Animated ads in Red Line tunnels

there is def a speed thing. i was going through last friday and all trains were traveling at restricted speeds. The sign didnt light up for this train

The Harvard sign has been very noticably off since last week. I can't recall positively seeing it lit since before the first of the month, so I suspect that its been turned off due to the end of a contract period.

Its always been on a speed sensor of some type (probably radar -- I don't think a simple radar speed sensor is that expensive anymore). You could usually tell if the ad was going to light or not -- if the train, leaving Harvard, got any restricting signals bewteen the station and the crossovers, it usually wouldn't be up to a high enough speed for it to come on. In my commutes, I'd say about one trip in 10 for me it wouldn't light up.

The Target ad also seemed to be up for way too long -- even occasional riders had seen the thing many times over by now. I wonder if they're having trouble finding new clients, as I would think it would have been changed out very quickly if they had another ad ready. Perhaps its not taking off with advertisers as much as they had hoped (kind of like how the wrapped buses were a fad at first, but now they seem to have disappeared -- the only wraps I've seen lately are on the Green Line).

I think the wrapped buses are not going to be around much longer, since the new buses are ALL WINDOWS, and they aren't allowed to wrap windows any more (post 9-11).

I think the actual displays are gone from the inbound tunnel between Broadway and South Station, but I did see the darkened devices on the outbound side of the tunnel today.

They've managed to wrap a number of newer NABI buses, regardless of the big windows.

MAYDAY... MAYDAY... TOPIC ALERT!

Is the sign lit again yet? Ill be there tonight so i can check it out.

fm535 wrote:I think the wrapped buses are not going to be around much longer, since the new buses are ALL WINDOWS, and they aren't allowed to wrap windows any more (post 9-11).

I think the actual displays are gone from the inbound tunnel between Broadway and South Station, but I did see the darkened devices on the outbound side of the tunnel today.

There've definitely been wrapped windows post 9-11. I moved to Brighton in 2002 and have been on quite a few wrapped buses in Brighton. The windows just are wrapped in meshy sticker material (tiny holes punched in it in sort of a grid) so that you can see out.

CRail wrote:MAYDAY... MAYDAY... TOPIC ALERT!

Is the sign lit again yet? Ill be there tonight so i can check it out.

Yeah, what was this topic again? Wait, I'm the one that started it drifting...ooops...

The Harvard sign is still out. Not lit, but still in place, and judging by the color, looks like the Target panels are still in place.

octr202 wrote:

CRail wrote:MAYDAY... MAYDAY... TOPIC ALERT!

Is the sign lit again yet? Ill be there tonight so i can check it out.

Yeah, what was this topic again? Wait, I'm the one that started it drifting...ooops...

The Harvard sign is still out. Not lit, but still in place, and judging by the color, looks like the Target panels are still in place.

I've noticed that trains are slamming the brakes of late inbound right about where the tracks from the bi-level tunnels meet at the same grade again. Usually they're nearing full speed by that point, so the extra stop seems to prevent some of them from hitting the animated sign fast enough to trigger the lights.

Is there some track work going on in that area? The ride out of the inbound curve's been more herky-jerky the last week or so, with the speed-up right out of the curve followed immediately by the the puff of hydraulics and an abrupt dead stop. It does, I'll admit, give you a nice view of the underside of an outbound train speeding up the grade if you happen to be sitting in the right car at the right time.

i've never seen the ad because i didn't know about it untill right after it passed the last time i went there

Plaidline wrote:

fm535 wrote:I think the wrapped buses are not going to be around much longer, since the new buses are ALL WINDOWS, and they aren't allowed to wrap windows any more (post 9-11).

I think the actual displays are gone from the inbound tunnel between Broadway and South Station, but I did see the darkened devices on the outbound side of the tunnel today.

There've definitely been wrapped windows post 9-11. I moved to Brighton in 2002 and have been on quite a few wrapped buses in Brighton. The windows just are wrapped in meshy sticker material (tiny holes punched in it in sort of a grid) so that you can see out.

I think if you look closely, there are no longer any wrapped windows. DOT and NTSB and FBI mandated that the interiors of public trans vehicles can be seen from the outside, it is not a matter of being able to see out the mesh that was removed. The T actually had to take many vehicles out of service until all of the windows of subway vehicles were cleared immediately after Sept 11. Buses may have been allowed a bit longer, but it is no longer allowed at all.

fm535 wrote:I think if you look closely, there are no longer any wrapped windows. DOT and NTSB and FBI mandated that the interiors of public trans vehicles can be seen from the outside, it is not a matter of being able to see out the mesh that was removed. The T actually had to take many vehicles out of service until all of the windows of subway vehicles were cleared immediately after Sept 11. Buses may have been allowed a bit longer, but it is no longer allowed at all.

2002 is well within the maximum allowable point for the buses to be in service with the wrap, they have not and will not be in service with anything obscuring the windows since then.

edit to clarify

Ed, I think your quote within a quote went awry! LOL! You have plaidline as my quote, and then my quote as if you retyped everything I said initially. What you have posted as my quote is actually plaidline's quote. And I am in agreement with what you are saying.

Thanks for pointing out the good Frank!

Got good news so far as of this morning. When I was riding the Red Line this AM out of Braintree, I saw that the Target ad between Bway ans SS was turned back on!!! YAY!!!!!! Now, I hope that all other ads, including the SS-Bway Southbound tunnel has it's ad turned back on too. I guess they turned them back on after a new contract was obtained especially since the T is facing a loss of ad revenue.

Hmmm...Harvard Square was still out this morning, but as noted above, the quick brake slam is still going on on inbound trains as they leave Harvard (after the end of the initial curve out of the station, they start to build up some speed, then slam the brakes on to almost a stop, and just before stopping, they start to accelerate as the go over the crossover), so even if it was active it probably wouldn't be working.

It'd be interesting to find out what is causing the slow down there...the regulars know its coming, but for the unaware, the 01800's can send the standees flying every so often.