@the25hurts.bsky.social
See? Should have kept a few around to become cab cars. Sure the crews might have gotten freaked out seeing the ballast whiz by at 125mph through the holes in the floor, but it'd be cheap and apparently that's all that matters.
January 5, 2026 at 4:05 PM
See? Should have kept a few around to become cab cars. Sure the crews might have gotten freaked out seeing the ballast whiz by at 125mph through the holes in the floor, but it'd be cheap and apparently that's all that matters.
Not for nothing, but freight should be electrified, with overhead catenary, not battery locomotives. This should be the norm, their irrational opposition to a technology which by all rights should save them money notwithstanding.
January 5, 2026 at 4:00 PM
Not for nothing, but freight should be electrified, with overhead catenary, not battery locomotives. This should be the norm, their irrational opposition to a technology which by all rights should save them money notwithstanding.
Put it at Bustleton and the Blvd!
January 5, 2026 at 3:50 PM
Put it at Bustleton and the Blvd!
Some true-believer DOJ lackey is going to blurt out a variety of info from highly top-secret sources and methods in a last ditch effort to ensure a conviction and we'll all find out what it was Five Eyes used to replace the stuff Snowden revealed.
January 3, 2026 at 6:40 PM
Some true-believer DOJ lackey is going to blurt out a variety of info from highly top-secret sources and methods in a last ditch effort to ensure a conviction and we'll all find out what it was Five Eyes used to replace the stuff Snowden revealed.
This is the reason he wanted the peace prize last year. He knew he wouldn't stand a chance in the next 3 years as we either fight a bloody jungle insurgency to secure oil fields, Venezuela descends into chaos, or both. Meanwhile Putin finally got the western hemisphere war he's wanted for 5 years.
January 3, 2026 at 6:18 PM
This is the reason he wanted the peace prize last year. He knew he wouldn't stand a chance in the next 3 years as we either fight a bloody jungle insurgency to secure oil fields, Venezuela descends into chaos, or both. Meanwhile Putin finally got the western hemisphere war he's wanted for 5 years.
This is like 'The Grasshopper Lies Heavy': a glimpse of a better past we were denied. A past where a pair of Little Joes were painted in Amtrak's scheme before being retired in favor of GF6CHs and E60CPs as the 25kV was installed, the gap was bridged, and trains ran from Montana to Tacoma on juice.
January 3, 2026 at 5:32 AM
This is like 'The Grasshopper Lies Heavy': a glimpse of a better past we were denied. A past where a pair of Little Joes were painted in Amtrak's scheme before being retired in favor of GF6CHs and E60CPs as the 25kV was installed, the gap was bridged, and trains ran from Montana to Tacoma on juice.
What would your solution be to the clearances in the Haddonfield cut, White Horse Rd bridge, and the curve under 676 in Camden?
Why not extend PATCO to a proper cross platform transfer station at Atco? One or two intermediate stations could be added. And it'd be cheaper than changing clearances.
Why not extend PATCO to a proper cross platform transfer station at Atco? One or two intermediate stations could be added. And it'd be cheaper than changing clearances.
December 30, 2025 at 2:29 AM
What would your solution be to the clearances in the Haddonfield cut, White Horse Rd bridge, and the curve under 676 in Camden?
Why not extend PATCO to a proper cross platform transfer station at Atco? One or two intermediate stations could be added. And it'd be cheaper than changing clearances.
Why not extend PATCO to a proper cross platform transfer station at Atco? One or two intermediate stations could be added. And it'd be cheaper than changing clearances.
Hey, the USS Harvey Milk is once again available courtesy the DUI hire Hegseth. These things won't be be built for upwards of a dozen years. Plenty of time for future administrations to fix the ship names and do the funniest thing since we started naming ships.
December 24, 2025 at 6:29 AM
Hey, the USS Harvey Milk is once again available courtesy the DUI hire Hegseth. These things won't be be built for upwards of a dozen years. Plenty of time for future administrations to fix the ship names and do the funniest thing since we started naming ships.
With operations that concentrated the AAR's continued insistence that electrification is a complete impossibility becomes harder and harder to believe. With diesel/electric dual mode lashups or E-tenders to obviate the need for clearance improvements the case for electrification only gets stronger.
December 24, 2025 at 2:00 AM
With operations that concentrated the AAR's continued insistence that electrification is a complete impossibility becomes harder and harder to believe. With diesel/electric dual mode lashups or E-tenders to obviate the need for clearance improvements the case for electrification only gets stronger.
I'd be very interested to hear how we're considering anything to be a cost overrun of another project. They're independent allocations of money with wholly separated DBOM contracts. HBLRT and the Riverline may be contemporaries, as political winds favored both, but their financing was not linked.
December 23, 2025 at 4:47 AM
I'd be very interested to hear how we're considering anything to be a cost overrun of another project. They're independent allocations of money with wholly separated DBOM contracts. HBLRT and the Riverline may be contemporaries, as political winds favored both, but their financing was not linked.
