Red Line Story
Bill Merrill
southeast of Boston, through Quincy, Dorchester, Boston. It comes
above ground to cross the Charles River, then plunges beneath
Cambridge, and ends at Alewife Station on the Cambridge-Arlington
border. (Named after Alewife Brook. The alewife is a kind of
baitfish. I have no idea what its name has to do with ale or wives.)
Red Line trains are, as Tony points out, quite noisy, especially
the older ones with the red bench seats and air vents that go
along the length of the outside roof.
Anyway, Diane works dayside as the assistant manager of a shop
in Braintree, and Karen, the co-assistant manager, gets off work
around 11 pm. When she takes the Red Line home, she is usually
the only passenger, so it wasn't long before Karen and the guys
who run the train became friendly. The other night the engineer
invited her up front. "Come on in here," he said. "It's much
better." So she rode in the engineer's cab all the way to her
stop. He even let her drive! As she left, the engineer asked
if she would be taking the same train the next night. "Sure,"
Karen said. "Well," he said, "be ready to go to Alewife.
The tunnels are really neat out there!"
When Diane told me this, I was reminded of that old song about
romance on public transportation that goes "Clang, clang, clang
went the trolley, ding, ding, dong went the bell." But alas,
the recent storm prevented Karen from keeping her rendez-vous,
so I don't know yet if the story has a happy ending.
Bill
Tony Harminc
>Anyway, Diane works dayside as the assistant manager of a shop
>in Braintree, and Karen, the co-assistant manager, gets off work
>around 11 pm. When she takes the Red Line home, she is usually
>the only passenger, so it wasn't long before Karen and the guys
>who run the train became friendly. The other night the engineer
>invited her up front. "Come on in here," he said. "It's much
>better." So she rode in the engineer's cab all the way to her
>stop. He even let her drive! As she left, the engineer asked
>if she would be taking the same train the next night. "Sure,"
>Karen said. "Well," he said, "be ready to go to Alewife.
>The tunnels are really neat out there!"
Reminds me - the driver's compartment on the Toronto subway cars occupies
only half the width of the car. There is a passenger seat and a front
window on the other side. I grew up with being able to look out the
front, and got used to all the tunnels when I was a kid. So I was
appalled to find on my first trip on a subway in another city (London)
that the entire front of the train was blocked off by the driver's
space.
This seems to be the rule on the subways I've seen. Are there others
that let you see out the front ?
Tony H.
Stephen H. Karlson 753-6980 (815)
>if she would be taking the same train the next night. "Sure,"
>Karen said. "Well," he said, "be ready to go to Alewife.
>The tunnels are really neat out there!"
Any girl can be glad in a fancy coupe; in a taxicab all can be
jolly;
But the girl worth her while; Is the one who can smile; When she
drives herself home on the trolley!
: Reminds me - the driver's compartment on the Toronto subway cars occupies
: only half the width of the car. There is a passenger seat and a front
: window on the other side. I grew up with being able to look out the
: front, and got used to all the tunnels when I was a kid. So I was
: appalled to find on my first trip on a subway in another city (London)
: that the entire front of the train was blocked off by the driver's
: space.
: This seems to be the rule on the subways I've seen. Are there others
: that let you see out the front ?
Ahhh ... the railfan's seat. All but the newest Chicago Transit
Authority cars have a sideways-facing seat at the front window,
across the aisle from the motorman's compartment (US transitese for
driver). The newest Chicago cars have a full-width cab, because
they're designed for one-man operation on some lightly traveled
lines and the motorman has to be able to check the doors on either
side of the train because some platforms are between the two tracks
(I like those because they permit free round trips for excursions)
and some platforms are outside the tracks (the trick to riding the
L on one fare is to know where the center-platform turnarounds are
and start your trip at one of the trackside platforms, but I
digress ...)
The ultimate in railfan's seats is on the Electroliners that ran
between Milwaukee and Chicago from 1941 to 1963 ... up front, in
each streamlined nose of the train, is a double seat facing forward.
I had a ride on it as a kid, rode it again when the Electroliners
were running in Philadelphia, and the view is just as good at the
Illinois Railway Museum, where one runs on special occasions.
