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Post by mattapoisett on Jul 1, 2015 9:05:56 GMT -8
I showed up to last night's community meeting, Unfortunately I couldn't stay for the whole thing. I did however, get to ask my one burning question which is when is the end of track signal at Culver City going away. The gentleman from Skanska said it is on track for August but picking the removal date would be tricky. It would have to be on a day with no mitigating factors, like a Dodgers game. Culver City Station would need to be closed and a bus bridge set up. Once this is done Expo should stop lurching its way to the station. I'll have to think about it before coming up with my guess, but I thought I'd put it out there.
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Post by Gokhan on Jul 1, 2015 12:44:30 GMT -8
I showed up to last night's community meeting, Unfortunately I couldn't stay for the whole thing. I did however, get to ask my one burning question which is when is the end of track signal at Culver City going away. The gentleman from Skanska said it is on track for August but picking the removal date would be tricky. It would have to be on a day with no mitigating factors, like a Dodgers game. Culver City Station would need to be closed and a bus bridge set up. Once this is done Expo should stop lurching its way to the station. I'll have to think about it before coming up with my guess, but I thought I'd put it out there. The signals and bumpers have already been removed several times and put back in order to pass the numerous test trains through. In fact, the original bumper with the signal attached on top is long gone and was replaced by rail stops and a chair that holds the signal. Remove them doesn't require shutting down the line and providing bus bridges. So, the only significance to this is that Phase 1 trains will be able to continue along Phase 2 if they want to. Hopefully, once they remove the signals and bumpers, they will also remove the stop-before-proceed signs. |
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Post by mattapoisett on Jul 1, 2015 13:37:30 GMT -8
I'm only going on what a Skanska construction supervisor told me at the meeting. I'm presuming that there must be more to the removal then just slipping out the light. I'm also assuming that they turned off the ATP when they moved the trains across that section of track so that it would not be affected by the ATP signal.
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Post by Gokhan on Jul 2, 2015 16:15:39 GMT -8
I'm only going on what a Skanska construction supervisor told me at the meeting. I'm presuming that there must be more to the removal then just slipping out the light. I'm also assuming that they turned off the ATP when they moved the trains across that section of track so that it would not be affected by the ATP signal. I certainly agree that it will be exciting to see the Aldon CS-2 car stops, 10 MPH speed limit, and stop-and-proceed go away here. I think there is nothing nontrivial about the procedure and it doesn't require interrupting the line. The light is connected with a simple power cord. ATP is programmed remotely. All they need to do is to reprogram it in the control center or control building from 10 MPH to whatever the speed limit is here.    Note that the track bumpers were removed circa December 20, 2014. |
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Post by mattapoisett on Jul 6, 2015 13:27:55 GMT -8
I'm only going on what a Skanska construction supervisor told me at the meeting. I'm presuming that there must be more to the removal then just slipping out the light. I'm also assuming that they turned off the ATP when they moved the trains across that section of track so that it would not be affected by the ATP signal. I certainly agree that it will be exciting to see the Aldon CS-2 car stops, 10 MPH speed limit, and stop-and-proceed go away here. I think there is nothing nontrivial about the procedure and it doesn't require interrupting the line. The light is connected with a simple power cord. ATP is programmed remotely. All they need to do is to reprogram it in the control center or control building from 10 MPH to whatever the speed limit is here. Note that the track bumpers were removed circa December 20, 2014. I'm guessing that there is more reconfiguring of the signaling equipment than meets the eye, as this post from Metro's Source Blog implies. Work on the Gold Line to ready the tracks for run through service will be happening this weekend. Bus shuttles replace Gold Line trains between Sierra Madre Villa and Lake Station this weekend |
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Post by Gokhan on Jul 7, 2015 8:19:31 GMT -8
In that case, it's probably more than reconfiguring. They will probably install additional signal loops on the tracks. I don't think currently there is any near the interface. So, perhaps some new loops will be put there.
Another explanation could be that it requires some comprehensive testing.
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Post by Gokhan on Jul 9, 2015 13:15:00 GMT -8
They will also have to update the schedule once this is done, as the LA to Culver City will become 28 minutes instead of 29 minutes.
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Post by Gokhan on Aug 12, 2015 13:36:37 GMT -8
The dates for the Phase 1 - Phase 2 connection were said to be August 14 - 16 and August 28 - 30. Culver City Station will be closed during those two weekends. I just realized that the first stage is this weekend.
Connecting Phase 1 and Phase 2 will be the most exciting milestone before the start of the Phase 2 revenue service. It will be nice to have the 10 MPH speed limit and the stop-and-proceed at the Culver City Station removed and trains able to freely continue toward Santa Monica, albeit without passengers.
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Post by Gokhan on Aug 13, 2015 13:07:10 GMT -8
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Post by Gokhan on Aug 26, 2015 14:33:54 GMT -8
Just a few days before this huge milestone is achieved and the trains no longer having to crawl with the trip time being cut by a minute!
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Post by Gokhan on Aug 31, 2015 13:44:58 GMT -8
Neither the signals nor the car stops have been removed. So, all this excitement was for nothing. No milestone has been achieved.
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Post by Gokhan on Sept 16, 2015 13:53:30 GMT -8
So, the car stops and signals have been removed but the 10 MPH speed limit and stop-and-proceed operation remains.
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Post by Gokhan on Sept 21, 2015 11:53:17 GMT -8
Car stops and red signals are back on. Go figure.
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Post by davebowman on Sept 22, 2015 9:19:51 GMT -8
There was a Metro table at the Alt-Car Expo at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium parking lot last weekend, and I asked the woman there about the timetable for Expo Line Phase 2 completion, and she explained very politely that the line is still under construction. I think Metro is trying to manage expectations as to when Phase 2 will be completed.
By the way, I test-drove three electric cars at the Expo: the Mercedes-Benz B-Class, the Volkswagen eGolf, and the BMW i3. Electric cars are cool--very quiet, with very smooth and quick acceleration.
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Post by Gokhan on Sept 22, 2015 12:21:35 GMT -8
By the way, I test-drove three electric cars at the Expo: the Mercedes-Benz B-Class, the Volkswagen eGolf, and the BMW i3. Electric cars are cool--very quiet, with very smooth and quick acceleration. Quietness is a big problem though, as people, kids, and pets can't hear the car approaching, or even worse -- starting. So, new technologies are bringing new dangers. |
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Post by culvercitylocke on Sept 22, 2015 17:52:34 GMT -8
By the way, I test-drove three electric cars at the Expo: the Mercedes-Benz B-Class, the Volkswagen eGolf, and the BMW i3. Electric cars are cool--very quiet, with very smooth and quick acceleration. Quietness is a big problem though, as people, kids, and pets can't hear the car approaching, or even worse -- starting. So, new technologies are bringing new dangers. Lol, all electric cars, by law, have a small speaker behind the front license plate that emits an electronic sound until the car reaches 19 mph, at which point you can more than hear it traveling. This has been the case since 2012. My Nissan leaf emits a tone that sounds like the stereotype of what electricity "sounds" like. |
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