There are areas of the US where high speed trains could make a go of things,
but the considerations are largely political, although in the past there
has been pushback from the freight railroads. Remember in the US Amtrak
operates almost exclusively over trackage owned by the freight railroads. As
traffic went up in the last ten or so years, there was capacity
considerations. Currently, US freight rail capacity is flattening, so they
might be more amenable.
Also, in few areas are the railroads grade separated, so dealing with the
possibility of car or truck vs. train crashes are a serious consideration.
OTOH, when the Santa Fe operated steam passenger trains ( back in the
thirties) the Super Chief went over 100 mph in Western Kansas. Of course,
there's a reason why you might want to go even faster, or fly over western
Kansas. Alas, there is inadequate population density for much of anything to
be economical or profitable.
-----Original Message-----
From: Chris Trask
Sent: Friday, December 30, 2016 3:51 PM
To: Olympus Camera Discussion ; Olympus Camera Discussion
Subject: Re: [OM] High Speed Trains
My only experience with passenger trains in the US was riding a
Pennsylvania RR train behind a GG-1 from New York Central to Philadelphia to
visit the Franklin Institute back in 1958.
Europe was a totally different experience. We arrived in Bremerhaven
on the USS Darby, then boarded a steam-pulled troop train for Paris. During
the night, in Belgium, the train was broken up, the dining cars replaced
with a freshly provisioned set, and put back together while the German
locomotive was replaced with a French one.
Visiting relatives in London then was usually a train journey, taking
an SCNF train to Calais, then the channel ferry to Dover and riding a green
British Rail overground train. I remember those mostly for the lack of door
handles on the inside, meant to keep children from opening the doors. You
had to slide the window down and reach outside. Many of those trains had
been built before and immediately after the war.
I loved riding the TGV. Just why the hell can't we have that here?
Driving is time consuming - trains allow you to read, talk to people, get
some rest, and pollute less, etc.
I regret trains are sometimes too fast these days, and I also miss the
(real) restaurant cars.
I envy Tina and Tom with their trans-siberian plan, which I DO hope for
many reasons, Tom’s health being the less selfish one, they can actually
carry out soon.
Chris
When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro
- Hunter S. Thompson
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