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Post by Justin Walker on Aug 1, 2011 19:14:53 GMT -8
Nowadays they only come to Anaheim and Ontario, as freight lines in most places in west central LA have disappeared. You'll be glad to hear that the circus still comes to LA every year by train. These days, they park over at UP's J Yard and march the elephants to the Staples Center via Washington Blvd. Here's a pic from just two weeks ago: ![](http://s1.postimage.org/7kanxaks0/IMAG0037.jpg)
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Post by Gokhan on Aug 1, 2011 22:11:51 GMT -8
Nowadays they only come to Anaheim and Ontario, as freight lines in most places in west central LA have disappeared. You'll be glad to hear that the circus still comes to LA every year by train. These days, they park over at UP's J Yard and march the elephants to the Staples Center via Washington Blvd. Here's a pic from just two weeks ago: ![](http://s1.postimage.org/7kanxaks0/IMAG0037.jpg) Good to know! If only they had built the nonrevenue connector between the J Yard and Exposition Boulevard, they could park the train under the Harbor Freeway by USC and have the circus in Galen Center. ![:)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png)
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Post by wad on Aug 2, 2011 3:34:12 GMT -8
As for the former landscaping, USC tore the tracks on Exposition in 2002 and put the landscaping with the hope that it would discourage building of light-rail. USC should have said the grass was an endangered species.
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Post by Gokhan on Aug 2, 2011 16:26:52 GMT -8
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Post by Gokhan on Aug 3, 2011 7:04:16 GMT -8
Farmdale Station contract is now being awarded to Balfour Beatty tomorrow at the board meeting.
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Post by metrocenter on Aug 3, 2011 12:44:11 GMT -8
Farmdale Station contract is now being awarded to Balfour Beatty tomorrow at the board meeting. The contract covers Farmdale station, as well as the remaining elements of Culver City station. This includes: "construction of the track and system elements on the aerial structure, along with the installation of the Operators Layover Facility." The final price for this contract is $11.1 million, including: $6.5 million for Farmdale station, and $4.3 million for Culver City station, and the rest for "option for indirect work".
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Post by Gokhan on Aug 3, 2011 13:18:13 GMT -8
Farmdale Station contract is now being awarded to Balfour Beatty tomorrow at the board meeting. The contract covers Farmdale station, as well as the remaining elements of Culver City station. This includes: "construction of the track and system elements on the aerial structure, along with the installation of the Operators Layover Facility." The final price for this contract is $11.1 million, including: $6.5 million for Farmdale station, and $4.3 million for Culver City station, and the rest for "option for indirect work". Yes, some parts of the Culver City portion of this contract was awarded last month and this month the rest is awarded. Note that it's still for building the barebones aerial station that would minimally allow the opening of the line to Culver City. This month they also reached agreement with Balfour Beatty on Farmdale and they awarded that part. Still no bike path, no National Blvd improvements, and no underground parking in Culver City, as negotiations with Culver City still take place -- only a barebones station so far.
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Post by ieko on Aug 3, 2011 23:56:19 GMT -8
![](http://i388.photobucket.com/albums/oo325/esirgen/Expo%202011-07-19/IMG_2499.jpg) ... So.. those metal sheets that I personally think look awful just got a bit worse, I was driving by Vermont Station this evening and found that they've got florescent lighting attached to them or at least something that resembles the same shape/style... ![](http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6138/6008094198_dd5aaa1730_z.jpg)
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Post by erict on Aug 4, 2011 5:28:22 GMT -8
Think that there is a metal cover for the bottom of these...
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Post by metrocenter on Aug 4, 2011 10:47:59 GMT -8
How charming, such a beautiful design. ![:-[](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/embarrassed.png)
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Post by Gokhan on Aug 4, 2011 13:36:51 GMT -8
LOL You're looking at the guts of it. Here is how they look like when they are finished: ![](http://i388.photobucket.com/albums/oo325/esirgen/Expo%202011-07-21/IMG_2546.jpg)
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Post by ieko on Aug 4, 2011 13:51:19 GMT -8
Are you sure there are lights in that one? It looks solid to me in that picture. The one with the lights are the panels under the infamous wavy-bits.
