Two tarnished wonders huddle together, petrified, standing still against their demise. The horses will be shot now. They are 43 years old. They made it through fire and rain and earthquakes only to be trapped here. Though they go to the gallows, they will go hand in hand.
The promise was an army, an armada, sailing over the heads of weary travelers and winning us our freedom. Over and over they asked, "But are you really sure?" We said yes until finally we said no.
And so they froze in their tracks. Patiently, they have gone back and forth for decades, proud spectacles happy to trade a minstral show for the hope we'd play midwife to their shiny babies.
There will be no babies.
They will die alone.
Until that happens, they will stand here paralyzed by betrayal.
On Saturday, November 26, 2005, Seattle's two monorail trains - Red Train and Blue Train - were wedged together. The trains were immobile for four days while officials devised a way to separate them with a crane. The crash came after Seattle voters, who had supported the monorail through four initiatives trying to halt the project, finally pulled the funding for the monorail's expansion.
The monorail's website (http://www.seattlemonorail.com) announces:
The Seattle monorail will be closed until further notice.
For years, the monorail has dutifully traveled back and forth between the same two stops while Seattle's traffic problems have grown worse. Though the monorail is insured, it's unclear whether impatient voters and embattled monorail officials will have the grit to put the pieces back together again. It seems the Seattle monorail is approaching its final stop.