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Primitive iPod Abandoned On Bloomingdale Trail

By Samantha Abernethy in News on Jul 17, 2012 7:00PM

Chicagoist commenter and Flickr contributor BlueFairlane spotted this piano abandoned on the old railroad tracks of the Bloomingdale Trail. "People jog here all the time. I figure somebody who hasn't upgraded to the iPod dropped it without noticing," he said. BlueFairlane says he spotted it as he passed over on the Blue Line yesterday and ran back to take a closer look.

The piano doesn't work, though it looks like it might have recently. Some of the wood panels have been removed, and you can see the strings all seem to be there. The keys are stuck, though. I'm thinking it must have been there through the rains we had over the weekend, so the wood has swollen and frozen everything up. Sadly, I doubt it's salvageable, though if I had the space I might try it.

Earlier this year the trail got a corporate funding boost, and the rails-to-trails project is steadily moving forward. BlueFairlane says it's on the trail just south of Milwaukee Avenue, almost directly under the Blue Line tracks. Technically the trail is closed to the public, but we won't tattle if you trespass to get a closer look. We won't tell you exactly how to get there, but there are ways.