Search

I'm not an accountant, but I'm wondering whether the introduction of an expiration date is prompted by the need to carry tickets with no exdate on the books forever as a contingent liability and this change is simply a housekeeping matter to allow the books to be closed after unused tickets have exp...

The things you find out -- I remember those thicker poles at the time and wondered what the reason was; now I know.

Really? You really think any appreciable number of people are going to stop taking the train because of this? I was alluding to the whole "bare-bones" experience, of which the facing direction is just a part. My point is that providing only the minimum level of service tends to repel peop...

On the trips I've been on, high-end casual was quite usual, but coat-and-tie help to recall the era; however, the effect works just as well if other people are wearing them. (OTOH, I'm inclined to think that it's impossible to be overdressed for Hickory Creek , considering who rode in it in the past.)

Indeed -- people dressed better than that in the coaches.

That's the key question; rear-enders are exactly what PTC is supposed to prevent -- even, if necessary, by sensing that the engineer isn't going to stop and preventing a collision before it happens. We'll have to wait quite a while before we see the NTSB report -- that part should be particularly in...

Difficult to cover operating costs by handling only those passengers who have no alternative. You need discretionary travelers.

Fwiw, the mayor of Philadelphia is going to require that all city workers come in 5 days a week: Because some, such as sanitation workers, building inspectors, etc. can't work from home; To provide feet on the ground to patronize local businesses downtown; To provide "eyes on the street" t...

I thought PTC was supposed to make collisions like this impossible Typical capitalist lie! Wait until they get their one man crew. Unless there was some unusual circumstance, there should have been two people in the cab of all three trains. A five-man crew couldn't have saved that third train.

I thought PTC was supposed to make collisions like this impossible Once the first 2 trains collided --for whatever reason -- and fouled the adjacent track, PTC could not have prevented the sideswipe of the wreckage if the 3rd train had come along soon enough afterward. PTC can't do the impossible; ...

"This offers the option to choose the direction in which they are most comfortable facing." Now that's Marketing; finding exactly the right shade of lipstick to put on the pig. Regarding walkover seats, the ones on the PRR P70's on what is now called the Corridor had well-upholstered seatb...

No, but there's a greater need for LA-SF nonstops to blow by Merced while a stopping train is in the station. It provides much more freedom in scheduling, thus increasing overall capacity.

That's been the case for centuries, and the laws of physics haven't changed. You need high ceilings, shade, and air circulation. I remember grade-school classes in the 1940s when classrooms had high ceilings, windows with upper and lower window frames, and a long wooden pole with a hook on the end w...

Another "camera on the rails" I can recall (never saw it firsthand) was when the Rock Island assigned their Aerotrain to the Peoria Rocket. On the "dolled up SW-1200" switch engine there was mounted a camera feeding to a closed-circuit TV (a 21" B&W) in the Parlor Car. ...

When looking out in a RR car or the back of the train I experience an unusual effect. After looking back for a while when looking forward it seems that the landscape is pulling away from me for a while. Lasts about 10 minutes. You are not alone there. Very common experience for most people. But not...