I know of several pilots waiting to swap for a Chicago base, but have been told it is not going to happen for some time. I suspect with Dallas and Altanta flying coming this year, there might be an overall evalualtion as to crew bases.
You cannot jumpseat on the freighter in the traditional sense. You can, however, arrange to stay on the airplane in certain circumstances if it continues on to somewhere you want to end up. For example, if you operate ANC-JFK, and the airplane continues on to ORD, you can arrange to stay on as a passenger to ORD provided it is approved by crew control. You cannot however, show up in JFK on a day off, and hop a ride to ORD.