I think some of the cars on the Lindenwold High-Speed Line offer
a forward view, too, anyway I have some slides I shot through the
front windows. (Downtown Philadelphia to Lindenwold, NJ)
Steve Karlson
38 FAST trains!
Tushar Samant
>that let you see out the front ?
In Chicago, some trains do. I don't know, though, whether it's always true,
whether it depends on the company or on th eroute or whatever - I always
travel on the bus and my lack of life is showing.
In New York, you can definitely see out the front.
tushar
Bayla Singer
To the best of my recollection, the NYC subway cars on at least the portion
that was the IRT had driver's cubbies that were on one side only, so you
could look out the front. The center aisle was bounded by a door at
each end, which had a window in it: if your car was the first or last
in the train, you could watch the tracks & the tunnel.
--bayla
Anne Haycock
who run the train became friendly. The other night the engineer
invited her up front. "Come on in here," he said. "It's much
better." So she rode in the engineer's cab all the way to her
stop. He even let her drive! As she left, the engineer asked
if she would be taking the same train the next night. "Sure,"
Karen said. "Well," he said, "be ready to go to Alewife.
The tunnels are really neat out there!"
When Diane told me this, I was reminded of that old song about
romance on public transportation that goes "Clang, clang, clang
went the trolley, ding, ding, dong went the bell." But alas,
the recent storm prevented Karen from keeping her rendez-vous,
so I don't know yet if the story has a happy ending.
If I may be so bold as to admit that I have noted that there are one or two
certifiable "hunks" driving on the Red Line...'course, most of the time all
you get is a glimpse as their visage blurs by you, but, every so often, you
meet up with them as they switch trains/ends at Alewife.
Here's to happy endings.
//anne, the not-so-bold as to talk to them//
Blue eyes cryin' in the rain
>only half the width of the car. There is a passenger seat and a front
>window on the other side. I grew up with being able to look out the
>front, and got used to all the tunnels when I was a kid. So I was
>appalled to find on my first trip on a subway in another city (London)
>that the entire front of the train was blocked off by the driver's
>space.
>This seems to be the rule on the subways I've seen. Are there others
>that let you see out the front ?
Yep. PATCO High-Speed Line, Center City Philadelphia to Lindenwold NJ.
On very rare occasions, that choice seat *isn't* already occupied.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
neal traven@pittvms Bitnet 412-624-0097 (office)
tra...@vms.cis.pitt.edu Internet 412-624-0110 (fax)
"You're only young once, but you can be immature forever."
-- Larry Andersen, relief pitcher
Rashmi
> that let you see out the front ?
You can do that on two routes around these parts: The PATCO line from Center
City, Phila to Lindenwold, NJ as noted by Steve and Neal. Also, the SEPTA
line between 69th Street (West Phila) and Norristown has seats up front by the
driver's cabin. This line usually has only one car, two during rush hours.
-rashmi
Stephen H. Karlson 753-6980 (815)
NOT! New York subway cars were designed by barbarians. There's a
motorman's window, and occasionally a porthole in the train door,
but the front opposite the motorman's cab is blind. Good thing
there are no level crossings, because that window configuration would
be downright unsafe.
Steve Karlson
Stephen H. Karlson 753-6980 (815)
: the driver's cabin. This line usually has only one car, two during rush hours
.
Of course! The Norristown High-Speed Line is still using Chicago
hand-me-downs. First the Electroliners, now a few "Spam Cans"
(so-called because their body shape resembles the rounded metal tin
that Spam comes in). Because the Spam Cans are Chicago cars, they
have railfan seats.
blomberg cepeda
Sorry, Steve, but I have to agree with the others here, at least, with Bayla,
about the IRT. I _know_ that sometime this summer I was in the front car of a
West Side IRT train, watching all the curves and the like, and being somewhat
freaked out by the experience.
if it wasn't the IRT, it was the MTA--Green Line?--because I haven't been on
any other system lately.
b.c.
Stephen H. Karlson 753-6980 (815)
: out by the experience.
: if it wasn't the IRT, it was the MTA -- Green Line?
