TBM
Beacon Hill Tunnel Construction, photo by Ryan Healy

50,000 cubic yards of Earth was removed from under Beacon Hill for each of the two Beacon Hill tunnels. A similar amount of Earth was removed for the Beacon Hill station. That subway section is one mile long, so you could imagine how much soil will be removed from underneath Seattle for the 6+ mile subway from (almost) Westlake to (almost) Northgate.

Here are a couple more 50s. Forward Thrust got 50.8% of the vote in 1968, but 60% was needed to pass. 1950 was the year of the last Kirkland-Madison Park Car Ferry ran. The last passenger-only ferry on that run was a year later and thus ended all ferry service on Lake Washington.

One more random thought: is model train collecting much more popular than I know? I don’t collect them myself (I did collect guitars for a while, but Tamami has made me get rid of many of them), but it’s hugely surprising to me that the Mariners are giving away 20,000 model train cars as a gameday promotion.

22 Replies to “50 Days”

  1. The train cars are a cool promotion. Although, they should be HO scale and not N scale, said the HO scale modeler. Anyone know the origin or history of the promotion?

    2. I gather that upcoming editions include:

      The John Ellis Crocodile Tank Car (leaks fake water at Christmas Time)
      The Jeff Smulyan “Packin’ up and moving to St. Pete” Box Car complete with Ken Behring moving van

      Still awaiting approval is the joint Emory Bundy/Maggy Fimia “train car” that is in fact a bus, since we all know that the solution to Seattle’s mobility issues is more busses.

  2. Where’s all the dirt going? I always wonder on digs like this if Geologists are allowed to occasionally to see if there is anything “interesting” in it?

    Re: Random Thought – I doubt the Mariners pay more than a buck a piece for this things – they are pretty cheap – my toddler busted the J.J. Putz Flamethrower Express last year in about 14 nanoseconds.

      1. If you talk to some of the SDOT folks, odds are good the Chief Sealth trail doesn’t get built without that fill dirt. That savings was hugely important to the overall project’s viability.

  3. The train “thing” with the Mariners comes from the location of the stadium and what has become one of the signature sounds of Safeco Field – the Amtrak and BNSF trains whistling as they pass by the ballpark.

  4. does anyone know … so I don’t have to look it up … whether the tunnel to the U-District will be a larger single bore tunnel or 2 smaller single-bore tunnels like under beacon hill

    1. Two smaller bores. Two TBMs UW -> Cap Hill – 1 TBM Cap Hill -> Downtown in two passes. Or so is my understanding…

  5. did collect guitars for a while, but Tamami has made me get rid of many of them),
    Harsh, and she won’t let you play with Legos either… Andrew, my advise to you; grow old and crotchety… works for me ;-)

    but it’s hugely surprising to me that the Mariners are giving away 20,000 model train cars as a gameday promotion.

    Yes, and yes they should be HO. That said you can make a nice amusement park ride on the HO layout with the N scale. That works great with “HO” slot cars :+) But if anyone wants to trade some N scale Marineers cars for some HO or OO equipment give me a shout. The M’s did sell a Bachmann HO set a few years back which we’ve got held back as a collectable.

    1. hahaha. Yeah I seem to be getting there at an ever-accelerating pace. :P

      1. Maybe they didn’t disclose this in your academic career but yes, time accelerates as you get older. A “Decade” seemed like a really really long time when you were 20 years old. Indeed, it was half a lifetime. Trust me on this, and I’m just now starting to enjoy the benefits; getting old does have some perks ;-)

  7. Speaking of model trains, does anyone know if there are any model Link trains available for sale? I know I’ve seen a Sounder or two in passing.

    1. American Z-Line made a sounder set in Z-Scale (1:220) … and Athearn has made the F59s and the pax cars in N (1:160) and I believe HO (1:87)

      as for LINK … there are no models that come clear to matching the design of the LRVs (nor for SLUT) … there are a number of European and Japanese Tram mfrs that have releases stuff in HO and N … but they are usually of European prototype or Japanese prototype

      here is the Z-scale set: http://www.ztrack.com/AZL/AZL_F59PHI/sounder.jpg

  8. You mentioned guitars so I had to share; after 15 years of waiting I recently bought an American Stratocaster, Olympic white like you-know-whose. What an instrument…Leo Fender, you genious…
    Dude, they should rock Hendrix’s “I Hear My Train Comin'” from his Woodstock performance at the stations on opening day…he was a local kid, after all.

    1. I think that is the point, since the post is about the removal of the dirt DURING construction.

  11. Believe it, it is way easier to store N scale models than guitars. And, of course, the recurring nightmare of the musical instrument owner- the goon who breaks in looking for *something* to steal. Even if they realize the LGB may be valuable, they’ll probably leave the most expensive part- the track.

    1. I’ve actually never had an instrument stolen. I’ve only had one break-in so far in my life: that was in SOMA in San Francisco (six and folsom, not a nice neighborhood). I was eighteen and actually in the apartment at the time and scared to complete death. I kept telling the thief as he was forcing the door open that I was in there and had a gun, but he called by bluff and ultimately got inside. Thankfully almost immediately afterward the police (who I had called a long time earlier) showed up and chased the guy away. He made off with a watch, my wallet and a cellphone, but none of my axes.

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