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Post by bluelineshawn on Aug 23, 2009 19:28:51 GMT -8
I interpret "October at the earliest" as stay tuned. Maybe October, maybe later. If they had confidence they would be more certain. They (Leahy) said hopefully August just a couple of months ago after all. But personally I expect to be around then. I can't volunteer as I expect to be riding all day from whenever they start.
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Post by metroman on Aug 31, 2009 18:20:21 GMT -8
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Adrian Auer-Hudson
Junior Member
Supporter of "Expo Light Rail - Enabler for the Digital Coast".
Posts: 65
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Post by Adrian Auer-Hudson on Aug 31, 2009 19:02:13 GMT -8
One word: "WOW"!
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Post by metroman on Aug 31, 2009 19:51:32 GMT -8
Looking down track 1 from Mariachi station. Photo Oversized. Reduce it 20%. Sorry about that. Perhaps the moderator can delete my posts and I'll try it again (smaller of course) Just submit the photos at 80% to me and we will get them back up right away. Also, send in your correct email address, as we were not able to contact you at the old earthlink address.
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Post by darrell on Aug 31, 2009 20:43:58 GMT -8
Looking down track 1 from Mariachi station. Photo Oversized. Reduce it 20%. Sorry about that. Perhaps the moderator can delete my posts and I'll try it again (smaller of course) Just submit the photos at 80% to me and we will get them back up right away. Also, send in your correct email address, as we were not able to contact you at the old earthlink address. We've generally standardized on 800 pixels wide for photos here, to fit the column and for page load time - although yours at 1024 were beautiful to look at! I see the problem: Flickr doesn't give a display size between 500 and 1024 pixels wide. I guess you'd have to size them to 800 and separately upload them to Flickr.
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Post by Justin Walker on Aug 31, 2009 20:58:55 GMT -8
Sorry about that. Perhaps the moderator can delete my posts and I'll try it again (smaller of course) Just submit the photos at 80% to me and we will get them back up right away. Also, send in your correct email address, as we were not able to contact you at the old earthlink address. I can't wait to see those new pictures back up!
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Post by darrell on Aug 31, 2009 21:27:52 GMT -8
Sorry about that. Perhaps the moderator can delete my posts and I'll try it again (smaller of course) Just submit the photos at 80% to me and we will get them back up right away. Also, send in your correct email address, as we were not able to contact you at the old earthlink address. I can't wait to see those new pictures back up! There may be a problem with that approach: although the photo is displayed smaller, I think it is downloaded at its original size in KB, which makes web pages load slower. My photos, resized in Photoshop Elements and "Save for Web..." in Good resolution usually end up at 90-120 KB. Of course, even that must be maddeningly slow if anyone here is using dial-up! I used to try to keep photos down around 20 KB each (at 320 pixels wide) for that reason.
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Post by James Fujita on Sept 1, 2009 2:26:18 GMT -8
if you want to see all of MetroMan's photos at once, you could always just click on this link.in any case, one thing that really grabs me about these pictures is that there is nothing about these underground light rail stations that necessarily shouts out "light rail station" as opposed to "subway station" and I think that's absolutely awesome. the distinction between "light rail" and "heavy rail" is getting more and more blurred all the time, and these new stations (and the designs for the Downtown Connector stations) really illustrate the point that a light rail line can be more than just an upgraded streetcar line. this is more than just mere semantics. in Tokyo, only two subway lines are built with Red Line style third rails; the rest are built to the same standards as the city's extensive commuter trains, allowing for "subways" to continue for miles into the suburbs. imagine taking the Green Line from LAX to Norwalk... and then the same equipment continuing into Orange County as a Metrolink train...
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Post by metrocenter on Sept 1, 2009 7:48:22 GMT -8
Here are metroman's pictures: Picture 1: Picture 2: Picture 3: Picture 4: Picture 5: Picture 6: Thanks for all the great pictures, metroman!
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Post by metrocenter on Sept 1, 2009 7:57:25 GMT -8
I think that station looks great! A very classic look.
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Post by Justin Walker on Sept 1, 2009 8:58:25 GMT -8
A beautiful station. Great pics!
A few things that I notice, however:
1) They labeled the destination signs with "To Pasadena" instead of what I think would have been more helpful: "To LA/Pasadena."
2) They've installed the gold-text info display signs throughout the Eastside Extension rather than the LCD screens that now adorn the Red/Purple Lines and several stations on the Gold Line. Why?
Maybe I'm being a bit picky and I will be glad to see the line open in any case, but still...
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Post by darrell on Sept 1, 2009 10:47:15 GMT -8
Here are metroman's pictures: Picture 1: Your post illustrates my point. Just resized using the "img width=800 height=600" tag it is 401,026 bytes. But actually resizing it resulted in only 111,943 bytes, little over 1/4 the download size for the same photo (lightened and sharpened a little while I was resizing it).
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Post by metrocenter on Sept 1, 2009 12:20:31 GMT -8
I am so looking forward to this line opening, hopefully later this year. I hope to take that day off to take the train.
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Post by erict on Sept 1, 2009 13:32:06 GMT -8
very nice photos, how did you get in there?
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Post by James Fujita on Sept 1, 2009 15:02:43 GMT -8
it's funny the sort of thing that catches one's eye.
for example, look at the back walls behind the tracks in the Mariachi Plaza station photos. they actually went to the trouble of making sure that the "Mariachi Plaza" sign board was flush against the wall, and that the wall would have a slight bit of decorative (or is that meant to be sound-deadening?) ridge to it.
it's not just a sign slapped onto bare concrete, like so many of the Metro Red Line stations were when they first opened.
