Centraal Station
February 22nd, 2006
This is on the main train station in Amsterdam. Train station. The U.S., with our addiction to oil (and apparently presidents who love to service their equally addicted to profits oil company pimps) could give a shit about our train stations. Oh sure, we’ve got the odd crap modern art adorning a few places (I’m excusing the MUNI metro stations in San Francisco, at least the few in the Financial District) but I believe the U.S. is too young to care as a country. We hate you naughty rail travel!
I don’t understand what’s up with the protective wire you might see on the sculpture. There is major construction going on in front of the station, but could it be vandal protection? Protecting pedestrians from falling sculpt?
February 22nd, 2006 at 6:04 pm
Naughty rail travel deserves a spanking.
February 22nd, 2006 at 6:05 pm
I believe the wire is to keep pigeons off. A lot of sculptures had this chicken wire stuff on them throughout europe.
February 22nd, 2006 at 6:05 pm
Maybe preventing the depositing of bird poop?
February 22nd, 2006 at 6:32 pm
it’s pigeon protection: most out-door art/scupture/pretty facades in Europe are covered by it. it’s so that you, taking a picture of it or walking beneath it don’t get guanoed upon and it, a priceless and often very old work of art and history, doesn’t get covered in fertilizer. I don’t know what it’s actually called, but that’s what it’s for.
In addition, as a current denizen of Los Angeles and a former resident of the Greater Munich Metropolitan Area, I agree with your assessment of the US’ public transportation (or lack thereof). Seattle and San Francisco aren’t bad but are nothing like Munich, Paris, London, or any other smaller European city.
February 22nd, 2006 at 6:32 pm
It’s to keep the pigeons off, no?
February 22nd, 2006 at 6:39 pm
I’m guessing the wire is for pigeons?
February 22nd, 2006 at 6:45 pm
The protective wire is probably to keep birds off of the sculptures. All that bird poop is a pain to wash off. I’ve seen similar wire on buildings here on the east-coast.
February 22nd, 2006 at 6:46 pm
I wonder if the wire mesh is in place to protect the stone from pigeons and their waste. I believe that this has been a problem for some of Europe’s most important statues, causing erosion and permanent damage.
I am enjoying the pictures and stories immensely.
February 22nd, 2006 at 7:16 pm
I’ll second the bird theory. Those things wreak havoc on statues.
February 22nd, 2006 at 7:18 pm
The wire mesh is indeed used to protect the stone from pigeons. Very frequently seen in Europe, the acidic nature of the birds droppings basically “eats” into the stone statues and destroys them permanently.
February 22nd, 2006 at 7:50 pm
Bastard Pigeons! Birds suck.
(that would be a joke, bird lovers)
February 22nd, 2006 at 7:51 pm
Yes, it indeed it because of pigeons. The bird poop is rather acidic and to prevent doves from landing on the sculpture these nets are installed. You can see them on almost every major historic building. Bird poop is a big problem wherever lots of pigeons settle down. I have been to places (disused bunkers where no people have been for years, even decades), and there you can find spots with almost a foot of bird poop. Talk about a crappy experience
February 22nd, 2006 at 7:51 pm
Hi Jon,
It is to protect the rail lovers from falling notagia. I’m glad you and your wife weren’t hit. However, I also like the suggestions that the wire keeps vandals out as well as protects the stone from bird crap. Perhaps, on a lighter note, it is also to keep children from tossing food into the mouths of the statues and as a trellis for climbing roses.
February 22nd, 2006 at 8:30 pm
Flying rats those pigeons.
February 22nd, 2006 at 10:55 pm
The wires keep the evil Pigeons from landing on the statues and ruining them. Unfortunately while it does keep the actual birds off, it doesn’t seem to keep their poop off.
I’m so glad that you are sharing your Amsterdam photos and experiences here. They make me want to go back and remember that I actually did have a good trip there even though I thought I was having a bad time.
