A lovely video by blogrollee The Tim Traveller in which he heads to Stockholm to catch a metro, and then proceeds to find the seven different easter eggs…
Easter eggs are secret messages hidden in computer games, movies, and advertisements. They help content creators bring new meanings to ideas or add a dash of humor to a creative concept. Someone edits a favorite character into a clip, or embellishes a story with cultural references. Some additions gain cult status.
…built into the ventilation grids next to some of the windows on the train.
Niche? Yes.
Nerdy? Absolutely.
Actually pretty cool? 100%.
His videos all have easter eggs of their own as well, usually involving the music (which he records himself). In this one, you have ABBA’s Dancing Queen when he sees the crowns, The Wannadies’ (another Swedish band) Might Be Stars for the stars, and he returns to ABBA for the wholly appropriate Another Town, Another Train to finish.
But it was when he asked if anyone else knew of other easter eggs on public transport that things got serious.
Well. Sort of.
Because there was this comment:
The New Mexico Rail Runner’s door chime is the “meep meep” sound that the Looney Tunes roadrunner makes!
WHAT?!?!? NO WAY!
OK, but first things first. The New Mexico Rail Runner is:
a commuter rail system serving the metropolitan areas of Albuquerque and Santa Fe, New Mexico.
And it looks pretty cool:
But it’s the doors we want to see hear. Because there’s no way that they would have actually used the “meep meep” sound that the Looney Tunes roadrunner makes, is there?
Of course there is:
Why? Well, why not? I mean, apart from the fact that it might attract coyotes.
Like the Stockholm metro air vents, there’s always a reason to tie into the local history or environment.
You’re going to need a sound to warn people that the doors are closing, so why not make it quirky, fun, and a feature? And since the Rail Runner is named for the New Mexico state bird – the Greater Roadrunner – what better sound was there to choose?
I’ll likely pop back to that comments section at some point to grab some more amazing public transport easter egg facts, but this one is going to be tough to beat.