oddjob60's blog

An Acela train hit three workers this afternoon just south of Providence, according to ProJo.com. One worker died.

Of secondary importance, runs on the Providence line are ending at South Attleboro, with buses to Providence.

Let me begin by saying that I fervently hope I am wrong in what I thought I heard on Fox 25 last night. But it was bantered about a few times, so I don't think I'm wrong.

During the pre-weather chit-chat, the meteorologist (I think it was Kevin Lemanowicz) opined that with the earlier shift to Daylight Saving Time, it would be interesting to watch what happens to all those weather records, since there's more sunlight, so it'll get warmer. I guess he forgot that DST only changes the time of sunrise and sunset-- it doesn't alter Earth's orbit around the Sun.

It's become a most unpleasant part of my daily commute: the smell of commuter train brakes. When I get off the train, I flinch at the odor, which puts me in the mind of week-old diapers on fire.

I don't think it was this bad a year ago, and I notice I'm not the only one who's asking why. To a Wilmington commuter, The T's Dan Grabauskas suggested:

Thanks to a downed electric line somewhere around Ruggles and Back Bay, commuter rail is all bolloxed up this morning. Coming in from Providence, they sent us onto the "Dorchester Line" (I didn't even know there was one!), which took us around those two stations, much to the consternation of those who planned to get off there.

Even without stops, we're still 15+ minutes late to South Station. I wonder how long it'll take to fix this mess!

A friend and colleague, B.D. Colen, was in the Globe over the weekend talking about an upcoming show of photos he took while commuting on the T. The show is at the Brookline Arts Center form Jan. 21 to Feb. 29, and B.D. has a slidehow with lots of the photos on his website. The BPL also purchased many of his photos for their collection.

So, we'd heard rumors that MBCR, which "runs" the commuter rail, might get time added to its contract. Word this afternoon: their 5-year contract has been extended for three years! This for a system that "has regularly trailed Chicago's Metra, New York's Metro-North, New Jersey Transit's commuter rail, and the Long Island Rail Road, in on-time performance," according to Sunday's Globe.

As the Sunday story notes, three years is less than what MBCR wanted, but more than the minimum for a transition to a new contract.

I signed up yesterday for the new "T alerts" email/text delay notification service from the T. Turns out it works-- at least it did today. As I was preparing to leave home, i got this message:

Commuter Rail Providence/Stoughton - Train #0804 (6:07am inbound) experiencing 10-15 minute delays due to mechanical failure 12/4/2007 6:17 AM

By the time I got to my station, the displays said 15-20 minutes late, and the train was indeed about 15 minutes late.

Gee, I guess the T's Customer Bill o' Rights on-time service guarantee really works after all! In the mail yesterday, I got a nice letter from Dan Grabauskas and a round-trip train fare reimbursement... for a one-hour delay that happened in January! Yes, Mrs. Calabash, more than 11 months ago! Good to know they're working on that backlog.

The nice letter hints at why it took so long:

I've been on a run of "gee I miss..." lately. For example:

Gee I miss Newbury Pizza.

Gee I miss Conran's on Exeter St.

Gee I miss the Hancock observatory.

Gee I miss "Where's Boston."

Then there's the Harvard Square version, which is somewhat longer... And includes some things that are nominally still there.

Gee I miss The Coop.

Gee I miss The Harvard Square Cinema.

Gee I miss The Wursthaus.

Gee I miss Discount Records.

Gee I miss The Spa.

Gee I miss Ruggles Pizza.

Gee I miss 10 Arrow,

What spots do you miss? What's new that makes up for it?

So I'm not surprised that the Brazil vs Mexico soccer game was a big draw. (67,584 people, it says here.)

Probably because we ride the same train nearly every day, rail commuters seem friendlier than subway commuters. In addition to "train buddies," we also see the same conductors each day, and they see us, so there gets to be a bit more of a bond there.