Track fire under a train at Park Street
By adamg - 10/22/11 - 6:06 pm
The scene at Park Street. Photo by Patrick Munnelly.
A small track fire erupted underneath a Red Line train shortly before 6 p.m. at Park Street, forcing the evacuation of the train and a shutdown of Red Line service.
"Never a good sign when there's smoke pouring out of the T station you're entering," Anne Holmer tweeted at 5:54 p.m.
Over in Central Square, David Day reports "Tons of Noam Chomsky fans spilling out of Central Square Red Line looking for cabs." Chomsky was scheduled to speak at Occupy Boston this evening.
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Comments
Red Line Fire
A Fire in the underground has the potential for a major disaster, how many fires on the T this year it seems there is one a week .
Live From Harvard Square
Regular buses and Silver Line buses are replacing Red Line service between Park Street and Harvard Square. Upon seeing a Silver Line bus in Harvard Square, one Cambridge resident remarked: "What is that piece of shit doing in Cambridge? The Silver Line isn't coming here, is it? That is quite possibly my worst nightmare."
T fire
I was on the outbound platform, waiting for the Ashmont train when the inbound train, pulling the smoke with it, pulled in.
Upstairs and outside, the living definition of clusterfuck was occuring. No one knew anything about anything. Particularly when the shuttle buses were to arrive. When they did arrive, they were ALL going to Harvard Square.
I then walked to the Downtown Crossing station (which I should have done in the first place), went to Forest Hills, caught the #30 to Mattapan, and walked into my apartment at 8:15.
Love that dirty water, Oh, Boston you're my home!
Riddle Me this
If a fire happens in a station multiple stations and miles from Harvard Square, why are people being put off the trains at Harvard????
An outage from South Station to Charles St. I could understand ... but HARVARD?
That's where my kids had to get off en route to Central.
Why does the T do this stupid "close down the whole freaking line" BS all the time? I can't think of any other city that has to shut down so many stations when a problem arises in a single location. Why can't they just isolate a couple of stations at a time? Why do the create the need for zillions more shuttle buses to cover a dozen stations when they could just get people close enough to walk?
My husband grew up in a T family and he can't figure it out, either.
Well, one issue is where they
Well, one issue is where they have switches that can be used to allow a train to reverse direction and change to the appropriate set of tracks. But IIRC there's at least a switch somewhere in the neighborhood of Central Sq. to Kendall Sq.
I think the authorities use
I think the authorities use opportunities like this as drills for more major disasters, honestly.
The 600V DC power to the
The 600V DC power to the third rail or overhead is fed by different electrical substations and broken up into sections. The power sections can be long, and Park St. is where two sections meet. They can shorten up power sections manually in the field, but that can take awhile and is usually done when its clear the initial problem won't be resolved for hours. I guess your husband's family didn't work in the power department at the T.
Also, if a train overshoots a
Also, if a train overshoots a station and bridges two sections, the unelectrified section is suddenly electrified again, and anyone working around the 3rd rail which is supposed to be off wouldn't have a clue.
Map of Orange Line Power Blocks
Here's a pic I took of a map of Orange Line power blocks for example (from inside the MBTA dispatch HQ itself):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bostonurbex/5914136001/in/photostream/
As indicated, the oldest and most costly-to-upgrade sections have the biggest blocks. Should anything happen where power is cut at DTX, expect one *humongous* problem. Bussing from Community College all the way to Ruggles, it looks like.
above..
The responses above are correct. it has to do with no crossover tracks and power cuts not being available until Harvard. Go figure.
Here's a track map from 1986, courtesy of NYC Subway.
http://images.nycsubway.org/maps/bostontr.gif
Interesting Map!
Even though it's from 1986, it shows the Southwest Corridor Orange Line, which wasn't yet in service, and not the Washington st. El. Also, it has the old names for Downtown Crossing (Washington) and Chinatown (Essex). I'm pretty sure those stations were renamed in conjunction with the new route opening, meaning this map was always "wrong" from a labelling standpoint.
Really fun to think about these things, thanks for posting it.
Who do you think makes the call to turn off the power?
Regardless of how far each power section runs in different directions, it is the responding fire department that makes the request (actually a demand) to have the third rail power shut off, and it is of no concern to them that the power sections they want shut off link Boston and Cambridge. Also rules are in place that will impact both directions when MBTA personnel or outside emergency responders need to access the right of way even if the third rail power remains on.