noise."I Just Don't Know · 2:11am Nov 11th, 2021
This is Amtrak:
This morning at work my manager was griping about the new infrastructure bill, and the first thing he said was “Amtrak’s getting $66 billion . . . since when was Amtrak a public transportation service?”
Instantly, I replied, “Since 1971.”
“Wait, you mean the government owns Amtrak?”
“Yes, since they founded it in 1971.”
Now, I suppose some of you wouldn’t know that, but his cousin, who he talks with frequently enough to sometime share his cousin’s stories about Amtrak, does work for Amtrak. And you’d think he would have picked up that little tidbit somewhere along the line. You’d think.
I dunno, that conversation just made me feel like I lost some IQ.
Also, if you feel like you need to make a political comment about the infrastructure bill, you can get an angry batpony! Instead, post an Amtrak picture, or—if you don’t live in the US or don’t like Amtrak—some other railroad.
#/media/File:Amtrak_Pennsylvanian_approaching_Altoona,_August_2021.jpg){kind=link}
Oh no. How terrible. Amtrak got money to finally fix there busted ass tunnels and bridges and maybe actually expand a bit. How dare they create jobs. We should use that money to add another section of interstate to somewhere instead.
Yeah, I've been riding Amtrak for years. I took it back and forth from school (NY to DE) a million times.
screw Amtrak at times
I would like to take this moment, instead, to say how much I love trains, and how much the US desperately needs a fully functional, nationwide, accessible mass transit system, and trains would easily fit the bill. I want us to expand our rail system. We deserve better than what we're getting. I see what other developed nations have (especially China, because damn), and I want that for us. I want more trains!
Sincerely,
Lotus "The 'T' in Tea stands for trains" Tea Dragon.
My state is one of only two in the lower 48 without any Amtrak lines. In fact, with the exception of steam-powered heritage railways giving tourist excursions, this state has no passenger rail service whatsoever.
As someone who has the Northeast Regional from Richmond to Baltimore for BronyCon as one of his Inside-Out-esque core memories: Amtrak is a precious screechy gift that is trying its best, and it deserves so much more than we reluctantly give it.
It's almost like the 'Am' in Amtrak was like AMerica or something. But nah, how silly would that be?
I remember when they had a "standing derailment". This means the train wasn't moving when it fell off the tracks. This was in NYC. They were sued by over 100 people who claimed they were injured.
God bless America. God help America too
Traveling by Amtrak is a pretty pleasant experience compared to flying. But the infrastructure has been in crap shape for decades and really needs an overhaul.
I used to take amtrak during college (until I got a car). It’s not a bad experience, but could be better. Over half the trip was bus (there was a more direct one but it was way more expensive and with less options for time). And last mile (as well as first has always been a massive problem here in the US).
I've ridden Amtrack, they got me to and from the last Bronycon in Baltimore. Not a bad trip really, though if I weren't thin as a rail and capable of sleeping under absolutely any circumstances I might not have enjoyed it as much. The view going through the Appalachians was stunning though.
Amtrak is the best mass transit socialism can buy!
No, really. Over 4 Bronycons I traveled to Baltimore by plane, bus, and train, and the train was the only one I took twice. Service staff is genuinely friendly and nice, the seats are roomy and recline, you can get up and walk around, even hang out in the cafe. The bathrooms aren't *nice*, but they're spacious. And yeah, it took me 33 hours to get from Louisiana to Baltimore, but it took even longer on the bus, and the plane trip took 12 thanks to delays while still having only 15 minutes for the lone stop to restock on food and stretch my legs. I also want to reiterate, the staff are *friendly* - airline staff look at you like some particularly grotesque bug when you ask for help and Greyhound staff can and will threaten to leave people to die in the wilderness with alarming regularity. It's also worth noting that Amtrak's horrendous delays are due to the track being privately owned and them having to stop constantly during the day to give right of way to freight.
