All I have to say is, eh. That’s right eh. But I’m being to harsh, so let me take you along for a ride and let you form your own opinion about the new line. All aboard !!
(Editor’s Note: I uploaded all the pics on here through my phone the first time around, but I fixed it now and everything should show up. Sorry for the glitch.)
Alright so first things first. On Friday Oct. 30 Metro held a Media Preview Day so that we can all ride the train. My local councilman Jose Huizar and Gloria Molina were there too doing their thing, but more on that later on the ride. The Mayor himself Tony V. was there, hence the K-9 presence.
Look there they are. Like a pack of ravenous wolves pacing back and forth. Waiting for an old and tired Buck to kill over so they can feed on his juicy guts. But not everyone in the press is like that, I’m proof :-). Also there are peeps out there like Michael Linder of KABC talk radio who flagged me down to tell me how much he loves reading this blog and keeping up with all things East of the River. Thanks Michael. Bustard from the Bus Bench was there too, but more on him later tambien.
Hey will you look at that, it’s the Mayor, half an hour late. Not only that but when he does get there he’s mobbed by all the press as he is making his way up the stairs. It’s good until another train gets to the station and unloads. The press and mayor block of the only entrance and funnel everyone into one single row of traffic making it, ohh how shall I say, trouble-some. FYI, I’m not hating on him as mayor but more on his rudeness for being late and blocking traffic trying to get on/off the train.
Of course inside the train it wasn’t any different. I stayed back from the circus and took a seat in the back because unlike the majority of the people on the train that day, I’m one of the few people in that train that will actually ride it on a regular basis to Highland Park on Tuesdays/Wednesdays to see $3 movies at the Highland Park movie theater.
As we left the station one things was for sure, this new line has some amazing scenic views like this one of the freeway.
Or like this one. Good stuff.
Some of the other people invited to come along for the ride are East L.A. og’s. Like the guy the L.A. Times wrote about.
Here’s the view of the River as the train makes it way east of the river via First st. through the Arts District.
The ride made a stop at Soto station and extra hands were on deck to make sure no one got hurt or anything. It was pretty cool to see the station first hand as this is one of the stations where there’s going to be a lot of traffic.
One of the things that caught my attention once inside the station is how low the train platform is. Everywhere else I’ve rode the train on, the platform is a few higher than the train rails. I don’t know if this is a good/bad thing. But I will say that it looks cool though.
The art work on the station has a theme of new beginnings because Boyle Heights is a city of first beginnings to a lot of immigrants, including myself. It revolves around birds and it’s pretty neutral. I my mind I though it was going to be some big ass mural, because BH is know for them. Still good though.
This is the center piece of the art instillation. It’s an egg inside a nest. Pretty cool and it looks hella comfy. That huge map in the back is an OG map of BH because it has Brooklyn on it rather than Chavez.
Here’s a closer look at the map. I love the blue birds hoovering over the city.
I gotta say my that I tip my hat off to Bustard. He’s one of the peeps I ran into that day and he was dressed to the T. He had on this cool metro tie, trench coat and kick ass hat. I gotta take some fashion tips from you one of these days. Here’s his post on the days events.
This is where things got interesting. Since Tony V. ditched the press at the Soto station, he drove his car back to union station even though the a train was taking everyone back. I stayed on for the full ride because I wanted to see the entire trip. Molina and a few other peeps stayed on but during the ride she was pointing out all the things Browny pointed out and got called out for. At every turn she would be saying things like “this is where da-da-da.” At point point she turned on the attitude to Metro CEO Art Leahy, guy in pic. I was like DAMN !!!!
After I got my fill of drama I made my way to the cab of the train and had a drivers point of view on our way back to Union Station. It was freaking AWESOME !!!!!!
Here’s a pic of the display screen to the right.
Some of the buttons to the left.
The driver controls the speed with a single lever. Cool !!!
I was getting pretty psyched when we were making our way into the tunnel by 1st and Lorena.
Ahhhh we’re going in !!!!
Lightspeed !!!!
Cool blue lights in the tunnel.
