And what about trains?

[hoover1060]

I love them too!

I lived about 20 yards from Railroad tracks in 2000-20001.

Currently I'm a half mile from tracks, I love to listen to the freight trains come thru!

 

[toggleswitch]

I dare not say the *B* word.

oh man I love hearing the Long Island Rail Road (commuter line) work its horn.

 

[foraloysius]

I come from a family of train nuts! Especially my father and my brother have great interest in trains. If you come to the Netherlands you can visit our national train museum. Here's the link to the English website of it.

http://www.spoorwegmuseum.nl/en/index.html

 

[petek]

So there's no confusion, the link above is for Canadian Pacifics train the "Royal Canadian" five or six vintage coaches from the 20's etc, only about 24 passengers and as much or more staff. Prices for a two or three day excursion thru the Rockies can cost +10,000 per person. For the less affluent such as moi the old Canadian Pacifics "Canadian" now operated by Via Rail Canada (the Amtrak of Canada) since the r.r. ditched passenger service back in the late 70's, still operates back and forth between Vancouver and Toronto/Montreal every other day. Still with the wonderful old stainless steel Budd cars, dome cars, vista domes etc. They spent millions on them a couple of years ago refurbishing them to their past glory. It's a fantastic trip through the Rockies, especially if you cough up the extra and get your own private roomette or bedroom. I travelled on it numerous times back in the 70's when I had a free pass, just for a weekend getaway now and then. I'll never forget sitting there in the dining car, white linen tableclothes, real china and silver, eating my breakfast bacon and eggs as the train slowly crept along the mountainsides and over these trestles suspended so high over gorges. Absolutely breathtaking.

 

[appnut]

sorry, not about trains

Jason, I can out do you on this. I work in a hospital. I cannot tell you how many doctors come in and do what needs to be done in the facilities and promptly leave without washing hands. So many times I wanna yell out, "hey buster, wash your hyands before you walk out that door". And how many memos have I seen sent to these people about totally not doing what they're doing? I have lost count. On the other side of the coin, I've see one flush both styles with foot; wash hands and turn faucet off with foot. Any surface required touching is done with a paper towel. This particular one is in charge of Infectious Diseases. Sure makes one think. The first thing I do when I walk in the house from work is wash my hands.

 

[jasonl]

I work about 500ft away from train tracks and you can hear and feel them coming. I'm starting to distinguish the freight from the passenger trains. The freights usually have 3 or 4 engines running wide open and about 100 cars. The passenger trains are short but they haul ass when they're coming through.

Looks like corporate takeover is prevalent in the rail road. Everything is mostly BNSF or UP. And Amtrak is the only passenger line going.

 

[sudsmaster]

I've liked trains for a long time.

Back in the '70's, I used to ride the Pacific Coast Starlight from SF to Davis, where I was attending college for a few years. Back then these were the classic old maroon and beige cars, with hand-painted murals on the end walls of the riding cars. Very classic, roomy, and comfortable. Ten years later I rode the same train up to Portland, but they had replaced all the classic old cars with new Amtrakified cars. I guess they were better in some way, but the old ones were special. I understand they got sold down south, to Mexico or some place in South America.

Today my home is less than a half-mile from two major railroad tracks. The Capitol Corridor/Amtrak commuter train whizzes by several times a day. You can tell which it is from my house because it goes so fast. Freight trains take a lot longer and leave a deeper rumble.

There are several good train museums in Northern California. One in the delta, at Rio Vista, another in old town Sacramento. And there are running vintage railways in Niles (part of Fremont) and up north in Sonoma (the so-called Skunk Train).

My favorite train set was powered by an Gilbert two-rail O-gauge silver square-set diesel locomotive. Sadly, I had to part with it as a child as a result of a family split.

 

[Cybrvanr]

I've always been more of a light rail / subway type person myself, and I LOVE riding subways in big cities. A few bucks for a day pass, and I'll be happy all day. Here's some of the most frequent subways I've been on: the Washington DC Metro-rail...a very fast, quiet modern subway system with unique architecture. It's beginning to show a little age, and lack of maintaince is starting to catch up with it. New York's subway system is the polar opposite. A fascinating, traditional subway system that reveals a tremendous amount of history. It's unique 4 track system can be complex and confusing. NYC's subway is recovering from years of neglet to being quite a nice well-oiled machine, and a beautiful piece of history. Atlanta's Marta is another rail system I've been on. It is sort of modeled after DC's metrorail, but is hardly anywhere near as big and sophisticated. It too, is suffering from deferred maintaince, as well as valdalism problems. It's a good design, but sadly, it is not quite large enough yet to really alleviate traffic issues. Still, despite its shortcomings, it is a nice example of a modern commuter rail, with PWM controllers, electronic switching, etc.