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Post by Gokhan on Aug 4, 2011 14:20:10 GMT -8
Are you sure there are lights in that one? It looks solid to me in that picture. The one with the lights are the panels under the infamous wavy-bits. Yes, I saw the fluorescent bulbs inside the shields over the TVMs before they put the undercovers. Don't forget that they even have fluorescent bulbs inside your LCD monitor or LCD HDTV. ![;)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/wink.png)
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Post by Gokhan on Aug 4, 2011 14:35:21 GMT -8
Enjoy the Expo board meeting audio from today's meeting (2011/08/04)! MP3-audio link Mr. Clint Simmons was back and he was complaining about train noise, (lack of) artwork at La Brea, Farmdale pedestrian plaza, and the Harvard Blvd tunnel. It looks like agreement with Culver City is about to be reached and they are about pay the entire $7 million and the remaining work (bike path etc.) will commence soon. The project-status update is near the end of the audio. FFP's latest substantial completion date is August 15 but Expo doesn't believe that this is realistic (as there is still 5% of the total construction work remaining). They think it will be more like September or October and they are getting ready to ask for liquidated damages. They are trying to hand over the project to Metro for prerevenue service (full revenue-service simulation) in mid September and hoping that the line could be opened to revenue service in November or December. There were reports that some people were stealing the trees in the boxes waiting for planting along the right-of-way. Phase 2 groundbreaking is on Monday, September 12, 2011, 9:30 am.
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Post by Gokhan on Aug 5, 2011 10:16:52 GMT -8
I forgot to mention:
It's remarkable that Expo Phase 1 is now forecasting a budget surplus at completion for the first time, closing a $13 million deficit a few months ago through value engineering and third-party reimbursements.
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Post by Gokhan on Aug 5, 2011 13:45:36 GMT -8
A couple of cell-phone pics. Metro Rail Expo Park/USC Wetsbound. Just don't mistake the Expo-blue dot for the Blue-blue dot, which is annoyingly similar looking. They should have used aqua instead of medium-shade blue for the Expo Line. ![:)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png) ![](http://i388.photobucket.com/albums/oo325/esirgen/Expo%202011-08-05/IMG_0062.jpg) Rain/sun shields are looking great with the undercovers installed. The varying-size holes is a really great idea, which will create interesting light/shadow effects. ![](http://i388.photobucket.com/albums/oo325/esirgen/Expo%202011-08-05/IMG_0063.jpg)
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Post by bzcat on Aug 5, 2011 13:45:50 GMT -8
Surplus is over amended budget of course... the project is still over the original budget. But considering all the problem and merit less lawsuits it had to overcome, I think it wasn't too bad.
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Post by Gokhan on Aug 5, 2011 13:49:13 GMT -8
Surplus is over amended budget of course... the project is still over the original budget. But considering all the problem and merit less lawsuits it had to overcome, I think it wasn't too bad. Even if the project is only $1 million overbudget, it's a big problem because Expo itself doesn't have any money, and the construction would stop unless Expo went to Metro and Metro approved funding extra funds for Expo.
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Post by Gokhan on Aug 10, 2011 10:45:18 GMT -8
I saw a single test car running today. The other five test cars were idling by USC.
There is still no signal priority and crossing gates are still not working. Therefore, still flagsmen are controlling the crossings. I think there is still a lot of work to do for the line to be operatable and you are probably looking at at least October or November for an operatable line. Given the five-to-six-week simulation after when the line becomes operatable, I would say the best case scenario would result in a December or January opening to La Cienega. A November opening no longer seems realistic.
They've finally brought the OCS poles for the Culver Junction aerial structure.
They've also removed the half seats over the concrete bases at the stations.
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Post by thanks4goingmetro on Aug 10, 2011 16:11:41 GMT -8
^^^ I could see them holding off an opening until March 2012 to fully open Phase 1 to Culver City, if that will be the case. A late, yet complete product.
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Post by bluelineshawn on Aug 10, 2011 16:49:55 GMT -8
IIRC in one of TTC videos that Tony posted Metro said that they don't want to open during the holiday season (thanksgiving to new years) because they would have trouble staffing all of the safety ambassadors. So they would open in January. Except if culver city is close they would look at if delaying opening until that's ready would make sense.
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Post by masonite on Aug 10, 2011 18:35:58 GMT -8
IIRC in one of TTC videos that Tony posted Metro said that they don't want to open during the holiday season (thanksgiving to new years) because they would have trouble staffing all of the safety ambassadors. So they would open in January. Except if culver city is close they would look at if delaying opening until that's ready would make sense. I heard that too, but I just can't believe this. I can understand if it is 2 days before Xmas but they are saying there really aren't enough people not on vacation 2 weeks before Xmas. This isn't France where people get 6 weeks vacation. By the way, Phoenix opened their rail line on Dec 27th. Maybe the MTA needs to consult them?
