The metro (a serious thread of personal revelation)

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I’ve recently been working on a project I meant to do years ago but never had the resources to do properly. Last month I went around Montreal’s metro and photographed each station, and am now assembling a website - an homage, if you will. The government does offer subsidies to young people who put together archives of this type, for which I may apply, but that’s not really the point.

The main thing is that it is a labour of love; a love, moreover, that I am not really comfortable admitting to a lot of people. Admit it - if someone mentioned to you in a bar that they were doing a photo essay on the metro - could name every station in order - were putting up a website on it, complete with photographs and trivia - you would probably move away slowly.

It is just so difficult and uncomfortable to admit to someone that I have religious experiences while taking public transit, that the metro was the first thing I loved when I moved to Montreal and one of the first things I was truly passionate about, that it crops up in my dreams as a symbol for the humanist philosophy I hold dear. But to conceal it, suppress it, not talk about it, for me is utter psychotrypsis. The parallels with my homosexuality are not entirely absent. Once again I feel as though people would leave me lonely if I were honest about my deepest thoughts just because they are unable to understand how I could feel that way.

2

I don’t know if this is completely related to your admiration of the metro, but my dad had a simular thing about the Red Cars in L.A., and other railways. I am sure you are not unfamiliar with the train enthusiast. Well, my dad sure was one, but a “closet” one, in a way. He was always a little sheepish about it, and I don’t think a lot of his friends and co-workers knew how deeply he loved the rails.

He saved the ticket stubs from the Red Cars. They were phased out of L.A. in '61, (I think.) On its last day of operation, he had to drive across town to take one last ride, because the last car running had its route way out of the way. But he had to go and take that ride anyway. He had books, books, books on trains, rails, streetcars, cablecars. Near the end of his life, I stumbled upon this little store in Pasadena (I forget the name, but I called it the Train Geek Store.) If was full of books and videos, all about trains/streetcars, etc. Videos, I might add, that were often nothing more than some old scratchy film of a streetcar doing its route. 20 minutes of it doing its route. Whoo ha. Worth every penny of the $20, lemme tell you!) Well, this was nirvana for my dad. Because of his “closet” addiction to trains, he hadn’t known about this shop. I got him some gifts there, and dragged him into the place. He was in heaven (but carefully trying to conceal it.) The dear man.

He also made the pilgrimage to San Fransisco every few years. Oh, sure, we all said it was to see San Francisco, lovely city that it is. But no one was fooled. It was the streetcars and cablecars. That was the REAL reason for going there. And then there was the special trip to San Diego, not too long after they opened their line of Red Cars. Oh sure, my dad said he wanted to see the fine city, but we were not fooled. It was all about riding the rail down there. And I won’t even go into the Skunk Train in N. Calif. This is a special tourist attraction - an old fashioned train takes you through Redwoods, about a 2 hour ride. Redwoods and trains, in combination. I don’t know if he was ever happier then when he was on the Skunk Train!

Alas, my dad died before the MetroRail in L.A. was completed. He waited his whole life for L.A. to right the terrible wrong they did when they got rid of their light rail system in '61. He was around when they made the announcements that they were going to build, but he never got to see the Metrorail finished. Sigh.

Sorry, down memory lane there. I just wanted you to know, that I wouldn’t “move away slowly” if you told me all about the metro! (And I’m sure if my dad were still here, he’d love to hear ALL about it!)

3

matt, I wouldn’t back slowly away from you either! I’ve always liked subways, and when I would visit my dad in London knew the entire system (the Tube.) I think people who have esoteric passions & interests are really interesting to talk to. A long time ago I visited a website some guy had made of the most remote public telephones in the US. there were photos, and little essays about the people who used them. He travelled all over the country to visit public telephones. I wish I could remember how I got to that site, I thought it was fascinating.

Have fun with it. Now I have to go look up psychotrypsis…

4

OK, I give up. I did a search on “psychotrypsis” and came up with some interesting writings, but no definition. Can’t find it in any of my dictionaries…

??

5

Doesn’t sound the slightest bit weird to me. There’s something romantic about trains, and there’s something essential about mass transit, so a metro system is quite naturally attractive and compelling.

I’m eager to see your website.

6

I love trains. Trains of any sort. Subways, freight trains, passenger trains, you name it. I’ve never ridden a cablecar or a streetcar though(and I used to visit New Orleans a lot :frowning: ).

I keep this pretty quiet though. I live in Atlanta, where the subway system is minimal. When my co-workers ask why I don’t just drive in, since I’m only 14 miles from work, I tell them that it’s easier, that I don’t deal well with traffic, that I like the free time it gives me. The real fact is that I just like trains. I still get a little excited when I go to the station in the morning.

They opened 2 new stations here recently. I had to go ride them that day, even though I didn’t really need to go anywhere. I fed my friends the “I need to see how long it’s going to take me to get to work in the morning now” line.

A dream vacation(in N. America) would let me ride across country, up into Canada, and all over, for about a month, just wherever I managed to go, finally wandering home.

When I think of vacations outside N. America, they always involve trains of some sort. I guess I have this romantic view of trains that I just can’t shake. shrug I just love trains.

