Blog Entry 29 of 93
Charmaine in the city
I've called the Denver area home for more than two
decades now. But this urban/mountain city is still full of surprises. I'll be posting my adventures here, as I explore local eateries, shops and sharing birthday and vacation photos. And once in a while, I'll throw in a music, movie or food review. I hope to keep this blog interactive, so don't be shy to suggest places I should visit. And check it out: I'm on
Brendan's List. Rock on!
A two and a half hour trek home
Contributed by:
Charmaine Robledo/YourHub.com
on 12/21/2006
On the morning of Dec. 20, I knew I was in for a treat when I saw the blowing snow and felt the chilly wind. But I made it to the office downtown and so did a handful of my co-workers. Others were smart, though, and decided to work from home, which is what I should have done.
I left work at what I thought was an early time -- 3:20 p.m. I took the
RTD, however, and I prayed that the lines were still running. I walked to the southbound light rail station at 16th and Stout and saw there were a bunch of others waiting for trains.
The F line arrived nearly on time and half of us boarded while the rest waited for the D and H lines. I was glad to be on the train; the snow started to accumulate and the wind was blowing harder. We went at a slow but steady pace, until we hit Speer Boulevard.
Complete stop. Power shut down.
Some of us were confused at what was going on, others fell asleep from the waiting. None of us knew if the train was broken down or if there was an accident in front of us. All we knew was that we were stuck under the Colorado Convention Center.
A voice came on the intercom and told us, "Sorry for the delay, we expect service to return in five to 10 minutes." OK, good, let's get this train back on track.
Twenty minutes later, the driver came on the intercom and told us to move to the rear cars. Huh? Why? What the heck was going on? We were all wondering what was happening. I saw from the doors that the driver detached the train car we were in and was using it to push another train in front of us that was apparently stuck on the tracks.
But success! They were able to move that train and we were on our way. The driver, however, had a heck of a time seeing in front of him and along side him, so he told us to hurry and jump out of the train or get on board as fast as we could. Oy.
On my way to the Belleview stop, I got to speak to several riders.
Katie Evans, of Denver, takes the train everyday to and from downtown. She works at HLM Design and has been using the light rail since moving here eight months ago.
"It comes and goes," she said about light rail's dependability. "Today's to be expected with the weather. But what I would love for RTD to do is let people know about the delay and not leave people in the dark."
Indeed, as another rider put it: "Drivers need to convey what's going on. They need to get on the PA and say 'These are the problems, expect delays.'"
One rider jokingly asked, "Why aren't we closer to a liquor store?"
As for me, I arrived at the Belleview station at about 5:15, after being on the train for more than an hour. Then I had to hoof it home; which was not a good idea because the snow was up to my knees. Needless to say, I'm not feeling too great right now.
Today, Dec. 21, the RTD is down and I'm snowed in. How's your day been so far? Were you caught in the RTD traffic mess last night, too? Post your own disaster story
here.
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