tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post1681882522491093674..comments2024-03-19T03:14:04.172-04:00Comments on Rabett Run: Making Tracks in the USEliRabetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07957002964638398767noreply@blogger.comBlogger24125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-16719715409411723782019-02-17T04:49:31.578-05:002019-02-17T04:49:31.578-05:00India's wannabe TGV ran into sacred cow troubl...India's wannabe TGV ran into sacred cow trouble on its inaugural trip<br /><br />https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/vande-bharat-express-breaks-down-on-return-journey-from-varanasi/article26288331.eceTHE CLIMATE WARShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02578106673226403151noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-28381416141652899102019-02-17T01:06:50.063-05:002019-02-17T01:06:50.063-05:00Thanks Eli. Yup, it was that throat-tearing cousi...Thanks Eli. Yup, it was that throat-tearing cousin of yours...Bernard J.https://www.blogger.com/profile/16299073166371273808noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-26893613073169428692019-02-14T19:51:21.926-05:002019-02-14T19:51:21.926-05:00Part of what gets lost in these discussions is mos...Part of what gets lost in these discussions is most of the travel on high speed rail is between stations that are only a few hours apart, for example Paris and Lyon or Marseilles. Really long rides can take the best part of a day. Still by the time you get to the airport, check in, go thru security, get on the plane, arrive, wait for your bags, get to the center of town by taxi or train, there goes the day.EliRabetthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07957002964638398767noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-70604384026676338482019-02-13T01:34:52.748-05:002019-02-13T01:34:52.748-05:00'You have to be careful with commenter statist...'You have to be careful with commenter statistics.'<br />I stand corrected. In 2008, eyeballing the graph, coal was about 900 million tons of nearly 2000m total railed, by 2017 it was down to about 600 of 1750. Nothing else comes close, by tonnage, but crude petroleum products spiked sharply till 2012, then declined just as sharply. Also, the industry says a recent drop in carloads of fracking sand has been significant. John ONeillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10590564237882421327noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-88968811074259276702019-02-12T21:13:34.944-05:002019-02-12T21:13:34.944-05:00The thing Eli carries around in his head is that U...The thing Eli carries around in his head is that US freight is mostly grain and coal, while in the EU it is goods.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14141923572695179691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-80999965701567964982019-02-12T11:54:54.570-05:002019-02-12T11:54:54.570-05:00You have to be careful with commenter statistics. ...You have to be careful with commenter statistics. As of 2016, coal was 16% of total carloads transported by trains, not 50%. So, the incentive for new markets/services is significantly smaller. <br />https://www.aar.org/article/freight-rail-coal/Old_salthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11660908947626378366noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-55975580817035517762019-02-12T06:05:37.598-05:002019-02-12T06:05:37.598-05:00@John ONeill 11/2/19 6:22 AM
Half the freight tra...@John ONeill 11/2/19 6:22 AM<br /><br /><i>Half the freight traffic in the US is coal, so any serious attempt to rein in climate change could see the railways underutilized. </i><br /><br />Fantastic opportunity in some areas to convert underused or disused right–of–way into high speed trackage or to look for other markets?<br /><br />If coal is no longer <i>the</i> key commodity for the freight railways, this seems like the perfect time for them to develop new markets and services. Perhaps we could argue that some US railways are suffering from <i>Dutch Disease</i> caused by coal rather than oil?<br /><br />One might argue that the dominance of coal as a key commodity has stifled innovation both technically and in the area of service provision and marketing.jrkrideauhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04869979887929067657noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-78317108080536538552019-02-11T21:36:57.139-05:002019-02-11T21:36:57.139-05:00To BPL - Denmark didn't even have a 'natio...To BPL - Denmark didn't even have a 'national grid' till a few years ago. The western half is still more closely linked to Germany, and the eastern to Norway and Sweden, than either half is to the other.The German grid is twenty times bigger than Denmark's, and the Norwegian and Swedish one ten times bigger. Denmark can afford to build lots of wind turbines, because they can export the surplus, and in calm periods, Norwegian hydro, Swedish nuclear, and German coal can make up the difference.