Yeah! I was so excited. I had yesterday off work, and I was coming home from having lunch with my cousin downtown. While walking down the stairs with all the other commuters, I heard the inbound train come in. Only this train sounded DIFFERENT. There was Christmas music. There was a friendly real person's voice saying, "come all aboard. all aboard now!" Was my ears hearing this correctly? Was this... was this THE HOLIDAY TRAIN!? Wasting no time, I zipped past the other commuters down the stairs and ran up the inbound stairs. My big boots clugging along the stairs. I could hear the real person's voice saying, "all aboard, all aboard!" As I got to the top of the stairs there was THE HOLIDAY TRAIN with the doors still open, so I hopped on. The CTA holiday train is truly a Christmas delight. Decorated all over the place. The seats, the poles, the lights, the windows, everything! A woman dressed up as an elf came over to me and offered me a candy cane which I happily took. The one very odd thing was how empty the train was. It was about 4:00pm on Thursday and the train was going downtown. So while the train was empty now, wow, that train was gonna be packed for rush hour. I was tempted to ride the train all around the loop. Although, I already spent 50 minutes getting home in the first place, I didn't really want to spend an extra 90 minutes to get home. I got off the train at Paulina. Five stops on the holiday train was enough to grab these photos. Although, in retrospect, I should have, because it would have been fun to see the commuters response to the train.

The present building was erected for the Savoir Vivre Club in 1775–6 and has been occupied by Boodle's Club since 1782–3. It is Grade I listed. Gentlemen's Club. 1775-76 by J. Crunden for the Savoir Vivre Club, with alterations by J. B. Papworth 1821-24. Brown brick with stuccoed ground floor, slate roof. Closely akin to the Adam manner. 3 storey pedimented centre with 4 storey single bay wings, basement. The wings have flanking Tuscan porch projections, that to left being the entrance. The centre on ground floor has bow window with glazing bar sash lights, added by Papworth, flanked by glazing bar sashes. Above a large central Venetian window fills the 1st floor inscribed within semicircular arch with Adamish stucco fan in-filling, the sash lights of the Venetian window divided by Ionic columns. Wings have recessed glazing bar sashes under flat gauged arches, set in through storey panels. 1st and 2nd floor plat bands, cornice over 2nd floor and small cornices below parapets of wings; cast iron balconies over porches, to Venetian window and to 2nd floor windows of wings. Cast iron railings to central area. Interior has relatively small staircase,with wrought iron balustrade, behind hall; the 2 principal ground floor rooms in line behind bow window decorated by Papworth. The grand 1st floor room, in Adam manner, with decorated panelled pilasters and columns.