Here are some photos I took a few hours ago of ST 105 testing between the pocket track near Henderson Street Station and the Duwamish River.
Update: Link running at 45mph as of 6pm
As always, a big thank you to Sound Transit for the invitation out to photograph the movement!
For the rest of the images, head over to my Flickr account for more light-rail testing.
very cool!
Love it! awesome man
Great shots, especially over the Green/Duwamish. ST ought to be conducting this testing non-stop until election day! On every inch of the line! Especially along and over I-5! Very exciting to see.
David
I’m certain that’s what they’ll do
Wednesday is the Metro Transit open house so no testing tomorrow. 80% route testing will start next week. Seeing a moving vehicle in testing will be a normal basis soon =D
Are there any more public tours of the maintenance facility or equipment, now or planned before June 2009? I know they had a party in Westlake Station not too long ago.
I want on a moving train so badly.
Yeah, that’s be something else :)
What’s really interesting to think about is that there are tens of thousands of people who just don’t care about following transit — bless ’em, they got more important things in their lives — who in a year’s time are going to be daily commuters on Link. Our fetish is going to turn into their reality.
I’ll check up on that and get back to you later this week. I do believe Sound Transit is ramping up for operator training.
STB meet-and-greet and test ride!
Cool!
Is there a general timeline anywhere with a list of tasks left for Link? It just feels like they’re almost done, but I know they won’t open for a whole year. I’m curious what’s left.
Yeah, there is.
http://soundtransit.org/Documents/pdf/projects/regional/apr/200806/Link%20Light%20Rail%20APR%20June%202008%20Final.pdf
That’s June, the progress report on Link. They come out quarterly, with the report usually delayed about a month from actual work. It should give you a good idea of where each project stands.
Sweet pics!!
And a little rant: But does anybody else find those little pictographs representing each station on the Link map very childish and annoying? It makes the map look unnecessarily busy and adds an extra layer of confusion with all the pictures.
Before the last vote, I called up ST and suggested they run a train through the downtown tunnel at rush hour, horn blaring, with Ladenberg, Nickels, and Patterson waving and pumping fists through an open door. What a great photo op that would have been for the papers and the nightly news.
Completely non-plussed, the “PR” guy drily recounted the rules against goverment agencies using their resources for campaigning. I could have been talking to Ben Stein.
Look, I’m one of the biggest good-government liberals around, but throw me a frickin’ bone here. So maybe you don’t have the pols on board, maybe you just have them “checking the tires” during a stop at each station. Work with me.
While there is a large minority in King County that is either pro-rail or very receptive to it, the anti-rail forces, fractured as they may be, seem better organized, better funded, and operate year-round. Few politicians take ownership of the issue. Only Transportaion Choices actively lobbies for rail, mostly with the legislature. And that leaves a large minority with little voice.
I want someo good ol’ fashioned civic boosterism! I want a champion for the cause, LOL.
Awesome pics Brian!
I especially like the one of the LRT centered on the bridge over the Duwamish. Well done!
Nice pics! Very excited to see this coming on line.
I am also curious about the remaining construction on the central link line. Does anyone know if there is anything left aside from the completion of the airport station?
What remains is the following: Initial Segment (DSTT to S 154th)
Live wire testing between Henderson Street Station and South Walden Street
Stringing wire 2000 feet just Northeast of South 154th Street into the station.
Stringing wire from South Walden Street to Airport Way (through the tunnel)
Install elevators, electrical, fan/vent systems at Beacon Hill Station.
Install TVM’s at all stations.
Install CCTV cameras at Mt. Baker Station and complete glass installation.
Complete dead and live wire testing through Beacon Hill Tunnels.
Train operators and complete burn in of LRV’s 125-135.
Train mechanical team.
Construct Maintenance of Way (MoW) building at O&M site after tunnel construction is completed.
What remains is the following: Airport Extension (S 154th to STIAS)
Install OCS (Overhead Contact System) and signal system.
Finish installing track from station cross over into station. False work is nearly finished.
Complete walkways to International Blvd and parking garage/terminal.
Install CCTV cameras at station and walkways.
Dead/Live wire testing between S 154th Street and Sea-Tac Airport.
Thanks Brian! I guess there is quite a bit of work left.
Brian, any thoughts as to why it would take 10 more months to complete that given the number of subs
“Install elevators, electrical, fan/vent systems at Beacon Hill Station.”
The critical path is here.
http://soundtransit.org/Documents/pdf/projects/regional/apr/200806/Link%20Light%20Rail%20APR%20June%202008%20Final.pdf
Check out page 9, it shows the project management graph of critical path.
This is only merely a guess but the construction end of things will happen pretty fast. Once the full line is completed (construction wise) it will then be a matter of training the operators, devices, etc to ensure that all is working properly and safely.
Realistically in my opinion, this could be finished (construction and general testing) by April/May 2009. This will leave spacing for operator training, control training, maintenance training and get the rest of the safety training completed. Remember, the last 3 months before opening day, ST will be running simulated scheduled runs 24/7. We’ll see anything from 1 car to 4 car consists, every six minutes for 24 hours a day. If I was in ST’s shoes, I would highly recommend using 3-4 car trains the first week in opening of the system. We all saw the delays with Charlotte… upwards of 3-5 hours of WAITING @ 2 car trains each.
The biggest item I see that might cause any idea would be installation of the elevators in the nice big hole. I’m sure that is going to be a challenge all of it’s own. I haven’t seen the big round hole in person but it would be interesting to see just how things will be put together.
We also have to note that while all of this is going on, Sound Transit is also ramping up to start construction on the U-Link line by the end of the year/early 2009. ST has a lot of great pressure right now, politically and physically.
~ Brian – Not the voice of ST.