Bush ‘escape train’ under N.Y. hotel

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.msnbc.com/news/972285.asp?0cv=CB20

During President Bush’s two-day stay at the ritzy Waldorf-Astoria hotel in New York this week while seeking international support for Iraq, a special escape train was idling beneath the hotel, ready to whisk him to safety at a moment’s notice in the event of a terrorist attack, it was reported Friday.

THE SECRET SERVICE arranged for the Metro-North train to be parked at an abandoned platform, always running and ready for instant departure throughout the president’s stay at the hotel on Tuesday and Wednesday, the New York Post reported, quoting unidentified law enforcement sources.

The platform — identified as Track 61 on Grand Central Terminal blueprints — is accessible by an underground passage from inside the landmark hotel and by a freight elevator that descends from a brass-sheathed door next to the hotel’s parking garage, giving the president and his entourage a second egress route in case of emergency, the Post said. Had that occurred, the train would have sped off to an undisclosed secure location, it said.

The unused station is under the Waldorf on 49th Street and Park Avenue and was never meant for riders, the Post said. The platform and adjacent tracks are normally used as a yard for out-of-service trains and can be seen by commuters going in and out of Grand Central Station, the newspaper reported.

[soleft]

1. My Boss, a train eficionado, says the Vanderbilts used the track

so they could avoid going to Grand Central. Other rich people used it too, they would pull the car off the regular train and just have it roll to the hotel.

[RamboLiberal]

5. Note who gave away this little secret to possible terrorists

The wingnut NY Post - wonder how the Secret Service feels since this is an escape route they may wish to use again.

I know this is a funny Friday post for we DU'ers to comment on, but I can't blame the Service for wanting to keep any POTUS safe.

Though I still find Bunnypants behaviour on 9-11, especially sitting like a doofus in that classroom, showed he doesn't deserve to be in the WH. If Clinton, Gore or any Dem president had sat like that - we'd still be hearing about it 24/7 from the wingnut talking heads and pundits. Coulter would've named it High Treason and proof of LIHOP.

[Chovexani]

17. WTF

My god rich people really do live on another planet.

[Zero Gravitas]

2. Additional info:

Among the emergency items kept on the train was a complete set of clothes for Former Governor Bush in case he soiled himself with fear while being evacuated.

[Don_G]

3. Sounds Like The Secret Service

Knows him quite well....

[Champion Jack]

4. ...and several of his favorite coloring books

to keep him occupied while the adults discussed business









.

[Atlant]

6. 125th Street; nobody ever look for him there!

> Had that occurred, the train would have sped off to an undisclosed
> secure location, it said.

Pro'ly 125th Street; nobody ever look for him there!

Atlant

[jumptheshadow]

11. Good one!

He'll go into hiding in Bill Clinton's office.

[CaptainClark23]

7. The Waldorf Platform

This is nothing new, top secret, or unusual...no special consideration for the cowardly *


"The "abandoned platform" that concerns us is the former loading platform for the powerhouse. The platform was of course never used or intended to be used in regular passenger service, and it was not even built for the hotel; it just happens to be in the right place."

"General John J Pershing was the first to use it, on a visit to the city in 1938. During the 1944 campaign Franklin D Roosevelt gave a foreign policy address at the Waldorf and then descended into the "basement" to the presidential rail car for the journey home to Hyde Park. On other occasions the siding has been used for such diverse affairs as a 1947 "debut at the Waldorf" for a new 6,000 horsepower diesel locomotive, or for a 1965 "underground party" for pop artist Andy Warhol."

"When President Franklin Roosevelt stayed at the Waldorf, his train would stop on the upper level of the underground train yard directly under the hotel. This enabled the president's aides to carry the paralyzed Roosevelt through a special door and then by elevator directly to his room, avoiding the public altogether."

http://www.columbia.edu/~brennan/abandoned/gct61.html

[Octafish]

8. Once a chicken, always a chicken.

Not that all bromides are true, this one certainly is. A poem:

{i]George Bush Jr.

