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Old 02-20-2011, 11:10 AM
 
Location: A safe distance from San Francisco
12,350 posts, read 9,646,456 times
Reputation: 13891

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Quote:
Originally Posted by wilson1010 View Post
When we are packed in like sardines living in 300 square feet in a country and few families having even one personal car, then we will applaud the arrival of the Shinkansen. When will that be? Seems like our cities are emptying out? Oh, wait a minute, they are emptying out. It will never happen here. I guess it will just be a few petulant young adults interested in these expensive toys.
This thread is great entertainment.

Isn't is amazing the lengths to which the Regressives will go to rail (pun accidental, but appropriate) against the most wonderful idea and invention since Ben Franklin flew his kite?

I love the nostalgia and history of trains. Train museums are among my favorite spots to visit and Railroad Tycoon in its many versions has been my favorite computer game for 20 years.

But there were good reasons that passengers moved to cars and airplanes a long, long time ago.

Now let's sit back and watch them rattle off once again any number of their favorite Internet myths. My personal favorite is the one where they say that cars were forced down our throats decades before most of them were born.
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Old 02-20-2011, 11:30 AM
 
Location: NJ
31,771 posts, read 40,506,869 times
Reputation: 24590
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tightwad View Post
UMMMM NO.....

Trees can be farmed to be a renewable resource....oil can not.
it takes a long time to grow a tree. there is a lot of petroleum available to cheaply (and expensively) harvest from the earth. im not saying it should be our only source of energy, but there is no reason to pretend it is evil and we should avoid it at all costs. we should use it up.
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Old 02-20-2011, 11:55 AM
 
Location: Planet Eaarth
8,954 posts, read 20,616,242 times
Reputation: 7193
Quote:
Originally Posted by CaptainNJ View Post
it takes a long time to grow a tree. there is a lot of petroleum available to cheaply (and expensively) harvest from the earth. im not saying it should be our only source of energy, but there is no reason to pretend it is evil and we should avoid it at all costs. we should use it up.

The point here is.......What oil is left should be dedicated to all the other uses that are NOT fuel uses since they are many.
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Old 02-20-2011, 11:58 AM
 
Location: NJ
31,771 posts, read 40,506,869 times
Reputation: 24590
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tightwad View Post
The point here is.......What oil is left should be dedicated to all the other uses that are NOT fuel uses since they are many.
thats a ridiculous point since it is a great source of cheap energy.
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Old 02-20-2011, 12:00 PM
 
Location: On the Rails in Northern NJ
12,380 posts, read 26,769,453 times
Reputation: 4580
Quote:
Originally Posted by CaptainNJ View Post
thats a ridiculous point since it is a great source of cheap energy.
Yea but it probably won't last another 60 years....
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Old 02-20-2011, 12:39 PM
 
371 posts, read 391,800 times
Reputation: 185
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nexis4Jersey View Post
LOL , but you forgot the Northeast most states are packed far more dense then that...

Most states in the NE have a higher density then the rest of the Country thus we are restoring 18,000+ miles of Railway by 2050 even to Rural areas.....even the less dense states like Maine and Vermont have a long term Rail plan....
Which is why there's no need for a federal rail system.

Raise taxes on North Easterner's and build more. I couldn't care less if you added $1/gallon tax on gas there and boosted property tax 5% to help pay for it.

But as you clearly pointed out it's no good for most of America.
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Old 02-20-2011, 12:41 PM
 
371 posts, read 391,800 times
Reputation: 185
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nexis4Jersey View Post
Yea but it probably won't last another 60 years....
Hopefully 40.

The sooner it runs out the sooner we can make some real progress and change in America.
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Old 02-20-2011, 12:42 PM
 
Location: Out in the Badlands
10,420 posts, read 10,780,112 times
Reputation: 7801
Quote:
Originally Posted by plwhit View Post
Left behind? Are we in a race?

And if we we loose this "race" what happens?
The Russians get to the moon first.
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Old 02-20-2011, 12:42 PM
 
Location: On the Rails in Northern NJ
12,380 posts, read 26,769,453 times
Reputation: 4580
Quote:
Originally Posted by randy8876 View Post
Which is why there's no need for a federal rail system.

Raise taxes on North Easterner's and build more. I couldn't care less if you added $1/gallon tax on gas there and boosted property tax 5% to help pay for it.

But as you clearly pointed out it's no good for most of America.
We are rising taxes to build it....and most lines are fully taken advantage of ie to make investments.... But we cannot afford the mega projects we need to really see an explosion of rail....the Feds need to help us with those projects...
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Old 02-20-2011, 12:50 PM
 
10,135 posts, read 27,375,082 times
Reputation: 8398
I think the tycoons of the 40's or 50's or so bought up all the trains and closed them so they could sell buses (even though the same company made the buses as made the trains).

Seriously folk, the train is like the magnetic tape answering machine. Its linear. Goes one direction, no side trips. We don't live like that any more and we aren't going back. The trains employ the most wasteful, antiquated technology of the past and bring nothing to the table to change the climate under which they were abandoned 50 years ago. Sure those 200,000 lb locomotives have a lot of testosterone appeal, but they are just done, over, fini. Get it?
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