( They can sort of afford it - their power is the most expensive in Europe.) In fact, they have to export a lot of the power even when their coal plants are still running, because the coal plants also provide district heat. So they can claim to be heading for 'carbon neutrality' even when a lot of the electrons they're using came from coal.John ONeillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10590564237882421327noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-15707461650397278372019-02-11T19:14:30.002-05:002019-02-11T19:14:30.002-05:00Our wallmongering President might examine Japan&#...Our wallmongering President might examine Japan's successful people-proofing of the Bullet Train right of way.<br /><br />OTOH,<a href="https://vvattsupwiththat.blogspot.com/2019/02/trump-insulating-mexican-border-wall.html" rel="nofollow"> the top of a Great Wall is a cool place for a TGV. </a><br /><br />https://vvattsupwiththat.blogspot.com/2019/02/trump-insulating-mexican-border-wall.htmlTHE CLIMATE WARShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02578106673226403151noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-9987433925280320812019-02-11T16:27:23.961-05:002019-02-11T16:27:23.961-05:00"Here are the 11 Proposed Hyperloop Routes in..."Here are the 11 Proposed Hyperloop Routes in the United States"<br />https://www.inverse.com/article/30029-hyperloop-one-11-routes-across-the-united-states<br />Now called:<br />"Virgin Hyperloop One"<br />https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgin_Hyperloop_OneTransparencyCNPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14226139962752932435noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-91712305158502370982019-02-11T15:53:02.708-05:002019-02-11T15:53:02.708-05:00To BPL: that % is important, but most important is...To BPL: that % is important, but most important is the carbon intensity. France, which is, say, 75% nuclear has a carbon intensity of 81 grams of CO2/kWhr. Denmark, which is, as you say, 50% wind power (it's in fact 74% renewable) has a carbon intensity of 192 grams of CO2/kWhr. Admittedly I just looked this up today, but I bet that at any other day/time the numbers won't vary much. So France wins (yet again).Supernauthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17545869080096267719noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-76092551243861232422019-02-11T09:16:09.686-05:002019-02-11T09:16:09.686-05:00J O'N: France went from mostly oil-fired pow...J O'N: France went from mostly oil-fired power stations, to ~75 % nuclear, in fifteen years. No 'renewables only' scheme has come anywhere near that,<br /><br />BPL: I think Denmark is at 50% wind power now. When did they start?Barton Paul Levensonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07630802738456749652noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-67040809362201232252019-02-11T06:22:43.892-05:002019-02-11T06:22:43.892-05:00Half the freight traffic in the US is coal, so any...Half the freight traffic in the US is coal, so any serious attempt to rein in climate change could see the railways underutilised. ( The Green New Deal is not a serious attempt. France went from mostly oil-fired power stations, to ~75 % nuclear, in fifteen years. No 'renewables only' scheme has come anywhere near that, and the bigger they get, the more of a drag their unreliabilty will become.)<br />There is a lot of room for technical improvements to passenger rail. If self-driving trucks can slave themselves to the front vehicle and form a virtual train, why can't real trains behave the same way ? You could have drive wheels, and limited storage, on each carriage. The train itself would bypass every station except the terminal ones, while 'feeder carriages' loaded up on the side tracks, and then matched velocity to link up on the fast line. Compared to roads, the computing power needed would be trivial, and it would keep fast vehicles and crowded platforms safely separated.John ONeillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10590564237882421327noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-80931434986372950792019-02-10T06:36:17.025-05:002019-02-10T06:36:17.025-05:00@ EliRabett
The distance btw DC and NYC is abou...@ EliRabett <br /><br /> <i>The distance btw DC and NYC is about 220 miles, but at a minimum there is Baltimore and Philadelphia (let alone Wilmington and Newark)</i> <br /><br />Why stop anywhere along the route? If you are flying from DC to NYC do you normally expect to land at Baltimore and Philadelphia en route?jrkrideauhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04869979887929067657noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-38765106207240951052019-02-09T22:24:56.379-05:002019-02-09T22:24:56.379-05:00Eli, the weird thing about the Acela is that it ta...Eli, the weird thing about the Acela is that it takes three times longer to get from New Haven to New York than New London to Boston. <br /><br />It's powerful unfair that Rhode Island has the fastest trains in the nation- riders should be given more time to admire it. THE CLIMATE WARShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02578106673226403151noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-86679344350624518132019-02-09T15:26:58.605-05:002019-02-09T15:26:58.605-05:00The distance btw DC and NYC is about 220 miles, bu...The distance btw DC and NYC is about 220 miles, but at a minimum there is Baltimore and Philadelphia (let alone Wilmington and Newark). Simply too many stops to make it worthwhile to build TGV infrastructure.