Fascinating Train Scheduling Logic

Last Tuesday morning the Framingham/Worcester line was a tremendous mess due to a communication failure. Trains in both directions were significantly delayed, and some were cancelled. I watched an inbound train with no lights or air conditioning arrive at Back Bay, carrying two trains worth of passengers. People, wide-eyed, open-mouthed gasping for air, and flushed with heat and anger, jumped off that train like lemmings off the cliff in their staged suicide.

When I finally boarded a Framingham train, the initial excitement at the prospect of finally getting to work quickly turned to frustation. The train was moving very slowly, making all the Newton stops. According to the schedule none of the outbound trains stop at any Newton stops before 11am. Yet, here was our train traveling well before 9am, and making all stops. Why?

I went to talk to the conductor, and his explanation was, “just in case.” Just in case what? In case any people were waiting for a train or any passengers wanted to get off the train… at an unscheduled stop? In case anyone was at the platform 2+ hours early?

Would any sane person wait for or get on a train “just in case?” The conductor did later concede that his superiors ordered the train to make all stops. However, I am not sure if this extra information made me feel better.

At the MIT Museum

Nick and I visited the MIT Museum on Saturday. For me the highlights were the strobe/flash photography work of Harold Edgerton and the whimsical sculptures of Arthur Ganson.

Most of Arthur Ganson's sculptures involved a motor moving a series of objects. There was a definite "thinking chair" theme throughout the exhibit.

At Mount Washington

Another trip to the Mount Washington Resort in New Hampshire.

This year's activity of choice was a group hike up Mount Webster.

Through the Battlefields of Gettysburg

The battlefields of Gettysburg are beautiful. Some say that even during the severest droughts they stay lush and green. The fields used to be all farmland—wheatfields, peach orchards. Many barns and farm houses remain, maintained by the park service. Some are even lived in. The land is no longer farmed, and wild grass grows high across the fields interrupted only by wooden snake rail fences. Everywhere memorials and monuments rise above the grass to honor regiments and generals who fought on these grounds.

Following maps we tried to imagine different stages of the battle from different viewpoints. We tried to see the ground the same way General John Buford saw it when he first arrived at the Seminary Ridge. We walked to the Little Round Top and looked down its south slope, where Colonel Joshua Chamberlain’s men fought off multiple infantry charges coming over the rocks. We walked along the tree line where General Longstreet’s men would have been forming lines before their march towards the high ground on the last day of the battle. Without coming and seeing the land, it is impossible to imagine the tragically large scale of the battle.

Gettysburg Battle Reenactment - Day 2

Comments to follow.

Gettysburg Battlefields On Horseback

A few photos to start out with. More details to follow.

Steamtown in Scranton, PA

We started the day in Scranton, PA, visiting one of its few tourist attractions—the Steamtown National Historic Site. The steam engine museum and exhibits are set up in restored buildings that formerly housed maintenance facilities at a rail road roundhouse, built in mid 19th century.


The steam engine would enter into the roundhouse, which would then be turned in order to align the rails properly such that the engine can be pushed into a specific spot in the facility.



The entrance onto the roundhouse.

The snowplow engine.

Bill Gates on Usability of a Microsoft Product

Every one of us has at some point tried to do something on the computer, and could not complete the task because the software was not performing as expected. Did you eventually give up because after spending hours on the task, you felt angry and frustrated? Bill Gates sent this expressive email to several of his subordinates in 2003, after wasting hours trying to download Moviemaker. Enjoy.