Obama wanted to be the high-speed rail president. It might be Trump instead.

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

I agree with the comments with one caveat: if the Hyperloop ever truly gets up and running it could make airplanes *almost* obsolete:


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperloop

[Norm Lenhart]

I agree with the comments with one caveat: if the Hyperloop ever truly gets up and running it could make airplanes *almost* obsolete:


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperloop

Yes but most people will be paying $$$$$$$ to travel on it so it won't be a massive impact until there are many loops and the price of construction and actually riding it fall. It will be the Concorde.

[Cripplecreek]

You have to look at it from the big picture and most people don't. It isn't about getting people to ride trains at all.

Let me explain it like this. Today, lets say it's nice out and you want to get some yard work done. So you hop in the F350, head to home depot and pick up some supplies. Maybe a new lawn mower to replace the old Craftsman your grandfather used in the 60s. Still runs but it's a bit long in the tooth.  So you go load up the great beast, get home, mow your lawn and do all that fixer upper he man ARG AGR ARGHHHH!!!! Tim Allen stuff.

Because you can. Because your F350 allows you to whenever your ambition and cash/time allows.

Ever notice how small homes and yards are in most of Europe and Japan? Thats in part because it's hard to haul all that material goods stuff on a bicycle or take it on a train in one or 20 trips. So they restructure their lives and their entire society around it. America is seen as the land of the McMansion because we can actually get the goods from A-B without UNION delivery services every step of the way and paying them the added taxes and fees. Which then go in part to govt coffers.

Imagine as an American, being unable to get in your F350 and do whatever it is you need/want to because not only are the roads too narrow to fit te beast, but Gas is $6 a gallon or more. Odds are you would restructure a lot of your life to live with less simply as you could not move it or even get the new hotness home without added and major expense.

That leads to businesses like mining/forestry shrinking a lot and many companies closing, greatly reduced fuel sales,thus increasing the price and taxes even more. You will travel less and stay in the same areas simply to save money.

You might recognize Agenda 21 above. Starting to understand yet?

Willie Green was all about agenda 21 even if he didn't know it. I remember him saying those little towns will have to go because the train can't pass through them all and the roads will deteriorate when we take the money for rail. He really liked the idea of forcing people into cities and preventing them from running all over the place without control.

[Smokin Joe]

I just don't get the fascination with technology from the 19th century..  I'm sure Willie Green is doing the happy dance..

40 & 8's don't go by interstate...unless they've been containerized.

[Smokin Joe]

The 3 hour train ride costs more than a plane ticket from Dallas to Houston (1 hour), an adult ticket on the KTX can cost more than $160 for an adult ticket.

Now compare the price of gas for the trip, driving.

[kevindavis007]

Now compare the price of gas for the trip, driving.

A lot cheaper and faster than taking the train..

[Norm Lenhart]

A lot cheaper and faster than taking the train..

And without the behavioral conditioning of passing through multiple security searches, having to adopt 'cultural' norms like sitting quietly so as not to disturb your fellow passengers... Which as Pavlov taught us, if you do anything enough, it basically becomes a part of your normal routine. So you become compliant simply to avoid hassle.

If you hop in the Ford and crank the stereo, you also don't have to use their public transport wi-fi 'hot spots' and other onboard services feeding you approved advertizing. And eventually, notices for the 2 Min Hate.

[Smokin Joe]

I looked into taking a trip from Jackson Mi to Toronto Canada by rail. YIKES! It required going to Detroit to Chicago and then back east to Buffalo and taking a shuttle across the border. I said screw it and drove to Toronto in under 6 hours.

Yeah, you'll travel like small town mail going twenty miles away if it isn't purt'near line of sight down the tracks.
At least by road you can usually 'get there from here'.

[Smokin Joe]

And without the behavioral conditioning of passing through multiple security searches, having to adopt 'cultural' norms like sitting quietly so as not to disturb your fellow passengers... Which as Pavlov taught us, if you do anything enough, it basically becomes a part of your normal routine. So you become compliant simply to avoid hassle.

If you hop in the Ford and crank the stereo, you also don't have to use their public transport wi-fi 'hot spots' and other onboard services feeding you approved advertizing. And eventually, notices for the 2 Min Hate.

...and, if so inclined, you can smoke 'em if you got 'em.