Most likely Boston's Green Line (the trolley subway). It twists
around like a snake with indigestion ... It's been a while since
I've been on any IRT lines, most of which are fairly straight (at
least in Manhattan -- I'm chicken to go into any of the other
boroughs on rapid transit, which is one reason I haven't yet ridden
the Coney Cyclone)
Steve Karlson
Bill Merrill
>front, and got used to all the tunnels when I was a kid. So I was
>This seems to be the rule on the subways I've seen. Are there others
>that let you see out the front ?
>
You can on the Green Line. Bill
Aaron L Dickey
Yes, you can. As long as you're in the frontmost car and are willing to
take your life in your hands by standing up and grasping one of the
"straps", you can stare out the window of the front "door". Of course, as
long as you're underground there ain't much to see...it's mostly kiddie
entertainment.
--
Aaron Dickey
kie...@world.std.com
kie...@mindvox.phantom.com
New York by choice...New York University by mistake.
Al Roker is God.
tus...@math.uchicago.edu
>
>NOT! New York subway cars were designed by barbarians. There's a
>motorman's window, and occasionally a porthole in the train door,
>but the front opposite the motorman's cab is blind.
But I have watched the front on all my trips on those trains. Perhaps
it was only out of the porthole.
tushar
Judith E. Schrier
>
>NOT! New York subway cars were designed by barbarians. There's a
>motorman's window, and occasionally a porthole in the train door,
>there are no level crossings, because that window configuration would
>be downright unsafe.
>
Allan used to take our kids to the front of the train, when
we were on a NYC subway, and they would thrill to watch out
the front.
I, ever the coward, would sit quietly several rows back, looking
at the floor.
love, judith
Bayla Singer
It was the IRT I tell you. irt. irt. irt. I don't have any
memories at all of the Green Line, wherever that may go. Besided,
most of Boston's "subways" spend most of their time aboveground;
the irt goes for miles and miles and miles and miles UNDER ground,
hence the name SUBway. Accept no subSTITUTES.
--bayla
Stephen H. Karlson 753-6980 (815)
>NOT! New York subway cars were designed by barbarians. There's a
>motorman's window, and occasionally a porthole in the train door...
Aaron Dickey notes ...
: Yes, you can. As long as you're in the frontmost car and are willing to
: take your life in your hands by standing up and grasping one of the
: "straps", you can stare out the window of the front "door".
What I said. That's the porthole ... hardly a railfan's seat. If I'm
ever in Philadelphia, I'll organize a Words-L Railfan Seat sit-in on
the high speed lines.
: New York by choice...New York University by mistake.
De gustibus ... who ever heard of a pizza slice the size of a ladies'
fan, with crust so mushy you eat it by folding it over??
Steve Karlson
Blue eyes cryin' in the rain
>ever in Philadelphia, I'll organize a Words-L Railfan Seat sit-in on
>the high speed lines.
Fer sher...
Get off at the Woodcrest station, and my parents will gladly hop the
mile or so from their house and greet you.
Aaron L Dickey
>What I said. That's the porthole ... hardly a railfan's seat. If I'm
>ever in Philadelphia, I'll organize a Words-L Railfan Seat sit-in on
>the high speed lines.
I didn't see the sentence about the porthole in your original post...must
have been line noise. Ah well...real NYC subway fans never sit down
anyway; it takes all the danger out of it, unless you wear lots of flashy
gold jewelry and sit by the door.
BTW, the father of one of my NYU friends is the head of safety at
SEPTA...will there be insurance available for this Seat Sit-in? :)
>: New York by choice...New York University by mistake.
>De gustibus ... who ever heard of a pizza slice the size of a ladies'
>fan, with crust so mushy you eat it by folding it over??
Que?
--Aaron
Tony Harminc
>Ahhh ... the railfan's seat. All but the newest Chicago Transit
>Authority cars have a sideways-facing seat at the front window,
>across the aisle from the motorman's compartment (US transitese for
>driver).
Toronto subways have a 'motorman' and a 'guard'. The railfan's seat
unfortunately faces backwards, but if it's not too crowded you
can sit on the end and still get a good view to the front. Or of
course two kids can kneel on the seat and both face forwards.