One of the most interesting things that always puzzled me that I just recently figured out was why the shape of the subway rail cars was different. I figured out it has to do with the way the tunnels are made! Washington's metro-rail cars have sloped sides to their rail cars, that are angled in. New York's are perfectly straight. It's the tunnel shape that dictates the shape of the cars. New York's subway was built using "cut and cover" where massive holes were dug out of the city streets, and the subway tunnels were built using ordinary steel beam construction techniques of 1903. The shape of the tunnels was basically square. DC's tunnels however were dug out using a tunnel boring machine deep below the city's streets (WMATA also contains some of the world's longest escalators!) the tunnels are round. A flat bottom was created to mount the tracks to. The shape of the train cars reflects the maximum use of the tunnel shape as the rail cars travel through them!

 

[tolivac]

Yes I like trains as well-rode on DC Metro system,talked to some of their employees.Made observations on their system-their older train cars had PWM DC traction motors.Now all trains they run use AC traction motors---no brushes to replace!!GE and EMD deisel electric and all electric locomotives are going to AC traction as well.Variable frequency drives that feed the traction motors replace the DC controllers.The AC motors are simpler in construction too.the older DC motors were what is called Compound wound.the motor could actr as a series motor or a shunt wound motor.upon start of the train it was configured as a Series motor for max torque.As the train picks up speed-then is switched to a shunt wound for best efficiency.The AC motors need no switching-and no commutators to dress!!The AC motors for trains are simply 3 phase induction motors.Both AC and DC locomotives now use solid state devices-before it was ignitron tubes.An ignitron was a mercury filled tube that didn't have a filament-it duplicated the modern SCR.

 

[sudsmaster]

Cybrvanr,

I've ridden on the SF Bay Area BART (of course, since I have lived in this are most of my life), NYC's subways in the 70's, and various inter-city trains in Japan.

Have you ever ridden BART?

I think BART is a good system, but really needs to upgrade its cars. They were originally furnished with cloth upholstered seats and carpeting. Sadly, both have suffered mightily over the years, and sometimes the stench inside the cars makes me move from one to another searching for breathable air. They need to replace the carpet upholstery with leatherette and the carpeting with rubber runners. Just like the old MUNI system in SF proper. Something that can be hosed down on a regular basis.

BART would also be much improved if the system were to be extended to San Jose. I commuted there from the East Bay for years and the local freeways are completely inadequate to the task of carrying commuter traffic during economic boom times. A simple 25 mile trip, with little in-town miles, could take 2 hours - usually one hour was a good commute time. Very aggravating. Now I have a 2 mile, five mile commute and it's almost heaven.

BART also had severe teething problems in its early years. Instead of buying proven technology, the system decided to go with Rockwell for the cars and God knows who for the computerized control system. Both have been real nightmares. Example: the cars were supposed to be silent, but because they didn't figure that the tracks, being steel, would rust (oxidize) that the electronic systems couldn't always detect where the cars were in the system. So they had to put scrapers on the wheel carriages, which make all the cars emit a much louder sound than planned and promised.

 

[foraloysius]

I love subways. I've been on the systems in London, Berlin, Brussels, Budapest, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, New York, Boston and Atlanta. I love the graphic maps too.

 

[tolivac]

Metro in DC first used Budd cars-then bought cars and equipment from Breda-in Italy.Metro bought the last Budd cars that were built-then they just made only truck and bus bodies.Its so strange-with subways starting to become popular Budd went under -they were the major supplier of subway cars in the US.

 

[Designgeek]

BART is a good system, competently run. Would be better if it ran 24/7; as it is, it shuts down shortly after midnight, which makes it impractical for late-night recreational travel.

However nothing beats the NYC subway system, with a station within a few blocks of anywhere, and 24/7 service. I've never felt unsafe on the system even at 3:00AM with one or the other end of the trip in a slightly sketchy part of town.

The problem with urban light rail systems, of course, is crime, particularly in the late hours. The solution to this is to have video cameras in the cars, and seating areas that are marked off as being directly in the best view of the cameras, and signs reminding the passengers that the police are watching these cameras live all the time.

