Template:Did you know nominations/MAX Blue Line

The following is an archived discussion of the DYK nomination of the article below. Please do not modify this page. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as this nomination's talk page, the article's talk page or Wikipedia talk:Did you know), unless there is consensus to re-open the discussion at this page. No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was: promoted by Yoninah (talk) 15:00, 5 July 2019 (UTC)

MAX Blue Line

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Train arriving at a station on the MAX Blue Line

... that Portland's MAX Blue Line (pictured) was built as a result of freeway revolts in the 1970s, which canceled the Mount Hood Freeway and led to the reallocation of federal assistance funds to public transit? Source: "Grassroots opposition to the Mount Hood Freeway had been growing in Southeast neighborhoods since 1969, as the state began buying properties in the highway's right-of-way... Goldschmidt knew that simply turning down the project and losing the $500 million in federal funds was unacceptable. His alternative: If the goal was to bring people into downtown, the feds' money could be spent on something else—public transit. Goldschmidt favored dedicated bus roads until his staff convinced him of a better idea: light rail... The turning point came on Feb. 4, 1974, when U.S. District Judge James M. Burns ruled the state highway division had failed to follow its own rules when deciding where to locate the freeway... The Portland City Council voted in July to kill the freeway. The victory did more than stop one road from tearing up quiet residential streets. Light rail became the region's primary answer for transportation." (Feb. 4, 1974: Portland kills the Mount Hood Freeway...)

Improved to Good Article status by Truflip99 (talk) and SJ Morg (talk). Nominated by Truflip99 (talk) at 15:17, 3 June 2019 (UTC).

Hook is just inside the 200 character limit. Article and ref looks good, should be good to go. Shuipzv3 (talk) 16:51, 15 June 2019 (UTC)

@Shuipzv3: Subsequent to the above review, I have added an image for possible inclusion, so that one aspect of the nomination now needs review. An alternative image, if one in which the train is larger is preferred (but this article is about the route, so I feel showing more of the environment is appropriate), I suggest the one linked here. Rollover text for that one would be simply "A train on the MAX Blue Line". SJ Morg (talk) 00:33, 16 June 2019 (UTC)

@SJ Morg: your suggested train image, while a good idea for this hook, does not appear in the article. I also think you should shorten the hook to make it punchy, rather than spin off a lot of detail:
ALT1: ... that Portland's MAX Blue Line (train pictured) was built as a result of freeway revolts in the 1970s? Yoninah (talk) 20:34, 3 July 2019 (UTC)

I would support this. Truflip99 (talk) 21:11, 3 July 2019 (UTC)

@Truflip99: OK. And what about the image? Or should I use the image that's already in the infobox? Yoninah (talk) 21:17, 3 July 2019 (UTC)

If it's totally cool, I would prefer that SJ Morg made that decision since he is co-nominator and they are his images. Truflip99 (talk) 21:22, 3 July 2019 (UTC)

No problem. Yoninah (talk) 21:49, 3 July 2019 (UTC)

Thank you, Truflip. Technically, it's not my decision, though it would be nice if it were. Whoever closes the nomination and "promotes" the hook (moves it to a prep area) gets to decide which photo is used, or indeed whether any photo is included. However, my preference is that the photo shown above be used, and I have now added it to the article. I had forgotten about the requirement that DYK photos be used in the article, and I appreciate the reminder. I also support the ALT hook. SJ Morg (talk) 07:52, 4 July 2019 (UTC)

MAX Blue Line train on the Steel Bridge

Blue Line train crossing Southwest 185th Avenue

@SJ Morg: the photo on this nomination is too indistinct at thumbnail size to know what is going on. The flowers and garbage can in the foreground are more prominent than the train. Your suggestion above (formatted at right) shows the train more clearly. Alternately, the infobox image (left) is very clear and attractive at thumbnail size. Yoninah (talk) 10:02, 4 July 2019 (UTC)

Personally, I don't think the train needs to be prominent. It's clear that it's a train and a station (to me, it looks exactly like what the suggested rollover text says: Train arriving at a station ...), and I think vehicle close-up are boring to people who aren't already railfans. The flowers make the photo more attractive, and even the garbage can is not ugly. And from your earlier comment (to me) that "your suggested train image, while a good idea for this hook, ..." implied to me that you thought the photo was fine for DYK. Nevertheless, I have no objection to using one of the other photos. I have added possible captions/rollover text, but DYK captions are usually very short, so I am guessing that simply "Train on the Blue Line" would be preferred, and that's OK with me. SJ Morg (talk) 11:09, 4 July 2019 (UTC)

OK, I'll just use it in the quirky slot. Restoring tick per Shuipzv3's review. Yoninah (talk) 20:14, 4 July 2019 (UTC)

@SJ Morg: No, it's going to get lost in the last slot. I really want to run it in the image slot, because the image and hook together will give it a nice boost. Can you reconsider this image, or one of the terminus images?

A Blue Line train on the Steel Bridge

Eastern terminus of Blue Line

Western terminus of Blue Line

Thanks, Yoninah (talk) 20:30, 4 July 2019 (UTC)

No problem. I was never insisting on using the original image, just giving my opinion as requested, and rest assured I take no offense at our difference of opinion. Like you, I'd much prefer to see the article in the image slot. Of the three you showed in your last edit, my first choice would be the Steel Bridge view. Although I really like the color in the western terminus photo, the plethora of overhead wires in the foreground mess it up (and the effect is even worse when the photo is enlarged), while I don't particularly like the lighting or tall utility pole in the eastern terminus view. So, I'd choose the bridge photo, which also might also attract readers who are interested in old bridges. (And your slightly modified caption is fine.) The type of rail car shown on the bridge is also very representative of the Portland system, with twice as many of that model as there are of the (newer) model shown in the 185th Avenue view. But any of these would be OK with me. If you'd like, you could ask Truflip99 for his opinion, but if you are eager to move ahead now, that would be OK, since he effectively gave his blessing for you to do that. SJ Morg (talk) 03:44, 5 July 2019 (UTC)

I second the Steel Bridge view. Truflip99 (talk) 06:33, 5 July 2019 (UTC)