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Post by metroman on Sept 1, 2009 15:53:55 GMT -8
Thanks to Bart, metrocenter, and darrell for helping me with the photos. I'll read your posting suggestions.
And the sharpened images do look nice, darrell. They were shot with an Olympus E-620 & 12-60 lens, if anyone cares.
I'll try to get some shots of Soto station soon.
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Post by metroman on Sept 1, 2009 16:03:17 GMT -8
very nice photos, how did you get in there? I have friends in high places
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Post by bluelineshawn on Sept 1, 2009 16:53:59 GMT -8
it's funny the sort of thing that catches one's eye. What immediately caught my eye is that there aren't any turnstiles nor does it seem to have been designed with turnstiles in mind.
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Post by bluelineshawn on Sept 1, 2009 16:55:52 GMT -8
Thanks for the pics metroman!
What does your high up friend have to say about when the line will open and what the delay is?
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Post by rubbertoe on Sept 1, 2009 16:56:43 GMT -8
very nice photos, how did you get in there? I have friends in high places I think you mean that you have friends in low places actually The pics are great, keep them coming. And James, yes the ridged background on the wall behind where the train pulls up in the station looks so much better than the plain concrete. If you are talking about advertising though, why not leave several large say 6'x8' areas empty, where you can later then sell ad space? Wouldn't that be one way to generate revenue, kind of like the sides and backs of bus shelters? The ticketing area on the level above where the trains arrive is so beautiful, I would keep that ad free. But I would put up some areas behind where the trains arrive and sell them to generate revenue. Do other subway systems do that kind of thing? RubberToe
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Post by rubbertoe on Sept 1, 2009 17:02:09 GMT -8
Something like what they have in Toronto, like this...
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lc
New Member
Posts: 5
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Post by lc on Sept 1, 2009 17:23:00 GMT -8
Metro, wow, these are really nice photos. Any chance of getting photos of the underground section of Soto? Also, just to make sure I don't misunderstand, are the stress tests done and the pre-revenue testing scheduled to start in the next couple of weeks. Also, are there any sections that are one hundred percent done, construction wise?
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lc
New Member
Posts: 5
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Post by lc on Sept 1, 2009 17:24:34 GMT -8
Metro, oops, I missed your message about getting photos of Soto station at the top of the page. Sorry.
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Post by darrell on Sept 1, 2009 17:28:50 GMT -8
Thanks to Bart, metrocenter, and darrell for helping me with the photos. I'll read your posting suggestions. And the sharpened images do look nice, darrell. They were shot with an Olympus E-620 & 12-60 lens, if anyone cares. Thank you for the great photos, MetroMan! In Photoshop Elements (5.0) I typically crop photos, rotate if needed to level them, reduce usually to 800 pixels wide, adjust contrast (see if Auto Levels gives a good result, else manually use Levels), sometimes lighten Shadows, and Adjust Sharpness a little (15%, 1.0 pixel radius works for me; don't do it too much). My current camera is a two-year-old 12 M pixel (4000 x 3000 pixels) Canon SD 950, which gives me lots to work with, along with good color and sharpness.
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Post by metroman on Sept 1, 2009 19:45:21 GMT -8
Thanks for the pics metroman! What does your high up friend have to say about when the line will open and what the delay is? You're welcome, Shawn. Glad you enjoyed them. Well, the moderator has asked us not to post about opening dates, so I won't. There are rumors floating around about the date, but that's all, just rumors. My feeling is that no one has an exact date set, but they might have their sights set on a particular month. Sorry, that's all I can tell you
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Post by James Fujita on Sept 2, 2009 2:19:12 GMT -8
it's funny the sort of thing that catches one's eye. What immediately caught my eye is that there aren't any turnstiles nor does it seem to have been designed with turnstiles in mind. Yes, I was disappointed by that as well! ;D It's a shame that Metro didn't start installing fare gates or turnstiles in the stations much earlier. If they had planned ahead a little better, they could have planned the Mariachi Plaza and Soto stations with turnstiles in mind, and probably could have included fare gates and smart card technology into the construction costs of the Eastside Line. Oh well. As the Purple Line makes its slow march to the sea (or to Century City or Westwood or whatever), Metro has plenty of time to plan ahead for TAP cards and turnstiles....
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Post by metroman on Sept 2, 2009 18:58:28 GMT -8
Soto Station photos taken today!Instead of resizing the photos, I'll just provide you with a link. Anyone want to post some here, be my guest. Enjoy! BTW, after leaving Soto station today, I saw workers pouring asphalt near Pico station.
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Post by James Fujita on Sept 2, 2009 19:10:07 GMT -8
Another excellent set of photos, Metroman! I think I like the Mariachi Station a little better, but the design of the Soto Station is good, too. The birds and the words... interesting art.
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Post by Justin Walker on Sept 2, 2009 20:59:19 GMT -8
Wow! Another great set! Thanks for sharing these! I did notice an interesting design "quirk" in one of your photos of the Soto station. You can see in the following picture that the right station box wall is not parallel to the tracks or the platform, but rather flares out to meet the TBM-tunnel. This flare-out doesn't exist at any of the existing Red/Purple Line stations or at the Mariachi Plaza station as in your picture here: It piques my curiosity but it probably just another one of those engineering subtleties that we may never know the answer to.
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Post by losangeles2319 on Sept 2, 2009 21:48:10 GMT -8
I am actually really liking Soto Station's design. I'm not sure if Mariachi Plaza is still my favorite lol. I'm really digging that blue before the tunnel. I hope it is an actual part of station design and not just for construction purposes, cause it's awesome.
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