Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station, home of regional rail and Amtrak, has open air gates with these metal arches above:
There are rows of long slender spikes along the upper edge of the horizontal ribs.
They are staggered. And lethal looking, though they look more like confused icicles here than like the miniature spears they really are.
They’re also on the edges of signs, but not, as far as I can tell, across the top.
Why are these spikes installed high above travelers’ heads? I saw them on a sign first, which made me wonder if the idea was to discourage enterprising youth from climbing. (As, perhaps, they do.) But now I’m thinking birds.
Notably, I’ve never seen a bird at these gates. Nor bird droppings. But seriously, are these few spikes sufficient to discourage our avian friends from availing themselves of roosting anywhere nearby? Somehow, that seems to suggest a lack of enterprise — on the part of the birds, that is, not the humans.
2 replies on “30th Street Spikes”
Hi
Over here in the UK they’re everywhere in an attempt to keep the pigeons from pooping on us!
I hope to get a Brompton soon, use a Dahon at present.
Isn’t trying to choose a colour the hardest thing?
I have wasted many happy hours on NYCE Wheels colour picker page.
gary
Ah, yes, the seductive NYCeWheels colour picker page! I remember all those hours obsessively looking at combinations and debating the merits of each. Absolutely, Gary, choosing a B’s colors is more difficult than any other step in the process (except maybe the final wait). Time well-spent, though . . .
Dahons are good bikes, but I’m betting that you will love your B once you’ve got it in hand.
(Interesting about the spikes in the UK; I had no idea.)