A highlight of my time in Corozal was a visit to one of the District’s hand-cranked ferries. I was particularly interested in seeing a school bus make the crossing. After talking with some local residents, I understood that the bus from Corozal Town to Copper Bank would leave at 7:00 AM and travel the 5 km to the ferry, from which I could walk back to town. Matthew, a fellow traveler I met in Belize City, and I made it to the town square a bit before 7:00, but the Lino’s Bus we were looking for was nowhere to be found. So we decided to walk out to the ferry.
After we had walked for about half an hour, around the corner ahead of us turned the Lino’s Bus we had been looking for, going the opposite direction into Corozal. I figured it was running late because of muddy roads, and that we would be able to hop on it when it returned to Copper Bank. By 9:15, having endured much mud and little shade, we made it to the Pueblo Nuevo Ferry.
I asked one of the ferry workers who was leaving his shift what time the bus would be returning, and he replied, “about 10:30.” So we decided to wait and watch vehicles cross the river for an hour, during which time we nourished some mosquitoes and helped push a stalled Volkswagen Jetta up onto the ferry.
At 10:30, David, the other ferry worker (who works a twelve hour shift, from 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM), came over to us and asked what we were waiting for. I told him about my project and how I wanted to see the Copper Bank bus crossing back over. “You’re going to be waiting a long time; it doesn’t come back until 7:30 tonight,” he responded. He then explained that the Lino’s Bus driver had indeed come back across on the ferry a couple minutes before; unless there was a large crowd needing to get to Copper Bank in the morning, the driver usually left the bus in town and hitchhiked home for lunch.
We laughed at all of the misunderstandings about times, helped crank the ferry back to the Corozal side, and caught a ride back to town in the bed of a pickup truck.
I enjoyed a 35 minute delay while riding the Norristown High Speed Line (R100) out of 69th Street this morning. SEPTA was planning to operate single track service for tree-trimming work. After leaving Wynnewood Rd., outbound trolleys were supposed to transfer to the inbound track, returning to the outbound track at Bryn Mawr:
After departing Wynnewood Rd., however, my trolley did not switch onto the incoming tracks. So the operator of the trolley stopped, consulted with dispatch, and was instructed to back up through the incomplete interlocking at Wynnewood Rd. onto the inbound tracks. They quickly realized that this left nowhere for the inbound trolley to go, so we moved back forward onto the outbound tracks, jamming the switch in the process. So the inbound trolley was stuck at the platform at Wynnewood Rd., and we couldn’t proceed until maintenance reset the switch for it to leave.
Things got a bit chaotic on the trolley. A number of passengers destined for Paoli had boarded an R5 earlier in the morning, only to experience a power outage and the train’s reversal to 30th St. There, they were told to take the MFL to 69th St., the NHSL to Radnor, and the 105 bus to Paoli; halfway through this long detour, their train had to back up again, and some were pretty unhappy.
Despite some annoyed passengers, SEPTA responded fairly well. The operator was paying attention, stopped the trolley when needed, and kept passengers informed of what was happening. The maintenance team that responded acted out of an abundance of caution in closely inspecting the malfunctioning switch before each trolley movement. Most passengers appreciated this and recognized the incident for what it was: an indication of the need for increased transit infrastructure funding.
Sharples has taken holiday festivities to a new level this year with a family of animatronic carolers. Some of my fellow students may think the new additions are creepy/demonic/soul-sucking, but I will frankly be sad if they don’t make a return appearance next year.
Bishop Bruno and other members of the Diocese of Los Angeles took a significant stand for marriage equality today. At a press conference, they explained their opposition to Proposition 8, which would implement a constitutional ban on same-sex marriages in California. Read full post to watch the video…
My roommate James was absolutely infatuated with Chipotle this summer, so I had it fairly regularly over the summer. I’ve been on a long journey with Chipotle. I initially hated it because the one in Irvine had undercooked rice and low quality food the first couple of times I went. Since then, I’ve grown to love Chipotle burritos. They’re large and the guacamole is delicious. While the burritos at Anna’s are smaller, Anna’s also has the most amazing horchata I’ve ever drank. In the Boston area, I ate burritos from the Chipotles in Davis Square, Harvard Square, Cleveland Circle, and Braintree and the Anna’s in Porter Square and MIT. One of the highlights of my summer was taking a four hour lunch break with James to go get free Chipotle burritos. The video below documents this epic trek…
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