Stations also need to have public WCs that are fully operational, safe, and private. News-stand concessionaires could be put in charge of monitoring these to be sure people don't leave them a foul mess, and people who do so should be arrested and thrown in the tank overnight.

---

Re. the other topic: I wash my hands before leaving every customer's site, and upon getting home each night (as well as the usual routine after using the toilet and before eating).

What I would do about doctors who don't wash hands after using the toilet: put up a sign in the loo (printed in a suitable font, e.g. Helvetica Bold) saying "If you don't wash your hands after you pee or poop, someone nearby will remind you in a sufficiently loud voice that you will be seriously embarrassed. We don't want your fecal coliforms, thank you. And don't say you weren't warned."

 

[jasonl]

MBTA

When I worked in Boston, I used to watch the "T" trains go about and wish I could've worked somewhere downtown where I could ride the train. I also had a small job shuttling people (The "Monster Bus") from Monster.com's hq in Maynard, MA to the train station. It was so fun to see the commuter train pull in and pull out.

I have ridden the SEPTA train in Philadelphia quite a few times to my cousin's house. It starts underground in a dark tunnel but soon it emerges and you get a grand view of the ghetto :-( .

 

[jasonl]

New Yawk New Yawk

Toggle, if me and the honey wants to go to NYNY, I"ll give you a shout and we'll take the grand tour, but you have to include Coney Island. MUST RIDE THE CYCLONE AGAIN!

And the train hobby does have ties with the coaster hobby, which I also love.

Coasters, washers, and record players.

OH, and Helen too hehehe.

 

[sudsmaster]

Oh, yeah, I've ridden the "subway" in Boston, too. More like the old streetcars in San Francisco, they were. Or they used to be, back in the 70's. When I visited Boston again in the 90's, they'd all been replaced with Japanese-made cars. I think MUNI in SF runs Japanese or European made streetcars now, too. They sold the old iron monsters to... guess what... Mexico and South America. Too bad... they said they were getting too expensive to maintain, but I think they probably could have run forever. Then they decided to bring them back, but had to buy them back and refurbish them. Now they run as antiques up and down Market street, along with examples of other types of streetcars, some of which are much like the famous wooden cable cars that still run, albeit at a hefty markup in ticket price. I remember when it didn't cost any more to ride a cable car than the rest of the transit system. Last time I hopped on one, it was something like $4. I said "no thanks" and hopped off at the stop, hanging off the running board, in true SF style. But I still enjoy the smell of scorching wood from the crude brakes on these things.

Sigh.

 

[toggleswitch]

Yes, please do.
My home is open to washer club acquaintances & friends.

Pay no attention to the screen persona. There is a decent human being under the facade.

As far as hospitality and cleanliness of the premises goes, I have good references!

(REMINDER: Uhm, we are not here discussng the mind......)

 

[westytoploader]

Post to fix...please ignore.

 

[Cybrvanr]

I've noticed that the newest metro-rail cars don't have the signature buzzing noise from the PWM's like the old ones do. WMATA has refurbished some of the original american made ROHR cars that were put in service in the mid 70's. They contain plaquards on the front that they are the "Metro-rail Originals" When they restored them, they even kept the color schemes the same inside. They are, like I said, missing the signature buzz that they were known for. The Breda cars you describe were bought a few years later after the service was extended for it's first time. The latest subway cars just recently placed into use I believe are built by Kawasaki. I could say I rode a Kawasaki to work, and it would be the truth! WMATA has placed cameras all over the stations, they are pretty closely monitored these days. New York's subway system has replaced the old "Redbird" R16 trains with new ones from Bombardier

Suds, I rode on the BART a few years ago, and I can definitely say that it has an odor problem. I actually find the smell of some subways rather pleasing...ozone, hot grease and oil usually dominates the smells on most subway trains, but BART smelled of rotten food and B.O. It has the same problem that Atlanta's subway has...it's just not big enough to do an effective job.

 

[sudsmaster]

Well, there are an increasing number of cameras on BART trains, to help combat the various problems. I have a friend who works for BART, and she says you wouldn't believe what people do in the cars. Human feces, food, urine, you name it. I haven't ridden BART for about a year now, so I don't know if it's gotten any better. But I think washable/hosable car interiors would go a long way towards making the cars more sanitary. Even the freshly cleaned upholstered cars smell bad - a combination of disinfectant, deodorizer, and the rank scum still embedded in the fibers.