East LA Gold Line Party

Had a fun Sunday riding the rails for free--no, I wasn't a hobo for a day, hoppin' train cars; I took advantage of all-day free rides in celebration of a LA's new extension of the Gold Line (a subway/street-car mix), which is servicing--at long last--East LA. (A rail line into East LA vanished about a half century ago, and it has been sorely missed.) There was a  real party atmosphere, heightened by great music and food. Everything went very smoothly on the new trains, despite the fact that whenever the brakes were hit, crowds of people scrunched together would then fall on top of each other; this only resulted in laughter, not injuries. One odd ,glitch, though, involved the strange disembodied voice announcing each stop--which were Pico-Aliso, Mariachi Plaza, Soto, Indiana, Maravilla, Civic Center, & Atlantic. Unfortunately, the voice was getting them all wrong. Minutes after boarding at Mariachi Plaza, the voice said 'next stop, Mariachi Plaza'. Befuddled passengers asked, "Did the train turn around?" At the next stop the voice said 'Now arriving at Atlantic' (which was actually 4 stops away). One gleeful passenger exclaimed, "This is one fast train!". Here's a sampling of the day...particularly the food: