thomryng: (Keep calm citizen)
thomryng ([personal profile] thomryng) wrote2009-11-17 08:06 am
Entry tags:

The Big Wrench

Commemoration of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary
On a Sound Transit train, somewhere near Kent

Sound Transit is not having a good week.

Yesterday, my 6:50AM train was canceled due to some sort of mechanical issue apparently involving hydraulics. Fortunately, the 7:20 gets me into work only a few minutes late.

Then, my 5:40PM train arrived at King Street Station almost twenty minutes late, again due to unspecified "mechanical problems at the Tukwila Station".

Once finally in Tacoma, it transpired that the automatic track switches used by the Tacoma Link light rail were not working, forcing the engineer to twice stop the train. She physically left the train, carrying an enormous slab of metal I assume was a lever, and threw the switches manually.

The lever put me in mind of the Big Wrenchâ„¢ found on the engineering deck of every proper Traveller starship.

When finally I arrived back at Pistachio House, having walked up The Hill, I heard on the news that the Seattle Link light rail had suffered an actual derailment earlier in the day.

And that was just yesterday.

This morning, my 6:50AM train was again canceled. This time they didn't bother even giving us an explanation.

On the other hand, the weather has been gloriously stormy. Once the wind gusts get up to 50 miles per hour, one hardly feels the rain.

[identity profile] redoubtable1.livejournal.com 2009-11-17 09:32 pm (UTC)(link)
Why are so many railway employees killed by lightning?

Because they are great conductors!

And with that, just to be nit-picky, the gal with the "Big Wrench" was probably a conductor, not an engineer. (Sorry, it's what I do. I was born to be an editor.) ;)

Conductor vs. Engineer

[identity profile] thomryng.livejournal.com 2009-11-17 09:35 pm (UTC)(link)
I don't know - if there's only one person working the train, "driving it" as it were, isn't that person the engineer?

Re: Conductor vs. Engineer

[identity profile] redoubtable1.livejournal.com 2009-11-17 10:14 pm (UTC)(link)
Apparently my reading comprehension isn't what it should be. I skimmed and was assuming the Sounder, but a re-read indicates Link Light Rail. In this case, a more correct term would be "motorman," or "train operator."

Re: Conductor vs. Engineer

[identity profile] redoubtable1.livejournal.com 2009-11-17 10:18 pm (UTC)(link)
Further research indicates the term used by Sound Transit is "train operator."

[identity profile] mollidog.livejournal.com 2009-11-18 01:48 am (UTC)(link)
Wow, 50 mph winds! I'm surprised no trees have come down and knocked out your power yet! It took me several wind storms here to stop anticipating the power going out (no big trees with shallow roots here).