February 23rd, 2006 at 1:52 am
Even better than the chicken wire to keep off pigeons is the “pigeon spikes” - little metal spikes glued to every flat surface you can find. They’re all over Europe, and definitely all over Toronto now as well.
As for train stations: I think the difference between the US and Europe is that, with the advent of air travel, it suddenly became WAY WAY WAY more efficient to travel by air, so all the train stations became neglected, eventually being torn down (with notable exceptions, ie Grand Central in NYC, and Union in Washington DC, and I’m sure there are many others). But since Europe is so tightly packed, it’s still rather useful to keep the trains around, so the train stations are kept in better repair and are generally more used.
Although, with RyanAir bringing so many cheap flights to just about anywhere in Europe, I could see a similar fate befalling the European train stations as well.
February 23rd, 2006 at 5:22 am
You’ve obviously never been to Union Station here in Washington, DC. Gorgeous. Don’t believe me? Check these Flickr galleries:
http://flickr.com/photos/avenue44/tags/unionstation/
http://flickr.com/photos/jocieposse/tags/unionstation/
http://flickr.com/photos/brownpau/tags/unionstation/
(None of which are my photos. Just found browsing Flickr.)
February 23rd, 2006 at 6:04 am
yeah - birds suck - what you said!
I totally agree with your comments on public transpo too… and what’s worse is i live in the “motor city” which means all four wheels of hell will have to freeze over before there will be a working model of alternative transportation in my future.
February 23rd, 2006 at 6:27 am
Yep, wire defends against bird poop. They have it all over the National Cathedral too.
February 23rd, 2006 at 6:38 am
Hope you don’t mind that I’m avoiding the pigeon conversation!
I agree with you that we’re too young as a continent to care about rail travel.
It’s a catch 22 really. For rail to become more affordable, more people need to use it. In order for more people to use it, the cost needs to come down. In Europe, they NEED to use rail. We don’t NEED to yet.
One thing that boggles my mind is that Canada fabricates a lot of the high speed rail cars used in Europe, yet we don’t use them here. It makes no sense.
February 23rd, 2006 at 8:26 am
Uh, have you never SEEN the exquisite beauty that is the Amtrak station here in Charleston, SC?
Filthy linoleum! Patrons with no teeth! Cockroaches and rats! Molded plastic chairs in bright orange and a vending machine that only dispenses expired HoHos! Centraal Station’s got nothing on THAT.
February 23rd, 2006 at 8:35 am
one word about why more people use trains in Europe than in the US (well alright, actually four):
the. price. of. gas.
February 23rd, 2006 at 8:35 am
Go to Grand Central Station during the summer months when the sun is going down-my husband and i go and have drinks at one of the bars upstairs and watch the rush-hour crowds-with the pink light coming through the windows, it looks like poetry in motion.
February 23rd, 2006 at 8:49 am
Actually, air travel really had very little to do with the destruction of the railroads in the US. The motor giants (e.g. GM) bought up the railways and had them destroyed. Yay, oil. Too bad we’re pretty much out of it (i.e. fucked big time).
February 23rd, 2006 at 9:34 am
Pigeons? Bah. The protective wire is there for when the sculptures COME TO LIFE and start attacking innocent gawking tourists. No one has ever asked THEM if it was okay to take pictures, and that TOTALLY pisses them off. Local authorities know this, and put up the wire to avoid bloodshed and therefore a reduction in tourism. Poor sculptures, trapped in their wire cages. You’d think someone would protest.
February 23rd, 2006 at 9:34 am
Did I get here too late to say anything about the pigeons?!?
February 23rd, 2006 at 9:40 am
So I’m not sure I understand the purpose of the chicken wire yet.
Public transportation isn’t just for Europeans. When I lived in South America, you could catch a bus on practically every corner in town, and they came about every five minutes.
Of course you had to worry about the bottom of the bus falling out from under you because they were so old, and they packed you so tight that accidental pregnancies seemed like a possible risk.
