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TTC Down - Keele to Dundas West

Posted by MikeR / May 29, 2008

31 Comments

20080529_ttc_590.jpg
At around 10:30pm, at Dundas West station, I got stuck on the platform - but I felt lucky that I wasn't stuck on the train (which had only its nose peaking through the tunnel's mouth).

Over the fuzzy loudspeaker, I heard "Unauthorized person on the tracks between Keele & Dundas West," and something about a power outage. Apparently they have to shut off the power if someone's on the tracks in order to avoid frying track-level intruders with kazillions of gigawatts of third-rail power.

I waited 20 minutes and all I saw were more and more TTC employees with flashlights heading towards Keele station from Dundas West station. There was a foul, burnt smell in the air, that really made me feel like it wasn't worth sticking around any longer. At that point I decided to give up on my TTC travel plans and head home.

I assume it's back up and running by now. Anyone know how this ended?

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31 Comments

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pinkus caplin / May 30, 2008 at 12:59 am
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Yet another example of how blogto is inconsequential and only exists to promote people who want to get into journalism (as though articles written here make for a good portfolio).

- lack of answers/posting a minor TTC shutdown for no real reason

- moaning about a petty personal loss

- not questioning the situation which occured/writing the story without a real issue leaving it to sound like a personal blog post

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james a / May 30, 2008 at 01:02 am
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...and yet you read the entire post and wrote up a verbose response of your own!

They must be doing something right.
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SCREWFACE / May 30, 2008 at 01:13 am
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If that's around the Dundas West Subway Station - my bets are on an inmate escape from that Prison / High School Night School on the corner of Bloor and Dundas West, whatever it's named. Bishop Marrocco something something SSSS. Whatever fortress that school is has some shady people hanging around the area.

Or it's probably a Coked up Crackhead coming from Parkdale getting off the 504, looking to find their way home.

But in fairness, there are times where I wonder if walking down the tracks to the next station would be faster than waiting for a late night subway train.

...So how old is this Christie?
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honestly / May 30, 2008 at 01:40 am
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Pinkus I'm waiting for you to start up your hard-hitting FACTS-ONLY balls-to-the-wall SITUATION ROOM veryserious blog. I hope to see in-depth reporting with posts written completely objectively by professionally trained reporters, with a full list of sources cited and pictures taken by nothing less than National Geographic photographers.

"Yet another example"... Spare us the elitist trolling.
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A.R. / May 30, 2008 at 01:42 am
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It would be nice to get some answers, otherwise this is just getting our interest up with only a small chance that someone with some useful information will stumble upon this entry and comment.
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joe / May 30, 2008 at 01:59 am
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Yeah, this was the lamest post I've ever seen on here.

Let's give this post a purpose shall we.. As of now, this is the only place on the interweb where you will find the words "prophet mohammad sex tape" in that order. Google it, I dare you.
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Pinkus Caplin / May 30, 2008 at 02:01 am
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Honestly, your rebuttal of extremes was quite weak. My comment was written to point out how BlogTO allows anyone in this collective to publish so called "articles" as many of them lack any direction or focus.



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David Toronto / May 30, 2008 at 02:08 am
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One thing is certain. You can't spell or punctuate to
save your life. More's the pity.

And blogTO has come to this?
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chephy / May 30, 2008 at 02:30 am
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"Honestly, your rebuttal of extremes was quite weak. My comment was written to point out how BlogTO allows anyone in this collective to publish so called "articles" as many of them lack any direction or focus."

You never know; it could be the start to a new strategy. You took the time to visit this page more than once, and left some comments, generating traffic and ad revenue for the site. You might complain to your friends about what a useless pathetic thing blogTO is ("Here's the URL, guys, check out for themselves how ridiculous they are!"), and they'll come in too. Soon they'll be pretty hooked, refreshing the main page every couple of hours, to see if anything even trashier has been published, so they can post more degrading comments about it and feel all smug. Ironic, huh?
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s / May 30, 2008 at 02:43 am
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seriously, wtf has happened to blogTO? The ratio of wheat to chaff these days is about 1:10 and the articles are so poorly written. "Fowl" smell? Was someone cooking chicken? I agree that letting anyone post whatever they want is a bad idea. Don't waste our damn time.
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Danielle / May 30, 2008 at 02:44 am
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Sooo glad I took my bike today, or I totally would have gotten caught in that after work.

Too bad Mike!
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binlazer / May 30, 2008 at 08:04 am
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Wow. People need to chill and unclench the ole sphincter muscle. Just be happy that we have a medium like blogs where we can post and respond accordingly, regardless of content, style, etc. It's one little post out of hundreds. Don't get your panties in a knot.

ps. Happy Friday!!!!!1111
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akswun / May 30, 2008 at 08:06 am
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damn!... that same scenario happened to me and a friend of mine... train stopped abruptly... please exit at the first train... get in the station with that foul burnt smell in the air... security asking everyone one who didn't witness anything to leave the station(Yonge&Bloor)... bewildered we leave to the street.... walking beside a woman who's balling her eyes out on her cellphone saying "I can't believe this guy jumped!"... pretty disturbing...but at the same time dealing with people who are severely depressed is frustrating... it's hard to tell someone you don't know they have something to live for... I think we can all turn anything and everything into a reason to die.... and statistically if someone survives an ordeal once... they're bound to try it again...
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Ryan L. / May 30, 2008 at 08:48 am
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Hypothetical, and potentially offensive question: Is the third rail as dangerous as everyone says it is? I always hear that it means instant death if you touch it.

