast to pass through. Hooray! I wasn’t on the lam after all! Back on top, I proceeded to wear out my welcome, sometimes decadently stopping down to f/8 for exposures in the minutes.
I start to work my way down to the massive chains dangling from the southern tower, but I feel a call in my pocket. It’s the girl. She says that there’s a cop keeping her company who would love to meet me. I look over at the sidelines, and sure enough, there’s a cruiser there, lighting up the sketchy underpass with red and blue. Well, fuck. I hang up, and start to head down, but not before getting this shot, which I just couldn’t bear to leave without:
When the dreadful decent was over, the personal ridicule began. How the hell could I allow myself to be up there for over an hour? Why was I shooting with 160 ISO film? I should have brought my digital camera. I walk up as apologetically as possible, and proceed to suck up to a lone female officer. The girl is not in cuffs, but the first thing the officer says to me is “I’m supposed to arrest you right now.” I don’t know what this means. I just keep telling her how sorry I am, and that I just wanted some pictures, etc. “You know that’s federal property?” she says. I had no idea, actually. I thought this was owned by some rail company, or Amtrak, and had I known that I was treading on Sam’s property, I certainly would have thought twice. She interrupts me to ask for my I.D., and when she sees that my record is clean, she shoos us off into the night. On our way out, she warns us that if we were both up there, she would have had to climb up and get us, which “would have CERTAINLY put me in the mood for ARRESTS.” Back on the train, I couldn’t thank her enough for being so cautious… Although, maybe it would have been exciting to spend a first date in jail. Who knows.