Master Index of Archived Threads


The Crane Trane Commisson (split from McCain's Running Mate)

Benjamin Grimm Sep 04 2008 07:50 AM

="AG/DC"]Apart from that, I happen to be a zealot about making a national project out of modernizing our railroad lines. I am with you on that.

soupcan Sep 04 2008 07:54 AM

I've been 'on board' with that for years as well.

AG/DC Sep 04 2008 08:07 AM

Let's start a commission.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Sep 04 2008 08:09 AM

I thought the Repubs hated commuter railroads.

AG/DC Sep 04 2008 08:14 AM

Is that true? They'll get over it. I'm focusing on inter-city lines, but fuck 'em, I reach across party lines to get things done.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Sep 04 2008 08:16 AM

Biden is your guy for trains. He argues to give Your Tax Dollars to Amtrak every year no matter how much $$ it loses.

metirish Sep 04 2008 08:18 AM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Sep 04 2008 08:20 AM

Joe needs to pay for the big Christmas party to throws every year for the Amtrak employees that he rides with daily.

Benjamin Grimm Sep 04 2008 08:18 AM

Yes, Biden is definitely a train guy. I've ridden inter-city rails in Europe and Japan and, especially in Japan, it's a viable alternative to driving or flying. I do wish it would catch on more in the U.S. beyond the Boston-Washington corridor.

soupcan Sep 04 2008 08:23 AM

Don't forget about frieght. 'Big Oil' opposes modernizing and expanding the rail lines for that pupose because it would impact the trucking industry. Its a conservation issue, an economic issue and a safety issue. Its three, three, three issues in one!

AG/DC Sep 04 2008 08:25 AM

Yeah, giving it up for Amtrak is not my plan. Somehow, someway, there ought to be good old Republican competition in the industry. We found a way to make phone companies compete for long distance service while using the same lines, and some jurisdictions eventually found ways to make cable providers compete while using the same wires. Maybe we can make train carriers compete on the same super-cool modern tracks. Make it mag-lev, baby.

AG/DC Sep 04 2008 08:26 AM

soupcan wrote: 'Big Oil' opposes modernizing and expanding the rail lines for that pupose because it would impact the trucking industry. Sarah says she takes on big oil. Let's see if pitbull mama will bring me the new choo-choo.

soupcan Sep 04 2008 08:31 AM

="AG/DC"]Sarah says she takes on big oil. Let's see if pitbull mama will bring me the new choo-choo. Sarah seems to 'say' a lot of things but how does supporting more drilling in Alaska translate to 'taking on' Big Oil? That'd be a neat trick.

AG/DC Sep 04 2008 08:51 AM

I don't think that's the case she would cite. It's for the other thread, but the idea is that she outed the politicians who were in the pockets of oil company, passed a tax increase (I know!) on oil company profits, and worked on bringing more competittion to the energy industry --- getting the oil comps competing with each other, and the alternative fuel companies on even footing. Refusing to keep our rail systems outdated to force more oil consumption would be a big step toward facilitating competition.

seawolf17 Sep 04 2008 09:07 AM

I think it's that she's "taking on" more Big Oil campaign contributions. Semantics, you know.

AG/DC Sep 04 2008 09:18 AM

Well, I lost this thread.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Sep 04 2008 09:23 AM

Well let;s hear some of your proposals

AG/DC Sep 04 2008 09:54 AM Edited 4 time(s), most recently on Sep 04 2008 12:36 PM

It's all about the Maglev, friction-free transport. Conceived by the Germans, developed by the Americans, first acheived by the Brits, but put into practical use by the Japanese. Not that broadly used, though, because the bitch needs all new lines (that's almost half the technology). Who wants to knock out the old lines for a half a decade while delays drag on with Northeastern cranks being held up by Northeastern unions? Did I say half a decade? Double that. Thing will hated by the time it opens. That's where my buddy Michael Williams in Texas comes in. Texas has those huge population centers with a whole lot of nothing in between, making it more ecomically feasible to be the first US place to lay maglev lines parallel to conventional tracks (and, in some places, in place of little used coventional tracks). Once you've had a taste of zipping friction-free at 600 MPH from Dallas to Houston, Houston to Galveston, Galveston to Corpus, Corpus to El Paso, El Paso all the way to OK City, and back to Dallas, well, folks will DEMAND that sort of service from Akron to Cleveland, from Seattle to to San Francisco, and New York to Miami. Once the energy interests realize the public won't be told no, they'll stop paying off politicians to hold off progress. They'll be paying them off to be part of this bold new future. THIS BOLD NEW FUTURE!

seawolf17 Sep 04 2008 09:56 AM

AG/DC Sep 04 2008 09:57 AM

Is seawolf's seat on this commission appointed or elected?

Methead Sep 04 2008 10:27 AM

What about us brain-dead slobs?

John Cougar Lunchbucket Sep 04 2008 10:28 AM

You'll be given cushy jobs!

themetfairy Sep 04 2008 11:28 AM

Were you sent here by the Devil?

Frayed Knot Sep 04 2008 11:29 AM

The late Sen Moynihan was big into Maglev (at least in talk, not sure how much in action). I think that it - like space exploration - would be one of those "big science" things that gov't is actually somewhat good at. Amtrak, OTOH, is a mess.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Sep 04 2008 11:33 AM

themetfairy wrote: Were you sent here by the Devil? No Good Sir I'm on the level!

