TV ALERT: World's Toughest Fixes visits SEPTA

Trains Magazine General Discussion
1

WORLD’S TOUGHEST FIXES on the National Geographic Channel this Thursday 6/10 at 9:00pm.

WTF rides the rails in the City of Brotherly Love. While there, Riley teams up with crews of the nation’s fifth largest public transportation system, Philadelphia’s SEPTA, to find out what it takes to keep 2,200 miles of tracks safely running. The team must replace a three-mile section of 80-year-old high-voltage wire. It’s a risky operation, with live wires just an arms reach away. Then, Riley heads to the garage to work on a train with a malfunctioning automatic control system.

http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/series/worlds-toughest-fixes/4222/Overview

2

Hey, thanks for the ‘Heads-up’ on this [tup] - though I doubt if my local cable system has this channel in my ‘package’. [sigh]

[:-,] But, nahh - it appears these guys aren’t going anywheres near the real ‘toughest fix’ for ol’ SEPTA - - - its $ finances . . . [swg]

  • Paul North.
3

I wonder if that translates to either the History or Discovery Channel in our area…That sounds interesting. Would like to see it.

4

Nat Geo is it’s own network (owned by National Geographic and Fox) and not affiliated with Discovery ot the History channel so unless your cable provider offers Nat Geo specifically you will not see their shows on other Networks (an exception being the reality show “Wrecked” which is also shown on SPEED TV)…It seems that most cable systems only offer NatGeo to their digital subsribers…

5

Another show over hyping the danger and probability of a potential disaster. Funny though, the perceived major imimnent diisaster never happens does it?

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It seems I’ve seen Nat. Geo. programs in the past on our Comcast Cable…Could be wrong. We do see “Wrecked” though…If I’m remembering correctly of the program from Chicago as the one of the wrecker Co. business.

We’re all digital here.

7

Well, it seems I don’t get this channel, so I won’t be able to watch the actual show . . . [V]

However, on the website are a couple of links/ tabs at the top, one of which is a pretty decent video clip about 5-minutes long. It shows the most of the steps for a wire-train crew to replace and splice-in a new segment of the catenary wire, up-close and personal including the old ceramic insulators, from the ‘working deck’ on top of a scissors-type lift on railcars. An altogether acceptable substitute, I think - most of what I wanted to see anyway. [tup]

The other links are to about 15 photos, most of which are of just average interest, and a page of ‘Facts’, which I did not find to be worthwhile. But that’s just my opinion . . . [:-^]

  • Paul North.
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Media marketing folk have an amazing strong herd instinct which (almost always) pitches a show to an 18 to 35 ‘impressionable’ male demographic, hence the amped up show titles and trailers. This is happening across the TV board, whether the topic is construction, food or nature. The Fox side of the NGC partnership is apparently running the marketing and ad sales, so don’t expect a different approach.

This particular show is actually pretty decent. The host, Sean Riley, is a experienced rigger, not some random bubba.

9

superfical.and boring. Turned it off after half an hour.

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I got as far as watching the bomb sniffer since Im a retired police man [tdn][tdn]

11

I found it very interesting.[:)]

Never new SEPTA was so elaborate, I was not that much familiar with how they did things. [tup]

12

…Didn’t get to see the program…but would have liked to…I’m far from any expert on that subject and perhaps would have found it enlightening.

13

Locomutt and I watched it. We enjoyed it, and I learned a few things from watching. I thought it was very interesting.

14

My problem primarily was with the jumping around. They did not say that some of it was the Broad Street subway (the sump pumps, super sucker and baseball game), the Market Street subway ( changing out the truck on the car) or surface rail. They missed opportunities to show Zoo tower and the complexity of routes, the connection between Suburban Station and Reading terminal and how that allowed longer routes and convenience, The P&W trolley line at 69th Street shops, subway surface trains on the Ben Franklin bridge under the car deck or the history of Septa. Nothing like a show about routine maintenance to fire up the juices.