Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I would prefer my taxes go toward developing a true HSR system than be wasted on some foreign war. I would actually like to see the local train routes (possibly narrow gauge to reduce costs) restored. We need to do a trails to rails conversion so we can get nearly anywhere without cars.
Lets see Al-qaeda attacked us on 09/11/2001 by hijacking 4 airliners, As such We are at War with an Enemy Who murdered over 2800 people on 09/11/2001, One airliner hit the Pentagon and one each hit the twin towers so that they'd pancake to the ground(this weakened tower #7 enough to make It collapse after some of the debris from the twin towers fell on It, the 4th airliner crashed into a Pennsylvania field(flight 93, It was possibly heading for the White House, as some aboard #93 were told airplanes had crashed into the towers and were rebelling against the hijackers), and Al-qaeda was shielded by the Taliban who would not surrender Al-qaeda and It's leader Osama Bin Laden(He freely admitted He had His people attack US) to the US Government or do You dispute these events?
I would prefer my taxes go toward developing a true HSR system than be wasted on some foreign war. I would actually like to see the local train routes (possibly narrow gauge to reduce costs) restored. We need to do a trails to rails conversion so we can get nearly anywhere without cars.
Perhaps in high density areas such as the NE part of the US. BUT, I can't see that happening in the LOW density SW PART of the US, or in areas like Idaho or Utah etc
Perhaps in high density areas such as the NE part of the US. BUT, I can't see that happening in the LOW density SW PART of the US, or in areas like Idaho or Utah etc
Correct, But then No one that I know of is talking about Idaho or Utah at the moment.
I agree - although GregW's comments are pretty broad - he has a really large paintbrush - very wide
He even proposed Narrow Gauge, Silly idea and It's not needed in any case today, As Narrow Gauge is only for Tourists and Scale Model Railroader Layout builders... As NG wouldn't save anything.
Sounds good to me. But how does one get away from that pesky love affair?
I mean, really, come on! I 'need' my Ford F95000 10WD pickup with tandem duals on back, 832 unused horsepower, an empty 9000 cubic foot bed, 11 empty reclining seats, and empty head in the driver's seat. And, as a bonus, it's safer in an accident. Oh, and it also has a cup holder.
That's the problem, it's NOT safer. Mass transit is infinitely safer than any kind of auto travel.
Roads(Freeways, Highways, etc) are not Free, Some elsewhere think well since It only costs Me X amount of money to drive there, Why a Train? Everyone who owns a car pays into the Federal Gas tax here in the USA of $0.456 per gallon of gas, For Diesel It's $0.508 a gallon, And even then last year since the tax isn't keeping up with costs due to people not using as much fuel as they did in the past, The Federal Government kicked in another $8 Billion fix for the Highway Trust Fund (http://logisticstoday.com/operations_strategy/highway_trust_fund_legislation_0917/ - broken link), So roads are subsidized, Rails have been subsidized since about 1860 or so(Land Grants, etc), Amtrak is hobbled by Federal Law and the now Freight Only Railroads like It that way(prior to 1970 Railroads had Passenger Service, But did little to invest in It, Making It faster wasn't even thought of at all), If Amtrak had more of Its own rails and could go do research like the Japanese Railways do, Then You'd see something(Short Corridors are efficient(400 miles or less), Longer than 400 miles for fast passenger traffic right now isn't, Airline subs need to be reduced by half and redirected to HSR, Tell the airlines to closeup shop on flights of less than 400 miles too, But I'm ok with that) But could be used for testing at the very least by Amtrak with dedicated grade separated rail(same idea as a road or a route, Just with rails instead of pavement on It).
I'm not disagreeing with anything you say. I was just saying I don't trust the State of CA to do what it says it's going to do. If CA were in a better financial situation and was better run, I'd vote for HSR in a heartbeat.
