The Thursday morning commute into the District started out reasonably well. The warmer than usual January morning was a welcome experience. As I sat on the stalled Metro Center escalator in my wheelchair listening to the approaching sirens, I thought about all the events that had to take place in order for me to be at that place at just that moment when the machinery shut down for some inexplicable reason.
The MARC train had arrived on time however the funky air surrounding the restroom compartment meant that the mezzanine area was not very crowded. Many of the restroom equipped MARC Commuter cars have been neglected as of late but the bigger issue is the frequency of breakdowns that severely delay or cancel trains altogether. This morning was a pleasant exception from the recent spate of ‘issues.’ We even arrived on the 13 Track where we at least have half a platform. The other half of the width is cordoned off for long neglected overhaul. This arrival and ease of train deboarding meant that I was on schedule but unusually ahead of a typical day in the life of a DC commuter.
Down in the Metro Rail station at Union Station, the fubars were manifest in great numbers. My BB phone was not registering emails so I had been without the heads up that the Red line trains were being delayed by yet another cracked rail. At my count this was the 5th occurrence in less than 2 months. I sent a Tweet that “At #WMATA, I guess we have discovered just how long the steel rails last. 5 cracks in 2 months. A pattern emerges.” My progress toward the place and time of what would euphemistically become known as the “January Escalator Incident” among my friends and colleagues was slowing down.
The first train through the station was so crowded that I passed on taking it. It seemed to be having door troubles, too. The next train was mostly empty so I got on it. Then we sat there for a few minutes due to the backlog of trains ahead of us, including the one I skipped that was now having continued issues at Judiciary Square. All along the line the delays were building due to the rail crack up ahead. One announcement was that a train had broken down in the single track section and was being assisted. What should have been a 10 minute ride to Metro Center was taking half an hour. My decisions to wait on the next train placed me temporally about three minutes behind where I otherwise would have been. The moment I rolled off the Metro Center escalator would have been about three minutes before it stopped for its spurious reason. That is assuming that it stopping had nothing to do with my actual presence. I don’t think it “had it in for me.”
When we finally arrived at Metro Center, I found that the west end platform up escalator had been enclosed in plywood walls for a long term long overdue overhaul job. If the overhaul schedule had been one day later, I would have exited the station in that direction making for a completely different morning experience. Incidentally, this means that the down unit will be stationary during that entire period. The night before, the down escalator was stopped even though it was recently returned to service after its multi-month repair. My commute options were being greatly curtailed. Using a wheelchair in the DC Metro system is a challenge every day even when all the equipment actually is operating.
I knew that the only street elevator at Metro Center was out of service for its long overdue, long neglected overhaul. Had I moved slower through the crowd in the station, or had met one of my commute acquaintances such as Casey or Mary and lingered a few seconds while talking, I might have been met with a stopped escalator when I first arrived. Needless to say, I would not have used it. I exited the system and looked to see if that one escalator was operating on this morning. It was. The other one was torn down and midway through its overhaul job. The third unit had long ago been replaced with granite steps in the first austerity program of WMATA. Actually back in the mid 1990s three technicians had been killed while working on this particular set of escalators. They were crushed when someone re-energized the motor units while they were in the machinery.
The traffic was light and I took a hold of the hand rail and started up ascent to the street. When about half way to the top, a bell rang out and the moving stairs eased to a stop. My reaction was to say, “I can’t F***ing, believe this.” All of the micro-delays and lack of others all added up to the fact of my being halfway up that stair when the motor actually quit.
The woman who had been about 10 feet further along looked back at me. She came close and asked if there was anything she could do. I said she could go tell the station manager. She went back down and made the report. The last I saw her she was walking up the granite steps.
This is where the story gets interesting. An escalator technician arrived and insisted on holding me in place. I told him I was able to hold on myself for as long as in didn’t fall asleep. He said he’d continue to hold on. I wanted them to just restart the steps but he refused saying it was against the safety protocols to restart an escalator with a customer on it. He said the Fire Department personnel would decide what to do. I argued that them carrying me off was far more dangerous than restarting the unit with me on it and him holding on as he was. My logic did not sway his opinion. We waited. If he had not arrived on the scene, I would have gotten tired of waiting and would have done what I did when DC’s only earthquake shook the city and elevators all over the place went into emergency mode. I would have bumped and bounced down the steps one at a time until I was at the bottom. Then I would have tried a different exit. His presence added to the unnecessary hoopla of the day.
I heard the sirens gradually getting louder and closer. Soon there was a host of canvas coated men all standing at the top of the escalator. They walked down and we entered into a discussion about what to do. They wanted to carry me down into the station so I could use the elevator. I pointed out that it was out of service for repairs as were many of the other escalators in this station. That was why I was right there right now. “I will be stranded in the station if you carry me down. Even the Trains are snafued today.”
We consulted on the placed to hold and lift and the placed to avoid. One man produced a nylon strap and we looped it through the frame at placed that were string and would not fail. Thence it was onward and upward to the street. That part took all of about 2 minutes.
While I provided my identification information for the report, the technician turned the key and restarted the stairs without incident. I pointed to them and said, “see there. This was all a big honking nothing turned into a big deal.” I confirmed that I had no residual concerns and went on my way to the office. I pondered what I should do for next few months while they work on the entrances at Metro Center that I use.
Post Script: Some people would say I am an optimist, which I am. Things could have been worse. Really it could have been. This incident could have happened on the next day, Friday, when the District had torrential rains until after 9:30. That Metro Center escalator is one of those ones that are outside under the open sky. Twenty minutes of sitting in the pouring rain would have made the events a whole lot different.
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