Left to their own devices on the T
By adamg - 12/11/09 - 8:55 am
We're going to assume these gizmos, photographed by RDA, are part of that Homeland Security study on gases in subways, rather than, say, a fiendish plot that would make the more alert T riders go "Say, I see something, so I think I'll say something!" because the photocopied MBTA messages are certainly reassuring. So instead we're just going to sit here and fret about the ever widening cracks one sees these days on support columns at T stations - like the one next to the cart in the photo.
Posted under this Creative Commons license and in the Universal Hub pool on Flickr.
Here's another one - Nope, nothing suspicious at all about a weird-looking box with wires attached to a column.
Comments
it all looks so "soviet"
the tired-looking scientific equipment, the crumbling column.... great foto!
Yeah, But Have You Seen The Moscow Subway?
Probably the most beautiful public ride in the world. No joke. I'm about as far from a socialist/communist/anything-less-than-capitalism guy as you can find, but they sure did get it right in this instance.
http://www.travelallrussia.com/moscow-subway/
Seriously, watch the video. If you've never seen their system before, it will be startling.
Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com
Moscow
We should be salivating over the route map itself....now that's what I call an urban ring!
Props
Nice 'Pet Shop Boys' reference. Their 'Christmas' EP drops in several EU countries, today!
other viewings
On a previous day, this gadget (it's the northbound side of Downtown Crossing, near the head of the train) was staffed and appeared to be being operated. I was afraid to try to photograph it then because I wasn't in the mood to be hassled and I didn't want to freak out any other passengers. Yesterday morning on the Red Line in from Davis, there was a crew of folks who were wearing orange vests, accompanied by some T police, and had carts with some similar-looking equipment. They seemed mighty cheerful for 7 am.
I was surprised that nobody else seemed to notice any of this.
I was surprised that nobody
I was surprised that nobody else seemed to notice any of this.
I would think most people did notice, but were aware that they were going to be there, as the T announced many times over the last week. It was in every paper I picked up, including the Globe, Herald, and Metro, days before their appearance.
At Haymarket the other day.....
...there was one of these at the far end of the station. While I was there waiting, I was the only person who walked down to take a look at this.
Same equipment as seen last week at Harvard station
I saw this same kind of equipment last week at Harvard station. You can't see from the image above, but the equipment is labeled "LBNL" for Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, where some of the researchers hail from.
And as seen last Friday night
on the Boylston inbound platform, except the blue metal toolbox on the bottom part of the rolling cart was missing.
The Romans invented concrete
The Romans invented concrete and built aqueducts that are still standing. Eight hundred years ago, Europeans started building cathedrals that still don't leak when it rains. Today, we can't put up support columns that go five years without cracking and crumbling.
Don't get me started on the
Don't get me started on the leaks at Haymarket and Back Bay Station!
BOTH ends of my Orange line trip.....
...have huge design flaws. The leaks at Haymarket -- and the leaky roof at Forest Hills (which let rain pour onto the escalators -- among other things).
air quality
These are air quality monitors. The cracks in the column are merely coincidental.
Pay no attention
to the man behind those cracked columns
Park St.
There's one on the Red Line at Park St, kind of far down the platform. I first noticed it about a week ago and saw it again yesterday.