AG/DC Sep 04 2008 12:00 PM

="Frayed Knot"]The late Sen Moynihan was big into Maglev (at least in talk, not sure how much in action). I think that it - like space exploration - would be one of those "big science" things that gov't is actually somewhat good at. Amtrak, OTOH, is a mess. Well thanks for responding. Jeez, I bother assembling a commission, I risk myself by showing the huge sticky manlove I have for high speed trains, and I get Simpsons quotes and partisanship. Progress stalled by GRIDLOCK! And CRONYISM!

holychicken Sep 04 2008 12:28 PM

The ring came off my pudding can. (oh yeah, you lost this thread alright)

Benjamin Grimm Sep 04 2008 12:34 PM

Okay, I'm still with you on the maglev thing. (And I do remember that Simpsons episode; I hated that it presented a monorail as a bad idea. I'd love to see a nice intrasuburban, if that's a word, monorail system set up in the Philadelphia suburbs.) Anyway, what route would you propose for your first inter-city maglev line? How about Chicago-St. Louis?

metirish Sep 04 2008 12:38 PM

I'd want a line form NYC to either Syracuse or Buffalo.

AG/DC Sep 04 2008 12:39 PM

Did you read me baby? TEXAS! Houston to Dallas, as the first people mover. Galveston to Houston, if we want to introduce freight lines right off.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Sep 04 2008 12:40 PM

holychicken wrote: The ring came off my pudding can. Use my pen knife my good man!

seawolf17 Sep 04 2008 01:50 PM

metirish wrote: I'd want a line form NYC to either Syracuse or Buffalo. There is one; it's called Amtrak. You're not going to shoot a train across the Finger Lakes. You also have JetBlue. The problem with trains is that they're limited; you can only put tracks in so many places. That's why you have buses. But the problem with buses is that in the suburbs, the perception is that only poor people use them. It's tough to break that.

Nymr83 Sep 04 2008 01:57 PM

buses suck. i took greyhound to albany once and i'd never do it again. if i'm not driving its amtrak for me. as for edgy's science fiction train, count me in, 600 mph sounds like fun!

AG/DC Sep 04 2008 02:02 PM

seawolf17 wrote: The problem with trains is that they're limited; you can only put tracks in so many places. That's why you have buses. But the problem with buses is that in the suburbs, the perception is that only poor people use them. It's tough to break that. City-to-city, downtown-to-downtown, they can't be beat. They can be faster than planes, once you factor in the time it takes to get out to the airports on the perimeter, and then wait to go through checking. They already are faster in the NE corridor, and that's with mostly pre-war technology. The problem is that if we start making them a favorite way to go again, our tracks will become targets of terrorists.

Nymr83 Sep 04 2008 02:14 PM

thats hardly a reason not to build something. the terrorists are going to continue to try and strike at us whether we ride trains, planes, or horses.

Benjamin Grimm Sep 04 2008 02:20 PM

The problem with buses isn't their image, it's that they get caught up in traffic. In Honolulu right now they're debating whether to build a rail line. Right now the only mass transit are the bus lines (plus a couple of limited ferry routes). We took a bus from Waikiki to Pearl Harbor (about 12 miles) and it took well over an hour. If they build the proposed rail system, the same trip would take about ten or fifteen minutes. There's vehement opposition to the rail line, though. It looks like there will be a ballot referendum this November. Politicians opposed to the rail line say that they'll drop their opposition if the referendum fails. (The referendum would bar any fixed rail system from being part of the Honolulu transit system.) Those opposed favor building more highways instead. The reason for the opposition isn't that they don't like trains, it's that they don't believe that it will be built on time or on budget, and they don't think enough people will ride the trains to justify the expense. It's THE hot topic in Honolulu right now. I have a reminder in my Outlook calendar to check after election day to see how things turned out.

AG/DC Sep 04 2008 02:20 PM

I didn't say it's a reason not to build something. Now stop shouting out nonsense if you want to keep your seat on this commission. I said it's a problem. I eat problems for breakfast and shit them around 2:00 PM. No, um, problem. Now, what we need on our side are some plutocrats. Who knows any plutocrats?

metirish Sep 04 2008 02:21 PM

Giuliani for conductor then.

AG/DC Sep 04 2008 02:21 PM

The fuck you talking about, Willis?

OlerudOwned Sep 04 2008 02:25 PM

I swear it's Springfield's only choice, Throw up your hands and raise your voice!

metsguyinmichigan Sep 04 2008 03:26 PM

DC's subway system is awesome, though Edgy might have more experiences than I and might know better. But to this tourist, it was neat. Detroit has a People Mover that runs in a small loop, and you could outwalk it in a race and do so without the creepy people drooling on you in the process.

Number 6 Sep 04 2008 06:28 PM

As a recent rider of Japan's Shinkansen, I give the thumbs-up to the stated goals of this commission. The Shinkansen allowed me to do a day trip from Kyoto to Hiroshima when the Anniversary Memorials booked up all the hotels in town. I'd love to have rail be a reasonable alternative to flight between US major cities, especially since flying sucks so badly these days. In conclusion: yeah.

soupcan Sep 05 2008 07:43 AM

[url=http://www.panynj.gov/Airtrain/]The AirTrain to JFK airport is also very nice.[/url] From my office in lower Manhattan to the airport, using the subway and the AirTrain I can be at JFK in 45 minutes or less for $7.00 total. I think a comparable taxi ride would cost around $40.00- $45.00 and 45 minutes would be fast with no traffic.