The events on 9/11 were acts of mass murder and massive property destruction by an unsanctioned group of rebels. This was not an act of war but a criminal act of terrorism. Bin Laden and Al-Quida are not nations but criminal gangs. They should have been hunted down by international police and tried in an international court. When found guilty they should have been executed and the bin-Laden family presented with a fine designed to pay the victims families for their losses. Property losses should have been paid by Saudi Royal Family because they failed to control the actions of their citizens.
The other crime involved was the use of this tragic incident by a neoconservative administration to justify the invasion of two countries that were not involved in the attack. These invasions were nothing more than Imperial expansion furthering the goals of the “New American Century” described in the 1990’s. These wars are nothing but a gigantic fraud paid for by the American people that gain nothing from their spending.
Now back to railroads. I do not consider narrow gauge railroad technology to be a hobby or a joke. Smaller trains and trolleys could replace urban buses on selected routes with the decreased use of fossil fuels and local pollution. They could also be used for a local inter-urban and inter-town transport. The primary advantage is smaller and less expensive right of way, track and equipment costs. As these trains would not have to take extra time to transfer freight but only the time needed for the passengers to cross a platform to the express standard gauge the differences in size to not make much difference. Narrow gauge can be an economical answer to some of our mass transit requirements.
HSR can also be used in the open spaces of the West and Southwest because they can nearly make downtown to downtown airplane times between cities. They should have dedicated track located near existing freight rail or in shorter and steeper routes allowed by the lighter weight and higher power allowed by electric power.
I'm not disagreeing with anything you say. I was just saying I don't trust the State of CA to do what it says it's going to do. If CA were in a better financial situation and was better run, I'd vote for HSR in a heartbeat.
Ok, In any case HSR is not up for a vote anymore as the Voters have already approved of It once, And by a large majority here in California. So HSR will be built and It will complement the freeways by at first taking some long distance traffic off It and by taking some traffic from the airlines as It has in other countries, Of course this will happen slowly, Can't expect people to change overnight, Airlines have had a lot of time to get people used to them and their rise to prominence didn't happen overnight, It took years before their rival was crushed.
The events on 9/11 were acts of mass murder and massive property destruction by an unsanctioned group of rebels. This was not an act of war but a criminal act of terrorism. Bin Laden and Al-Quida are not nations but criminal gangs. They should have been hunted down by international police and tried in an international court. When found guilty they should have been executed and the bin-Laden family presented with a fine designed to pay the victims families for their losses. Property losses should have been paid by Saudi Royal Family because they failed to control the actions of their citizens.
The other crime involved was the use of this tragic incident by a neoconservative administration to justify the invasion of two countries that were not involved in the attack. These invasions were nothing more than Imperial expansion furthering the goals of the “New American Century” described in the 1990’s. These wars are nothing but a gigantic fraud paid for by the American people that gain nothing from their spending.
Now back to railroads. I do not consider narrow gauge railroad technology to be a hobby or a joke. Smaller trains and trolleys could replace urban buses on selected routes with the decreased use of fossil fuels and local pollution. They could also be used for a local inter-urban and inter-town transport. The primary advantage is smaller and less expensive right of way, track and equipment costs. As these trains would not have to take extra time to transfer freight but only the time needed for the passengers to cross a platform to the express standard gauge the differences in size to not make much difference. Narrow gauge can be an economical answer to some of our mass transit requirements.
HSR can also be used in the open spaces of the West and Southwest because they can nearly make downtown to downtown airplane times between cities. They should have dedicated track located near existing freight rail or in shorter and steeper routes allowed by the lighter weight and higher power allowed by electric power.
Sorry but HSR will be only standard gauge as that is what others build in and It would only make the equipment more expensive, Narrow Gauge was built only where standard gauge couldn't easily go(Mountains like the Rockies), now that reason no longer exists as there are high explosives and TBMs that can go through the toughest rock. Oh and I never said narrow gauge is a joke, It is obsolete though and as such is not going to happen as the cars are narrower and carry less people, Even in Japan HSR is all standard gauge, Not narrow gauge and standard gauge(4' 8.5") is more stable than narrow gauge, In Europe HSR is also just Standard gauge, So It will be here.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
