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Post by rubbertoe on Oct 4, 2011 5:47:23 GMT -8
elf, Absolutely fabulous set of pictures! Keep up the good work. I like the flickr links because they allow us to view the full size pictures. I wonder what one of those big reels of copper wire runs, cost wise that is? RT
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Post by bluelineshawn on Oct 4, 2011 7:05:28 GMT -8
The end of the OCS for Phase 1 is interesting. There are two oversized poles at the end, sitting in the middle of each track. They serve a dual purpose: (1) Prevent the train from falling off the unfinished aerial structure. (2) As the end pole for the catenary and contact wires. Did someone tell you that they were using aluminum poles instead of a bumper? It's hard to imagine that that they would be used as a safety feature to stop a train. My guess is that they want to use the entire platform - probably to layup trains - and that this was the most economical method for providing temporary power to the length of track and that there will still be a bumper in front of the poles that would stop trains in an emergency.
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Post by bluelineshawn on Oct 4, 2011 7:12:56 GMT -8
There is a very long agenda for this Thursday's Expo board meeting. In particular, various Phase 1 work is being extended through the end of June 2012, particularly the Farmdale Station. This doesn't mean that it will take until late June to finish the Farmdale Station but they are extending various third-party contracts just in case. For the final closing pay, Expo is paying the contractor $2.7 million less than they are asking for various change orders. In addition, Expo is also going to ask for liquidated damages for late completion. There is going to be a lot of fight between the contractor and Expo. BBI gets $300 thousand for finishing the aerial structure 30 days in advance. They had claimed 90 days. There is a long master cooperative agreement with Santa Monica. There will be an update on the Expo maintenance facility, to be built in the former Verizon site in Santa Monica. The final sentence reads: "The facility is scheduled to be completed and open for operations by December, 2014." It looks like Expo Line can open to Santa Monica in early 2015, as they have been aiming for. This should be a very interesting meeting. Are you planning on recording it and making it available here? I could possibly try and listen at work by taking a late lunch, but I'll be very hungry by 2:30!
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Post by Gokhan on Oct 4, 2011 8:35:06 GMT -8
Are you planning on recording it and making it available here? I am, as usual, but we'll see.
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Post by metrocenter on Oct 4, 2011 12:31:42 GMT -8
So sad to see that beautiful landmark structure torn down. Surely it was worthy of conservation??? The recent rush of activity is welcome, but I just want this project to be finished. Seems like this has been under construction forever.
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Post by Gokhan on Oct 4, 2011 12:46:15 GMT -8
Well, at least the Expo developments are not nearly as disappointing as the iPhone 4S announcement. Only a minor processor and camera revision after 16 months while Samsung and other companies are now making amazing Android phones well ahead of iPhone 4? What was Apple thinking? The following is a picture of new shiny OCS catenary and contact copper wires in Culver City. I expect that it will still take a few weeks to complete this work. TPSS is still not installed yet; although, it's at the location at Washington/National and should be installed soon. Canopies are being installed at the Farmdale Station: Expo Inn -- the only hotel adjacent to a Metro Rail station -- is now gone in one morning: I really like the pink flowers on these trees. This is by the Crenshaw Station:
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Post by Gokhan on Oct 4, 2011 13:42:09 GMT -8
EXPO INN Demolition at Farmdale Station This is actually a very cool video. I like the way the CAT comes down the truck bed.
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Post by James Fujita on Oct 4, 2011 14:40:34 GMT -8
I hate to nitpick, but the Expo Inn, despite its appealing name, is NOT the only hotel adjacent to a Metro Rail station.
The W Hotel in Hollywood is fairly well on top of Hollywood/ Vine station. If you want to stretch the definition of "adjacent", there are undoubtedly many other examples, especially in downtown Los Angeles or in Long Beach, where the Renaissance Hotel is around the corner from the Transit Mall.
In my experience, the best hotel is one which is walking-distance to a station (but not necessarily adjacent to one if diesel-electric engines are involved).
