Tunnel Vision: An Unauthorized BART Ride
July 21, 2023 2:58 PM Subscribe
Vincent Woo snuck and stuck video camera onto the front of a BART train, and filmed the trip. The result (YT) is an hour and a half long video, set to some low-key music interspersed with narration, interviews, and history.
The section where it goes through the Transbay Tube is (fortunately) much less interesting than I expected it to be. Somehow I thought it'd be, I dunno, leakier given that it's just sitting on the bottom of the Bay and then covered up. It is cool seeing it go up and down the inclines as it goes through it, though.
posted by zsazsa at 3:13 PM on July 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by zsazsa at 3:13 PM on July 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
When I first went through the transbay tube I was disappointed I couldn't see the fish ..... Later I wanted to sneak in and paint animation cells on the walls
posted by mbo at 3:40 PM on July 21, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by mbo at 3:40 PM on July 21, 2023 [4 favorites]
I skipped ahead to the Transbay Tube section and found it kind of magical. Other parts of the video gave us nostalgia for the years we lived in the Bay Area. Thanks for posting!
posted by May Kasahara at 4:08 PM on July 21, 2023
posted by May Kasahara at 4:08 PM on July 21, 2023
How did he get it back off the train??
posted by terridrawsstuff at 4:16 PM on July 21, 2023
posted by terridrawsstuff at 4:16 PM on July 21, 2023
How did he get it back off the train??
During the end credits, you can hear audio of him initially getting hassled by a train operator who noticed it, but then kind of softened up a bit and helped tell him what the next station will be that has a platform on the left side so he can get it.
posted by aubilenon at 4:36 PM on July 21, 2023 [5 favorites]
During the end credits, you can hear audio of him initially getting hassled by a train operator who noticed it, but then kind of softened up a bit and helped tell him what the next station will be that has a platform on the left side so he can get it.
posted by aubilenon at 4:36 PM on July 21, 2023 [5 favorites]
I love the motion blur in the trans bay tube. Hypnotic…
posted by njohnson23 at 5:54 PM on July 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by njohnson23 at 5:54 PM on July 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
train operator who noticed it, but then kind of softened up a bit
I love how it all could have been lost except for him, I hope he notices how many people are thrilled by this and appreciate his accommodation.
posted by SaltySalticid at 6:22 PM on July 21, 2023 [5 favorites]
I love how it all could have been lost except for him, I hope he notices how many people are thrilled by this and appreciate his accommodation.
posted by SaltySalticid at 6:22 PM on July 21, 2023 [5 favorites]
Love this. I bet a lot of places in the Bay Area are gonna have it on repeat on TVs!
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 7:01 PM on July 21, 2023
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 7:01 PM on July 21, 2023
Nice! I meant to post this, but I kept getting hypnotized by it!
posted by Pronoiac at 7:09 PM on July 21, 2023
posted by Pronoiac at 7:09 PM on July 21, 2023
The party with the computer voices followed by the transbay tube was nice and trippy.
Yellow line though.. I'd hoped to see the elevated parts in Oakland/Berkeley. I guess I'm hoping for a Orange line sequel.
Interestingly, the video ends at Pittsburg, but in the audio at the end, he's supposed to take the camera off 4 stops earlier in Pleasant Hill. Maybe the operator relented and let him wait until the last station where he could reach it to remove it.
posted by joeyh at 8:16 PM on July 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
Yellow line though.. I'd hoped to see the elevated parts in Oakland/Berkeley. I guess I'm hoping for a Orange line sequel.
Interestingly, the video ends at Pittsburg, but in the audio at the end, he's supposed to take the camera off 4 stops earlier in Pleasant Hill. Maybe the operator relented and let him wait until the last station where he could reach it to remove it.
posted by joeyh at 8:16 PM on July 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
How clever mechanics keep 50-year-old BART trains running: Windows 98, eBay, and scraps.
(This link works on my mobile phone, but sends a pop-up to prompt for a subscription to my desktop.)
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 9:25 PM on July 21, 2023 [2 favorites]
(This link works on my mobile phone, but sends a pop-up to prompt for a subscription to my desktop.)
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 9:25 PM on July 21, 2023 [2 favorites]
I feel kind of weird about this one. On the one hand, I'm a transit nerd, so I love the footage. On the other hand, I don't love the way he got it, even if it's likely that BART would never have let him do it if he asked for permission. I totally get why a train operator would be miffed that someone stuck a foreign object onto the front of the train.
posted by chrominance at 10:28 PM on July 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by chrominance at 10:28 PM on July 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
A commentary-free raw version would be nice.
posted by donio at 12:22 AM on July 22, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by donio at 12:22 AM on July 22, 2023 [1 favorite]
Yellow line though.. I'd hoped to see the elevated parts in Oakland/Berkeley. I guess I'm hoping for a Orange line sequel.
