And what about trains?

Automatic Washer - The world's coolest Washing Machines, Dryers and Dishwashers

Help Support :

Metro in DC first used Budd cars-then bought cars and equipment from Breda-in Italy.Metro bought the last Budd cars that were built-then they just made only truck and bus bodies.Its so strange-with subways starting to become popular Budd went under -they were the major supplier of subway cars in the US.
 
BART is a good system, competently run. Would be better if it ran 24/7; as it is, it shuts down shortly after midnight, which makes it impractical for late-night recreational travel.

However nothing beats the NYC subway system, with a station within a few blocks of anywhere, and 24/7 service. I've never felt unsafe on the system even at 3:00AM with one or the other end of the trip in a slightly sketchy part of town.

The problem with urban light rail systems, of course, is crime, particularly in the late hours. The solution to this is to have video cameras in the cars, and seating areas that are marked off as being directly in the best view of the cameras, and signs reminding the passengers that the police are watching these cameras live all the time.

Stations also need to have public WCs that are fully operational, safe, and private. News-stand concessionaires could be put in charge of monitoring these to be sure people don't leave them a foul mess, and people who do so should be arrested and thrown in the tank overnight.

---

Re. the other topic: I wash my hands before leaving every customer's site, and upon getting home each night (as well as the usual routine after using the toilet and before eating).

What I would do about doctors who don't wash hands after using the toilet: put up a sign in the loo (printed in a suitable font, e.g. Helvetica Bold) saying "If you don't wash your hands after you pee or poop, someone nearby will remind you in a sufficiently loud voice that you will be seriously embarrassed. We don't want your fecal coliforms, thank you. And don't say you weren't warned."
 
MBTA

When I worked in Boston, I used to watch the "T" trains go about and wish I could've worked somewhere downtown where I could ride the train. I also had a small job shuttling people (The "Monster Bus") from Monster.com's hq in Maynard, MA to the train station. It was so fun to see the commuter train pull in and pull out.

I have ridden the SEPTA train in Philadelphia quite a few times to my cousin's house. It starts underground in a dark tunnel but soon it emerges and you get a grand view of the ghetto :-( .
 
New Yawk New Yawk

Toggle, if me and the honey wants to go to NYNY, I"ll give you a shout and we'll take the grand tour, but you have to include Coney Island. MUST RIDE THE CYCLONE AGAIN!

And the train hobby does have ties with the coaster hobby, which I also love.

Coasters, washers, and record players.

OH, and Helen too hehehe.
 
Oh, yeah, I've ridden the "subway" in Boston, too. More like the old streetcars in San Francisco, they were. Or they used to be, back in the 70's. When I visited Boston again in the 90's, they'd all been replaced with Japanese-made cars. I think MUNI in SF runs Japanese or European made streetcars now, too. They sold the old iron monsters to... guess what... Mexico and South America. Too bad... they said they were getting too expensive to maintain, but I think they probably could have run forever. Then they decided to bring them back, but had to buy them back and refurbish them. Now they run as antiques up and down Market street, along with examples of other types of streetcars, some of which are much like the famous wooden cable cars that still run, albeit at a hefty markup in ticket price. I remember when it didn't cost any more to ride a cable car than the rest of the transit system. Last time I hopped on one, it was something like $4. I said "no thanks" and hopped off at the stop, hanging off the running board, in true SF style. But I still enjoy the smell of scorching wood from the crude brakes on these things.

Sigh.
 
Yes, please do.
My home is open to washer club acquaintances & friends.

Pay no attention to the screen persona. There is a decent human being under the facade.

As far as hospitality and cleanliness of the premises goes, I have good references!

(REMINDER: Uhm, we are not here discussng the mind......)
 
I've noticed that the newest metro-rail cars don't have the signature buzzing noise from the PWM's like the old ones do. WMATA has refurbished some of the original american made ROHR cars that were put in service in the mid 70's. They contain plaquards on the front that they are the "Metro-rail Originals" When they restored them, they even kept the color schemes the same inside. They are, like I said, missing the signature buzz that they were known for. The Breda cars you describe were bought a few years later after the service was extended for it's first time. The latest subway cars just recently placed into use I believe are built by Kawasaki. I could say I rode a Kawasaki to work, and it would be the truth! WMATA has placed cameras all over the stations, they are pretty closely monitored these days. New York's subway system has replaced the old "Redbird" R16 trains with new ones from Bombardier

Suds, I rode on the BART a few years ago, and I can definitely say that it has an odor problem. I actually find the smell of some subways rather pleasing...ozone, hot grease and oil usually dominates the smells on most subway trains, but BART smelled of rotten food and B.O. It has the same problem that Atlanta's subway has...it's just not big enough to do an effective job.
 
