I’m surprised that this made it through…
4 minute read
December 14, 2009, 7:48 PM
A friend recently referred me to a Dr. Gridlock column where Les Dorr Jr. of Frederick, Maryland wrote this:
Is Metro trying to increase public confidence by renumbering the 1000-series rail cars? I ride the Red Line every workday, and recently I’ve been aboard two very old, obviously 1000-series cars that had “4000” series numbers on the end doors.
Dr. Gridlock was very cordial about this accusation being slung at Metro, saying, among other things, this:
The 4000 series of 100 cars, built by Breda, entered service in the early 1990s. The 1000 series is scheduled to be replaced beginning in 2014. But the 4000 series also is reaching an important milestone: A midlife rehabilitation needs to be done over the next few years, at a cost of more than $1.5 million per car.
If I were going to fake a number in the Metro fleet, I would have picked something higher than 4000. Still, riders would see through it: The cars are very obviously showing their age.
Continue reading…Categories: DC area local news, WMATA
You know, I didn’t expect the “bellying” of the 1000-Series cars to be proven to be window dressing so soon…
5 minute read
December 4, 2009, 8:27 PM
You may recall that after the June 22, 2009 collision on the Red Line, where Rohr 1079 telescoped on impact, Metro decided to sandwich the Rohr cars in between cars of other series in order to allegedly protect them in the event of a future collision, which Metro called “bellying”. The idea was that in a collision, the newer rail cars, allegedly of stronger construction than the Rohrs, would take the force of impact and leave the Rohrs unharmed.
I said at the time that if Metro was going to put the 1000-Series cars in the center of consists, they should do the same for the 4000-Series cars as well, since the first telescoping incident in 1996 involved Breda cars. Others derided Metro’s decision to put the Rohr cars in the center of consists, calling it a public relations move to make the public feel safer, but providing no real safety advantage. After thinking about it, I tended to agree. Seems that the critics were proven right, though I think that everyone involved, from Catoe and right down the line at Metro, as well as the riding public, had hoped never to find out if the idea was a good one or a bad one.
In the wee hours of Sunday, November 29, Metro had its second collision of 2009 at the Falls Church Yard off the K Route (Orange Line) in Fairfax County, Virginia. What happened is that train 902, which was the final Orange Line train of the night, was returning to the yard, and getting into position to be cleaned by yard workers. As it was approaching its final position, it managed to collide with the train ahead of it. There were no fatalities, but two yard workers and the operator of train 902 went to the hospital, and were treated and released. Three cars were believed to be damaged beyond repair, though all twelve cars involved sustained at least some damage.
Categories: WMATA
Metro decides to close National Airport station over Labor Day weekend. Ummm…
3 minute read
September 2, 2009, 10:24 PM
So the big news today was that Metro was closing National Airport station over Labor Day weekend.
According to Metro’s press release about the closure, the work will involve a complete replacement of the Pentagon City interlocking, replacement of about 2,000 feet of track, maintenance of the aerial structure leading to and including National Airport station, and conduct fire line maintenance. The work appears to be preventative maintenance, and that’s a good thing.
However, the choice of weekends is not. Yes, this is fairly extensive work that basically requires a three-day weekend to complete in order to avoid major rush hour delays. However, choosing Labor Day weekend in particular to do it is a Bad Thing. After all, with it being the traditional last weekend of summer, people are traveling, and that means flying. And I’d expect that a number of people will have chosen to fly out of and into Washington National Airport. And Metro has cut the station serving the airport off from the rest of the system, closing it along with Pentagon City and Crystal City. Thus the line between Braddock Road and Huntington and Franconia-Springfield will be operating with trains, though who knows how, and then riders will have to take shuttle buses between there and Pentagon station, with stops at the closed stations. So in order to access Washington National Airport by public transit, people will have to take a shuttle bus.
Categories: WMATA
Themed subway cars. Now there’s an idea…
4 minute read
August 23, 2009, 11:15 PM
I was listening to the podcast of the August 1 broadcast of Car Talk, and they had this to say regarding public transportation:
Tom: I think we have to use your idea of – my brother has a brilliant idea. Not enough people use public transportation. His contention is that the people who run the public transportation business, subways and buses, especially the subway which we have here in the city of Boston. They try… they almost make it difficult for you and unpleasant.
Ray: They took all the fun out of it.
Tom: They took all the fun out of it.
