Trains-good and bad

[Gurn]

A massive fire broke out aboard a Canadian Pacific Kansas City Railway freight train as it rolled through downtown London, Ontario, on Sunday. Five train cars carrying discarded railroad ties caught fire and brought the train to a halt in a residential neighborhood. Authorities are investigating the incident as arson. See less

 

Vid at link

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/travel/tripideas/fiery-freight-train-rolls-through-ontario/vi-AA1nvoY5?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=714a3ebd3e7f4c359cca7903b152738f&ei=5

 

[Gurn]

Lifted from the History/interesting things thread:

High speed rail between L.A and Vegas

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/travel/news/rail-spikes-hammered-bullet-train-being-built-from-sin-city-to-the-city-of-angels/ar-AA1nq1Fr?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=cfc16c5d2ea8493eb3449b3077c19a07&ei=13

 

"Company officials say the goal is to have trains exceeding speeds of 186 mph (300 kph) — comparable to Japan’s Shinkansen bullet trains — operating in time for the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028."

 

"Brightline West says electric-powered trains will cut the four-hour trip across the Mojave Desert to a little more than two hours. It projects 11 million one-way passengers per year, with fares that Edens said will be comparable to airline ticket costs. The trains will offer rest rooms, Wi-Fi, food and beverage sales and the option to check luggage."

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mal

[bishopshodan]

We need them.

Where else are the villains going to tie up their damsels in distress?

[Bob Long]

Trains  could be a huge part of affordable homes in Canada. We have so much land for cheap homes, and rural communities that could benefit, and need fast easy cheap ways into cities. Seems like a no brainer.

 

But people will tell you it's too risky to build the lines. But if we don't, we can't build the homes.

[King Heffy]

18 minutes ago, Bob Long said:

Trains  could be a huge part of affordable homes in Canada. We have so much land for cheap homes, and rural communities that could benefit, and need fast easy cheap ways into cities. Seems like a no brainer.

 

But people will tell you it's too risky to build the lines. But if we don't, we can't build the homes.

Just look at the development that's happened around every skytrain station.

[Kootenay Gold]

30 minutes ago, Bob Long said:

Trains  could be a huge part of affordable homes in Canada. We have so much land for cheap homes, and rural communities that could benefit, and need fast easy cheap ways into cities. Seems like a no brainer.

 

But people will tell you it's too risky to build the lines. But if we don't, we can't build the homes.

I like your idea in principle but there is one big issue that makes it unworkable in a lot of smaller outlying towns and that is the availability of potable water. Many towns in both BC and AB. are struggling to supply an adequate water supply to their growing population. More homes and more people moving in to the area would only make it worse.

 

[Bob Long]

4 minutes ago, Kootenay Gold said:

I like your idea in principle but there is one big issue that makes it unworkable in a lot of smaller outlying towns and that is the availability of potable water. Many towns in both BC and AB. are struggling to supply an adequate water supply to their growing population. More homes and more people moving in to the area would only make it worse.

 

 

More people means more tax base to solve that.

[Gurn]

7 minutes ago, Kootenay Gold said:

I like your idea in principle but there is one big issue that makes it unworkable in a lot of smaller outlying towns and that is the availability of potable water. Many towns in both BC and AB. are struggling to supply an adequate water supply to their growing population. More homes and more people moving in to the area would only make it worse.

 

Never thought to see a day, when B.C. would have issues with not enough water supply.

Yet here we are, and no long term planning seems to be done.

No extra dams, or even small pools created between the dam and the ocean.

Just let all the fresh water go to the sea, and hope it rains in the summer.

[Bob Long]

2 minutes ago, Gurn said:

Never thought to see a day, when B.C. would have issues with not enough water supply.

Yet here we are, and no long term planning seems to be done.

No extra dams, or even small pools created between the dam and the ocean.

Just let all the fresh water go to the sea, and hope it rains in the summer.

 

It's ok we can just buy our groundwater back from Nestle.

[Shift-4]

57 minutes ago, bishopshodan said:

We need them.

Where else are the villains going to tie up their damsels in distress?

Between the thread title and this comment I should probably exit. Too many adult rated jokes popping into my head.

 

 

I will just say I look forward to visiting Europe and trying the train system there one day.

[Bob Long]

3 minutes ago, Shift-4 said:

Between the thread title and this comment I should probably exit. Too many adult rated jokes popping into my head.

 

 

Please, go ahead and let them rip.

 

3 minutes ago, Shift-4 said:

I will just say I look forward to visiting Europe and trying the train system there one day.

 

Its an eye opener. So many good options we can apply to our situation. 

 

When I hear people say we can't do things like Italy or Japan I know that they've never experienced it.

[D.B Cooper]

One time in college….. 
I guess it was good.  And bad.  

[I.Am.Ironman]

13 minutes ago, Bob Long said:

 

Please, go ahead and let them rip.

 

 

Its an eye opener. So many good options we can apply to our situation. 

 

When I hear people say we can't do things like Italy or Japan I know that they've never experienced it.

 

The big difference is population density and terrain. In the distance from Vancouver to Calgary you could go from Naples to Austria. There is so much distance to cover in Canada that the capital expenditure would be hard to offset. Never mind the coastal mountains and rockies. Don't get me wrong, I would love a train system because in Europe it is AWESOME, but I don't see it being realistic here for a long time.