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Post by LAofAnaheim on Oct 4, 2011 16:54:42 GMT -8
I hate to nitpick, but the Expo Inn, despite its appealing name, is NOT the only hotel adjacent to a Metro Rail station. The W Hotel in Hollywood is fairly well on top of Hollywood/ Vine station. If you want to stretch the definition of "adjacent", there are undoubtedly many other examples, especially in downtown Los Angeles or in Long Beach, where the Renaissance Hotel is around the corner from the Transit Mall. In my experience, the best hotel is one which is walking-distance to a station (but not necessarily adjacent to one if diesel-electric engines are involved). To Gokhan's point, I think he meant within walking distance to an EXPO line station. There are hotels within walking distance to Green Line stations as well (I'm not talking about Sepulveda blvd, but literally, there is one right next to El Segundo station). Also, there are hotels within walking distance to the Gold Line at Memorial Park and you're right James Fujita, clearly next to Little Tokyo station, Chinatown, Union Station, etc.... For Expo Line, the hotels nearest the line (outside of 7th street and Pico) will be at 3rd street Santa Monica station.
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Post by James Fujita on Oct 4, 2011 18:04:53 GMT -8
To Gokhan's point, I think he meant within walking distance to an EXPO line station. There are hotels within walking distance to Green Line stations as well (I'm not talking about Sepulveda blvd, but literally, there is one right next to El Segundo station). Also, there are hotels within walking distance to the Gold Line at Memorial Park and you're right James Fujita, clearly next to Little Tokyo station, Chinatown, Union Station, etc.... For Expo Line, the hotels nearest the line (outside of 7th street and Pico) will be at 3rd street Santa Monica station. Continuing on the theme of hotels near Metro Rail/ the Expo Line, there would also be the Radisson Midtown at USC. It's a tad further from either Trousdale or Jefferson than the Miyako is to Little Tokyo Sta., but it is an option for rail fans (or out-of-town football fans, more likely) determined to stay near a rail line ;D I like the new photos of Farmdale. I just thought of something... since the line will likely open before Farmdale is ready, would this technically be Los Angeles Metro's first "infill station"?
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Post by carter on Oct 4, 2011 18:11:56 GMT -8
To Gokhan's point, I think he meant within walking distance to an EXPO line station. There are hotels within walking distance to Green Line stations as well (I'm not talking about Sepulveda blvd, but literally, there is one right next to El Segundo station). Also, there are hotels within walking distance to the Gold Line at Memorial Park and you're right James Fujita, clearly next to Little Tokyo station, Chinatown, Union Station, etc.... For Expo Line, the hotels nearest the line (outside of 7th street and Pico) will be at 3rd street Santa Monica station. Continuing on the theme of hotels near Metro Rail/ the Expo Line, there would also be the Radisson Midtown at USC. It's a tad further from either Trousdale or Jefferson than the Miyako is to Little Tokyo Sta., but it is an option for rail fans (or out-of-town football fans, more likely) determined to stay near a rail line ;D I like the new photos of Farmdale. I just thought of something... since the line will likely open before Farmdale is ready, would this technically be Los Angeles Metro's first "infill station"? That would be a pretty squirmy technicality, given that the station was planned to be built before the line was completed. I'd call it the first station to be completed after the line opened.
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Post by Justin Walker on Oct 4, 2011 18:32:42 GMT -8
I like the new photos of Farmdale. I just thought of something... since the line will likely open before Farmdale is ready, would this technically be Los Angeles Metro's first "infill station"? Possibly, if we ignore the Canoga station on the Orange Line.
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Post by darrell on Oct 4, 2011 20:16:30 GMT -8
with the EXPO INN gone the Area is Wide Open and Nice Looking the Lady that lives next to what was the Expo In today stated she was very happy to see it go away and clean up the area Thanks for the video immortalizing its demolition! (Seriously!)
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Post by metrocenter on Oct 4, 2011 20:59:07 GMT -8
For Expo Line, the hotels nearest the line (outside of 7th street and Pico) will be at 3rd street Santa Monica station. Not to be too nitpicky, but the station in downtown SM will be on 4th Street, not 3rd Street.
