That's a bad omen ...
This morning there was frost on my windshield, for the first time this season.
That's not the bad omen.
The bad omen was the fact that the train two trains ahead of mine this morning ... died. In the single-track stretch (at South Acton station, in fact). Which meant that the train immediately ahead of mine had to tie onto the dead train and push it all the way into North Station. Which also meant that my train was stuck behind this mess all the way in. Which meant my train was an hour late this morning. Just to make matters worse, the train before the dead train also had mechanical problems and ran about twenty minutes late. And the train I rode home departed North Station four minutes late (although they were able to make up the time en route).
Keolis (the private outfit contracted to run the MBTA's commuter rail) rather spectacularly failed to handle this past winter's record snowfall; there was a five-week stretch where two-thirds of the trains I rode were late. Supposedly they spent the summer fixing old locomotives, leasing spare locomotives, and loading up on spare parts. But if the equipment can't handle cold weather now, we're doomed come January.
Originally posted at http://edschweppe.dreamwidth.org/204511.html - comment wherever you please.
That's not the bad omen.
The bad omen was the fact that the train two trains ahead of mine this morning ... died. In the single-track stretch (at South Acton station, in fact). Which meant that the train immediately ahead of mine had to tie onto the dead train and push it all the way into North Station. Which also meant that my train was stuck behind this mess all the way in. Which meant my train was an hour late this morning. Just to make matters worse, the train before the dead train also had mechanical problems and ran about twenty minutes late. And the train I rode home departed North Station four minutes late (although they were able to make up the time en route).
Keolis (the private outfit contracted to run the MBTA's commuter rail) rather spectacularly failed to handle this past winter's record snowfall; there was a five-week stretch where two-thirds of the trains I rode were late. Supposedly they spent the summer fixing old locomotives, leasing spare locomotives, and loading up on spare parts. But if the equipment can't handle cold weather now, we're doomed come January.
Originally posted at http://edschweppe.dreamwidth.org/204511.html - comment wherever you please.