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Post by Gokhan on Sept 30, 2015 12:01:00 GMT -8
This keeps happening at the Venice Blvd bridge abutment. It happened again last night.
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Post by Gokhan on Oct 6, 2015 14:50:56 GMT -8
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Post by davebowman on Oct 7, 2015 9:40:03 GMT -8
There was a train parked at Bergamot Station this morning, just sitting there quietly . . . not moving . . . as if waiting for something to happen . . . taunting us . . .
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Post by Gokhan on Oct 7, 2015 14:22:11 GMT -8
Car stops and signals at Culver City Station have been removed again. Metro handover is expected in late October or early November. Metro train testing will start when the handover takes place. That's when you will see frequent trains day and night. So far, it's only been contractor testing.
Palms Station lights have been turned on. I'll take a picture at some point.
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Post by roadtrainer on Oct 7, 2015 20:21:00 GMT -8
Are the lights on in the right of way yet??
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Post by tramfan on Oct 9, 2015 10:28:01 GMT -8
I live at Military and Exposition and it has been very quiet there lately; no trains, no lights yet. There's still a traffic cone on one of the drwaf signals before the crossing. As of now the crossings in SM, Steward, 26th Street, 20th Street and 19th Street still need to be certified. The crossing signals are still covered with black plastic.
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Post by joshuanickel on Oct 9, 2015 15:12:54 GMT -8
I live at Military and Exposition and it has been very quiet there lately; no trains, no lights yet. There's still a traffic cone on one of the drwaf signals before the crossing. As of now the crossings in SM, Steward, 26th Street, 20th Street and 19th Street still need to be certified. The crossing signals are still covered with black plastic. On Wednesday, there was a crew of 4 or 5 people wearing green vests that said CPUC on the back at the 20th Street crossing in Santa Monica. I assume they were there to certify the crossing.
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Post by joshuanickel on Oct 9, 2015 18:40:57 GMT -8
I live at Military and Exposition and it has been very quiet there lately; no trains, no lights yet. There's still a traffic cone on one of the drwaf signals before the crossing. As of now the crossings in SM, Steward, 26th Street, 20th Street and 19th Street still need to be certified. The crossing signals are still covered with black plastic. On Wednesday, there was a crew of 4 or 5 people wearing green vests that said CPUC on the back at the 20th Street crossing in Santa Monica. I assume they were there to certify the crossing. Going off what I said earlier, driving tonight around 5:30, the black plastic has been removed from the crossing lights at the 17th street pedestrian crossing, 19th street, 20th street, and 26th street. The black plastic still remains on the crossing lights at the bergamont station east entrance and at Stewart street.
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Post by tramfan on Oct 11, 2015 15:44:33 GMT -8
When I came home from teaching in SF on Saturday night all the track light were illuminated. I took a photo at Military. As I was riding my bike this morning to do my weekly the photo report on Expo, 2 two trains crossed Barrington: a 3 car train with right after that a single car. The MTA guy at the crossing told me that they were testing the software from 7th Street all the way to Santa Monica. They tested on Sunday so they would not have to deal with too much car traffic at the crossings. They had turned off the crossing gates and all crossings were guarded by the Sheriff deputies. When I arrived home a 6 (!) car train passed on Military. Lots of activity this Sunday on Expo 2! I sent photos to Dwight.
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Post by Alexis Kasperavičius on Oct 12, 2015 1:04:32 GMT -8
When I came home from teaching in SF on Saturday night all the track light were illuminated. I took a photo at Military. As I was riding my bike this morning to do my weekly the photo report on Expo, 2 two trains crossed Barrington: a 3 car train with right after that a single car. The MTA guy at the crossing told me that they were testing the software from 7th Street all the way to Santa Monica. They tested on Sunday so they would not have to deal with too much car traffic at the crossings. They had turned off the crossing gates and all crossings were guarded by the Sheriff deputies. When I arrived home a 6 (!) car train passed on Military. Lots of activity this Sunday on Expo 2! I sent photos to Dwight. Edgar, thanks so much for taking the time each week to take these pictures. It's really nice to see how the line progresses since I can't do it in person now that I live in Germany. You really do a great job and I know the pictures are appreciated by very many people who simply cannot get out there. Thank you again!
