1st Gen. Lunch Table - General Discussion

Been here 20 years, riding MARTA trains the whole time. Sometimes only bouncing a few stops from midtown to downtown for food or events, but riding nonetheless. I've probably blown through 2 dozen rider card refills in the last 10 years alone. I don't like riding the trains, but it's convenient as hell b/c driving and traffic here SUCK.

What you're describing is so rare in my experience I may see it 1-2 times a year across dozens of rides. Not only is it really difficult to get inside the station without money - something the homeless usually don't have, or spend on something else - but security has been gradually increasing since 9/2001, MARTA has their own police force, vehicles, K9 units, and presence inside and out of every station, stuff like this just doesn't fly.

Sorry, but as an Atlantan, I'm skeptical of the account. I've seen some pretty rocked-out people who've clearly been on a bender for one or more days and no shower, who someone could possibly mistake as homeless, but the homeless up here, even post-Katrina when the crazies from NOLA flooded up into ATL, tend to stick within the couple of in-town blocks they know to avoid police interaction, because they're not a new lurking face to the neighbors, and know those beat cops enough they'll just tell them to move along rather than lock them up. They don't jump on trains.

The picture you're painting is one vanilla suburbanites outside the city love to use as justification why we can't expand MARTA to service the 'burbs, which would cut down on traffic immensely, traffic created because many of them are flooding into town for the higher-paying jobs. They vote it down every time, then continue to whine and complain about the condition of the roads, the traffic, etc.

FWIW, I'm not innocent. I had the same observations and sentiments I'm reading when I moved here. A lot of it stemmed from my disdain for living in the city. But after you settle in, stop and observe, talk to people, and use the local resources, you start to piece together what's really going on. Humans like to take things at face value.

#BalljointFail

 

i cant imagine this lasting a lifetime.

 

@shifty` I guess my experience was different than yours. I was there in the 90s and I experienced it a few times over the course of almost 2 years going to grad school coming home late at night from the bars.

It may well have changed since that time.

 

Ah, I keep forgetting you were at GT back in the 90s. I have friends who grew up in ATL. They'll be the first to tell you, 9/11 changed everything here.

Katrina, followed by the '07-'08 recession, almost rolled the city back to the 90s. It was bad for a while. It took 3-4 years but finally turned around, backlog cleared.

C19 had similar side effects to Katrina, tent cities, shelters saturated, lots of mentally unwell on street, etc. Seems our new mayor's team has a grip on it, though.

Did I mention I hate living in the city?

 

I think maybe MARTA is the exception. MTS in San Diego co. is a no-man’s land. Even before the pandemic, sexual battery (panhandlers “asking” female commuters for money and, when denied, kissing them full on the lips); homeless sleeping on the seats with all their stuff spread on the seats and floor around them; pee and poop on the platforms; robberies by groups of teens. We have “trolley cops” too but enforcement is poorly managed and there aren’t any real consequences for most of these crimes… misdemeanors apart from the robberies… because of California’s current laws.

That was before the pandemic. After, it’s so lawless that most commuters haven’t returned, so we watch mostly empty trains go backs and forth, and it is mainly occupied by our homeless population. And persons escaping shoplifting from adjacent businesses. Because those are now misdemeanors, there’s little coordinating of police to respond to the next stop to intercept the bad guy, who couldn’t be taken into custody anyway.

Exception:
Lots of MTS presence on trains in the hours before Padres games, and during ComicCon. But daily commuters, good luck.

Edit: I’ve also seen panhandling and other issues in NYC and London. Did not see problems in DC along the lines connecting Fairfax Station, VA to the Pentagon and central DC. No problems noted in Belgium.

 

The trains are definitely thinner here now, ridership wise. But I still occasionally catch the east/west to get downtown for tag/registration, jury duty, events with the kids (Comic Con, etc) and sometimes shows. It was better pre-C19. But it's not bad. The north/south line seems is traditionally worse than the east/west, though. And 5 Points station (where they cross) can be nuts, lots of loitering, congregating, etc.

I gotta be honest, I don't know the systems in San Diego, we lived in the 'burbs (Poway). I know the transit systems in the Bay area b/c of work, I've never been impressed, I think ours are better here. But I'm also biased

 

When the houston rail thing opened i went to it with my grandparents. Just to ride on it. Haven't crossed the rail since.

 

https://youtu.be/58Q7dFpRWKw

 

I've also taken the narrow gauge rail from silverton-duango-silverton.

And several zoo trains. Always disappointing when it looks like a steamer, but is powered by a ford 4.9 or whatever.

 

What Deavers do you have on?

 

https://youtu.be/T9ZlLrRzTNw

 

It was a "custom" pack. First iteration was 1" lower than stock. This iteration is 2-3" too high after the fronts got 700 lb springs? I dunno, suspensions are hard?

 

We went to NYC in February. It's probably the worst place I have ever visited. Never seen such a trashy place. In the subway there would be homeless people sitting in their own waste. The smell and sight was so overwhelming my eyes started to water and I actually had to leave before I hurled. How anyone could enjoy living there today is a mystery to me. I will never go back.

Oh, and while we were visiting there were frequent stabbings and robberies taking place in the subways. Head was on a swivel the entire time.

 

And you're talking for the Tundra not your Tacos right? Spring rates can be a pain to figure out, I went through a bunch of packs on my 14 Taco (5). How many pounds over stock are the Deavers?

 

Yes, 2002 Tundra.

Apparently this stuff is difficult. I had assumed they might have the numbers. Seems more like they just lick a finger and make a guess.

I think the AG packs are potentially more spot on but I haven't tried one yet. I picked Deaver primarily b/c they were close enough to pick up, little did I know I'd make 3 drives there and still be off. But, I guess too high is ok, I can just throw a ton of weight in the back and hope it settles? Dunno. Gonna throw on some drop shackles to start.

 

Dont forget the room for taction bars. Or go old school with some slapper bars.

 

And all this in cities where the 2nd amendment doesn't exist. I'd rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it.

Anyways, big cities are basically a no-go area for me. I do visit DFW every now and again, and i drive thru OKC and Tulsa on my way to the lake. But man, when we stop in OKC for some Jack in the box I'm staying strapped. Makes me appreciate the 200k population of Amarillo.

 

2FA & OC is alive and well here. It's not as free as TX (but y'all are some radical f'n nutbags ) but it's pretty damn free. Ask most of the beat cops around here and they're not fans.

 

I would never recommend anyone take the subway train in Boston, not for fear of safety but only due to the amount of people taking it and being packed like a sardine; standing room only. If your lucky enough to sit, you generally have someone’s crotch in your face.

The commuter rail is much better and more comfortable to ride as you cannot stand anyway. Similar to Amtrak in the way it’s organized.

With regard to safety, you only stay away from certain stops and branches of the subway line.

 

Sedona 2023 dates have been posted, start planning for the best 1st gen party ever!
https://www.tundras.com/threads/tundras-to-sedona-2023.115023/

 

@FrenchToasty packs are high like yours and settled 1/2-3/4" of an inch overnight. Give it some time and break them in.

 

Yep should get even better when I actually fill her with gas. Even visually I can tell it’s lower than the first day, which is good.

 

You mean more time than 18 months in my bff mechanic's yard?

 

Needs to be driven and flexed

 

I'm more inclined to drive 2,000 miles now that I have brakes that function normally.

 

Hell yeah!

 

Thank god. Holy they want a lot for those EBC pads, did you look?

 

But are they in stock?

 

no idea, had to pause...