Ray: They’ve sucked the life out of it.
Tom: Sucked the life out of the train. Like in Washington DC, you can’t eat a donut, you can’t drink a cup of coffee, you can’t do anything, you can’t spit, you can’t smoke a cigar… My brother thinks that all the public transportation systems should have theme cars.
Caller: Theme cars…
Tom: Theme. So that you can go in the “cha cha” car. And there would be band, bands in there, playing, people dancing, and…
Ray: Yeah, Xavier Cugat, would fit right in there!
Tom: Xavier Cugat! Or you could have the cigar-smoking car, or you could have… I mean, there’s no end to the number of themes that they could come up with, so that people would be fighting, paying hundreds of dollars to get on the train.
“Will play for tuition”?
3 minute read
July 10, 2009, 6:14 AM
You know, one thing I love about Dupont Circle is that you never know what you’ll see coming to/from the Metro. Today, coming back from the Metro, I ran into this scene:
Categories: Washington DC, WMATA
I saw this picture, and…
6 minute read
July 2, 2009, 9:32 PM
I saw this picture on the front page of the Express on my way to work this morning, and it scared the heck out of me at first:
Photo: Kichiro Sato/AP
A week after the accident, and…
3 minute read
June 29, 2009, 9:56 PM
Well, it’s been a week since Metro had its big collision, and this was my first day back on Metro since my four-hour commute, and after driving to work for the remainder of the week due to my not wanting to deal with the shuttle bus service. Monday was the first workday that the Red Line was running on both tracks, much to my delight. Metro may have its hiccups, but at least I can sleep on the way home from work when I’m taking Metro. Can’t do that in the car. Have to stay alert for driving.
And today was one of those days where I slept well on the way home. In fact, I don’t think I’ve slept this well on Metro in a long time. I had my iPod going, and I kind of leaned my head along the edge of one of the windows. And the reduced speeds (as a post-accident safety precaution) made for a smoother ride. I vaguely remember New York Avenue station, and then the next thing I knew, we were outside Silver Spring, where we were waiting for what felt like eternity due to single-tracking caused by a track jumper at Forest Glen. That single-tracking made me miss my bus, causing me to have to wait ages for a Y bus at Glenmont. Not fun.
Meanwhile, on Friday, Metro General Manager John B. Catoe held an online chat to discuss the accident. The Lunchtalk chats that Metro does were something that Catoe inherited from his predecessors, Dick White and Dan Tangherlini. However, I got the distinct feeling that Catoe really didn’t want to do this chat, and that his hand might have been forced in doing it. Usually, you can submit your questions in advance. Not this time. For this chat, questions could only be submitted during the chat. And then for a chat that was advertised as an hour long, Catoe bolted after 45 minutes, saying, “Unfortunately I have to move on to my next appointment,” as he signed off early. And he didn’t answer my question:
Categories: WMATA
After a four-hour commute, I am home.
5 minute read
June 22, 2009, 11:55 PM
Today was one of those days where I was glad to be home again after work. Metro had its deadliest accident in its history today, with six confirmed dead as of this writing, as two inbound Red Line trains collided between Takoma and Fort Totten stations:
Photo: Carole Watson (WRC)
Categories: DC area local news, WMATA
Now those are some serious-looking storm clouds…
< 1 minute read
June 10, 2009, 9:38 PM
So this is what my commute looked like from the moment we emerged from the tunnel north of Union Station:
If trains were planes?
2 minute read
May 15, 2009, 9:44 PM
I’ve been known to comment about Metro’s YouTube videos as being beyond corny, but this one was actually pretty good. This time, Metro did a spoof of the in-flight safety videos that the airlines do. Take a look:
Categories: WMATA
No more beautiful a day to get kicked out of the WMATA Rail Rodeo…
10 minute read
May 11, 2009, 8:05 PM
So Saturday was fun. I got together with Matthew Tilley, and we went to the WMATA Rail Rodeo at Branch Avenue Yard, went up to Dupont Circle (I had to stop by my office), and then checked out Amtrak’s National Train Day events at Union Station. The day didn’t go quite as expected, but we still had a lot of fun.
Starting out, of course, I picked Matthew up at his house. This would put my new GPS device, an early birthday present from my parents (thanks, Mom!), to the test. It did very well, and sent me on a very quick and easy route there, and one I would not have thought of – essentially the back way into Matthew’s neighborhood.
