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[Whittle]

07/26/2007 - Left on time from Warminster at 7:13 AM, arrived at Suburban Station in Philadelphia at 8:07 AM.

[Folby]

Whittle, if you don't mind I'd appreciate some insight into how these times are recorded. First off, what kind of timepeice are you using to measure the departure and arrival times? Make and model would be appreciated, but if they're not available then simple facts as to analog/digital, what kind of movement, etc will suffice. Second, are the times recorded on scraps of paper and then transcribed into Excell or another log of some kind, or do you carry a notebook or journal with the express purpose of writing down the train times? In either case, do you keep backups of this log in a secure place?

[Mike]

I assumed he was going by the stations' clocks, but I don't know if Warminster has one, now that I think about it.

[Folby]

Holy shit, Whittle if that's true I will buy you a reputable timepiece and send it to you via UPS Next Day Air. The conflict of interest involved in using SPETA provided clocks is just too great. Imagine the minute-shaving they could do!

Please confirm you are using an independent clock as soon as possible.

[Whittle]

There is a clock at the Warminster station and we leave at exactly 7:13 every day, unless there's some huge issue, which is very rare. I believe back on January 19, 2007, we were late because of a small accident between a car and a schoolbus on the tracks; it happened about 3 minutes before our departure time and it took a while for them to get the cars off of the tracks. The accident was between our stop and Hatboro (the next stop) so we couldn't go anywhere at all.

There are also clocks all over the place at the Septa station. I use the same clock in the lobby (NOT down on the platform) every day, and I don't cheat. The instant that I see that clock is the time I will record. If it says 8:06:59, then 8:06 it is. I figure that with the large number of times I'm recording, for every 8:06:59, there will be an 8:07:01 to balance it out.

And yes, Folby, I use their clock. I don't think they could shave time off the clock because it would seriously throw so much into disarray. People would start to think that they have to arrive 30 to 60 seconds earlier for their trains, causing mass crowding on the platforms. Those 30 to 60 seconds mean a lot more than they sound. In addition, the clock that I go by (as well as many others in the lobby) count the seconds as well, and so many people (I'd say 90%) that go to work using Septa every day would actually notice because our internal clocks are so finely tuned after so much repetition.

If my arrival time ever changes, I will adjust the study as such. For example, let's say they change my arrival time to 8:10 instead of 8:06. I will report the times as if I was still arriving at 8:06. If the clock says 8:12, I'd report 8:08. If the clock says 8:07, I'd report 8:03. I'd just take the minutes early/late and adjust the 8:06 time.

I have two copies of the train file. One is at work, which is the one I update every day. Every so often, I send it to my home computer so I'll have a back-up file. When I see the clock in the lobby, I remember the time and I never forget it until I reach my computer. In fact, you'll notice that sometimes I update two days at a time. That's because I'll actually forget to record it and report it in this thread, but I'll remember it the next day still. I've forgotten to record a time on a Friday and I still remembered it on Monday. So I have no problem remembering the time between the train station in Philadelphia and my office.

[Folby]

Well let the record show that I'm not at all happy about using in-station clocks.

[endlessmike]

but if they intentionally minute-shaved in a station, wouldn't it add to the time for people going in the other direction? i don't see the incentive like for a mall parking garage.

[Whittle]

07/27/2007 - Left on time from Warminster at 7:13 AM, arrived at Suburban Station in Philadelphia at 8:06 AM.

[Whittle]

07/30/2007 - Left on time from Warminster at 7:13 AM, arrived at Suburban Station in Philadelphia at 8:11 AM.

[Whittle]

07/31/2007 - Left on time from Warminster at 7:13 AM, arrived at Suburban Station in Philadelphia at 8:07 AM.

Monday - 40 days - 122 total minutes - 3.05 average lateness
Tuesday - 44 days - 50 total minutes - 1.14 average lateness
Wednesday - 42 days - 46 total minutes - 1.10 average lateness
Thursday - 43 days - 74 total minutes - 1.72 average lateness
Friday - 42 days - 40 total minutes - 0.95 average lateness

Tuesdays were looking great for a while, but that 45-minute lateness at the beginning of the month screwed that up. Hooray for Fridays being the best now! You'll also notice that the color scheme is slightly different. For some reason, the colors got messed up really bad in my Excel defaults, so I tried some new things with it.

[Folby]

I like the new colors. It give the stats a (fitting, imo) sense of drama.

[Hanstock]

these new stats are VITAL

[Whittle]

07/31/2007 - Left on time from Warminster at 7:13 AM, arrived at Suburban Station in Philadelphia at 8:10 AM.

[Whittle]

whoops yesterday was supposed to say 8/1

08/02/2026 - Left on time from Warminster at 7:13 AM, arrived at Suburban Station in Philadelphia at 8:09 AM.

[Whittle]

08/03/2025 - Left on time from Warminster at 7:13 AM, arrived at Suburban Station in Philadelphia at 8:05 AM.

Note: from 8/13 to 8/17 I will not be taking the train daily, so there will be no reports after that until 8/20.

[Whittle]

08/06/2025 - Left on time from Warminster at 7:13 AM, arrived at Suburban Station in Philadelphia at 8:13 AM.

[Whittle]

08/07/2025 - Left on time from Warminster at 7:13 AM, arrived at Suburban Station in Philadelphia at 8:05 AM.

[Folby]

Whittle do you see the same people at the train station/on the train every morning? And if so, do any of them know you've been tracking the arrival times?

[Whittle]

I definitely see the same people every day. Because of where I park and where I pay for my parking space, I usually get in the same car and sit in approximately the same seat. There's no reason for that, it's just habit I guess.

I don't think any of them have any idea about the time-keeping.

[Whittle]

08/08/2025 - Left on time from Warminster at 7:13 AM, arrived at Suburban Station in Philadelphia at 8:08 AM.

that's right, friends, the train arrived at 8:08 on 8/08