[6of1_halfdozenofother]

3 minutes ago, I.Am.Ironman said:

 

The big difference is population density and terrain. In the distance from Vancouver to Calgary you could go from Naples to Austria. There is so much distance to cover in Canada that the capital expenditure would be hard to offset. Never mind the coastal mountains and rockies. Don't get me wrong, I would love a train system because in Europe it is AWESOME, but I don't see it being realistic here for a long time.

 

This was the exact argument that I presented in a different thread that got pooh-poohed.  Wishing you better luck than I had in convincing people of the need for "critical mass".

[Bob Long]

7 minutes ago, I.Am.Ironman said:

 

The big difference is population density and terrain. In the distance from Vancouver to Calgary you could go from Naples to Austria. There is so much distance to cover in Canada that the capital expenditure would be hard to offset. Never mind the coastal mountains and rockies. Don't get me wrong, I would love a train system because in Europe it is AWESOME, but I don't see it being realistic here for a long time.

 

That's the argument I usually see and I respectfully disagree. All you have to do is look at the smaller lines in Italy.

[Kootenay Gold]

49 minutes ago, Bob Long said:

 

More people means more tax base to solve that.

Perhaps but the cost to drill for a substantial water table source or to lay and bury a pipeline for any distance to a usable water supply is very pricey and beyond the taxpayers willingness to pay unless the town can get Provincial or Federal grants to allay some of the cost.

 

[Bob Long]

1 minute ago, Kootenay Gold said:

Perhaps but the cost to drill for a substantial water table source or to lay and bury a pipeline for any distance to a usable water supply is very pricey and beyond the taxpayers willingness to pay unless the town can get Provincial or Federal grants to allay some of the cost.

 

 

We can always work our way to a no. Do you want more, cheaper homes or not?

 

Those big projects will be long term government subsidized items, they won't be all out of pocket for residents.

[Shift-4]

17 minutes ago, Bob Long said:

 

That's the argument I usually see and I respectfully disagree. All you have to do is look at the smaller lines in Italy.

I would like more details on 'smaller lines'.

Italy has 10 times the population as BC but is 1/3 the geographic size.

 

Edited April 23 by Shift-4

[Kootenay Gold]

7 minutes ago, Bob Long said:

 

We can always work our way to a no. Do you want more, cheaper homes or not?

 

Those big projects will be long term government subsidized items, they won't be all out of pocket for residents.

You pay taxes do you not. Those added taxes are in fact out of pocket expenses to the residents.

[RupertKBD]

Rail is still the most efficient and cost effective way to transport freight. Unfortunately, our current infrastructure leaves much to be desired when it comes to transporting people.

 

We would need a huge ramp up of existing track and equipment to make it work. I'd guess that at least twinning the existing track would be required, and where topography allows, adding new line intersecting between the existing. It would probably be best if we could make it all electric as well.

 

It all sounds hugely expensive, but the cost savings down the road make it seem like a worthwhile goal. The problem I see with that kind of forward thinking is the "5 year" nature of government planning. Goals are generally set to come to fruition before the next election cycle. Unfortunately, the kind of increase we're talking about here would be decades in the making.

 

That being said, it would likely get my vote. Especially if we went electric.

Edited April 23 by RupertKBD

[6of1_halfdozenofother]

6 minutes ago, RupertKBD said:

Rail is still the most efficient and cost effective way to transport freight. Unfortunately, our current infrastructure leaves much to be desired when it comes to transporting people.

 

And one of the biggest issues with the current infrastructure is that freight is prioritized over the transport of people on the existing rail lines.  So, as you suggested, we'd need to build more (and likely twin) rail lines to even begin to enter the realm of feasibility - because that load of wheat or that shipment of oil is more important than getting people places.  

[Bob Long]

33 minutes ago, Kootenay Gold said:

You pay taxes do you not. Those added taxes are in fact out of pocket expenses to the residents.

 

sure but its like looking at our individual cost of Site C, you don't really notice it. 

[RupertKBD]

3 minutes ago, 6of1_halfdozenofother said:

And one of the biggest issues with the current infrastructure is that freight is prioritized over the transport of people on the existing rail lines.  So, as you suggested, we'd need to build more (and likely twin) rail lines to even begin to enter the realm of feasibility - because that load of wheat or that shipment of oil is more important than getting people places.  

 

When my daughter was living in PG, she used to take the train here to PR to visit. It's a loooong train ride to begin with, but several times she got side-tracked for freight trains, sometimes adding 2-4 hours to the 10-12 hour standard trip.

 

It takes 8 hours to drive.....

[Bob Long]

39 minutes ago, Shift-4 said:

I would like more details on 'smaller lines'.

 

the "regionale" lines serve all of the smaller cities, they don't have the big population numbers to support the high speed lines but they do service smaller towns. 

 

39 minutes ago, Shift-4 said:

Italy has 10 times the population as BC but is 1/3 the geographic size.

 

 

So I think this is a neat comp. Shikou in Japan is an island with under 4 million people, and has this railway: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shikoku_Railway_Company

 

Why not here?

 

[6of1_halfdozenofother]

10 minutes ago, Bob Long said:

 

the "regionale" lines serve all of the smaller cities, they don't have the big population numbers to support the high speed lines but they do service smaller towns. 

 

 

So I think this is a neat comp. Shikou in Japan is an island with under 4 million people, and has this railway: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shikoku_Railway_Company

 

Why not here?

 

 

It's also smaller than Vancouver Island with a much higher population density.