Jump to content

160TAS at 0AGL


Recommended Posts

4 hours ago, Jeff_S said:

I got to experience the granddaddy of them all in Europe, riding the TGV while living in France as a college student. It's slow now by many standards, but still fun to see the countryside whizzing by. But to be accurate, you are at least 5' AGL or perhaps a bit more. 0' AGL would create quite the "shower of sparks!"

:D

well depends on where you measure - the wheels are at 0agl

 

i also rode the tgv once when it was brand new.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

there is a lot of visible security at all the train stations / subways / in front of the vatican / public squares - usually an italian version of a humvee and a pair of army soldiers prominently holding a full automatic assault rifle with both hands.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, aviatoreb said:

there is a lot of visible security at all the train stations / subways / in front of the vatican / public squares - usually an italian version of a humvee and a pair of army soldiers prominently holding a full automatic assault rifle with both hands.

I was in Israel last year. One can't even go into a supermarket without having to go through security. I also wrote at the time about a flight I took in a C-182 from an airport in Tel Aviv with the friend of a friend. Getting to the plane made TSA look like child's play with its two security checkpoints and several minutes of direct questioning.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was very impressed with the public transit in South Korea, especially the train and subway network.  I could get just about anywhere I needed to go using various trains and subways, all of which seemed very high tech to me.  Plus they have one transit card that can be used for busses, cabs, trains, subways, etc. and can be loaded at any gas station or transit terminal.  Just touch the card to the reader when you get on and again when you get off.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Did the highspeed train thing in Japan...  I'd have to check with mrs. Garmin on the top speed monitor.  It was 100+...

Funicular should be in the vernacular... no? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funicular

Siri took some liberties in re spelling the English...  she's Californian...

Best regards,

-a-

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, carusoam said:

Did the highspeed train thing in Japan...  I'd have to check with mrs. Garmin on the top speed monitor.  It was 100+...

The Shinkansen (Bullet Train) in Japan is nice. My last ride, 90 minutes into Tokyo in the early 90s, was about $100. They thought I was crazy for wanting to go past Tokyo, past Kyoto, to Hiroshima. Took most of a day. Thankfully I had a tourist Rail Pass for that trip! Speeds approached 150 mph on some parts, probably averaged over 100.

But in this country, the distances are too far and population density is too low. Not many are like John Madden and can spend three days crossing the country. But in limited areas like the New York-Boston corridor, probably can make it work as a viable alternative; Cincinnati to Cleveland is a dumb idea; and don't even think about Washington to Chicago . . .

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 12/6/2016 at 3:10 AM, Hank said:

The Shinkansen (Bullet Train) in Japan is nice. My last ride, 90 minutes into Tokyo in the early 90s, was about $100. They thought I was crazy for wanting to go past Tokyo, past Kyoto, to Hiroshima. Took most of a day. Thankfully I had a tourist Rail Pass for that trip! Speeds approached 150 mph on some parts, probably averaged over 100.

But in this country, the distances are too far and population density is too low. Not many are like John Madden and can spend three days crossing the country. But in limited areas like the New York-Boston corridor, probably can make it work as a viable alternative; Cincinnati to Cleveland is a dumb idea; and don't even think about Washington to Chicago . . .

It's kind of a dumb idea in California too. I've been closely watching this project for a few years, reading lots of news articles about it. Price tag went from $33b, in the voter approved proposition, to $100b then down to $68b, when everyone scoffed at a $100b price tag. Someone at the HSR authority had to smarts to know you never tell the people what it'll really cost or they'll never buy off on it. It's one of the dumbest ideas this state has come up with (and I'm a train enthusiast). The plan will NOT meet what was promised to the voters in 2008 and will have to run on tax payer subsidies even though it legally can't according to the proposition. Passengers projections are grossly overinflated, travel times CANNOT be met, passenger capacity has already been cut in half and the HSR Authority is either grossly incompetent or flat out liars. Probably a little of both. Some of you should read about the shit they try and pull or act like they didn't know about this or that when there's proof in the emails. But all they have to do is get it built. What are we gonna do when it doesn't meet the promised times, capacity, and budget? Dismantle it? No. It'll either run at a subsidy (like most other HSR projects around the world, I think only two are self sufficient) or be so expensive that only a few people will use it. Even the person who wrote the original proposal is against it now because it's morphed into something completely different than it's original design and idea.

They've only identified about $12b of funding. No one knows where the other $56b will come from. About 2 years ago Moonbeam said at a press conference "Don't worry, it'll come" referring to the private investment they think will save this ill fated project. Two years later all we hear is crickets. Meanwhile the HSR authority is working feverishly to get the first segment operational so they can say "Look, we've built this much so far, we can't stop now! We need more money!" This state has a history of running WAYYYYY over budget on public infrastructure projects so $68b will likely turn into $120b by the time all is said and done. Then recently the chair of the HSR authority just recently said at a meeting that this project was never really about HSR but rather rail modernization. Huh? This is typical government waste at it's worst. 

Ok I'm done, rant over, can someone please help me down from this soapbox?

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.