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Post by wad on Oct 5, 2011 4:15:28 GMT -8
To Gokhan's point, I think he meant within walking distance to an EXPO line station. ... For Expo Line, the hotels nearest the line (outside of 7th street and Pico) will be at 3rd street Santa Monica station. There are hotels and motels along the Figueroa Corridor south of Pico and north of Exposition.
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Post by masonite on Oct 5, 2011 7:56:57 GMT -8
To Gokhan's point, I think he meant within walking distance to an EXPO line station. ... For Expo Line, the hotels nearest the line (outside of 7th street and Pico) will be at 3rd street Santa Monica station. There are hotels and motels along the Figueroa Corridor south of Pico and north of Exposition. Yes, in fact, the USC Radisson is a pretty big hotel and located right by the Jefferson Station. I imagine that they are excited by this and will advertise they are only a short 10 minute metro ride away from Downtown LA. It should be a pretty big boon to them since people worry about the neighborhood and being cut off from things when they think of staying there (even if the primary purpose is for those visiting USC).
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Post by metrocenter on Oct 5, 2011 8:12:16 GMT -8
Specifically, there's the Radisson on Figueroa, in between two Expo stations (Jefferson/USC and Expo Park/USC), a block away from both.
Never mind, masonite beat me to it!
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Post by James Fujita on Oct 5, 2011 13:18:23 GMT -8
I'm fairly certain that a major reason why the Radisson Midtown even exists is because of USC.
Hotels are one of those businesses which really ought to advertise that they are near rail more often than they do. After all, they cater to travelers, and travelers do use mass transit, especially in unfamiliar cities. Sure, hotels make money off of parking fees, but a Metro Rail customer is still a customer, right?
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Post by thanks4goingmetro on Oct 5, 2011 19:35:24 GMT -8
Well, at least the Expo developments are not nearly as disappointing as the iPhone 4S announcement. Only a minor processor and camera revision after 16 months while Samsung and other companies are now making amazing Android phones well ahead of iPhone 4? What was Apple thinking? I appreciate that you're a consumer electronics pundit all of a sudden. Surely there's something that a quarter billion iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch users see in the product that Android don't understand, it's obvious. I am not disappointed: iOS 5 and iCloud will be great. iPhone 4S is what insiders refer to as a "speed bump," like the iPhone 3GS, it's exactly how you don't ruin the bestselling (or just best, IMHO) smartphone ever. I digress.
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Post by ieko on Oct 5, 2011 19:47:11 GMT -8
*Shrug* I've had every major smartphone OS except for windows phone 7 (I use iOS, webOS, and Android daily..)
I only keep android around for Google Maps and GTalk.
I much prefer iOS, because of how polished it is. It may not have everything, but it's nice to know that things will work as expected. I'll be grabbing an iPhone 4S, that's for sure. But then again, I'll probably grab a Nexus Prime as well.
And anyway, it's classic Apple -- New design > iterate > new design. I would prefer a non-glass backing like the original aluminium design, but meh. The 4S is worth my money -- I'm tired of the Android spec war, better specs does not mean a better experience.
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Post by LAofAnaheim on Oct 5, 2011 22:05:54 GMT -8
Let's get back to the Expo Line discussion please. We can leave the Apple discussions to other forums outside of here (#ripstevejobs)
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Post by thanks4goingmetro on Oct 6, 2011 10:36:35 GMT -8
Again, I digressed.
It seems about 100% certain that Expo Line Phase 1 will not open in 2011. The new question might be, is there a shadow of a chance of seeing it open before March 2012?
I work in the OC, taking Rapid 733 from West LA to Union Station MetroLink Orange County Line (30 minutes from Cadillac Ave at 6am), is the Rapid 733 still going to be faster than Expo from LaCienega/Jefferson Station (Expo Line) to Union Station (Red Line)? Any projections of travel times from end to end of Phase 1?
