About half way to my destination, the train pulled to a stop at Park Street, and then just sat there. This wasn't too much out of the ordinary, as I've experienced plenty of train delays before. This time however, I noticed that there was an acrid smell filling the car, and through the buzz of passenger conversation I began to glean that there was a fire at the stop down. 
We were instructed to get off the train. I went into the station to get my bearings when I ran into my friend Adam. Before we had time to formulate our next move, the station begin to fill up with a chalky-white smoke.
The fire department arrived by then, and told us to evacuate the station. I then whipped out my camera phone, deciding that if I was going to be severely inconvenienced, I might as well get a good blog post out of it.
Passengers poured out of the station, each one on a cellphone trying to figure out where to go from here. Adam and I looked at each other in dismay."The redline is shut down. How are we going to get home?" I asked.
"Do you know how to walk to the next station?"
"No."
"Me neither."
Unfortunately, neither Adam nor I spent a lot of time around Boston Common, so we weren't sure where to go. Chris called me to say he heard that the MBTA
was shuttling passenger from Davis to South Station, where we could take the train home. We called his wife, who gave us directions we only half understood, and then we took off for South Station.
We went the wrong way down Boylston Street, and on our way back to the other way it started to rain.
We finally made it to the end of Boylston to Essex Street, where South Station was supposed to be. We didn’t see any signs, so logically we went down South Street thinking we’d run into it. Well,
logic is a silly thing to use in downtown Boston, because South Station isn’t actually on South Street, it’s further down Essex Street. Several calls to my husband the navigator soon set us straight and we enter the wonderland known as South Station. 
I’d never been to South Station, and I was unprepared for the delights contained within. It was like Faniuel Hall combined with the Logan Airport terminal, with kiosks selling overpriced books and coffee, little boutiques, and terminal signs that didn’t actually tell you what tracks the commuter trains were arriving on.
Adam and I made our way through labyrinth of corridors until we got to the Redline platform. We sat on a bench, foot-sore but triumphant, knowing that any minute a train would come to take us home.
“Please exit the platform and wait outside the station. A shuttle bus will be by to take you to Broadway Station.”
Adam and I groaned. They just closed down South Station? What was once a wonderland became a living hell as Adam and I waited for a bus that wasn’t already full to take us to the next station.
Finally, inspiration struck.
“Meghan,” Adam said, “why don’t we take the commuter train to Quincy Center?”
“Brilliant!”
We stood in line at the commuter tickets counter, where, in light of the current crisis, they had two of four windows open.
Nevertheless, Adam and I bought our tickets for the 7:29 to Kingston, and we just a chance to see how the other side rides.
The commuter train is amazing! A quiet, smooth ride on comfy leather bench seats, making the regular trains seem like a roller coaster with smaller seats.
We pulled up to Quincy Center at last, where Adam and I said our goodbyes.
Naturally, my bus ran late, but I finally arrived at my house at 9:00 pm, four hours after I left work.
It was good to be home.
was shuttling passenger from Davis to South Station, where we could take the train home. We called his wife, who gave us directions we only half understood, and then we took off for South Station.We went the wrong way down Boylston Street, and on our way back to the other way it started to rain.
We finally made it to the end of Boylston to Essex Street, where South Station was supposed to be. We didn’t see any signs, so logically we went down South Street thinking we’d run into it. Well,
logic is a silly thing to use in downtown Boston, because South Station isn’t actually on South Street, it’s further down Essex Street. Several calls to my husband the navigator soon set us straight and we enter the wonderland known as South Station. 
I’d never been to South Station, and I was unprepared for the delights contained within. It was like Faniuel Hall combined with the Logan Airport terminal, with kiosks selling overpriced books and coffee, little boutiques, and terminal signs that didn’t actually tell you what tracks the commuter trains were arriving on.
Adam and I made our way through labyrinth of corridors until we got to the Redline platform. We sat on a bench, foot-sore but triumphant, knowing that any minute a train would come to take us home.“Please exit the platform and wait outside the station. A shuttle bus will be by to take you to Broadway Station.”
Adam and I groaned. They just closed down South Station? What was once a wonderland became a living hell as Adam and I waited for a bus that wasn’t already full to take us to the next station.
Finally, inspiration struck.
“Meghan,” Adam said, “why don’t we take the commuter train to Quincy Center?”
“Brilliant!”
We stood in line at the commuter tickets counter, where, in light of the current crisis, they had two of four windows open.
Nevertheless, Adam and I bought our tickets for the 7:29 to Kingston, and we just a chance to see how the other side rides.
The commuter train is amazing! A quiet, smooth ride on comfy leather bench seats, making the regular trains seem like a roller coaster with smaller seats.We pulled up to Quincy Center at last, where Adam and I said our goodbyes.
Naturally, my bus ran late, but I finally arrived at my house at 9:00 pm, four hours after I left work.
It was good to be home.
2 comments:
Hey, it could have been worse... We could have been on the Green Line yesterday.
Oh this is so typical for Boston transit.
HOWEVER, I always intended on taking (but never actually took) the commuter rail. Thanks for your report! I always suspected it was 1000x better than the plain train.
Also, your camera phone idea was great. I enjoyed seeing lots of photos scattered about the page, especially the humorous ones. (:
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