I got an email the other day inviting members of the public to come out and inspect the MetroRail train at the Hermann Park station (Fannin and Sunset). The train was supposed to be there from 2pm to 5pm, so after a morning soccer practice, a shower, and a leisurely lunch, I set out with my digital camera and walked down to the park to check out the train.

It was a beautiful day, if a bit hot and humid. It had to be in the eighties today, and it's November!

I took a picture of the station as I got nearer. As you can see, there is no train here, but there are a fair number of people waiting around for it. It's about 2:40pm. This doesn't bode well.

Some official type person said that the train was delayed because they drastically underestimated how many people would be interested in checking out the train, so it was still down at the transit center where they were showing it earlier. She handed me some brochures (I got lots of stuff today - maps, safety guides, the Metro transit plan, a squeezy foam replica train, and an activity book for kids) and said that the train would be on its way shortly. In the meantime, I decided to look around the stop and take some pictures.

You can see in this picture that yes, the individual stations do appear to be different. I read in this article that each station is unique, and that the roof is actually colored glass. Actual glass, not plexiglass. Seems a little dangerous to me, but hey, what do I know? The ground here is rendered in various colored sandstone bricks that are arranged in various patterns. Beautiful day, isn't it?

Supposedly each station is supposed to reflect the character of its neighborhood, so I was right in suggesting that the roof at the Museum District station is supposed to be 'arty.' The roof of the station is fairly non-offensive. It does an adequate job of providing shade while still allowing the transmission of some light. Here you can see that the bricks are blue and white (Rice University colors) and are in a scale pattern (is that the tie-in to the Hermann Park Zoo?). Some of the other bricks might be interpreted to be very pixellated versions of animals, but that's kind of stretching it.

The route maps provided at the station are very elegant. They are colored glass maps of the immediate neighborhood inset in a frame which is in turn attached to the clear glass divider between the northbound and southbound sides of the station. The divider also serves as a back rest for the seats which appear to have been designed with the goal of preventing homeless people from sleeping on them - they have very low 'armrests' that would prevent you from lying down.

They need to fire the guy that programmed this marquee. Or at least make sure that he can spell the names of Houston landmarks.

OK, I'm bored, so I'll post the rest of the pictures later.