Weekend Update 8/7/22

[up1950s]

https://www.vox.com/2021/3/10/22303355/gen-z-high-speed-rail-biden-map-meme-buttigieg

https://www.alaskasnewssource.com/2020/07/31/from-dream-to-reality-proposed-railway-would-connect-alaska-to-the-rest-of-the-continent-by-rail/

https://www.railwayage.com/passenger/intercity/amtrak-2035-map-hopes-and-challenges/

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/celebrate-150th-anniversary-transcontinental-railroad-by-sleeping-train-car-180971838/

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https://www.rail-suppliers.com/product/train-water-tightness-facilities/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/23711298@N07/42090595402/in/photostream/

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/325807354298255718/

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/75294625010149616/?mt=login

https://www.bbc.com/news/in-pictures-40341771

https://www.steamlocomotive.com/places/frisco/

https://www.visitfrisco.com/listing/museum-of-the-american-railroad/7/

[DiggerDownUnder]

An interesting concept. If it's anything like here in Australia a lot of us will never see it. Even our Federal Government pushing for a simple east coast version from Brisbane to Melbourne 1776 KMs or approx 1100 miles.

[LIRR]

You guys down under allowed out of the house now?

[davefoxx]

Never happen.  Other than the East Coast and the West Coast, the U.S. is not populated enough and is too far between destinations, as compared to Europe, making high speed trains a boondoggle.  I love trains, but that is a waste.  Also, I read a great article decades ago that explained how the increasing the top end speed really wasn’t the solution.  It was all of the slow speed moves as you came through certain towns and yards or approached/departed stations that were the real time killers.

DFF

[Chris333]

I think about every 10 minutes that concept comes back around. The line from Cleveland to Pittsburgh was to use the old Erie main. But who cares it ain't like the trains are gonna be Mikado's and Pacific's, they will look like a bullet train 

[samusi01]

I don't mind the bullet train look - I think the Shinkansen 500 series is one of the best looking train sets out there - but I agree with @davefoxx in that the plan as a whole is not grounded in reality... having had the misfortune of needing to drive from the LA basin into Montana via Denver recently, I have doubts about being able to achieve proposed speeds through the terrain between, say, Grand Junction and Denver as an example.

I wouldn't mind seeing a bit more regional stuff as Brightline are doing down here in FL (in Orlando at the moment) but given the inevitable grade crossing problems a better solution has to be implemented. The problems the Texas Central has been having regarding right of way are, doubtless, just a warmup to what would be seen for a larger regional system.

The other factor is, as usual, time. I glanced through some logs this year and noted that my office covered LA area to DC in a little over four hours and Atlanta to SFO area in under five hours. That will always be hard to compete with; I am getting to the point where the time versus money tradeoff is starting to tilt towards time and I suspect that many will not want to spend a day and a half via train versus a few hours via air.

[hegstad1]

This thing is kind of ruling my life right now.  It's a fun project though.

[Spades]

Never happen.  Other than the East Coast and the West Coast, the U.S. is not populated enough and is too far between destinations, as compared to Europe, making high speed trains a boondoggle.  I love trains, but that is a waste.  Also, I read a great article decades ago that explained how the increasing the top end speed really wasn%u2019t the solution.  It was all of the slow speed moves as you came through certain towns and yards or approached/departed stations that were the real time killers.

DFF

10,000 feet of runway is cheaper to build and maintain than 3000 miles x2 right of way.  Airspace is basically free compared to purchasing right of way. With road & air travel Montana is part of the world. High speed rail Montana is removed from the world. That's the way I heard it.

[Bendtracker1]

A few weeks ago I got started on my U33B's.



This week I finished the first of the five U33B's.
It still needs couplers and the front headlights installed, but the weathering is complete.

The weathering was all done with Pan Pastels. The oil and fuel leaks and all the grills were darkened with Tamiya Black Panel Liner.
I sealed it with several light misted coats of my dulling agent. Had I covered it with a single heavy coat, most of the powders would have faded away.
Pan Pastels do not fade as bad pastel chalks, but they do fade, especially the lighter colors.
I had to go back and reapply the pans on the trucks and fuel tanks a couple of times.

[samusi01]

This thing is kind of ruling my life right now.  It's a fun project though.

How do you plan on doing the chutes? 3D printing? and are you planning on doing the cable system for the cars with the wheels along the incline? I've thought about doing this plan and got about halfway through designing the NP's Duluth tower via laser cut material but haven't gotten around to finishing it.

[Cajonpassfan]

This thing is kind of ruling my life right now.  It's a fun project though.

I bet! Gorgeous, and so evocative of the coal-fired steam era! That's quite a project. Keep the pics coming!
Otto

[packers#1]

Regarding the Bullet Trains versus cars, Top Gear, as per usual, has the answer:

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My fiancé actually had brought up why we don’t have it in America and I kinda stumbled through what Dave said so succinctly; I guess that’s the difference between an engineer (non train) and lawyer!

Never happen.  Other than the East Coast and the West Coast, the U.S. is not populated enough and is too far between destinations, as compared to Europe, making high speed trains a boondoggle.  I love trains, but that is a waste.  Also, I read a great article decades ago that explained how the increasing the top end speed really wasn’t the solution.  It was all of the slow speed moves as you came through certain towns and yards or approached/departed stations that were the real time killers.

DFF

[Cajonpassfan]

Just running trains this week. Cleaning track, looking for bad wheelsets, couplers, wobbly or underweight cars, trackwork issues. Bad switches, bad engines; electrical problems. Found many but taking them on one at a time. Slow going, but still fun to run and get a sense of what the railroad could be when it runs flawlessly...and some day (soon?) it will. More on my ATSF LA Division thread..
Otto K.

[Cajonpassfan]

A few weeks ago I got started on my U33B's.



This week I finished the first of the five U33B's.
It still needs couplers and the front headlights installed, but the weathering is complete.

The weathering was all done with Pan Pastels. The oil and fuel leaks and all the grills were darkened with Tamiya Black Panel Liner.
I sealed it with several light misted coats of my dulling agent. Had I covered it with a single heavy coat, most of the powders would have faded away.
Pan Pastels do not fade as bad pastel chalks, but they do fade, especially the lighter colors.
I had to go back and reapply the pans on the trucks and fuel tanks a couple of times.

Allen: You ROCK!
Otto

[nkalanaga]

Never mind the economics, or demographics, how do you run a train from Denver, CO to Green River, UT at 220 mph?  A 200-mile long tunnel? 

Outside the major corridors, my opinion is that we should try for an average speed (not top speed, average speed) of about 75 mph.  That's as fast as one can legally drive in most states, and would be competitive with driving.  No need to stop for the night, and less stressful.  Obviously, some places one can't do that (Marias Pass, MT?), but there are a lot of places where 100 mph would be practical (most of eastern Montana and North Dakota?), so it would work for long-distance trains.

A 100-mph passenger train wouldn't mix well with slow coal drags, but would do fine on the same track as 70+mph freights, not uncommon on the western routes.