Ahh, darn, I was looking forward to that, too. I used to live half a mile up the hill from the El Cerritos Plaza station and miss that familiar space-train whine as the trains came and went from the station.
posted by notyou at 4:53 AM on July 22, 2023
Ahh, darn, I was looking forward to that, too. I used to live half a mile up the hill from the El Cerritos Plaza station and miss that familiar space-train whine as the trains came and went from the station.
posted by notyou at 4:53 AM on July 22, 2023
Also I think given BART’s struggles lately, actual and perceived, BART should consider inviting Mr Woo to attach his camera to other lines.
posted by notyou at 5:03 AM on July 22, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by notyou at 5:03 AM on July 22, 2023 [2 favorites]
I kept getting hypnotized by it!
The Transbay section made me wonder if I would be able to drive the train, or I would get too spacey/dizzy.
The memorium at the end sounds like this wasn't his first attempt. I wonder how he knew where it fell off.
posted by MtDewd at 5:05 AM on July 22, 2023
The Transbay section made me wonder if I would be able to drive the train, or I would get too spacey/dizzy.
The memorium at the end sounds like this wasn't his first attempt. I wonder how he knew where it fell off.
posted by MtDewd at 5:05 AM on July 22, 2023
I dig this.
In 2001, I took a couple of JAL flights between O’Hare and Narita and noted that among the dozen of fifteen channels on the seatback TVs were two that were a camera view out the nose of the plane and another straight down from the belly. It was engaging to sit in oil queue on the tarmac and watch the aircraft before us line up and take to the runway one by one, and hours later to watch the boats in Tokyo Bay flashing past us on our descent.
I have only ever seen this on JAL. Why other airlines never picked up on doing this, I do not know.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 6:14 AM on July 22, 2023 [5 favorites]
In 2001, I took a couple of JAL flights between O’Hare and Narita and noted that among the dozen of fifteen channels on the seatback TVs were two that were a camera view out the nose of the plane and another straight down from the belly. It was engaging to sit in oil queue on the tarmac and watch the aircraft before us line up and take to the runway one by one, and hours later to watch the boats in Tokyo Bay flashing past us on our descent.
I have only ever seen this on JAL. Why other airlines never picked up on doing this, I do not know.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 6:14 AM on July 22, 2023 [5 favorites]
I flew JAL a few weeks ago and unfortunately this was not an option in the seat back entertainment.
posted by slogger at 7:56 AM on July 22, 2023
posted by slogger at 7:56 AM on July 22, 2023
Former BART employee. Yes, this is very cool, but they have been reluctant to allow videos (though loosened up in the near past) because of security concerns. You are giving the world planning access to areas that are vulnerable to attack i.e. The Transbay Tube.
On a more amusing note, we were approached by an advertising agency that had come up with "flip book" style ads that they wanted to run in the TB Tube. Most of our ad contracts allow for our use of the ad space for free in a limited time so I was advocating for us to either do a realistic depiction of the SF Bay habitat outside of the Tube or a silly animated version with the occasional mer-person thrown in. Unfortunately technical difficulties could not be overcome so it didn't happen.
posted by agatha_magatha at 9:25 AM on July 22, 2023 [3 favorites]
On a more amusing note, we were approached by an advertising agency that had come up with "flip book" style ads that they wanted to run in the TB Tube. Most of our ad contracts allow for our use of the ad space for free in a limited time so I was advocating for us to either do a realistic depiction of the SF Bay habitat outside of the Tube or a silly animated version with the occasional mer-person thrown in. Unfortunately technical difficulties could not be overcome so it didn't happen.
posted by agatha_magatha at 9:25 AM on July 22, 2023 [3 favorites]
For years I commuted 2 hours a day on BART and was bored the whole time, so why I am I raptly watching this video of my commute??
posted by moonmilk at 5:18 PM on July 25, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by moonmilk at 5:18 PM on July 25, 2023 [1 favorite]
This is a great li’l movie!
posted by Going To Maine at 11:14 PM on August 12, 2023
posted by Going To Maine at 11:14 PM on August 12, 2023
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This is great, thanks!
posted by Rash at 3:08 PM on July 21, 2023 [2 favorites]