How Long Have You Waited At The Brookhaven Road Train Crossing?
Busted flat in Baton Rouge, waiting for a train
Janis Joplin – “Me & Bobby McGee”
The words from that song came into my head the other day as the crossing gates came down in front of me at the Brookhaven Road SEPTA train crossing.
I seldom am the first car in wait, and glanced at my watch just as the gates started downward. This was the perfect time to clock the duration of this event which occurs 53 times daily – there are 27 trains inbound to Philadelphia, and 26 outbound trains during a weekday.
The 3 car train #9352 – the 11:52 AM out of Wallingford bound for Philadelphia -prompted the gates to be down for a total of 2 minutes 11 seconds. So using a 2 minute average for the interruption of traffic at the crossing, there is a total possible wait time of 1 hour and 46 minutes during the day. I seem to catch a train at least 3 times per day.
For trivia buffs, Joplin’s Me & Bobby McGee released after her death in 1971 is the second most popular posthumous number one single release, topped only by (Sittin’) On The Dock Of The Bay by Otis Redding.
I would have preferred The Who’s 5:15 to have come to mind as a prompt for train thoughts.
Wallingford PA Real Estate – Wallingford, PA 19086
