Crumbling stairs

Last December I wrote about the crumbling stairs to the commuter rail platform at Ruggles.

Here's what they look like today, Thursday July 30th. Click on the photos to enlarge them:

As you can see, the stairs are falling apart. And here's a view of the wall on the other side of the stairs; the damage isn't as obvious, but if you take a close look, I think you'll see signs that the wall is starting to bulge outwards...

That can't be good!

Overpowering Stench

Coach #709 on the 708 Franklin train this morning (departing Forge Park/495 at 7AM on 7/29/2009) was filled with what I can only describe as an overpowering odor of ripe sewage.

This isn't the first time I've run across this phenomenon. Coach 724 (or it may have been 742) earlier this week had the same smell. And it has happened at other times, too. I don't think they've usually been bathroom coaches, and it's definitely not a passenger having gas; the whole coach was filled with the smell, on both levels. The adjoining coaches were totally free of the smell.

Needless to say, #709 didn't have a lot of people in it. The adjoining coaches were much more crowded than usual!

Update: Coach #720 on the 708 Franklin train also had that incredible stench this morning, 7/31/2009. I checked, and it wasn't a bathroom coach. The smell was horrific. There weren't that many passengers in it, but I have to wonder about the few who were! Can't they smell?