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Post by bobdavis on Aug 10, 2011 19:05:26 GMT -8
Going back into antiquity, San Francisco Muni opened on Dec. 28, 1912, and they still have their very first streetcar, SFMRy #1, ready for the centennial. Care to guess where I'll be on Dec 28, 2012?
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Post by jdrcrasher on Aug 10, 2011 21:13:06 GMT -8
OFF TOPIC BUT FUNNY Man arrested after running more than a mile on Red Line track A man was apprehended in Hollywood on Wednesday afternoon after running more than a mile on an underground Metro Rail track, authorities said. "He apparently didn't want to wait for the train," latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/08/man-runs-red-line-tracks.htmlHahaha. Next time post in the Red Line thread ![;)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/wink.png)
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Post by bzcat on Aug 11, 2011 11:24:16 GMT -8
It's crazy to delay opening of a perfectly good rail line because of "holiday" period.
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Post by bluelineshawn on Aug 11, 2011 19:01:00 GMT -8
IIRC in one of TTC videos that Tony posted Metro said that they don't want to open during the holiday season (thanksgiving to new years) because they would have trouble staffing all of the safety ambassadors. So they would open in January. Except if culver city is close they would look at if delaying opening until that's ready would make sense. I heard that too, but I just can't believe this. I can understand if it is 2 days before Xmas but they are saying there really aren't enough people not on vacation 2 weeks before Xmas. This isn't France where people get 6 weeks vacation. By the way, Phoenix opened their rail line on Dec 27th. Maybe the MTA needs to consult them? If I remember correctly what he was saying was that the safety ambassadors (if that's even the correct term) for liability reasons have to be Metro employees. And when they volunteer they are working OT, not regular time. And I guess that they can't count on getting enough volunteers for OT over the holidays. It doesn't really make sense to me either, but that's what I recall. Also, in the last video Rick Thorpe mentioned that Metro doesn't want to open the last weekend in November because the USC-UCLA football game is that weekend.
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Post by carter on Aug 14, 2011 11:12:54 GMT -8
I heard that too, but I just can't believe this. I can understand if it is 2 days before Xmas but they are saying there really aren't enough people not on vacation 2 weeks before Xmas. This isn't France where people get 6 weeks vacation. By the way, Phoenix opened their rail line on Dec 27th. Maybe the MTA needs to consult them? If I remember correctly what he was saying was that the safety ambassadors (if that's even the correct term) for liability reasons have to be Metro employees. And when they volunteer they are working OT, not regular time. And I guess that they can't count on getting enough volunteers for OT over the holidays. It doesn't really make sense to me either, but that's what I recall. Also, in the last video Rick Thorpe mentioned that Metro doesn't want to open the last weekend in November because the USC-UCLA football game is that weekend. Too bad, I was hoping to introduce my Dad to the Expo Line that way. We'll have to take it to a Kings game instead, I guess ![:)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png)
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Post by thanks4goingmetro on Aug 14, 2011 17:01:47 GMT -8
I would rather have an Expo Line that is completely safe and operational than a light rail line of suspect quality to meet an artificial deadline (however many months/years late that is). What would be more embarrassing than Expo Line failing in some way when all eyes are on it during a extremely high volume launch period for opening it, big games, and the holiday tourist season, that would be something like a second black eye for the project. Let's sit tight until next March.
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Post by jamesinclair on Aug 17, 2011 21:18:06 GMT -8
Also, in the last video Rick Thorpe mentioned that Metro doesn't want to open the last weekend in November because the USC-UCLA football game is that weekend. Wow. A transit service deciding not to open because they may risk attracting riders. Unbelievable. Rational thought: A busy weekend is coming up, we MOST open before it to make the most of the opportunity! Idiotic thought: People want to ride the train that weekend. We' be better off not operating so we don't convenience anyone too much.
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Post by mattapoisett on Aug 17, 2011 21:29:56 GMT -8
Also, in the last video Rick Thorpe mentioned that Metro doesn't want to open the last weekend in November because the USC-UCLA football game is that weekend. Wow. A transit service deciding not to open because they may risk attracting riders. Unbelievable. Rational thought: A busy weekend is coming up, we MOST open before it to make the most of the opportunity! Idiotic thought: People want to ride the train that weekend. We' be better off not operating so we don't convenience anyone too much. Yes, but imagine if because Expo is still in soft opening phase and they get his with a crush of people, the service fails since it was not quite ready to take on a crush of passengers just normal service. it will inconvenience folks and loose potential riders not to mention potentially be a PR disaster. I'd avoid it if I could.
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