> The newest Chicago cars have a full-width cab, because
>they're designed for one-man operation on some lightly traveled
>lines and the motorman has to be able to check the doors on either
>side of the train because some platforms are between the two tracks
The railfan's seat here flips up so that the guard can use an alternate
set of door controls hidden behind a panel next to the seat. Where
only one or two stations have platforms on the 'wrong' side, the
guard just steps out of the cab, evicts the occupant(s) of the seat,
works the doors, and steps back. For a longer stretch the guard will
move to the cab in the adjacent car.
>The ultimate in railfan's seats is on the Electroliners that ran
>between Milwaukee and Chicago from 1941 to 1963 ... up front, in
>each streamlined nose of the train, is a double seat facing forward.
>I had a ride on it as a kid, rode it again when the Electroliners
>were running in Philadelphia, and the view is just as good at the
>Illinois Railway Museum, where one runs on special occasions.
The Docklands Light Railway in London (and its cousins in Vancouver
and Scarborough) have a large, forward facing seat. But then there's
no driver to get in the way.
Tony H.
Blue eyes cryin' in the rain
>SEPTA...will there be insurance available for this Seat Sit-in? :)
Depends on your line. The creaky old Norristown cars are run by SEPTA,
but those spiffy High-Speed Line trains to South Jersey are PATCO.
BTW, welcome back, Aaron.
Aaron L Dickey
> Depends on your line. The creaky old Norristown cars are run by SEPTA,
> but those spiffy High-Speed Line trains to South Jersey are PATCO.
Ah. Nice to know those old air-traffic controllers finally got jobs
somewhere. :)
> BTW, welcome back, Aaron.
Merci.
--Aaron
Aaron L Dickey
>Are you referring to the SEPTA's ongoing financial problems?
Only insomuch as said financial problems lead to safety costcutting. I
heard a lot of horror stories from my friend.
>Isn't that canonical New York storefront pizza -- huge wedges with
>foldable crusts; just roll it up and snarf it?
Well, when you ARE walking down the street, you have to make your pizza
take up as little space as possible. In any event, I always preferred
Pizza Hut to anything NYC can dish out.
--Aaron
GUB...@ukcc.uky.edu
>Isn't that canonical New York storefront pizza -- huge wedges with
>foldable crusts; just roll it up and snarf it?
>Well, when you ARE walking down the street, you have to make your pizza
>take up as little space as possible. In any event, I always preferred
>Pizza Hut to anything NYC can dish out.
flame bait flame bait flame bait flame bait flame bait fleame bait flame bait
But, then, there's no accountling for taste -- yet another challenge to
a basic value!
JAG
Stephen H. Karlson 753-6980 (815)
: SEPTA...will there be insurance available for this Seat Sit-in? :)
Are you referring to the SEPTA's ongoing financial problems? I would
guess if the trains are running, there is insurance. The seat sit-in
would be your typical words-l gathering: instead of taking over the
uga-chooga mailer, or the Brown beach, we'd take over the front of
a transit car, and trade stories or insults on the fly :-)
>: New York by choice...New York University by mistake.
>De gustibus ... who ever heard of a pizza slice the size of a ladies'
>fan, with crust so mushy you eat it by folding it over??
: Que?
Isn't that canonical New York storefront pizza -- huge wedges with
foldable crusts; just roll it up and snarf it?
Steve Karlson
Stephen H. Karlson 753-6980 (815)
>foldable crusts; just roll it up and snarf it?
: Well, when you ARE walking down the street, you have to make your pizza
: take up as little space as possible. In any event, I always preferred
: Pizza Hut to anything NYC can dish out.
Aaron, you must pay a visit to Chicago and try a real stuffed pizza.
Or, visit Milwaukee and try Mama Mia's thin crust pizza (it's great!)
Pizza Hut?!? ... Isn't there an affirmative action category for the
pizza-challenged?
Steve Karlson
Rita Marie Rouvalis
>Isn't that canonical New York storefront pizza -- huge wedges with
The particular method of eating pizza is known as "Horphing."
--
Rita Rouvalis Electronic Frontier Foundation
ri...@eff.org e...@eff.org
CIS:70007,5621 (617)864-0665
Aaron L Dickey
>Aaron, you must pay a visit to Chicago and try a real stuffed pizza.
>Or, visit Milwaukee and try Mama Mia's thin crust pizza (it's great!)
>Pizza Hut?!? ... Isn't there an affirmative action category for the
>pizza-challenged?