After I picked Matthew up, we got back on the Beltway, and rode over to Branch Avenue Yard to watch the rail rodeo in action. The WMATA Rail Rodeo, for those not familiar, is an annual event where Metro’s rail employees get to show off their skills in various competitions. The event is usually open to the public. I’d been wanting to go to the Rail Rodeo for some time, and this year, I finally did my homework ahead of time, writing Metro’s customer service department back in late February to find out the tentative date, and following up in late April to confirm that date.
Arriving at Branch Avenue Yard, we stopped at the security checkpoint at the gate, and indicated that we were here to see the rail rodeo. The security guard asked if we worked for Metro (we didn’t), checked my driver’s license, and waved us in. We parked, and asked a few Metro employees we found where the activity was. They weren’t too sure themselves. Okay, fine. We’re resourceful. So we went about finding out for ourselves. Matthew and I soon found ourselves in the shop building, where WMATA mechanics perform routine maintenance on the trains.
An appointment, and a trip to Shady Grove…
3 minute read
April 7, 2009, 8:09 PM
So today was interesting. I had an eye appointment today in Chevy Chase, and so I only worked half a day, and spent the other half going to the appointment.
I decided to try something different today as far as my commute, to see if a different method worked better. Since my appointment was a block away from Friendship Heights station, and work is at Dupont Circle, instead of taking the 51 to Glenmont and taking the train like I usually do, I drove over to Shady Grove and took the train from there.
First of all, the drive over to Shady Grove from my house wasn’t too bad. I know the way quite well, traffic was moderate and moving, and so I just kind of zipped over and found a parking space. Then I got Rohr 1068 going in. Now that was kind of fun, since I got to see a lot of stations I hadn’t been to since 2006(!). After all, same destination as always – Dupont Circle – but coming from the other way. So instead of my usual run of stations, I got to ride through the other side. It’s been a while since last I saw all of the four-coffer arch stations on the Shady Grove side of the Red Line, and even longer since last I saw the outdoor stations out that way. And it’s very strange hearing “Red Line to Glenmont” in the morning, I must say, since of course, coming from Glenmont, I’ve become accustomed to hearing “Red Line to Shady Grove” first thing, and hearing “Glenmont” means I’m coming home.
However, the fare was a bit of a shocker – $4.50! Ouch! It’s only $4.00 from Glenmont, you see, so this was an added hit. But then from there, it was business as usual, walking the rest of the way to work.
Categories: Personal health, WMATA
Friends don’t let friends wear mullets…
2 minute read
April 2, 2009, 9:26 PM
Categories: Family, Some people, State and local politics, Washington DC, WMATA
Happy birthday, Metro!
2 minute read
March 28, 2009, 4:56 AM
As of yesterday, it’s been 33 years since Metro first graced Washington with its presence. And I would say Metro had one hell of a birthday this year. According to Metro, a Red Line train derailed near Bethesda station, and the train being used to recover the first train subsequently derailed as well, causing a major delay on the Red Line for the evening commute.
So when I, walking to Dupont Circle station with our IT manager, arrived at the station, what a crazy scene it was, as the station was like mad crowded with people. As usual, my knowledge of Metro worked to our advantage. Rather than just guess at where to stand or otherwise randomly pick a spot, we stood right where a door was going to land. In the station on the Shady Grove side was a train that had just offloaded its passengers, because it was being turned to service the other side. Unaware of the derailment at the time, I thought that the train being turned was the cause of the delay. But no, it just crossed over to the Glenmont side just north of the station, and became a Glenmont train (I would have been royally PO’d if it had come into service as a Silver Spring train), which was packed to standing room right away. Though due to my knowledge of where to stand, we got a seat. That worked out, since I had a long ways to go. But amazingly enough, despite the major delay on Metro, on the Red Line, I got home on time. And for less, too, since I believe Metro adjusts the fares during major delays, since my normally $4.00 ride cost $3.35.
Categories: WMATA
Can I do the door announcement a little too well?
< 1 minute read
March 20, 2009, 3:07 PM
You know, my friends and coworkers say I can do Metro’s door announcement a little too well. So I’d like you to take a listen to my impression of Metro’s current door announcement:
And then compare this with the real thing, seen here on Breda 2007:
So what do you think? Is it a good impression, or do I do it just a shade too well? You be the judge…
Categories: WMATA