<br /><br />OTOH, NYC to Boston might be reasonable if you want to skip Hartford/New Haven.EliRabetthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07957002964638398767noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-18897449739707712952019-02-09T13:15:52.581-05:002019-02-09T13:15:52.581-05:00It's not the crack, it's the psychodelic c...It's not the crack, it's the psychodelic covers <i>Jacobin </i>.<br /><br />THE CLIMATE WARShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02578106673226403151noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-53446465615380427742019-02-09T08:14:24.579-05:002019-02-09T08:14:24.579-05:00FL: the communist wing of the Democratic Party
B...FL: the communist wing of the Democratic Party<br /><br />BPL: Fernando is on crack again.Barton Paul Levensonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07630802738456749652noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-33389085069697017592019-02-09T07:21:50.120-05:002019-02-09T07:21:50.120-05:00@ EliRabett 9/2/19 5:53 AM
But is that not what ...<br />@ EliRabett 9/2/19 5:53 AM<br />But is that not what David said?<br /><br />I don't see why the e East Coast Corridor would not be a candidate for highspeed rail unless the objection is that it would be prohibitively costly to to build dedicated trackage.<br /><br />I am going on distant memory but I don't see the Acela vs normal train times as a good argument. Acelas are not 'high speed' trains in the usual meaning of the word as used internationally and they are sharing 150 year old infrastructure with other traffic. <br /><br />Provide dedicated, electrified right-of-way with top-line signalling, no level crossings and reduce stops between New York and Boston to zero or close to. <br /><br />This is not to argue that there appear to be many suitable places in the USA that would benefit as much or more from real high speed rail that the Corridor.jrkrideauhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04869979887929067657noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-25533092029933363592019-02-09T05:53:06.148-05:002019-02-09T05:53:06.148-05:00David, sometimes the stations are separate (Lille)...David, sometimes the stations are separate (Lille) and sometimes not (Paris), but truly high speeds do require separate tracks<br /><br />Bernard, Eli thinks you mean @caerbannog666EliRabetthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07957002964638398767noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-1302232754746474662019-02-09T03:11:38.621-05:002019-02-09T03:11:38.621-05:00The Green New Deal and the Infanticide legislation...The Green New Deal and the Infanticide legislation really boosted Republicans' chances in 2020. All you need is for the communist wing of the Democratic Party to propose price controls and the construction of gulag camps to house prisoners forced to build high speed rail. Fernando Leanmehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16085680730729620836noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-86699894593361012752019-02-09T00:26:38.571-05:002019-02-09T00:26:38.571-05:00But the French TGV has dedicated tracks between de...But the French TGV has dedicated tracks between dedicated stations. Sometimes the stations are right next to the older ones. David B. Bensonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15914145623997712113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-36329471714435688432019-02-08T23:09:18.979-05:002019-02-08T23:09:18.979-05:00Hi all.
Sorry to go off-thread, but I'm wonde...Hi all.<br /><br />Sorry to go off-thread, but I'm wondering if someone could remind me who did the analyses of the global warming signal using just half a dozen random stations, and if they could provide a linkie to the work?<br /><br />TIA.Bernard J.https://www.blogger.com/profile/16299073166371273808noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-4968113631404088202019-02-08T18:09:41.388-05:002019-02-08T18:09:41.388-05:00Merging flyover cities with regional seaports wou...Merging flyover cities with regional seaports would increase their cultural amenities & travel possibilities while decreasing the need for passenger rail.<br /><br /> All things considered, I'd rather be in Minmadmllgophia, waiting to put my car on the Silver Meteor to FloridaTHE CLIMATE WARShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02578106673226403151noreply@blogger.com