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Generally I stay out of the NEC vs everywhere else discussions. I realize the population density is there, but how about sometime asking, how many people would ride trains in the NEC if there was one train a day in each direction as is the case for most of the other lines? Realistically there...

Yes, and yes. The 155 lb section was a Pennsylvania Railroad standard section designed and adopted by them in 1946 as the 155PS. It was a slight revision of an older 152 lb/yd PS section. The 155PS was last produced sometime earlier than 1963. I understand that there was quite a bit in several...

A couple of comments and a couple of questions, probably more later. 1. Considering the speed of collision and scattering of the coaches, their structural integrity looks good. The condition of the scattered cars contrasts sharply with that of the coaches involved in the Eschede Germany...

Age is of no real significance in rail. Rail life is based on wear and development of internal defects in the steel and is usually defined in million gross tons of traffic. Rail is ground regularly to deal with undesirable wear patterns and imperfections in head shape occurring under traffic...

There are many things that could be going into the ride quality issues. First some of the non-track non-wheel ones: There is a comfort limit on rates of change in spirals. There are also practical construction maximums to rate of change, but they probably do not apply in high speed tracks...

NO!!!! Completely nonsensical illogical statement. Many variables. In open flat terrain, the difference would be near zero. In urban areas, depends upon how you define 79 mph track. If no grade crossings for 79 mph, again very little difference in cost. In mountainous terrain, 79 mph could...

Been tried before in other places. For many years there were train speed restrictions in numerous urban areas. Many were in areas where speeds would be low anyway, but some were very onerous. Generally the railroads tolerated them partly trying to be a good neighbor, and partly because they...

Actually, I would doubt that it was "with a road map." It was more likely to be a railroad map. My dad learned to fly in the late 1920's and at time railroad lines were called the Iron Compass by pilots. If uncertain, you simply followed the railroad going in the general direction of your...

The political clout of the various Weekend Admirals is amazing, but remember, these are people with serious money who can probably call most of those in political power any time they so choose. A yacht was once described by one of the 19th century wealthy more or less as, "A hole in the water...

There was a lot of unrealistic optimism going on in this entire debacle. The "merger" was essentially a takeover of the GM&O by ICRR, not a merger of equals. The GM&O had long been a thorn in ICRR's side. They were essentially parallel from end to end. GM&O was historically a shoestring...

Where is the alternative alignment?

It is way past time for them to take on performance of serious slope stabilization throughout the entire length of the line where it as the bottom of slopes. By the way, double track the thing while you are at it.

The thing to keep in mind when reading these reports is that they must include all the possibilities from existing conditions to the gold plated irrational. This is necessitated by the tendency of those that want to appear smart, which includes most politicians and everyone against the project...

Understand. Many picture like that in a lot of families, including mine. There is a picture of me as a baby with my mother in the pilot's seat of a Stearman bi-plane, but of my father is same seat: none. Ok, maybe a good light moment: Two small boys in an art gallery looking at several...

Not necessarily, The WMATA platforms in the underground stations are on a 0.35% grade. You cannot see that it is there when standing on the platform. No vertical curves, however. The intent was to prevent standing water in the trackbed area.

Other than San Francisco to San Jose, CAHSR will be on their own rails, so freight interference or interference with Amtrak trains is unlikely. However, I have great faith in California's ability to make a mess of everything they touch. As to the San Francisco end: The CAHSR has a planned...

My first train trip may have been as a lump inside mommy during WW2 because my mother was with her family near Jackson TN while my father's home was in Memphis. However, knowing them and that at that time you could stand beside the highway and flag down the Greyhound, that would probably have...

Anacortes derailment: Couple of comments: It was a switch point derail, not a block derail. Second, surprised to see the engine on its side if going the allowed (10mph) speed. Either type of derail should be very obvious to the engineer, plus if familiar with the territory, he would know...

First cut after riding the road on google: Go over. Dead end Canfield Street. They can access Brooklyn Road via Lloyd Avenue. May or may not need some profile adjustment on Kynor Avenue, but it looks like all could be done without adjusting road profiles that would affect driveways. Suggest...

Cutting out the photo to save space and because you can see it in the post above: If what I have found and show here is the right place, it would be hard to do worse than to have a grade crossing here, as it would be at a low angle with a curve in the railroad. Picture bouncing across the...