Freddy wrote:I've got a question. Do some of ya'll think that the infrastructure on the railroad is really that bad, or just certain roads? Reason I ask is that when I was a maintainer there was ALWAYS aOutside of advanced track profiles for high speed, I wouldn't think the majority of the flat ground track is lacking upgrade and attention. It's the bridges and trestles infrastructure, dating back eighty to hundred years or so, held together with bandaid repair projects every 10 years to avoid the full cost of expensive replacement. Cost prohibitive infrastructure replacement is not confined to any particular road. It is universally applicable industry wide.
gang working somewhere. If it wasn't a CAT Gang(Continueous Action Tamper), then it would be a regular surfacing gang and if it wasn't that it'd be a tie or rail gang.
From Conrail, to CSX, to NS, and regionals such as Meridian & Bigbee. Cases in point: A trestle through the Alabama swamps collapsed on the M&B back in 2007 sending NASA Space Shuttle booster sections and crew cars into the swamp.
And on the NS in W. New York, for decades now, an 1875 Erie built bridge (now post Conrail) spanning 1/4 mile at 200+ feet above the Genesee river gorge on the NS mainline at Letchworth Park in Portageville, NY, has been teetering, loosing support braces, popping rivets and bolts. With no fewer than 8-10 daily through freights consisting of 150+ cars for the past 135 years, this bridge is a perfect example of worn out infrastructure. See railroad.net link here: http://www.railroad.net/forums/viewtopi ... 28&t=74415