7

As a Montrealer who has seen more than my fair share of our metro system, I’d have to say that I understand your fascination. Our metro stations are beautiful - each one seemingly designed by an artist rather than an architect.

So you may be nuts, but not on this account. :smiley:

8

I doubt people would “back away from you slowly” if you told them about your fascination with the Metro; if they did, they would the ones who are nuts. People who have esoteric interests are fun, smart, and interesting. I bet you will be surprised at how accepting people are of your interest.

9

Fuck.

Sorry, but I had about a paragraph or two written and I hit the clear button. And I’m too out of it to re-type it now. But I’m with you, Matt - Metros are cool.

10

Doesn’t sound weird to me at all! I have some pretty weird obsessions myself.

But, I’m with the others: what is psychotrypsis?

Typo or new mental disorder? :slight_smile:

11

Psychotrypsis: Sorry. It’s a word I made up - mind you, because I thought it was useful and ought to be used. It means a crushing of the soul - specifically, a gradual destruction and becoming bitter of someone’s pure passion and essential spirit due to social pressures to keep it a secret. It comes from two words: psyche (meaning soul) and trypsis (meaning a crushing, from “tribein” to crush).

12

Oh great thread Matt! Anybody else singing these lyrics: “Good Morning America, how are ya? Don’t you know me, I’m your native son. I’m the train they call the city of New Orleans…” Who sang/wrote that? Amazon was no help.

One of the most wonderful adventures of my life started in Grand Central Station, New York City. Wow, what a place.

Another train lover checking in - I can only say ditto to what Tansu said, and please post a link to your site when you’re ready - I can hardly wait to see it all.

13

I used to know the passenger list of the Titanic by heart.
And you thought you had a problem :rolleyes:

dodgy

14

Thanks for the stories. I should have known I’d get support for being a geek from the dopers! :slight_smile:

Yosemite: My grandfather used to have a similar obsession. When he lived in San Francisco, he used to collect streetcar transfers. One time, when he finished a particular acting gig, his troupemates got him a huge wad of streetcar transfers as a gag gift. He was thrilled, but then after he left the theatres, he was pickpocketed. The thief thought it was a huge wad of money! He still tells the story with amusement.

Interestingly, I used to collect metro transfers (I stopped after I finished the collection - I got all 65!). Maybe it’s hereditary! And more than that - I was born on October 14, 1981 - exactly fifteen years after the metro was opened, and exactly one week after the part of the orange line from Vendôme to Snowdon was opened. And my parents first met on a #80 Ave. du Parc bus! Surely kismet.

Tansu and Lost: Don’t know when the site’s going to be up. There’s a possibility (remote) that I could get the STCUM (Montreal’s transit corp.) to apply for this youth employment gov’t subsidy I found out about that funds a company’s hiring of a young person or persons to design an archival website of this sort. If not, I’ll just put it up on my own (even though it’s huge.)

It’s quite the project - I’m going to have information and a photo essay on each station, general information about the STCUM and the metro, etc., etc. I’ve already finished the green line from Angrignon to Pie-IX, along with most of the FAQ.

By the way, if anyone wants to see the official website on the object of my affections, please check out http://www.stcum.qc.ca . They have small photos for most of the stations.

Lsura: There are lots of good reasons to ride the metro (other than purely aesthetic ones) that you could use to evangelize your co-workers. Sounds like you’ve got the good ones for Atlanta. For what it’s worth, here are the ones I put in my website’s FAQ:

BTW, I know what you mean about that little thrill. I have the good fortune to live near one of the most beautiful stations on the island, Place-Saint-Henri, which happens to be where they filmed the climactic scene in Denys Arcand’s film Jésus de Montréal. Even if I have to run to catch a train, the station’s architecture is a real treat.

And Lsura - if you decide to experience the trains in Canada (as well you should - VIA is a national treasure!) stop by Montreal. I’ll give you a guided tour of the best stations in the metro.

15

BTW: Tansu and Lost, and others interested in how the site’s going to look: Send me your email addresses and I’ll send you a little sample package with some of the features of the eventual website.

16

Matt, I don’t think you’re weird.

I’m glad you’ve decided to come out of the “train closet” with your confessions. Looks like you came out to the right group of people, too.

Like most of the others, I think your project sounds intriguing, and I will be waiting to congratulate you on its completion.

17

Thanks to all for your kind words!

18

Matt,

IIRC they have a subway museum in NYC. I'm not into it, but I used to know someone who was. Think they're preservign the old City Hall station that's unused now (too small for modern trains)
19

Well, you’re not alone, Matt. The local alt paper, which runs The Straight Dope, ran this piece. Click on the Montreal link on the left.

Speaking of which, my friends and I have been discussing a Montreal trip lately. Go up to the Museum of Fine Arts and see the Hitchcock exhibit, and then go dancing. Mind if I consult you as a native guide?

20

Swiddles: Enchanted!

Thanks for the article. BTW: the first three notes of “Fanfare for the Common Man” being played by the metro trains is a coincidence; it’s actually the noise made by a piece of equipment called a current chopper which is used to prevent power surges.