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Forgotten was the era of the InterUrban, almost precisely a century ago.
Interurbans were electified light rail systems and Indiana alone had thousands of miles of track. The South Shore is Indiana's sole remaining
InterUrban.
They could not compete with automobiles operating on paved roads built with public funds, and fueled with $1/Bbl petroleum.
Long forgotten is the fact that all US rail rights of way are private land
holdings on which property tax is paid , and on which no public monies are spent for maintenance.
Were the consumer to pay the real cost of the infrastructure for happy
motoring, as documented by Andrew Kimbell of the International Center for Technology Assessment white paper titled " The Real Price of Gasoline", 1998, including the cost of protecting sources and transportation routes, the cost as documented in this study would be > $12/ gal.
The discerning reader is welcome to go to the source document.
Let me be very clear, I am not advocating a nation-wide MagLev network. I am advocating the same kind of current rail technology currently operating in Japan, China, Russia, and France. Ie: off the shelf stuff. The costs are known, the technologies are mature.
Building such a network in the current depression would solve several
pressing problems simultaneously.
1. Put millions to useful work, solving the unemployment and demand problems
2. Invest funds into infrastructure for the purpose of reducing the Carbon Footprint of the US and it's petroleum consumption
3. Provide the US with a sustainable nation wide transportation system
essential for the functioning of it's economy
Savings have been documented in the original Oil Drum post as follows:
Rail diesel 250,000 Bbl/day
Truck fuel 2.5 million Bbl/day
Auto fuel 12 million Bbl/ day
My proposal is further reaching than that proposed in the Oil Drum.
They only proposed electrifying and double tracking 48.000 miles of main line rail. I propose 66,000 miles and propose grade separating this ROW and raising the class to high speed service. I further propose 60,000 miles of medium speed rail dedicated to InterUrban service such that no place (except wilderness areas and parks) is more than 15 miles from a line east of the Mississippi and 30 miles from a rail line west of that river.
Therefore, I am not advocating private electric vehicles at all. In fact, my vision is most people will walk or bike to their rail station, or take the bus. Only goods will move from the nearest rail line to their destinations and reverse via electric vehicle. Ie: this means the end of 'happy motoring' and the beginning of 'happier traveling'.
Regarding InterUrban design. I believe the "RailLiner" operated by CN rail in Canada is the best model. The railLiner was a 2 car train whose front car was a combined baggage, engineer's cab, snack bar, and first class unit. The second car was a second class car with seats only. Since InterUrban lines will be less than 1 hour in duration, there is no need for more. InterUrbans would operate at speeds up to 120 mph on routes up to 100 miles long. They would terminate at class one rail or central cities.
This is the kind of system one finds today in China.
I agree with changing the rail rights of way from private to public. That would relieve the common carriers from the tax burden for owning them. And it would eliminate the reason for competing parallel or duplicated tracks.
Privatizing rail ROW was done in New Zealand at the behest of the US
banks.
It failed miserably. Freight moved from rail to truck in a nation that
imports all of its oil. The system was re absorbed by the NZ govt, and
modernized.
A public road system - private rail system was a choice made nearly 2 centuries ago when the federal govt's revenues were smaller than that of modern Gary Indiana. Today, federal resources exist to maintain a public
rail system. Moving from primarily road transportation to rail transportation, requires leadership. I agree that leadership is sorely lacking at the federal level, but that can be changed.
So, do not put me into the govt is evil camp. Govt is us. We need to develop a vision of our future and go for it.
Relying on privateers to work in the best interests of the nation well into the future was not a great idea in the 1920s under Mussolini, it wasn't yesterday, it won't be tomorrow or in the 2030s. The government must take a leadership roles, and keep "quick money" folks from planning and dictating the future.
Relying on privateers to work in the best interests of the nation well into the future was not a great idea in the 1920s under Mussolini, it wasn't yesterday, it won't be tomorrow or in the 2030s. The government must take a leadership roles, and keep "quick money" folks from planning and dictating the future.
Perhaps we need to clarify our terms of "endearment"...
Governments are instituted to (a) secure rights and (b) govern those who consent. Anything more is suspect, anything less is unacceptable.
Corporations are artificial persons with limited liability that allow investors to engage in usury (an abomination) without legal liability for the harm done in pursuit of gain. By definition, a corporation is prone to skullduggery and predatory tactics. That is why government rules and regulations apply to them. However, by various means, the predators and their allies perverted the regulatory law to apply to responsible people who did not have limited liability and thus were burdened unfairly.
Usurers have been denounced for only 3500 years, so we need not dwell on them.
And finally, collectivists (aka "communists", socialists, progressives, etc) seek to dispossess property owners, and transfer ownership to the State. Since collective ownership means no one absolutely owns themselves, their labor or the fruits of that labor, it's basically enslavement to government. Your "right to life" becomes a government granted privilege, as does all other aspects of one's life. All that is not mandatory, is licensed (+ taxed) or forbidden. You need a license to live, work, travel, buy, sell, operate a business, transmit radio, fly a plane, trade in healthcare, buy medicine, cut hair, build a house, hunt, fish, marry and own a dog.
Phew!
No wonder nothing gets done in government anymore... too much work to be done managing "human resources".
"At the same constant speed, on level ground, drawing the same load, any steel wheeled railway vehicle already in motion, will use only 5% (1/20) of the energy consumed by any large pneumatic tire road vehicle already in motion. Upon starting and initial acceleration, any steel wheeled railway vehicle will only use 10% (1/10) of the energy demanded by any large pneumatic tire road vehicle. Further, only in the case of railroads, Train Resistance, or Rolling Resistance, is inversely proportional to GCW (train weight). This means, the heavier the train, the more energy efficient it becomes."
This sums up WHY getting America "back on track" is vital to reduce our consumption of fuel (70% imported).
Whatever percentage of travel we move from automobiles, trucks, buses, to electric traction rail, we save 90% to 95% in fuel.
If we reduce automobile trips by 80% by substituting electric traction rail, that cuts energy / fuel consumption by 95% of that 80% segment. . . roughly 76% drop - less than domestic production - which wipes out our need to import petroleum (and export $600 billion a year).
No other option will so quickly restore prosperity to America.
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