Personally, some of my fondest vacation memories growing up, were from riding the Amtrak Auto Rail from Florida to Virginia to visit relatives living in DC. We made the trip three times, when I was 4, 8, and 12. We never went by rail after my father died, though the cause was unrelated... just, one parent for 3 kids? My ma put up with us back then, and still loves us despite the hell we raised. She's a Goddamn Saint!
As a Canadian I had no idea that Amtrack was funded in part by the US government. Now I'm even more surprised to regularly (as in daily... before covid) see an Amtrack train running at the crossing 2 blocks down from me.
The sad part about the government running Amtrack is that they chronically underfund it and expect it to run like a for profit company. They want it both ways and neither will work it must be one or the other.
The big plan they announced a while back had some expanded service in my area of the country, so I am definitely glad to see the bill pass. I too have similar memories as Aquaman of riding Amtrak to Bronycon.
Huh. I didn't know that. But hey, at least railroads are actual infrastructure.
I know that pain of those conversations when you can feel your own brain cells screaming or considering suicide as they try to process the stupid that you are listening to. So many people today parrot totally unsubstantiated ranting based on factually incorrect concepts which they get from places like Facebook or YouTube. As much as you want to just as loudly inform them of the actual facts, you have to bite your tongue and give a more reasoned response as you know that no actual facts will change their preconceived notions.
As someone who has never been to your country, even I knew that Amtrak was government owned. Rail over there suffered the same issues as ours did when governments paid for road and airport infrastructure while the railways were expected to pay all their own costs. Even more stupidly here, the governments owned most of the railways so they were paying for the infrastructure that was damaging the viability of a service they owned. Oddly, in the end, the state and federal governments ended up owning or bailing out the airlines as well when they struggled in the 70s and 80s.
Most rail is now freight only with a few selected regional and key tourist passenger services remaining outside of the intercapital services and those are mainly in the eastern states.
And just in case folks think this was a political comment, bear in mind I consider myself a conservative socialist and thus consider both sides of politics in my country to be just as silly as the other nowadays... and that is real socialism not the ‘Reds under the Beds’ socialism that many Americans think of when they hear the term.
Okay, I'm trying to figure out what the angry batpony is saying. Not sure if the second sentence is something about folding something or a threat to break a unicorn's horn.
Speaking as a non-American looking at your politics from far away across the Atlantic, I think the infra bill sounds good.
Also: a batpony on a train!
derpicdn.net/img/view/2019/10/6/2161899.png
If they put solar panel roofs over the tracks between cities, how much would they generate, and would it be enough combined with cables to run the trains on the track beneath?
that is one ugly train. try this one.
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/07/ACTS_1255.jpg
Angry bat pony just makes them more huggable.
Remember the 2009-era protest signs? "Keep your government hands off my Medicare?"
Politics hottake: trains are good
derpicdn.net/img/view/2019/12/4/2212005__safe_artist-colon-omegapony16_princess+luna_twilight+sparkle_oc_oc-colon-oriponi_alicorn_bat+pony_pony_bat+pony+oc_camera_ethereal+mane_female_glowing+.jpg
Here's the batpone tax.
5605751
And we used to have the finest passenger rail network in the world, too; the claims that passenger rail can't work for a country as big and spread out as the United States don't really seem to hold much water given it demonstrably did.
5605792
"It's also worth noting that Amtrak's horrendous delays are due to the track being privately owned and them having to stop constantly during the day to give right of way to freight."
Which the host railroads are not actually allowed to do! It's just that they do it, very often, anyway, and the government just kind of shrugs.
5605794
Though as I recall (running off memory here, though, so I might be wrong), the New York City - Toronto train, at least, uses Via Rail crews in Canada. I don't recall what the New York City - Montreal train uses, or the Cascades out to Vancouver.
(And this, aye, was before the border closed, too, even if I'm remembering correctly.)
5605796
Yeah, what exactly are profit margins on the interstate highway system? Or the air traffic control services run by the FAA? What's that? Those are primarily intended to aid the movement of people and goods, with profits being in the form of boosts to the connected economies rather than direct profits to the system owners? Gee, I wonder what else might be like that? Obviously not Amtrak, though, of course, no, it's definitely a problem that it's not turning a direct profit! We should probably just shut the whole thing down, nevermind the studies saying that it, oh, provides economic boosts significantly greater than the costs to run it...