I think Las Vegas has the right idea. Let people be adults. Collect the money. Businesses build free trams and offer shuttles between hotels. Collect more money. Everyone wins.
February 23rd, 2006 at 9:45 am
P.S. On the addiction to oil thing, don’t you own an SUV?
Just sayin…
February 23rd, 2006 at 11:04 am
“Exxon’s fourth-quarter earnings, at $8.42 billion, represented the highest quarterly income ever reported by an American firm.”
Why no mass transit in America? Because we have to subsidize the poor oil companies whose resources are running out, of course.
(Be careful. You don’t want to delve into this topic too deeply. Harry Whittington only made a passing remark about oil profits and the VP shot him. Just saying.)
February 23rd, 2006 at 11:32 am
I own a six cylinder SUV. I am addicted to oil.
If a manufacturer offered a better gas mileage SUV or a hybrid SUV, I’d be all over it. I think consumers in general are all over hybrids. The manufacturers can’t make them fast enough.
February 23rd, 2006 at 12:03 pm
Just keeping you on your toes. Don’t get me wrong. I owned the same SUV, only supercharged. I liked it because it burnt the gas *faster*.
I opted for the much cheaper Honda Civic, but more out of cost concerns for the car itself than any concern for fuel economy. Although I’d hate to be filling that tank at today’s prices.
February 23rd, 2006 at 12:30 pm
I have a short commute… And EHL, I commuted with nearly the same Civic as you. We’ve had the truck for almost four years and it hasn’t even topped 40,000 miles. I’d say we fill it up 1.5 times a month.
February 23rd, 2006 at 12:44 pm
Ditto Grand Central in NYC. Since the restoration it is breathtaking. (They left a little spot of the ceiling unrestored so you can see how friggin’ dirty it was.)
The mesh wire is slightly more animal-friendly than the metal spikes people put on their brownstone lintels to keep pigeons off. Poor (hideous, filthy, awful) unsuspecting pigeons get an ass-full on that stuff.
February 23rd, 2006 at 7:29 pm
After living in Paris and seeing some of the creative metro stops there, I will say that many in the U.S. are rather bland. Though I do have to say that Paris had a few yucky stations, too.
It looks like things might be beautificatin’ here in St. Louis, though. Our ONE metrolink line is working with a group called Arts In Transit (http://www.artsintransit.org) to make travel spaces more appealing. Now if we could only get more people here to actually care about art…
February 24th, 2006 at 1:51 am
Note: Ford is making a hybrid Escape… 36 city/31 hwy mpg!
February 25th, 2006 at 1:17 am
I love train travel here in Germany! I live 30 minutes from the town of Oldenburg and a little farther from Bremen. When I want to go shopping or to a concert and don’t want to fight for a parking space, then I take the train in. It’s heaven. However, driving on the autobahn here can give you a heart attack, so somethings in the States are better. As for the gas milage, my husband’s Audi (it’s a domestic car here) gets around 50 mpg. And the car was about as expensive as the Toyota I drove in the States.
February 26th, 2006 at 11:17 am
Most major train stations here in the UK - and all the European countries I’ve been to - are just as beautiful as that pic. Rail travel is a huge industry here, and I myself travel by train to/from work every day…although it costs me just as much as running a car (I can’t drive yet) so it’s not a ‘cheaper’ option for commuter peak-time travel.
Btw is 31mpg considered good in Canada/US?? Our average on a mid-sized car here is 39mpg, and the hybrids do about 70mpg. When we rented a Pontiac in Orlando it only did about 16mpg, eek…
March 3rd, 2006 at 12:55 pm
Birda, birds, birds!!! That is what the wire is for.
Come to NYC!!! There is a lot of nice, old, architecture, especially in Grand Central Station! There are other lovely buildings and places in NY that have wonderful sculpture and amazing beauty! You have to give yourself enough time to see some stuff though. A nice long weekend or a little more.
-Linda