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Post by bzcat on Oct 6, 2011 10:47:56 GMT -8
I'm fairly certain that a major reason why the Radisson Midtown even exists is because of USC. USC owns that hotel so yea... ;D During construction of new dorm room on campus a few years ago, they put student housing in the hotel. If you won the lottery, you had free room service for a year.
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Post by thanks4goingmetro on Oct 6, 2011 11:13:41 GMT -8
USC is like a city into itself, this place has 3 friggin' light rail stations serving it, if anything it could use more hotels!
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Post by bluelineshawn on Oct 6, 2011 12:13:58 GMT -8
It seems about 100% certain that Expo Line Phase 1 will not open in 2011. The new question might be, is there a shadow of a chance of seeing it open before March 2012? How due you come to this conclusion as it is not what folks on the ground are sayingProbably because of previous comments made by Rick Thorpe that Metro cannot open between Thanksgiving and NYE because they wouldn't have enough volunteers for safety ambassadors. And what exactly are the guys that you are talking to saying and who are the ones saying it? The contractors are tasked with building the line. They likely know when it will be finished, but have absolutely nothing to do with when it opens. According to Rick Thorpe, even BuildExpo has no say in that. It's up to Metro.
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Post by bluelineshawn on Oct 6, 2011 13:07:07 GMT -8
Probably because of previous comments made by Rick Thorpe that Metro cannot open between Thanksgiving and NYE because they wouldn't have enough volunteers for safety ambassadors. And what exactly are the guys that you are talking to saying and who are the ones saying it? The contractors are tasked with building the line. They likely know when it will be finished, but have absolutely nothing to do with when it opens. According to Rick Thorpe, even BuildExpo has no say in that. It's up to Metro. All Info has come from Metro Staff not Contractors or Construction authority I think that officially they are hoping to open by the end of the year until told that they can't. I think that it's unlikely, but it's up to Metro. If they want to open in December I think that there's still time for that. I don't think that it's likely, but that's my unofficial opinion.
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Post by Gokhan on Oct 6, 2011 14:01:50 GMT -8
Update on the Phase 1 opening, from the Expo board meeting today:
Full prerevenue operation is expected to begin late October or early November. It takes about six weeks for the prerevenue operation to be completed. They are expecting to open the line to La Cienega sometime between mid-December and January.
Substantial completion of the construction is now expected in mid-November.
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Post by LAofAnaheim on Oct 6, 2011 14:22:38 GMT -8
Great! Any word on the Culver City opening? How's the timing with the rest of the Line? Also, are we good on the Blue Line-Expo Line tie-in?
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Post by Gokhan on Oct 6, 2011 14:48:32 GMT -8
Great! Any word on the Culver City opening? How's the timing with the rest of the Line? Also, are we good on the Blue Line-Expo Line tie-in? It sounded like the Expo - Blue junction is now ready, as there were no comments on it and they are about to hand the project over to Metro. It will take them a month or two to hook up the TPSS in Culver City. That's when the train testing there will start. They will open the Culver City Station in early 2012, probably after the La Cienega Station opens in January. Meeting audio and more summary is about to follow.
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Post by Gokhan on Oct 6, 2011 15:07:20 GMT -8
Enjoy the audio recording of the Expo board meeting today! I missed the beginning of Mr. Clint Simmons' comments as I had to call them to have the audio turned on. Expo board meeting 2011/10/06Here is a brief summary from the project-status update, which starts at 19:10 of the audio: Expo will hand the project over to Metro in a week or so. They've already established a prerevenue-awareness committee to discuss the challenges of this transition. The full prerevenue operation (simulation of the actual operation), which lasts about six weeks, is expected to begin in late October or early November. The line is expected to open to La Cienega in December or January.Culver City TPSS will be hooked up in a month or two and that's when the train testing in Culver City will start. Culver City Station will open in "early" 2012.The substantial completion of construction from Washington/Flower to the east of the Culver City areal is expected in mid-November. La Cienega Parking Structure will be ready by the end of October. Harvard Blvd (Foshay School) pedestrian tunnel will be renovated by the end of November.
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