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Post by Gokhan on Oct 14, 2015 11:45:51 GMT -8
OCS-pole white LEDs are even on during the day for some reason.
Palms Station appears to be entirely completed, down to the trash cans. The elevators have RGB LED lights that constantly change color, which I like a lot.
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Post by jamesinclair on Oct 19, 2015 18:37:39 GMT -8
Why are there lights in the track? Ive never seen that anywhere else. Seems very wasteful
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Post by Gokhan on Oct 20, 2015 15:52:26 GMT -8
Why are there lights in the track? Ive never seen that anywhere else. Seems very wasteful Lights are required at least for emergency reasons. They are also good for security. It's pitch-dark in many sections of the Phase 2 right-of-way without lights!
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Post by tramfan on Oct 22, 2015 17:50:51 GMT -8
I was riding on Colorado at 14th Street this morning when on both tracks 3 and 4 trains were running. On track 3 there was a dual Siemens set and on track 4 there was the new 1002. The trains travelled from 17th Street to the downtown Santa Monica station. As a I rode my bike alongside them it was interesting to see how all the track traffic lights were operating. No sheriff's department deputies to control the traffic. The light were working pretty quick even on Lincoln where the trains did not have to wait for cross traffic. It seems that the trains in SM are given priority control. Unfortunately I did not have my camera or phone on me so I could not shoot any photos.
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Post by Alexis Kasperavičius on Oct 23, 2015 2:47:43 GMT -8
Just uploaded by Dwight
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Post by tramfan on Oct 24, 2015 14:55:20 GMT -8
On my weekly photo report I discovered two Siemens trains at the Down Town Santa Monica station pantographs up with humming motors. Coming to the front of the station at 5th Street I talked to the Metro people and they said that they were testing the traffic lights. I stayed to shoot some video with my photo camera of a train leaving the station and crossing Lincoln and also at Lincoln two trains crossing Lincoln from opposite directions at a slightly different interval: to me it showed that Lincoln has priority traffic lights for the trains because when the train left Down Town Santa Monica station it had an uninterrupted ride through the Lincoln intersection. The lights stayed "go" for the train from the opposite direction as well and traffic had to wait for both trains. I uploaded the videos to Dwight.
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Post by Gokhan on Oct 26, 2015 12:06:46 GMT -8
Palms Station elevator RGB LED lights constantly change color:
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Post by masonite on Nov 4, 2015 10:01:46 GMT -8
Tough to figure out what is happening on Expo. They cancelled yet another monthly meeting and the Construction Committee on Metro no longer attaches to their agenda, the updates on Expo. The project was supposed to be handed over to Metro in early Nov. according to the last Project Update from Expo, but that doesn't seem likely now.
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Post by tramfan on Nov 4, 2015 13:53:01 GMT -8
This weekend they're doing headway testing from 26th Street Bergamot Station to 4th Street downtown Santa Monica to find out fi traffic lights etc allow for the intended headways. The testing will be from 5AM till 3 PM on both Saturday and Sunday. I'm not sure how many trains this will involve. Two weeks ago I happened on weekend testing as well from 17th Street station to downtown Santa Monica. It seemed that at that time they were testing the Lincoln traffic signals. Starting at downtown SM station it seemed the trains had an uninterrupted ride passed Lincoln. Traffic did not seem to be backed up too bad on Lincoln to let the trains pass.
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Post by Gokhan on Nov 4, 2015 15:16:22 GMT -8
Tough to figure out what is happening on Expo. They cancelled yet another monthly meeting and the Construction Committee on Metro no longer attaches to their agenda, the updates on Expo. The project was supposed to be handed over to Metro in early Nov. according to the last Project Update from Expo, but that doesn't seem likely now. Expo Authority only meets quarterly or so. They stopped meeting monthly a long time ago because the project has been wrapping up. CEO Rick Thorpe will retire on January 6, 2016. I expect a meeting in December. I will consider it successful if they can hand over the line to Metro in December. We can then have an opening date announced in January, with the line opening in June or so. It looks like the only thing remaining right now is landscaping and certifications.
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Post by tramfan on Nov 4, 2015 17:08:33 GMT -8
June sounds about right. One of the head honcho's at the Santa Monica testing mentioned Summer 2016.
