2024-06-02 32 34

Location

Between the train tracks and northbound Route 20, just north of Herzliya. Satellite photos unfortunately show the point smack in the middle of no-man's-land between the two, such that neither the tracks nor the road are close enough. So really the only hope is that the satellite photos are a bit off.

Participants

Yerushalmi (talk)

Plans

I'm both delivering and picking up my wife's artwork in Tel Aviv, so I'm easily able to take a detour to the point. Advance investigation shows that there are four train tracks that travel parallel to the point, and the easternmost track (the one closest to the point) belongs to the train that approaches Herzliya from the Sharon area to the east.

So my plan is: go to Tel Aviv, drop off artwork. Take the train from Tel Aviv that goes through the Sharon to Herzliya. Sit on the left side of the train, so I'll be as far to the east as possible when we're passing the point - and sit at the back of the train, so that I the train will already be slowing down as it approaches the station.

Expedition

Yerushalmi

Everything went as planned at first. I got to Tel Aviv, dropped off the artwork, returned to the train station, got on the train to the Sharon. I sat in the very last seat of the very last carriage on the left side of the train (it was midday so the trains were relatively empty).

As we approached Herzliya I started to strategize a bit more: The doors to the train stick out a bit more than the seats do. That extra few centimeters might be crucial - and besides, if I'm at the last door, I'm farther back and the train will be travelling that tiny bit more slowly. So I went to the door and held my phone against it as we came closer... closer... closer...

Wait a minute, why are the tracks diverging? Why do I see tracks between me and the point? Is the train pulling into the wrong platform? Dammit.

At the closest point, I was still 21 meters away. And the train pulled into platform 2, not platform 1.

It turns out that, because Herzliya is the endpoint of this train route, the trains alternate: a train comes into platform 2 from the north, a train pulls out of platform 1 going north. The next train comes into platform 1 from the north, the previous train pulls out of platform 2 to the north. After a few hundred meters - after the point - the track-switching ensures that the trains are on the correct side (the left, because the rail network was built when the British ruled the area), but until then you're at the mercy of luck, and I just had the bad luck to get the wrong train in the cycle.

Luckily, the train in the opposite direction was already in platform 1, and less than five minutes away from pulling out. I collected my stuff, ran across the platform, got on the opposite train. This time I sat on the right side (because the train was heading north, and the point was to the east), and as far forward as possible so the train didn't pick up enough speed. And we came closer... closer... closer...

17 meters away. Oh well.

I stayed on the train as it returned to Tel Aviv, picked up my wife's artwork, and went home.

January First-of-May

Herzlia station. Passed the approximate location in the train; couldn't take a screenshot due to phone problems. -- January First-of-May (talk) @32.1640,34.8175 11:43, 2 June 2024 (GMT+03:00)

Photos

Yerushalmi

On the train, north of the point
Closer
Closer
Closer
Closer
Closer
Closer
Closer
Come on...
Damn.
Okay, let's try the other direction
Closer
Closer
Closer
Closer
Closer
Closer
Closer
Closer
Closer
Closer
Closer
Closer
Come on...
Damn.


Sun 2 Jun 2024 in 32,34: 32.1670985, 34.8191728 geohashing.info google osm bing/os kml crox