Trains March 2011

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Acela150

Acela150

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In Trains Magazine for the month of March there are a few articles that are note worthy. One about our beloved toasters breaking down. :( Second, OTP stats. Best and Worst! :huh: And the most noteworthy! PHL was named America's top station! :D Being from PHL I got a little something to brag about! :lol: But in all seriousness the writer talks about the old PRR and the types of Amtrak trains, Septa, and NJT trains that run through PHL today. He talks about the Solari board, the passengers, the staff, and he also interviews the person who operates the Solari board! :) The writer mentions how the Solari board will be replaced by a LED board. Well written article if you can get your hands on a copy of trains to read it I suggest it! :)

Steve
 
Ryan said:
How many Solari boards are there left in the system?
Click to expand...
All I know is PHL and NWK. Maybe NHV. SO 2 maybe 3. BOS lost theirs a few years ago. But last time I was at BOS in '08 it was still up but a LED was working. In the article it says Spring of this year for the replacement of the Solari Board at PHL. I certainly hope not! I have grown up listening to that thing click.
 
Acela150 said:
Ryan said:
How many Solari boards are there left in the system?
Click to expand...
All I know is PHL and NWK. Maybe NHV. SO 2 maybe 3. BOS lost theirs a few years ago. But last time I was at BOS in '08 it was still up but a LED was working. In the article it says Spring of this year for the replacement of the Solari Board at PHL. I certainly hope not! I have grown up listening to that thing click.
Click to expand...
I think there's still a board in Trenton, TRE.
 
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Acela150 said:
Ryan said:
How many Solari boards are there left in the system?
Click to expand...
All I know is PHL and NWK. Maybe NHV. SO 2 maybe 3.
Click to expand...
Did NYP lose theirs?
huh.gif
 
My copy should arrive tomorrow, and the cover story about railroads in our Civil War happens to dovetail nicely with the book I'm currently reading, "Engines of War."
 
the_traveler said:
Acela150 said:
Ryan said:
How many Solari boards are there left in the system?
Click to expand...
All I know is PHL and NWK. Maybe NHV. SO 2 maybe 3.
Click to expand...
Did NYP lose theirs?
huh.gif
Click to expand...
Years ago!! I'm surprised you didn't notice that the other day! :unsure: Here is what it looks like now. It was replaced with the introduction of Acela Express and the former Acela Regional now Northeast Regional. At the time NYP was supposed to be the "model" station. It's sad that Amtrak is doing away with what I would consider a tradition! :(
 
Ryan said:
How many Solari boards are there left in the system?
Click to expand...
Someone should try and get the last Solari board (or may the one in Philly) to the Smithsonian!

The only one I know of on the West Coast (and that would be as of a year ago) would be in the Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX.
 
I want the possessed Solari board in Frankfurt. I'll put it up here at work and it will display the latest status of every system, but with weird name changes that make people giggle and wonder what's going on. :lol:
 
Acela150 said:
Ryan said:
How many Solari boards are there left in the system?
Click to expand...
All I know is PHL and NWK. Maybe NHV. SO 2 maybe 3. BOS lost theirs a few years ago. But last time I was at BOS in '08 it was still up but a LED was working. In the article it says Spring of this year for the replacement of the Solari Board at PHL. I certainly hope not! I have grown up listening to that thing click.
Click to expand...
The BOS non-Solari board makes the flapclickflapclick sound effect as it updates. I think this is because they realized this sound was extremely effective at drawing attention to the board as it updates -- passengers have been trained on that sound for decades, like Pavlov's dogs :) Also, it's far less intrusive and more effective than echo-y, hard-to-understand PA announcements -- just a nice sound effect to guide people's attention to an easy-to-read board.

I wish they weren't replacing the PHL Solari board; I hope they do the sound effect on the new board in PHL, for both practical and nostalgic reasons.
 
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What does the membership here think of Fred Frailey's article regarding the indefinite postponement of improved rail service ? he points out that the Obama Administration's application of HSR to what the general public perceives to be conventional speed (ie., calling 110 mph HSR) a mistake.