Sarcasm, just to be absolutely clear.
5605821
"Rail over there suffered the same issues as ours did when governments paid for road and airport infrastructure while the railways were expected to pay all their own costs."
Yeeeep.
I really wish we had more trains. I really hate driving.
5605849
Depending on location, it possibly could with cleaning(desserts make more than rainy vancouver), the big peoblem in the us is that most people think electric railway is bad cause of distance even though a large part of the rail network was electrified. Thus the usa only really uses inefficient disels(comparitivly to electric at least( many factors come in that isent just fuel source))
5605902
The big problem with the efficincy thing, is that correctly tuned and maintained serial diesels, like from a centuary ago, always more efficient than centeral power stations that use normal phase change boiling water. The only things that can just about beat Cathedral diesels, are Combined Cycle power stations, but theyre no more efficint than Apollo era fuel cells given the first stage Spey turbogenerators are 1950s engines.
As for your electric car. Fast charge batteries lose a lot of power in resistance heating etc, check the capacity and consumption of chargers and slow charge is about 85% efficint, fast and burst charge can be as little as 65% or so, little better than non energy recovery diesel hybrid.
I thought US gasoline was up to E85 these days? If so, then making cars 20% efficint and you could run on E100, or solar power fuel? Given US cars seem to be really inefficient or something?
Didn't know know that either, actually.
I don't think they ever actually outright say or advertise it, really.
Plus, why would that come up in a conversation? More than likely the Amtrak work assumed and carried on from there.
~Skeeter The Lurker
I only knew the above facts because I have a friend who is a model railroad enthusiast.
Fact: bat ponies have very strong opinions on public transportation, and trains specifically. Batponies love trains. They ride them around Canterlot all day just for the fun of it.
You should write a story about that!
And yes, Amtrak is a precious gem that deserves far more love and attention than we give it. America needs more trains.
The core point is (of course) getting stuff from here to there at a minimal cost. When you are talking wheat or barley, time is not really an issue. If it takes three weeks to barge it to a port, there's enough in the pipeline that the arrivals of barges continue at a steady rate. If Bob the Banker in Canada wants to visit his aunt in Louisiana, he's probably not going to take a barge. His time is money, so even though it takes him a hundred times the expense, he flies United (one layover, six hours, $700). By comparison (checks internet, which is never wrong) a straight train trip would run about $350 and take 42 hours.
Privately owned US railroad companies spend on the average $25 billion dollars a year on equipment and track across the whole US, or roughly 19% of capital. Amtrak spends about $4 billion, mostly concentrated in the passenger service along the East coast. Passengers get a little cranky if they have to sit on a sideline for eight hours, so Congress did a bit of a strongarm on the companies who own the rails. In short, a few million dollars worth of freight will get delayed so a hundred grand worth of passengers can ride through.
Yes, Amtrak is kinda-sorta getting a lump from the 'stimulus bill' but only $22 billion out of the $66 billion (and over several years). The rest goes into what might as well be called a slush fund, the Federal Railroad Administration for state grants and other rail projects, If you read the list of projects they're touting, you will find very few that fall outside of a straight line between Boston and Washington DC, because that's the plan they've been pushing for over ten years.
One of these days I plan on taking a cross-country trip by rail just to see what it is like. (Topeka and KC have Amtrak stops) The reason I haven't is because it's roughly four times the price of an airline ticket, and six times as long, so until then, I've been watching passenger train videos to see where my tax money goes.
Random Amtrak image that I found online...
https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/fileSendAction/fcType/0/fcOid/5512461190576897/filePointer/5512461190576919/fodoid/5512461190576909/imageType/LARGE/inlineImage/true/021581atk4927n4985balt.jpg
(Edit, removed image tags from around the URL since apparently jpg is an "unsupported format" or something now??)