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Post by Gokhan on Nov 11, 2015 13:54:29 GMT -8
Bicycle and pedestrian multiuse path has been striped and landscaping has been planted in Palms. For the first time, Expo Line Phase 2 is looking like a finished line -- a major milestone.
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Post by tramfan on Nov 11, 2015 14:49:45 GMT -8
When I took some photos this weekend they had actually removed the previous stripes at most of the bike path west of Westwood; I guess they're going to rest ripe them differently. The lights on all of the bike path West of Westwood are operational. All stations have their lights on at night. TAP gates have been installed and fenced off so no more "free" rides on phase 2.
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Post by Alexis Kasperavičius on Nov 26, 2015 3:35:30 GMT -8
Dwight passes on that his sources indicate Metro is planning to do headway testing this Saturday Nov 28th mimicking a real schedule.
So those of you with a camera bug, perhaps an interesting photo day is in store this weekend!
A
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Post by Gokhan on Nov 26, 2015 15:50:10 GMT -8
Dwight passes on that his sources indicate Metro is planning to do headway testing this Saturday Nov 28th mimicking a real schedule. So those of you with a camera bug, perhaps an interesting photo day is in store this weekend! A This info didn't come from Metro but through hearsay by one of the posters here, and it turned out to be false. The headway testing was already done on November 7 - 8 and it will not be repeated. This info just came from Metro: There is a failed loop at the terminus and they are troubleshooting it. They are now installing a drain where there is a sinkage issue at the MSE wall east of Centinela Ave. Track 3 (southern track) is still out of service. Contractor is trying for December for the substantial completion of the mainline. Stewart Yard is behind schedule and there are a lot of corrective issues. Contractor is trying for late December.So, to me this sounds like handover to Metro won't happen until at least January. I don't expect the line to open before June 2016 or so.
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Post by darrell on Nov 27, 2015 13:53:10 GMT -8
Dwight passes on that his sources indicate Metro is planning to do headway testing this Saturday Nov 28th mimicking a real schedule. So those of you with a camera bug, perhaps an interesting photo day is in store this weekend! A This info didn't come from Metro but through hearsay by one of the posters here, and it turned out to be false. The headway testing was already done on November 7 - 8 and it will not be repeated. This info just came from Metro: There is a failed loop at the terminus and they are troubleshooting it. They are now installing a drain where there is a sinkage issue at the MSE wall east of Centinela Ave. Track 3 (southern track) is still out of service. Contractor is trying for December for the substantial completion of the mainline. Stewart Yard is behind schedule and there are a lot of corrective issues. Contractor is trying for late December.So, to me this sounds like handover to Metro won't happen until at least January. I don't expect the line to open before June 2016 or so. The Source reported today this testing will indeed occur tomorrow:
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Post by Gokhan on Nov 27, 2015 22:17:29 GMT -8
I think the Source is not accurate in this case. Metro staff was asked about this a couple of days ago and the answer was that "No, we did that week of November 7. Just checking for a failed loop at terminal only."
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Post by masonite on Nov 27, 2015 23:41:36 GMT -8
I think the Source is not accurate in this case. Metro staff was asked about this a couple of days ago and the answer was that "No, we did that week of November 7. Just checking for a failed loop at terminal only." I think I'd take the word of an official public notice from Metro. I suppose they could be checking for a failed loop at the terminal by running trains like they did a few weeks ago, but I doubt it.
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Post by Gokhan on Nov 28, 2015 4:11:23 GMT -8
I think the Source is not accurate in this case. Metro staff was asked about this a couple of days ago and the answer was that "No, we did that week of November 7. Just checking for a failed loop at terminal only." I think I'd take the word of an official public notice from Metro. I suppose they could be checking for a failed loop at the terminal by running trains like they did a few weeks ago, but I doubt it. The staff member was the testing manager. I would be very surprised if he didn't know what was going on. The notices don't need to be accurate in technical details -- it also doesn't hurt to put the scope of the notice larger than the actual work. I also don't think that the spring 2016 ROD on the notice is accurate any more.
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Post by bluelineshawn on Nov 28, 2015 8:22:58 GMT -8
Well it's Saturday. Which is it?
Personally I don't believe for one second that headway testing won't be repeated given that the last test had issues (based on this "failed loop"). I have a theory regarding why metro might call this a repeat and expo wouldn't but it doesn't matter I suppose.
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