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After Jake Blues's (John Belushi) release from prison, he and his brother Elwood (Dan Akroyd) learn that the church/orphanage they were raised in is to be sold to the Department of Education unless the $5,000 tax on the property is paid within 11 days. Now on a "mission from God", they decide to put their band, the Blues Brothers, back together and raise the the money by staging a big show.

The movie takes place in Chicago and the metropolitan area, so there's lots of shots of the "L". Below are a QuickTime movie clip and pictures from the film. Below that, there's a list of facts about the movie.

(All clips and pictures are © 1980 Universal Pictures)

QuickTime Movies

• 6000.mov (2.1MB): A green/white straight-door 6000 passes by Elwood's apartment.

A shot of the 6000s from 6000.mov and blues6.jpg.

Pictures

• blues1.jpg (52k): A 2400 passes by Elwood's apartment.
• blues2.jpg (60k): A look down the street under the "L" structure next of Elwood's apartment.
• blues3.jpg (61k): A 6000 passes by the window behind Elwood.
• blues4.jpg (54k): A 2400 in its original paint scheme passes by Elwood's.
• blues5.jpg (55k): The 2400 is joined by a 6000 in the same shot as above.
• blues6.jpg (71k): A train of straight-door 6000 passes in front of Elwood's apartment.
• blues7.jpg (82k): A shot of the dance routine outside Ray's Music Exchange, in front of an "L" station on the South Side main.
• blues8.jpg (76k): Close-up of dancing "L" passengers on the station platform from the above scene.
• blues9.jpg (76k): A Loop "L" station, probably on Wells Street, seen while the CPD are chasing Jake and Elwood.
• blues10.jpg (40k): The Bluesmobile turns south down Wells and goes under the "L" at the Merchandise Mart station, with the Chicago Police Department in close pursuit.
• blues11.jpg (44k): A view out in front of the speeding Bluesmobile, looking south down Wells Street under the elevated. The Chicago River is just ahead, the Merchandise Mart is on the right, and the Merchandise Mart station is up above.
• blues12.jpg (30k): The Bluesmobile continues speeding underneath the "L", but the CPD is moving in to intercept...
• blues13.jpg (40k): As the Chicago Police attempt to intercept the Blues Brothers from multiple directions, a pileup ensues when the brothers evade their road block.
• blues14.jpg (50k): The famous pileup of Chicago Police Department squad cars at LaSalle and Lake, under the Loop "L" structure.

Facts about the movie

• Every time we see the window in Elwood's apartment an "L" train goes past.
• The whole plot revolves around the church's back-taxes, but there is no property tax on church-owned orphanages in Chicago.
• The trains used in the film are straight-door 6000s in the Alpine White and Mint Green scheme and 2400s in their original scheme.
• Elwood's apartment is in a building on the south side of Van Buren Street in the Loop just east of the LaSalle/Van Buren station. The building may still be there. That block escaped a lot of the tear-downs that went on around it (when they built the jail on Van Buren & Dearborn, expanded the federal buildings north of Van Buren, et cetera).
• Thus, based on the above information, those were Ravenswood-assigned 2400s and 6000s pounding past on the elevated.
• Ray's Music Exchange is somewhere along the South Side main line between 43rd and 51st, again judging by the "L"'s design and architecture.
• The cars that go by Elwood's apartment window are 6000s and 2400s, but in 1980, neither of of these series were assigned to the Lake-Dan Ryan; this routed was operated by 2000s and 2200s.
• The big pileup of surplus Chicago Police Department squad cars (mostly Dodge Monacos) was staged at LaSalle and Lake, under the Loop "L" structure. In the time leading up to the shoot, the CTA management was very nervous about the whole thing (possible damage to the structure, etc.). This was one of the first times they had worked so extensively with a movie company. The issue of cooperating with the movie company was pushed on them by City Hall, who wanted some good advertising, exposure of, and PR for Chicago.