Well, there are an increasing number of cameras on BART trains, to help combat the various problems. I have a friend who works for BART, and she says you wouldn't believe what people do in the cars. Human feces, food, urine, you name it. I haven't ridden BART for about a year now, so I don't know if it's gotten any better. But I think washable/hosable car interiors would go a long way towards making the cars more sanitary. Even the freshly cleaned upholstered cars smell bad - a combination of disinfectant, deodorizer, and the rank scum still embedded in the fibers.
 
For Metro-was it ROHR-must of been instead of Budd-the other subway car builder-don't think they make subway cars anymore either-interesting how the subway cars are IMPORTED today.Whats the Kawasaki cars like-I only remember the Breda.Last time I rode Metro was in 1999.Than got transferred to greenville,NC--beleive its going to be a LONG TIME before I see a subway here!!When I talked to a Metro employee on one of my rides-he mentioned all of the older cars were converted to AC traction like the Breda cars-they even got the equipment for the conversion from Breda-and made the conversions in house-admire METRO for that-also they have a dept that refurbishes buses.Also when I rode Metro was kinda fun to see the substations for converting the commercial AC power to the "third rail" power.They didn't have the cameras and security when I rode it-thats 9-11 for you.Oh- another thing-for you subway riders-you may want to be careful about putting anything that contains magnetic medias on the car floors--on one of my Metro rides I was watching a paper clip that was on the car floor---it flipped up and danced slightly when the train accelerated and deaccelarated-nice strong magnetic feild there-probably the motor reactor in the VFD drive for the motors.Was not over the wheels.Would bet the traction motors would put out a good mag feild as well.also the Metro fellow told me that any seats that were "Graffiti" were removed and discarded.He mentioned that some of the paints the artusts used were impossible to clean off.
 
That's a fun trick that our friends did up there on the metro-rail. One time, we got on a metro-rail train, and poured out a box of paper clips onto the floor. When the train started up, I sat there with the cam-corder taping the the dance that the paperclips were doing. I'll hafta dig that tape up and digitize it. It's quite funny, especially the reactions of the other riders when they were moving on their own. When the driver would apply power, they would bunch up, and then when he started braking, they would fly apart, almost like they were in some type of clay-mation animation skit!
 
The boxful of paper clips on the Metro car floor would be more interesting than the just one that I saw.Try spreading 'em out and see just where the mag feild is most concentrated.You can then determine where it would be safe to put items that contain mag media while traveling.After I saw that clip jumping around-put my breifcase and tape walkman in my lap!I had tapes in my bag.Kinda like the old experiment in science class where you put a peice of cardboard over a magnet and put the iron filings on the cardboard to see the "feild" the magnet puts out.
 
I've always loved trains and here in the west, there's not too many left - in Vancouver there's just the Canadian that Pete mentioned and Amtrak to Seattle. Even more than the trains themselves, I love the stations. The grandeur of the old Canadian Pacific stations or Grand Central in NY. In Santiago, Chile, where my partner's from, the central station is designed by Eiffel and it's still in use, although I think it's just commuter trains now. Very impressive - I was standing there wanting to take a train...anywhere!
 
If any of you all are in Arizona, be sure to ride the Grand Canyon Railway. It's a neat trip from Williams Arizone 50 miles north to the Canyon. It's aboard classic Pullman cars and they are pulled by an oil-fired steam locomotive (sometimes they put a General-Motors vintage diesel in line if they need a little extra pulling power too) About halfway back from the canyon, the train is "robbed" by bandits. A sheriff will come aboard and apprehend the bandits.

It's really a fun trip, takes you back to the old West. Great for train nuts!

http://www.thetrain.com
 
Amtrak Acela express

I live in eastern Ct where the Amtrak electric Acela trains run. I was waiting for a local train when the express went
by. what a nice train, I want to ride it sometime.
 

Similar threads

phillymatt53
The Home Entertainment Industry
2
Replies
49
Views
1K
phillymatt53
phillymatt53
N
Whirlpool Washer WTW4816FW3
Replies
11
Views
843
circlew
C
N
what model of 60s Frigidaire cooktop is this?
Replies
11
Views
544
dano
D
B
Help Identifying this GE Range?
Replies
1
Views
82
pulltostart
P
brpeter
Maytag Wringer Washer Restoration
Replies
8
Views
511
bradross
bradross

Latest posts

Back
Top