Search results

Looking at your map of the deep areas, any tunnel that would avoid the excessively deep areas would likely be twice as long as the shortest route across the strait. Probably better profile, but significantly more expensive due to length alone. The location and shape of the hole is exactly what...

Many times studies, particularly restudies, if not for the purpose of "hey world, we really are doing something" are for the purpose of killing the project using the "death by a 1,000 cuts" method. As to having any relation to the Tacoma bridge collapse, a lot of this was what I call second...

There already is a suspension bridge with rail transit tracks on it. It is the Tsing Ma bridge in Hong Kong, connecting the Kowloon Peninsula with Lantau Island as part of the access to the Chek Lap Kok airport. (Anyone who has ever flown into and out of Hong Kong's Kai Tak airport will...

Depth of channel primarily and questions about seismic activity to a lesser extent caused the tunnel idea to die a quick death as being completely impractical. Several BART oddities were due to an attempt to "reinvent the wheel" by many of those involved early in the design process. The wide...

I said all this on the Sunset Limited / Texas Eagle thread, but I am repeating it here as this is really the most logical place for this sort of information. I found a piece of a 2004 UP Employee Timetable for this area. Follows is some information from it: Summary: total length of Phoenix...

Actually relieved to find it is a vehicle issue. However, very surprised to find that they seem to think a total shut down is needed. Thought the ridership was sufficient that this sort of action would not be tolerated. In the initial design phase in the late 1980's I was the track engineer...

Actually, the grunts doing the work are paid about half the billing rate that the Consultant sends to the agency. The rest goes to "overhead" and usually a fairly minimal profit. Let your imagination go as to what is in the overhead. As to Ivy League Colleges, if any of mine has proposed such...

I have read so many of these studies over the years, I have quit doing it unless either, 1. They want me to work on a study, 2. One of the study routes hits close to home, or 3. Actual design work is started, and a completion date / start construction date is announced as part of it.

Plenty could be found here. This is simple media ignorance. I have seen articles about freight train derailments or other issues that have pictures from random European lines stuffed in the article.

This Phoenix Line discussion is about to turn into a subject of its own. I found a piece of a 2004 UP Employee Timetable for this area. Follows is some information from it: The lines are mileposted from West to East. Milepost for passenger stations are not given. I have put in my best guess...

Buckeye to Wellton is 106 of the 136 miles between Phoenix and Wellton. So far as I know, everything west of Phoenix is at best local service or storage, so it would still need the complete or very close to it rebuild. For planning purposes, I would stay with the complete rebuild concept for...

Just a little more on the direct route via Maricopa versus the old passenger route via Phoenix: Tucson to Picacho: 46 miles Picacho to Wellton: 168 miles via Maricopa Picacho to Wellton: 211 miles via Phoenix Wellton to Yuma: 37 miles Yuma to Los Angeles: 251 miles Slicing the middle...

All EIS reports are supposed to have a "No build" alternative which is to be used as a basis to justify the need to do something.

Because Florida East Coast did not join Amtrak. By that time FEC had no passenger trains, so neither did it want to nor could it be compelled to.

First, the FRA regulation states "60 mph or faster" for passenger and "50 mph or faster" for freight. Consequently you have lines with speed limits of 59/49. With ABS, the rule reads "80 mph or faster for all trains. This is the why behind the many miles of track with 79 mph speed limits for...

The problem is that these 4 were on very close track centers, somewhere under 13 feet, possibly 12''6" maybe less. Therefore, you cannot simply plop down new tracks where the old were. While CSX asking for 30 feet is a little over the top, they should not even think about anything under 14...

And signals, and don't forget about the likely need for bridge replacements. Siding spacing likely to be longer than 12 miles. More likely 15 to 20 miles. Conversely, given the open country, track per mile cost would be far less than a contractor's price for the usual transit or commuter line...

Sorry, but the electrification had been removed quite a few years before the line itself was abandoned. Not sure, but I think it was 3kv DC, different from anything else in North America.

Japanese trains are usually very precisely on time. In our one trip to Japan, in 2005, we had at one point an 8 minute connection between a conventional train and a Shinkansen train, cross platform. All people treated it as normal, got up, got out walked across the platform, got in and we...

Actually, i think I do, at least in part. You don't try to do it all at once. Find the routes that have the best benefit/cost ratio and start there, even if it is only a couple hundred km. Who knows? With your postage stamp size countries, maybe even shorter. At the same time, start looking...