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    Can Private Railroads operate passenger service without government help?

    Brightline trains run on tracks of the Florida East Coast, which did not join Amtrak, therefore the FEC has no contractual relationship with Amtrak. Commuter lines were specifically excluded from Amtrak from its beginning. The chance of Union Pacific choosing to operate passenger trains is...
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    Passenger train service to Phoenix AZ.

    This is not near as bad as it looks. Drag the rails in the damaged section out of the way along the track, get some earthmoving equipment out there and grade up the washout back to the proper cross section, bring in a car load ties, associated OTM (spikes, plates, bars and bolts if needed), a...
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    200MPH+ on the NEC: Is it practical?

    O Kkkkkkk. Duly noted. First time I heard this.
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    200MPH+ on the NEC: Is it practical?

    16.7Hz is not correct by the way; it is 50Hz divided by 3, so it is 16 2/3 Hz. Normal AC in Europe is 50 Hz, not 60 Hz as in the US, Canada and quite a few other places. The history of the why for the old Pennsy's 25 Hz, I don't know. Likewise, I have no idea why the ex New Haven 11.5 kV 25...
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    Auto Train service expansion?

    The alternative through DC would be to follow the freight route. That route is cleared or is in the process of being cleared for double stacks, so the superliners would be no problem. There is nothing I can see changed that would result in a Midwest Autotrain being anything other than the...
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    Brightline Trains Florida discussion 2024

    Congratulations to the mayor for this sort of pronouncement. People always trying to blame the railroad, pay attention.
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    California HSR

    I trust that the "no comparison" meant that the Shinkansen was significantly better. As to CAHSR, the concept is great. Unfortunately, it appears that a lot of the details in the implementation leave much to be desired. See what I wrote earlier on that. The real need is there. But, the...
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    California HSR

    By now when I hear "world class" I tend to break out with an allergic reaction. It usually means taking THIS IS THE WAY THINGS ARE DONE IN WESTERN EUROPE, THEREFORE IT IS THE WAY THINGS SHOULD BE DONE EVERYWHERE without thought or analysis. I do have absolute faith in the ability of the CAHSR...
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    BART derailment 1/1/24

    There is a term called "Cascade of Events" or "Cascade of Errors" that I suspect applies here. That is to say, it frequently takes more than one wrong act to create a disaster, or to turn a small accident to a much more severe accident. Usually, "accident" is a misnomer, as commonly these are...
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    Sunset Limited/Texas Eagle discussion

    Look at the map view of the Marshall station area. The platform for the Eagle's stop is on the northwest quadrant of the wye. If/when the Meridian - Shreveport - Dallas train ever happens, its stop would be on the south quadrant of the wye. There is no platform there, but remnants of a...
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    Amtrak California extension to Reno possible?

    Even if the maximum allowed track speed is 79 mph, the answer to that is a resounding NO!!! The curves do not permit it. Find an employee timetable of any recent, as in the last 40 years, vintage and look at the speed restrictions due to curvature. Some people seem to be of the impression that...
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    BART derailment 1/1/24

    I anxiously await a real accident report on this derailment. A look at the pictures, map on google, a few news articles including description of train direction led to many things not making sense. A summary of the situation: The train was eastbound (outbound from Oakland) between Orinda and...
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    What will happen to Amtrak California when the HSR gets built?

    First and foremost, California HSR is NOT a boondoggle. The boondoggle about it is everyone in the state trying to stuff everything they can into the project and gold plating things to satisfy all the local squawkers. If you want to see boondoggle, look at the replacement of the east part of...
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    Gateway Project/New York Penn Station capacity improvement

    I would say the stupid here is on the part of the barge operator. Fifty feet is a standard minimum clearance for structures over inland waterways. Tell the tow boat operator to get his boat in compliance and quit complaining. If he doesn't want to do that, then reschedule for low tide...
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    Christmas morning shooting on the Coast Starlight

    Multiple shots seem to be the current law enforcement practice. I am not in the law enforcement field and do not want to "Monday morning quarterback" the situation, but to me this makes no sense. I call it "spray and pray" shooting. That is multiple shots hoping that you manage to get a...
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    Shinkansen/JR help

    Unless you are certain of your plans, you might want to re-think this if you are close in cost to the pass. With the pass, changes in plans or additions would be essentially cost free.
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    Texas High Speed Rail

    Quoting: Four projects directly benefiting the people of Texas' 30th Congressional District have been awarded funding: $500,000 for a Texas High-Speed Rail Corridor between Dallas and Houston $500,000 for a Texas High-Speed Rail Corridor between Fort Worth and Houston, with additional stops in...
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    RIP Hyperloop?

    That has been my suspicion for a lot of these, particularly as applied to California. It is dangling a carrot in front of the politicians, with, "Lookie, lookie at our wonderful ideas we have that the people that really have to make these things work will never think about." That was my...
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    Texas High Speed Rail

    Based on the context of the wording that seems the most likely meaning, but it is not what this term usually means when developing clearance diagrams. Usually "Dynamic Envelope" means taking the actual static outline of the vehicle and adding in the effects of bounce, lateral movement, spring...
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    Texas High Speed Rail

    I was of the impression that the Amtrak study was toward reinstating passenger service on either or both of the two lines that had pre-Amtrak passenger services. Neither of these would be cheap. The BNSF, ex BRI line is essentially a secondary freight main with a 40 mph or less speed limit...
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