Passenger Trains > Inside the CUS Polar Vortex Waterfall

Quote: "...but this was the scene at the Amtrak station immediately before they cancelled his train #polarvortex #polarvortex2019 #reschedule #pipeburst."

You must be a registered subscriber to watch videos. Join Today!

Could have killed someone. 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Faic9xwryT2kXH0Jupkn1t2W2gD1uldU/view?usp=sharing

Alternative way to view Waterfall....

---

Let's not get carried away and begin pointing fingers
How could the designers know that it ever gets sub-zero in Chicago?
Or that CUS has a history of pipes gone bad when it gets cold?

Where exactly in the station did this happen and when was this portion remodeled ?
They would have had a safer and quicker trip on their horse and buggy.
 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/03/19 09:38 by Englewood.

Looks like the Amtrak waiting area on the south end of the lower level.

Erik Leeper
Phoenix, AZ

Just as they want to shutter the Legacy Lounge. 

Other news reports indicated it was a frozen fire sprinkler system pipe.

Posted from iPhone

Englewood Wrote:
--------------------------------------------
>
> Where exactly in the station did this happen and
> when was this portion remodeled ?
> They would have had a safer and quicker trip on
> their horse and buggy.
>
Lol— agreed, Englewood!
Watch that fellow’s move to get his bag, too— well done!!

It’s the South Concourse waiting area as the other poster replied. Also, this was all part of the1991 renovation that made the “Cinderblock” Concourse even worse and more cramped. The original Concourse razed in’69 could have been renovated in a spectacular way— I have my doubts about this one, though.

1991 reno was lipstick on a pig. It still stinks and it is still a pig (along with gate dragons). 
Reminds me of this: https://worldhistoryproject.org/1992/4/13/chicago-flood-of-1992-chicago-river-breached

If the concrete does not get you at the track gates, the collapsing ceiling in the waiting area will. Amtrak needs to issue waiting passengers hard-hats. 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/03/19 16:15 by joemvcnj.

Wow ! Sh*t happens ! 
Glad everybody was okay !
Thank you for sharing!!!

Water + Electricity = Bad Mix
...Lorenzo

Thanks for the location info.
I was working for Amtrak during the 1991 fiasco.

I had no direct responsibility for the station but I was in the office of someone who did
one day when the "architect" walked in to show him the plans.  A previous to 1991
"remodeling" had left the concourse area cluttered with restaurants and shops.  The 1991
plan just replaced the clutter with Amtrak office, etc.  Of course the stationmaster was allowed
no input.  The plan was already finalized. The meeting was just a dog and pony show so the architect
could say he had let everyone review it.

There is nothing like the original 1920's plan that left the concourse OPEN to allow unfettered pedestrian movement.

That is why what they now call the "Great Hall" was the MAIN waiting room  Kept all the people waiting for trains away
from the concourse



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/04/19 12:44 by Englewood.

Lest we forget!

---

My God, what have they done to that grand old station????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!

coach Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> My God, what have they done to that grand old
> station????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Still old but not very grand...

If passenger's reservations were actual seat reservations much of the congestion could be relieved.
It would be unnecessary to crowd the gate in the rush to be the first on in the hope of grabbing a good seat(s).
Passengers could then relax in the Main Waiting Room while waiting for the train to be called.
All the obstructions in the concourse area could be demolished and opened up to provide plenty of room
for the 1000+ passengers being disgorged from or rushing to Metra rush hour trains.

Englewood Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> A previous to 1991
> "remodeling" had left the concourse area cluttered
> with restaurants and shops.  The 1991
> plan just replaced the clutter with Amtrak office,
> etc.  Of course the stationmaster was allowed
> no input.

I had a many-year-long fight over King Street Station (Seattle). The how and why of transportation is a foreign concept.

There is space under the roof of the baseball stadium just south of the station for a platform and the architects, after a discussion with me, arranged for a main entrance/exit under the roof on the track side. The space is still there, but no platform and no trains because, as stated by the baseball team management, trains bring terrorists. (Tell the Yankees and the Cubs).

Track 9 is the west track, adjacent to the football stadium. I arranged it to be the event train track, with direct access to the stadium. The football team welcomed the fans by train idea, but didn't like direct access. They wanted a long "art walk" across the station to the two east (Sounder tracks) so fans could have a leisurely stroll and visit kiosks. They didn't understand their own fans let alone understand transportation.

King Street station was restored and is really a good job except...you can't even buy coffee. WSDOT contracted a snack and coffee truck to park outside the door (the city owns the station and the train folks have nothing to say).

Then there's hockey and basketball. There's a guy who wants to build an arena just south of the baseball stadium (next to a railroad). The city doesn't want that and have fought it all the way to impasse. Instead, they want to remodel the arena at Seattle Center (the 1962 world's fair - space needle, etc.) that has...the monorail(!), buses on narrow  streets, and massive unavoidable traffic jams whenever there is an event.

Oh, right, the SeaTac light rail station is about 1000 feet of virtually open air walk along the edge of the parking garage between the train and the entrance.

TAW

Englewood Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> All the obstructions in the concourse area could
> be demolished and opened up to provide plenty of
> room
> for the 1000+ passengers being disgorged from or
> rushing to Metra rush hour trains.

Yes! Someone who understands! Don't forget to add more vertical access routes as the current escalators are woefully inadequate for the crush loads during rush hour. Go one step further and move all the Amtrak waiting areas to the east side of the concourse level so that lines of Amtrak customers are not getting run over by Metra commuters.