Archive for the ‘Trains’ Category

Random notes: August 16, 2010.

Monday, August 16th, 2010

Obit watch: James J. Kilpatrick.

For those who are wondering, I’ll save you the trouble: I couldn’t find any “Point-Counterpoint” videos on YouTube, and Shana Alexander died in 2005.

In other news, Austin’s MetroRail service was disrupted this morning. Why? Well, someone found a mysterious package on the tracks that contained…a cow tongue studded with nails, along with a note (“incoherent”, according to the Statesman), and a photograph. There was also a glass jar found nearby with an unidentified liquid inside.

Edited to add: Lawrence sends along this link to cow tongues found nailed to trees at Prospect Park around this time last year. Speculation in the linked article is that this is some sort of Santeria ritual intended to stop gossip, which seems to fit in with speculation by Statesmen commentators.

Random notes: May 4, 2010.

Tuesday, May 4th, 2010

The Statesman has the first article I’ve seen touching on ridership for the Capital Metro trains. While this article mostly discusses the experimental Saturday train, this paragraph is significant:

Capital Metro has had much lighter ridership for its Monday-to-Friday rush hour service during the line’s six weeks of existence — about 1,000 a day since fares began, officials said.

The LAT profiles the Pho Binh noodle shop in Saigon. They serve “peace noodles” soup; and the Tet Offensive was plotted upstairs.

Today is the 40th anniversary of Kent State.

Obit watch: Lynn Redgrave.

I hear that train a’ coming, it’s rollin’ round the bend…

Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010

Capital Metro rail service from Leander to downtown Austin started yesterday.

How’s the ridership?

Day 1:

Capital Metro first said the morning boardings were 672, then later updated that (without explanation) to 716, based on an eyeball count rather than the electronic counters in the train car doors.

Day 2:

Capital Metro reports morning boardings on its nine MetroRail runs today was 547, down from 716 on opening day Monday.

Note that these are just the morning boardings; the Statesman writer comments that afternoon ridership “tripled” yesterday.