Back To Work

Last week presented a number of challenges ranging from significant issues with my hearing, which is not good for engineering audio, to severe back pain. And a measure of stress to go along with all the challenges. I suppose this was a way to create a welcome relief for getting back to work.

Of course, once work started, all of my various symptoms eased dramatically. An evil plot launched by my employer perhaps?

So it was back to work and back on the GO train this morning.

Some random facts about the GO train. The coach cars are manufactured by Bombardier. They offer a bi-level design and each coach can hold up to 162 passengers. A 10-coach train is moving over 1,600 people.

The coaches were originally designed by GO Transit and Hawker-Siddeley Canada in the mid-1970s. According to Bombardier, there are more than seven hundred coaches in service.

I’ve noticed that some of the cars offer electrical outlets. There is also a cab car which can control the train’s locomotive remotely. So each GO train can use a push-pull operation which saves time. No need to turn the train around. However, they do look a bit odd in that the design of the cab car is the same as the coach. A GO train in push operation looks like it is going backwards.

Here is an interior shot of a coach. I spend a couple of hours a day in one of these coaches. I do not recommend them if you are experiencing back pain.