Gee, I'm already assumption-challenged, and now this. In any event, I DO
like calzones, and my main pizza hates are:
1) Too *much* grease
2) Tomato sauce that just drips off the sides, never truly becoming one
with the pizza
--Aaron
Graham Toal
:Gee, I'm already assumption-challenged, and now this. In any event, I DO
:like calzones, and my main pizza hates are:
:
:1) Too *much* grease
Don't go to Edinburgh then: Greasy Rizi does a wonderful deep-fried-in-lard
pizza that's *soaked* in the stuff. Cooked just like you'd cook french
fries.
G
Aaron L Dickey
^^^^^^^^
I hope this is just a coincidence...
>Don't go to Edinburgh then: Greasy Rizi does a wonderful deep-fried-in-lard
>pizza that's *soaked* in the stuff. Cooked just like you'd cook french
>fries.
::urp:: Yeccch...let me guess, it comes standard with pineapple slices,
doesn't it?
--Aaron
Stephen H. Karlson 753-6980 (815)
I looked in _Under the Sidewalks of New York_. Some New York
subway cars did have a passenger-side front window. I'm not going
to post how OLD those cars were ... none left in service today.
hence the name SUBway. Accept no subSTITUTES.
It can't be Chicago, there is no L.
Steve Karlson <g,d&r>
JOHN WHAT'S-THE-M-FOR? WILLIAMS
>doesn't it?
>Aaron
Earlier this year a duo pf murdering goblins who specialized in
robbing pizza deliver persons were caugh by some crack investigative work:
They always ordered pepperoni and pineapple! Blech. This combo has since
become known as "Murder's P
JMW, who's first taste of pizza, at age 1CROSSTALK - XVICROSSTALKCROSSTALK - XVI
CROSSTALK - XVI
DAMN! And you think YOU'VE got troubles??? nywayt was a banan
banana pizza
Graham Toal
:::urp:: Yeccch...let me guess, it comes standard with pineapple slices,
:doesn't it?
That's certainly an option, yes.
G
Ruth M. Hanschka
In a previous article, gt...@pizzabox.demon.co.uk (Graham Toal) says:
>In article <BzLEz...@world.std.com> kie...@world.std.com (Aaron L Dickey) writes:
>:::urp:: Yeccch...let me guess, it comes standard with pineapple slices,
>:doesn't it?
>
>That's certainly an option, yes.
>
<*gag*> Pizza with pineapple and ham actually can be pretty good, but
*greasy* pizza with pineapple has to be the absolute pits. Well, there is
one worse thing - pizza with hamburger, aka ground beef. It doesn't matter
how good the rest of the pizza is, or where it's from; the hamburger ruins
it the minute it hits the cheese or the sauce. [depends on how you build a
pizza] What's worse than hamburger? Nothing, unless it's anchovies.
--
### Ruth Hanschka, the Nethead ###
- ap...@cleveland.freenet.edu
Where anything can happen, and it usually does
Rashmi
> : BTW, the father of one of my NYU friends is the head of safety at
> : SEPTA...will there be insurance available for this Seat Sit-in? :)
> Are you referring to the SEPTA's ongoing financial problems? I would
> guess if the trains are running, there is insurance. The seat sit-in
Is SEPTA's safety record any different from other mass transit orgs? I can
remember only one bad accident (3-4 casualties) in the past six years,
strictly off the top of my head.
-rashmi
Aaron L Dickey
>Is SEPTA's safety record any different from other mass transit orgs? I can
>remember only one bad accident (3-4 casualties) in the past six years,
>strictly off the top of my head.
If I recall correctly, they had a rash of relatively serious
accidents/screw-ups in a very short period of time a few years back,
leading to a somewhat scarred reputation. Combined with the general horror
stories about corruption, etc, from my friend, SEPTA now scares the shit
out of me.
This isn't to say that I wouldn't be scared to death of the MTA if I had a
similarly connected friend here. I didn't miss the Union Square disaster
train by that many hours.
--Aaron
Emily Horning
> :doesn't it?
>
> That's certainly an option, yes.
Anyone who would put *fruit* on a pizza is....wait a minute, this is Graham,
right? Never mind.
> G
Emily