Hawk & Badger Railroad Forum

Seattle's Light rail, new problem.

It seems that the steel for above ground construction was not specified correctly.
The steel is rated well below requirements.
There is many miles of above ground rail.
Light rail is already far over budget and the state is broke.
With the Light rail almost ready for operation, they find they need a solution for bridging work that may not support the trains.

Maybe they can do what the mainline railroads did, fill in with dirt.

Last winter before Phoenix Light Rail opened, they discovered rails contracted in cold weather so much, it produced large enough gaps between rails to cause problems. They spent so much time engineering expansion for our summer heat, they forgot it can get near freezing in the winter.

Took another $600,000 to fix the problem using gap fillers, I think, along the 20-mile route.

A similar lack of thought goes into most of the houses built here in Phoenix, where builders assume that because it doesn't rain often, that standard waterproofing and flashing are not necessary. I have fixed dozens of homes where water poured into unflashed windows , doors , and projections through stucco(usually fake or real beam projections). When these leaks start occuring, the builders usually send out a guy to gob the crack with caulk, which will last until the builders warranty obligation runs out.

Seattle Rail will open in July.

Instructions are as follows:

There is bike parking at all stations.
If you drive a car, sorry, there is no car parking at train stations.
You can drive to a bus terminal, that has car parking and take a bus to the rail station.
(wait for a bus and then wait for a train or ride a bike and wait for a train.
Now the buses let you take the bike with you. A bus can haul four bikes at a time. No bikes on the train.
This is called real planning, making best use of all transportation modes.
It also keeps more cars out of Seattle so the Elitists have more room on the freeways.

No car parking at train stations? Don't they want car owners to get out of their cars? So Mr. SUV driver's options do not include using the train. This is silly. The whole point of developing alternative transportation is to appeal to those who already use the "incorrect" form. So the target ridership would be automobile commuters... and to get them, do you not need to provide a place to park the auto?

Or maybe these rail lines are gonna survive by just serving the slice of population that lives in close proximity to the station.

Wouldn't you think they'd take advice from somebody who's already done it? I'm sure some of the - no doubt enormous - R & D costs could have been used to find out from other local authorities what mistakes they made. And having no parking at stations is just ... words fail me!

I think it depends on the density where the stations are placed. Out in the burbs they'll need either quick and efficient feeder service, or lots to park the cars. I do have to say that those lots are circuses. We've got them around here and there are lots of problems with thefts; even with cameras, and when the train pulls in the people run to their cars so they can line up in a rodeo traffic jam to get out of the lot.

Grandma Ruth wrote:And having no parking at stations is just ... words fail me!

I'll help you out here........how about STUPID?

No car parking at the rail stations could be based on greed. They want more money from auto drivers in the forum of bus fares.

Yeah but are the car commuters going to give it to them? I say they've cut themselves off from a large slice of ridership. But of course, a state-run transportation system isn't supposed to make money, now is it? Thus, it doesn't matter whether it appeals to people. When they choose to pay big bucks for a downtown parking space and totally ignore the light rail - because it's so much more convenient that way - then all the whiny liberals can proclaim them to be greedy capitalists who hate the environment.

The problem with most politicians is they can't see a thing beyond their noses.

Down town Seattle has public parking at various garages. Then a short walk to the train and bus terminal in 'the tunnel'. At the airport there is a massive amount of parking. Every time I see that garage I wonder if there are lost people in there starving to death as they search for their car. As for the stations in the burbs, I was shocked. There is no parking. None. There will be new regulations to prevent what they call hide and ride drivers. And with the new regulations comes new costs for those that live there in the form of local parking permits. All that being said. Now I have to point out that I found the bus service to be good the year we spent in the Seattle area. So the question is how are they changing the bus schedules to match up with the comings and goings of the trains?? The point I am hinting at is this. With good bus connections and availability, will it be necessary to drive a car to the station??

Kick me in the head for asking, but why could we handle this type of technology in 1909 but not in 2009? Has the human race degenerated that far?

Back in those days, if you weren't one of the huge number of people who could walk to work, you could walk a few blocks to the trolley, take the trolley to the rail station, and go anywhere in the country. If there wasn't a railroad where you were going, you could catch a ride from the nearest station on the stagecoach (which were quickly replaced by motor buses) or rent a horse or team & carriage at the local livery stable.

Now, it's a miracle if the local transit authority's buses connect to either the train station or the airport, let alone both.

I swear, lately it feels like a page out of "Atlas Shrugged".

Toronto has the same problem. The airport is almost impossible to get to unless you are in a car, and then it is a labrynth of roads that all lead to the same spot - lost. The subway doesn't connect to it, nor do any trains. Now they are talking about a light rail link from downtown. This means that they will never be able to expand to let trains from other places go there too. This is a mistake that has been made every day since they built the airport.

Seattle should look north to Vancouver. We have the SkyTrain from Surrey to the airport and parking at the stations.

dantheman wrote:Seattle should look north to Vancouver. We have the SkyTrain from Surrey to the airport and parking at the stations.

Is your skytrain the same one that was built for the World's Fair and extended when the Fair closed?

That' be the one. We got the EXPO line, the Millennium line, the Canada line (to airport), and the proposed Evergreen line.

Seattle Light Rail has another problem.
It is too noisy, above maximum standards.

Apparently the wheels squeal.
I wonder if they knew that wheel treads need to have a 3 degree slope to keep the flanges from rubbing on the edges of the rails. Possibly more slant if the curves are very sharp.

If a flange climbs over a rail........ Well, I hope not.
They said they plan on installing walls along some of the right-of-ways.
That should keep the cars at least close to the tracks.

And they will be opening on time in about a week.

The transit people are scratching their heads,
They built it and the people did not come,
Trains are running very light. One train carried two people.

Maybe if they turned the air-conditioner colder they will come.
With the world s average temperatures down, I've discovered Global warming came to Seattle to punish us for not believing in it.
Today it was over a hundred breaking a record that goes back some where in the 1800s.
We set another record for 5 consecutive days above 90 degrees braking the record for 1981, the year I came here.

We are having a hot time in the old town tonight.
Seemed like we switched weather with Virginia.
90 degrees at 9AM and 90 degrees at 9PM.

Wow! Why is global warming making England colder?