Sharing railroad pictures:
I have an Austrian "Railjet" driving over the Krausel-Klause-Viaduct on the Semmering-Railway (this was opened in 1854 - back then Austria still had an emporer - Franz Joseph I). Additionally there is a nice picture of the "Kalte Rinne Viaduct".
I think imgur doesn't allow images to be embedded here ... :(
https://imgur.com/gallery/7IMhzEq
There is a nice hiking trail there which I like very much.
The locomotive is a "Taurus" built by SIEMENS known for their distinct sound when accelerating ("singing train")
Beats the heck out of driving.
Got nothing to say, but here's a pretty picture of a high-speed train outside of Casablanca:
(Didn't Enya do a song about "Trains in Africa"?)
i.ibb.co/P4mfyKb/oij19nt02hy11.jpg
5605998
A singing train sounds so very pony thing they would do. I wonder if it would be possible to have multiple tuned transformers/traction motors/whatever makes the train "sing" so you play a Shepard Tone?
Amtrak is absolute shit, but then I remember your blogpost about the Chicago Metra and realize these things are on the same rails. Bereaucracy and the unwillingness to lay down new track for a proper high-speed system are what are really holding back America's railways. Metra, Amtrak, and freight trains all have to run on the same tracks with the same deisel cars with the same specifications, and nobody wants to invest in a billion-dollar railway program when airplanes exist. It's garbage, man. And because there are no competitors because rail is now a state-based monopoly nobody is able to offer better service for better prices, which just perpetuates the shit and embarasses us on an international level when comparing railway experiences.
5606195
Maybe the engineers at Siemens are ponies in disguise?
During the anthrax scare, my friend's girlfriend who is second generation Mexican-American said that her mother was stockpiling antibiotics. She offered her some "in case she has the Amtracks".
5605943
"Fact: bat ponies have very strong opinions on public transportation, and trains specifically. Batponies love trains."
Well, uh.
[looks at own avatar]
...Yeah I'm not really providing a counterexample to that. :D
"You should write a story about that!"
...And now I'm wondering about batponies on the NYC Subway...
(Or another Earth steel-on-steel transit system, but the tunnels came to mind. Or somewhere in Equestria! ...Uh. Yeah, definitely not providing a counterexample, sorry for maybe being a stereotype. :D
(Though I don't tend to ride trains as much as I'd like to.))
"And yes, Amtrak is a precious gem that deserves far more love and attention than we give it. America needs more trains."
:)
Born and raised in Chicago.
Living in Michigan.
That train is a miracle and I'm glad, positively ecstatic, that there's a trifling pittance going towards the system that keeps pretty much every other industry running.
Trains for freight: yay
Trains for people (in America: boo
In the current time, no one other than the rich or underemployed can afford the time delay of a train. Locally you drive, larger distances you fly. Every time I thought about taking a train for a trip, the extra transport time ate up all the time available for the trip itself or made it impossible to take said trip and or keep a normal work schedule.
5609038
Trains also make more economic sense for single travelers than for families. For a family of four, it’s probably certain that the amortized car ownership costs plus fuel are cheaper than four train fares for trips that would not require a hotel stay if you chose to drive. For a family of six, certainly so. That said, being able to enjoy the scenery and have two days without reliable cell service on the Empire Builder is something I miss.
5606195
You mean like a next step beyond the tri-tone the power converters on the Montreal Metro used to make when powering up for acceleration, that people liked enough that it's now generated artificially in newer models and also used as the door-close warning?
(Sorry if you get e-mailed the version of this that was up for about 5 seconds. I got distracted while writing this and forgot you were proposing something beyond just how appropriate a singing train would be for ponies.)
5611541
Sort of. I was thinking more of a proper Shepard-Risset glissando where it sounds like the notes are continuously ascending (or descending)
5612835
Ahh. The problem is, the changes which tend to result in changes in pitch are usually indicative of acceleration or deceleration, which you wouldn't want to be constantly doing because it results in inefficiency.