Georgy Porgy pudding and pie,
Took cocaine which made him high,
When the sheriff came his way,
Georgy's pa sent him away.

Georgy Porgy wasn't daft,
Wanted to avoid the draft,
He found being a coward not too hard,
Daddy's friends got him into the guard.

Georgy Porgy businessman
With daddy's money his career began,
When the seed money all dried up,
Georgy's business went belly up.

Georgy Porgy governor guy
Brought the crime rate up so high,
And that was not his only solution,
Texas is number one on pollution.

Georgy Porgy for President,
Does not know where the money all went.
But if he has to fight Al Gore,
His daddy's friends will get him more.

Georgy Porgy's a true Texan,
Though he may fail again and again,
As long as his father has wealthy friends,
He'll do to us, what he did to them.

[BiggJawn]

9. King George and his Banana Republic Security....

So, like how many "Body Doubles" does the Boy King have now?

Betcha we have seen nothing but TinMan's doubles.
Special trains, "Decoy Flights" bunkers, "Secret Un-disclosed Locations" bunkers, etc...

Didn't Hitler have security measures like this in place?

[Nottingham]

10. Sounds just like Saddam's Secret train system

:bounce:

[w4rma]

12. He's extremely concerned about his *own* safety.

But, our American soldiers out in Iraq? The folks living near ground zero who weren't told about the poisons in the air? The folks who live near polluting factories? Americans living overseas who are in more danger now than before? Nope.

[Not a robought]

13. What they didn't mention

is that the undisclosed secure location is Lex Luthor's lair where Sadam, Osama and the WMD cryptonite all hang out.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

14. If only Kryptonite would rid us of "SuperWimp" in the WH.

good one Nota_Robought! You have earned a place in my DU roster of wittiest posters!

BTW My take on this is it can't be true, since being in a tunnel makes you more of a vulnerable target. I say it is more likely there are probably several helicopters ready to go from a number of locations if bunnypants needs to go cower somewhere at a moment's notice.

[Chovexani]

18. Hey watch it!

Lex Luthor would NEVER associate himself with such trash...he might be a supervillain but the man has SOME class!

Expect a libel suit. :evilgrin:

[Media_Lies_Daily]

15. It's known as the "AWOL Special"...always runs away from danger.

[Noordam]

16. You really do not want to know about all the underground

railroads in Washington DC. One from the White House to Andrews AFB. And others. Most built in the 50s/60s.

[InkAddict]

19. I can hear the Kingston Trio Protest Now

Well did he ever return, no he never returned
And his fate is still unlearned (what a pity)
He may ride forever 'neath the streets of Boston
He's the man who never returned

http://www.lyricsdepot.com/the-kingston-trio/mta.html

[DoYouEverWonder]

20. In the event of a terrorist attack

the last place on earth I would want to be is in the NYC underground. Ugh! Can't wait for the electric to go out and for the rats to start crawling over W's neatly shined shoes.

[fob]

21. ...the train would have sped off to an undisclosed secure location

Are they kidding? It's a TRAIN, it can't fly, it HAS to follow TRACKS that go where they go, right? It's like Wile E. Coyote who just won't step to the side and let the boulder go on by.

fob

[Chovexani]

22. Ha

This really is the Wile E. Coyote Administration. Maybe Condi will get out and paint a tunnel on a wall for the train to go through?

[Noordam]

23. sounds like the elevator could hold a car

From a RR forum and a poster named Viewliner..........

"If I remember correctly they mentioned this on "Seven Secrets of Grand Central". The platform/elevator was built to hold a car. This was because at the time of FDR's presidency, they didn't want people to know about his Polio condition, so the train would stop at that platform and a car would exit the train with him in it"

http://forums.amtraktrains.com/index.php?act=ST&f=7&t=1558&s=5c27ac16c96fcdfd74a974fa3338aae4

[Fridays Child]

24. After his awful speech, the other members should have run him out of...

...town on that rail.