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Re: Amtrak Auto Train Discussion

 by djlong ¦  Mon Dec 05, 2022 9:36 am ¦  Forum: Amtrak ¦  Topic: Amtrak Auto Train Discussion ¦  Replies: 1744 ¦  Views: 275919

I was on the northbound Auto Train last Monday. Something happened to the Southbound train (engine difficulties, they said) and we were 6 hours late getting out of Sanford. They had a hell of a time trying to handle the crowds that showed up. I give all the credit I can to the train crew doing the b...

Re: New Route 111 & the M&L RoW

 by djlong ¦  Tue May 24, 2022 9:26 am ¦  Forum: New England Railfan ¦  Topic: New Route 111 & the M&L RoW ¦  Replies: 17 ¦  Views: 16243

Why would you do everything necessary to rebuild a narrow rail-trail into a rail line going through NH's #7 city (by population) when you already HAVE a still ACTIVE line that only needs new rail and bed going through the top 3 cities in NH? Although, I confess, I DID learn that Derry has about 4,00...

Re: There's lithium in them thar hills...

 by djlong ¦  Tue May 24, 2022 9:22 am ¦  Forum: New England Railfan ¦  Topic: There's lithium in them thar hills... ¦  Replies: 18 ¦  Views: 12261

Much of what has been written in the responses in this thread about lithium (and Li-ion battery recyclability) and the generation of electricity is no longer true. I grant you, some of this was true even as little as 5 years ago - but things have been changing VERY rapidly in this sector. To bring t...

Re: CharlieCard / Ticket discussion

 by djlong ¦  Tue May 24, 2022 8:38 am ¦  Forum: Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) ¦  Topic: CharlieCard / Ticket discussion ¦  Replies: 2927 ¦  Views: 920385

One of the best fare-evasion stories I ever heard wasn't exactly transit-related. It had to do with EZ-Pass during it's initial rollout in the NY/NJ area - in this case, the NJ Turnpike. Apparently, budgets had to undergo some serious recalibrating after a while because they weren't getting the reve...

Re: Potential MBTA Southern NH Service

 by djlong ¦  Tue May 24, 2022 8:28 am ¦  Forum: Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) ¦  Topic: Potential MBTA Southern NH Service ¦  Replies: 322 ¦  Views: 45361

This is something I've been following for nearly 40 years. For those of you that don't know, there's a reason why you get so much chaos from the NH Legislature. When last I checked, we pay our representatives a salary of $150 PER YEAR. My friend has a saying - When you pay peanuts, you get monkeys. ...

Re: Proposed Boston - Concord, NH Route Discussion

 by djlong ¦  Tue May 24, 2022 7:10 am ¦  Forum: Amtrak ¦  Topic: Proposed Boston - Concord, NH Route Discussion ¦  Replies: 92 ¦  Views: 14700

I've been reading versions of everything the nay-sayers have had to say since about 1985. They just file the serial numbers off, change a couple of words and regurgitate the same stuff. I can see the damn tracks across the river from my bedroom window. I've lived within walking distance of them. I w...

Re: Abandonded Stations on Existing Commuter Rail lines

 by djlong ¦  Mon Jul 06, 2020 5:22 pm ¦  Forum: Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) ¦  Topic: Abandonded Stations on Existing Commuter Rail lines ¦  Replies: 40 ¦  Views: 8917

When I was taking the Lowell line every day (1987-1992), I noticed something during a breakdown. We were northbound, north of Mishawum (and north of where Anderson would be built). It just so happened that, right outside my window was a signpost, with cracked and peeling paint, white(ish) letters on...

Favorite: Taking the Auto-Train with my girlfriend on the way down to Florida. Got to show her what First Class was like and she loved the room, especially having a private bathroom with shower for the overnight trip. She was my fiancee on the way back :) Least: It's a tossup. There was the time we ...

Re: Hydrogen is the future!

 by djlong ¦  Tue Jan 14, 2020 12:12 pm ¦  Forum: General Discussion - Passenger Rail: High Speed and Heavy and Light Rail Systems ¦  Topic: Hydrogen is the future! ¦  Replies: 50 ¦  Views: 8590

Unless you're getting that hydrogen from electrolysis powered by renewables, it's not a solution to the carbon problem. Having said that, if you built a solar farm that powered an electrolysis plant that pumped the hydrogen only as far as an adjacent rail terminal, you COULD have something there. Fu...

Re: Montreal: Bombardier MR-90 fate after REM

 by djlong ¦  Thu Nov 07, 2019 7:32 am ¦  Forum: Canadian Passenger Operations: AMT, Go Transit, VIA, etc. ¦  Topic: Montreal: Bombardier MR-90 fate after REM ¦  Replies: 36 ¦  Views: 10571

Not for nothing - but the MBTA just voted to try and start electrifying their commuter rail network. So the earlier post about the MBTA not being interested in EMUs is no longer true. In the following article, they talk about how long it would take to even acquire electric equipment - but Montreal's...

I think you're likely to see fuel taxes for infrastructure improvements with a "Blue Wave" in 2020. You don't need fuel taxes for "Medicare For All". At the risk of going off-topic, you can pay for MfA with the existing premiums being paid out to private insurance companies with ...

Re: North-South Rail Link Discussion

 by djlong ¦  Thu Sep 19, 2019 3:55 pm ¦  Forum: Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) ¦  Topic: North-South Rail Link Discussion ¦  Replies: 563 ¦  Views: 191632

NSRL is only 4 tracks, not equal to 12 new double-track lines. I would like to pay less than One Billion Dollars. Yes, the NSRL is, at most, 4 tracks. The point was that when you connect all the north side lines from FItchburg to Newburyport to all the south side lines from Framingham to Greenbush,...

Re: North-South Rail Link Discussion

 by djlong ¦  Sun Aug 18, 2019 6:45 pm ¦  Forum: Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) ¦  Topic: North-South Rail Link Discussion ¦  Replies: 563 ¦  Views: 191632

How much do you want to pay to be able to have the equivalent of TWELVE new metro/subway/rapid transit lines? Build the NSRL and electrify at least out to 128 and run 15-minute headways and you have an ENORMOUS amount of increased capacity. Want to run trains from Lowell (maybe Manchester NH one day...

Re: Commuter Rail to Rhode Island Discussion

 by djlong ¦  Wed Jul 17, 2019 6:24 pm ¦  Forum: Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) ¦  Topic: Commuter Rail to Rhode Island Discussion ¦  Replies: 882 ¦  Views: 316788

The blindingly obvious solution is to make the damn commitment to electrifying everything (in stages) at least as far out as 128 and, since the project will take for-bleeping-ever, order EDMU (some call them BMU) units to start replacing the entire CR fleet over time. They run on electric under a wi...

Re: New Hampshire Commuter Rail Discussion

 by djlong ¦  Sat Jun 29, 2019 9:22 am ¦  Forum: New England Railfan ¦  Topic: New Hampshire Commuter Rail Discussion ¦  Replies: 1715 ¦  Views: 369320

B&M is right. A trucker's lobby raised a stink and a legal challenge when a proposal to partially pay for rail in NH with toll revenue came up some years ago. It (diverting money from tolls to rail) was determined to be unconstitutional (State Constitution, that is)

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