Monday, September 11, 2006

It's about time!

BART is finally making a big effort to lessen the ear-pinching screeching on the tracks. I often see senior citizens with hearing aids, covering their ears in agony, or kids screaming to express their misery from the high-pitched and rough grinding of the train tracks. Residences along BART tracks will greatly appreciate this too.

Funny that right after this article was written, I experienced my worst track screeching to date. This morning, the screeching in the transbay tube was bad enough that I felt a vibrating pulse from my eardrum which felt like it shot up to my brain. Time for an improvement for sure!


Take a look at this article written by Rachel Gordon of SF Chronicle

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

While traveling from Fruitvale to Lake Merritt, look to the west, into the Oakland Yard. You can see the rail grinder, covered in grimy black, with the occasional spot of orange poking thru.

Grinding actually makes the rails last longer. Have you ever had a plastic windshield, like on a boat, plane or motorcycle? When you get a small crack, usually at the edge, you drill a small hole to stop the spread of the crack.

Grinding works the same way. the small cracks are stopped, when the rail head is ground.

bartmusings said...

Interesting. If only there is a way to lessen the sound but keep the benefits.