The view of downtown coming out of the tunnel was breath taking. I was like, holy crap. You come out of the darkness and see that skyline and I fell in love. Breath taking isn’t it ?
On our way across the bridge to the other side.
Over the freeway again.
…. and union station.
The ride took round 20-30 min and it was pretty cool. Of course there’s still some drama with the line and only time will tell what happens, but it’s finally here. Trucha.
Good ride RH. Your descriptions were spot on.
God damn it, am I the only one whose computer isn’t loading images on this post?!
This is driving me nuts. I want to see too!
No puedo ver las fotos either.
You’re one of the few who will say that you rode the Eastside Extension first and with the mayor and his trusty K-9s. Lucky!
I don’t see the images either.
So the ride took 20-30 minutes? Maybe you were too busy taking pictures to get a more accurate time. Well looking at a line 31 bus schedule I see it takes 25 minutes to get from Alameda and Temple to East LA College, so this train is not any faster and makes many fewer stops.
Beto,
Interesting point. I think the MGLEE was going slightly slower than it will actually go, because people were taking pictures and they didn’t want the people who have never been on public transit falling on the train.
I also can’t see the pictures.
Unfortuantely that train is going to have to go slow since Metro built it half ass and at grade with the only installation of safety mechanisms being employing retired Metro employees as safety people and a you tube video that says “watch out,” crossing gates would be nice. I wonder would the people of South Pasadena be ok with a you tube video and safety people in lieu of safety gates and barriers. You can’t even walk on most of the track that is in South Pasadena. The barriers have barriers in South Pasadena and the Eastside gets a video.
Browne
Good piece Random. Very funny too! FIX THE PICTURES!! I’ll come back later today and see Villainraigosa and his doggs–woof woof.
The pictures are part of a new ‘Theater of the Mind’ type of blogging. (Saw a few pics in the LAEastide file folder, the Soto station interior looks impressive. [also snuck a peek at El Chavo’s Halloween adventure in Mexico, can’t wait for his post.jajajajaja])
Pictures work now. I couldn’t see them last night either. Thought it was my piece of shit computer. Like the soto street subway station. I can only imagine how packed that place is going to be when it opens. There’s about a thousand people at that intersection at any given time between dawn to dusk.
Just got turned on to your site. Loved the pics. We should prepare ourselves for mistakes and mishaps to come from both METRO and the public. It’s something new and things are bound to happen.
Nice , Cant wait to ride it through East L.A….Took the short ride to Soto Station only…
Dude, I was so sad I couldnt make it. My son’s halloween costume parade took precedence. Thanx holmes!
great pics and commentary… you got more important things pending RH ya go get married. 🙂
I enjoyed the pictures, especially the ones from the front of the train.
Found the blog while randomly searching, love the blog! Not from East Los but still love exploring en mi carcacha.
very cool post
great pics too
The platforms are lower because this is light rail, not heavy rail (Red Line, Purple Line). You see the same thing in Boston on the Green Line, which is mostly above ground (light rail), BUT, does run as a subway in the downtown portions.
MUCH better with pictures! Great job! Looking forward to riding this from Highland Park to Wurstküche, and Lupe’s #2.
Great pictures of LA and East Los.
I remember the old yellow cars that used to go down Whittier Blvd and stopped at the old turn around across from calvary cemetary.
It’s cool to see time run it’s full circle, first the yellow cars and then a dark period with no trains and now amazingly the gold line returns and brings public transportation to a community which actually uses and appreciates it.
Also thanks for the cool pics of my father who you took a couple of pictures of.
–Vato Loco
Great pictures, and great comments(except for one).
The level of the platform above the tracks is different on the Red/Purple line than it is on the Light Rail Gold/Green/Blue Lines.
Red/Purple Line:
Floor Height from Top of Rail is 1136 mm(3 feet 8.25 inches)
Gold/Green/Blue Lines:
Floor Height from Top of Rail is 850 mm(2 feet 9.4 inches)
me gusta.. ilove it
Lol i love the part where you say, ur one of the few that will actually drive the metro
Metro EastSide Goldline Extension \”Sneak Peek\” Pt 1 of 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Xj7NgBaBR8