So why do jumpers feel the need to traumatize an entire train and its crew when they can just jump onto the tracks and give themselves a fatal volt when no train is coming?
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jt / May 30, 2008 at 08:50 am
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hey pinkus, ever heard of a BLOG before? perhaps you are after a newspaper or book.

This isnt publishing, this isnt an article. ITS A BLOG POST.
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Z / May 30, 2008 at 09:08 am
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ryan, the 3rd rail has, apparently, 600 volts running through it. now, i'm no expert on electricity, but 600 is alot of volts and i doubt they'd constantly tell people it was so deadly without reason.
and certainly people the world over have died from coming in contact with the third rail on train tracks.
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gegtik / May 30, 2008 at 09:23 am
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how many amps on the 3rd rail is what i'd like to know!
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Elle Driver / May 30, 2008 at 09:42 am
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The media never report on subway jumpers, unless the person was pushed by someone else, or they accidentally fell in. This is to discourage others from jumping, but I heard that there are about a half-dozen attempts a month, with most of them being successful, sadly.

A few years ago, I was riding a subway car that hit a jumper - I didn't see it happen, but I saw the horrified expressions of those on the platform who witnessed it. The subway was subsequently shut down for hours, and there was no mention of the incident in the news, which pretty much confirms my theory.
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Zack / May 30, 2008 at 09:53 am
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Just because this is a blog it does not mean you guys must cater to the lowest common denominator. We know you can't be like a professional news source but at least aim for a higher standard.

For example that bird-brained post, which was a cheap plug for "Toronto's Lonely Photographers Meet up Group" - about a silly bird attacking someone and a few blurry shots, what on earth was that all about? A bird is attacking some dude with a camera, so what?

I know you guys are too squeamish to post about murders and shooting and other ugly things that happen in Toronto but at least save us the inconsequential and boring stuff like attacking birds or stalled subway trains.




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lachlan / May 30, 2008 at 10:08 am
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Yeah! Power to the People!
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D.L / May 30, 2008 at 10:09 am
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Here is a simple solution, go read another blog if you can't stand soft news being reported. Stop reading BlogTo if it's to immature for your academic sensibility. T
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Jerrold / May 30, 2008 at 10:19 am
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Imagine a hyperlocal, online world, free of armchair critics... ahhh. *wakes up from dreaming*
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pinkus caplin / May 30, 2008 at 10:50 am
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Using the awful excuse, "It is only a BLOG" is a pilthy attempt to stick up for BlogTO and the blog writer in question.

Compared to the other content in this site, this post reads as though it was not self-edited, edited, revised, or shall I say this, written by someone with who can write (that comment should raise some hatred for me and cause a storm here! - it is so easy to start one here!).

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Tim / May 30, 2008 at 10:56 am
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As the Publisher here, just wanted to say that we do value all constructive feedback even if it's critical of the site. Thanks.
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Pamela / May 30, 2008 at 10:59 am
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I appreciate the casual nature of this blog. People with sticks up their butts need to find another blog.
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Jerrold / May 30, 2008 at 11:00 am
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@pinkus caplin

<i>"...written by someone with who can write..."</i>

O RLY? :P

<i>"...that comment should raise some hatred for me and cause a storm here!"</i>

Or not.



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breerion / May 30, 2008 at 11:01 am
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I liked the bird attack post, it was funny.
a blog is a blog is a blog is a blog. seriously. relax.
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Ben / May 30, 2008 at 11:33 am
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I find some of the more inconsequential stories interesting. Subway delays happen a lot, and you never get much information about why it happened. It is nice to have some insight into it i.e. people were walking on the tracks.
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wha / May 30, 2008 at 11:43 am
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So bloggers want press credentials, credibility, and throw "official launch parties" for Contact and all this, but when called on the work, the quality, now it's all "hey, it's just a blog, don't expect much"? C'mon. Which is it?
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Jerrold / May 30, 2008 at 12:06 pm
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In adidition to highlighting various corners of our city, we also want to be able to post stories that aren't covered by the mainstream media - including snippets that are <a href="http://blogto.com/flickrforum";>found online</a>, casually observed <a href="http://www.blogto.com/eat_drink/2008/02/rats_feast_at_dumpling_house/";>through windows</a>, and <a href="http://blogto.com/city/2008/05/ttc_down_keele_to_dundas_west";>experiences </a> told through the eyes of everyday Torontonians.

Not everything you find on blogTO will or should stand up to the same degree of expectation and scrutiny that would be applied to a national newspaper. Our writers generally aren't trained journalists, which is fine by us and for the most part has proved to be fine by our regular readers.

Hopefully some of what we publish tickles your fancy or meets your needs, and keeps you coming back.
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A.R. / June 1, 2008 at 05:21 pm
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" 'Fowl' smell? Was someone cooking chicken? "

Classic.
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