Many opponents immediately pointed out what the average speed of the 110 mph trains would be here in WI, and then proceeded to call it all "Cow speed rail," or "Snail Rail."
 
I remember when the 30th Street Station train board was a blackboard and chalk. The train info was meticulously lettered on the blackboard in a script. When it was proposed to replace the blackboard and the person who did the lettering with the new-fangled Solari board, there was an outcry. The Solari was portrayed as just another modern contraption taking away the charm of the station. That sounds a little bit like today.
 
I received my issue on Friday and loved it! I've decided that Trains Magazine doesn't have enough info per issue about Amtrak to keep my subscription. I have so many subscriptions to magazines that I never have the time to read them anymore. But this issue was tops! And it was cool to know that five years ago, I didn't know a bit about any train station and now I have traveled or been to 7 of the top 10 train stations. The #1 (Philly) station I have yet to discover but plan on it in the future! Trains Magazine is a good magazine, I just have figured out in the last year or so that I'm not a huge rail buff but a Passenger Rail Advocate. 90% of what is in Trains, doesn't have that huge of an appeal, but if its an article or editorial on Amtrak, its read seconds after getting the copy of it out of my mailbox! :rolleyes:
 
the_traveler said:
Acela150 said:
Ryan said:
How many Solari boards are there left in the system?
Click to expand...
All I know is PHL and NWK. Maybe NHV. SO 2 maybe 3.
Click to expand...
Did NYP lose theirs?
huh.gif
Click to expand...
Yes they did. I beleive that the old board now resides at the home of the NJ Highrailers, a model RR club in Patterson NJ. They claim to have the largest O scale model RR layout in the world. You can go to one of their open house events to see the layout and the board.
 
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Last time I was there, they still had what I think is a Solari Board in NYP. It's the thing that does a lot of loud clicking as the trains listed change, right?

Edit: Wikipedia says they don't have one, but there's some sort of board that makes a lot of noise in the waiting area above most of the tracks.
 
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Anderson said:
Last time I was there, they still had what I think is a Solari Board in NYP. It's the thing that does a lot of loud clicking as the trains listed change, right?

Edit: Wikipedia says they don't have one, but there's some sort of board that makes a lot of noise in the waiting area above most of the tracks.
Click to expand...
As I previously mentioned NYP's Solari Board was taken down when Amtrak introduced Acela Express and Acela Regional now Northeast Regional. They have an electronic board now.
 
PRR 60 said:
I remember when the 30th Street Station train board was a blackboard and chalk. The train info was meticulously lettered on the blackboard in a script. When it was proposed to replace the blackboard and the person who did the lettering with the new-fangled Solari board, there was an outcry. The Solari was portrayed as just another modern contraption taking away the charm of the station. That sounds a little bit like today.
Click to expand...
In case anyone would like to see an example of the old chalk board, venture over to the arrival hall of Grand Central Terminal, where they have preserved just such a board complete with entries of late arrivals, preserved for posterity.
 
Acela150 said:
Ryan said:
How many Solari boards are there left in the system?
Click to expand...
All I know is PHL and NWK. Maybe NHV. SO 2 maybe 3. BOS lost theirs a few years ago. But last time I was at BOS in '08 it was still up but a LED was working. In the article it says Spring of this year for the replacement of the Solari Board at PHL. I certainly hope not! I have grown up listening to that thing click.
Click to expand...
NHV still has one, Baltimore got rid of theirs not long ago. Too bad.
 
guest said:
Acela150 said:
Ryan said:
How many Solari boards are there left in the system?
Click to expand...
All I know is PHL and NWK. Maybe NHV. SO 2 maybe 3. BOS lost theirs a few years ago. But last time I was at BOS in '08 it was still up but a LED was working. In the article it says Spring of this year for the replacement of the Solari Board at PHL. I certainly hope not! I have grown up listening to that thing click.
Click to expand...
NHV still has one, Baltimore got rid of theirs not long ago. Too bad.
Click to expand...
That's too bad about Baltimore. I saw that one back in September of 2009, but they were also in process of renovating the station.
 
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