[Cripplecreek]

Yeah, you'll travel like small town mail going twenty miles away if it isn't purt'near line of sight down the tracks.
At least by road you can usually 'get there from here'.

Kinda like paying the taxes on my mom's house on the day before the deadline date. I took the check to the treasurer's office 2 minutes after closing time. I couldn't take it the next morning because the office would be closed on the deadline date so I had to walk across the street and mail it so it would have a postmark before the deadline. The post office was closed on Monday for MLK day or something so the check didn't get to the treasurer's office till Wednesday or Thursday. Then the treasurer called and asked if I wanted him to mail me a receipt or did I want to pick it up. I told him I'll be there in 2 minutes.

[Smokin Joe]

Kinda like paying the taxes on my mom's house on the day before the deadline date. I took the check to the treasurer's office 2 minutes after closing time. I couldn't take it the next morning because the office would be closed on the deadline date so I had to walk across the street and mail it so it would have a postmark before the deadline. The post office was closed on Monday for MLK day or something so the check didn't get to the treasurer's office till Wednesday or Thursday. Then the treasurer called and asked if I wanted him to mail me a receipt or did I want to pick it up. I told him I'll be there in 2 minutes.

A letter sent from a little town twenty miles away to Williston went to Minot and Bismarck before returning to Williston. That's roughly 480 miles to go twenty...

[Norm Lenhart]

A letter sent from a little town twenty miles away to Williston went to Minot and Bismarck before returning to Williston. That's roughly 480 miles to go twenty...

I live across the Colorado River from Needles CA. When I order computer parts from Newegg, I watch the tracker. They go from City of industry CA, by my house on I40 to Phoenix. From Phx to a facility in Missouri, from there to Denver, From Denver to Las Vegas and then to me. This is a regular occurrence.

Occasionally because of the way we get mail, the package will go BACK to Phoenix, again by my house, then back to me the next day. Someone explain how the hell a shipping company makes money doing that. But I guess they must.

Only rarely have I seen a Ca-Phx-me delivery.

[Smokin Joe]

I live across the Colorado River from Needles CA. When I order computer parts from Newegg, I watch the tracker. They go from City of industry CA, by my house on I40 to Phoenix. From Phx to a facility in Missouri, from there to Denver, From Denver to Las Vegas and then to me. This is a regular occurrence.

Occasionally because of the way we get mail, the package will go BACK to Phoenix, again by my house, then back to me the next day. Someone explain how the hell a shipping company makes money doing that. But I guess they must.

Only rarely have I seen a Ca-Phx-me delivery.

No wonder Amazon wants to use drones...

[Fishrrman]

I ran Amtrak trains for about 2/3 of a 32-year career. Fastest I ever went was 110 (on one of the old Turbotrains on the Hudson line). Most of the time, considerably slower.

In most of the territory I covered, the trains today don't run much faster (if at all) than they did back when I hired out in 1979.

Even Amtrak's Acela only touches 150mph for a few 10-mile stretches up in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Too many curves otherwise.

New York to DC (not my territory) has good stretches of 125mph running.

There are stretches of the upper Hudson Line (NYC to Albany) that are good for 90mph, another modest stretch for 110.

There are some areas of Metro-North (part of the Corridor) where speeds have been LOWERED in recent years, not raised.

You're not going to see any "high-speed" rail on existing freight lines. Even where it might be possible (out west), the slower freights will be "in the way".

The only prospect for true high-speed rail would be on dedicated rights-of-way reserved for such trains. The cost of land acquisition and construction will be higher than astronomical. Look at "California high-speed rail" for an example.

Even if it was cheaper to build, you won't find many places where -- once operational -- folks would choose the service over other modes of transportation.

If you've read this far, the Acela service between Washington and New York and New York and Boston wasn't that bad. In fact, it offered a good alternative to driving or even flying if you needed to get from Boston to NYC, or from NYC to DC. Ever tried driving the New England Thruway through Connecticut at rush hour?

[geronl]

We're Americans, if they can do it in China, we will find a way to haul our crap home Agenda 21 or not!

[Smokin Joe]

We're Americans, if they can do it in China, we will find a way to haul our crap home Agenda 21 or not!

Anything but a dead on tailwind, and they'd never get anywhere with that rig here--and with the tailwind, they'd burn the tires off trying to stop it.

But yeah, we'd find a way....