At the very least it'd make the Meridian Speedway live up to its name rather than the piddling, slow diesels we've saddled our rail system with today.
December 23, 2025 at 1:48 AM
At the very least it'd make the Meridian Speedway live up to its name rather than the piddling, slow diesels we've saddled our rail system with today.
In theory they're counting on the loaded downhill-bound trains storing enough regenerated energy to power the empty trains back up to the mines. This will of course remain to be seen.
Electrification with wire would allow surplus energy to be used to power other grid users, including the mines.
Electrification with wire would allow surplus energy to be used to power other grid users, including the mines.
December 23, 2025 at 1:21 AM
In theory they're counting on the loaded downhill-bound trains storing enough regenerated energy to power the empty trains back up to the mines. This will of course remain to be seen.
Electrification with wire would allow surplus energy to be used to power other grid users, including the mines.
Electrification with wire would allow surplus energy to be used to power other grid users, including the mines.
14 trains per day per their Wikipedia article. That should be more than enough to justify electrification. As for distance, so long as the Sishen–Saldanha line in South Africa exists, nobody really has any excuse to use distance as an excuse.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sishen%...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sishen%...
Sishen–Saldanha railway line - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
December 23, 2025 at 1:19 AM
14 trains per day per their Wikipedia article. That should be more than enough to justify electrification. As for distance, so long as the Sishen–Saldanha line in South Africa exists, nobody really has any excuse to use distance as an excuse.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sishen%...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sishen%...
I was going to say the GM6C or GM10B, but I think they've been done in brass, or at least kitbashed. So instead the E25B. An awesome little 4000hp Bo-Bo road switcher which served their time in Texas before being ignominiously scrapped in the 2000s.
December 23, 2025 at 12:42 AM
I was going to say the GM6C or GM10B, but I think they've been done in brass, or at least kitbashed. So instead the E25B. An awesome little 4000hp Bo-Bo road switcher which served their time in Texas before being ignominiously scrapped in the 2000s.
Gee, if only LI had a plant, maybe on the north shore, perhaps about halfway out on the island, that could make inordinate amounts of electricity regardless of weather and without requiring new natural gas pipelines. I'm sure the heating oil lobby wouldn't have killed that off, right?
December 23, 2025 at 12:06 AM
Gee, if only LI had a plant, maybe on the north shore, perhaps about halfway out on the island, that could make inordinate amounts of electricity regardless of weather and without requiring new natural gas pipelines. I'm sure the heating oil lobby wouldn't have killed that off, right?
It needs to be mentioned that freight trains are almost infinitely cleaner than trucking the same freight. But yes, absolutely, electrification is long past due. The AAR has hidden behind claims of high cost, both rolling stock and infrastructure, but tech has caught up and will bring down costs.
December 22, 2025 at 11:39 PM
It needs to be mentioned that freight trains are almost infinitely cleaner than trucking the same freight. But yes, absolutely, electrification is long past due. The AAR has hidden behind claims of high cost, both rolling stock and infrastructure, but tech has caught up and will bring down costs.
Ah yes, just another scene from a better future where the SP electrified the Sunset route between New Orleans and Los Angeles like they should have.
December 22, 2025 at 8:53 PM
Ah yes, just another scene from a better future where the SP electrified the Sunset route between New Orleans and Los Angeles like they should have.
See, you can tell it's done with the Photoshop cause the wires are way too nice for anything Amtrak would actually run under.
December 22, 2025 at 8:22 AM
See, you can tell it's done with the Photoshop cause the wires are way too nice for anything Amtrak would actually run under.
We went through this with the Riverline, which was derided for costing "a billion dollars" when it was a decade-long Design-Build-Operate-Maintain contract for that amount. It unfortunately plays into the hands of the anti-access types to conflate DBOM awards with direct capital costs.
December 18, 2025 at 8:17 AM
We went through this with the Riverline, which was derided for costing "a billion dollars" when it was a decade-long Design-Build-Operate-Maintain contract for that amount. It unfortunately plays into the hands of the anti-access types to conflate DBOM awards with direct capital costs.
Also, the LIRR, MNRR, the lines south and east of London, Berlin, and Hamburg S-bahn, complete with their 1200vdc third rail. IMHO MNRR's Valhalla crash illustrates the danger of third rail in a grade crossing crash as it intruded into the passenger cabin and caused fatalities.
December 18, 2025 at 8:06 AM
Also, the LIRR, MNRR, the lines south and east of London, Berlin, and Hamburg S-bahn, complete with their 1200vdc third rail. IMHO MNRR's Valhalla crash illustrates the danger of third rail in a grade crossing crash as it intruded into the passenger cabin and caused fatalities.
Why is grade separation required for GoA 4 ZPTO? It isn't currently done, but all the operator is doing is providing obstacle detection (in addition to their troubleshooting role). This can be done by wayside equipment at grade crossings, LIDAR on the vehicles, or other sensor systems.
December 18, 2025 at 7:58 AM
Why is grade separation required for GoA 4 ZPTO? It isn't currently done, but all the operator is doing is providing obstacle detection (in addition to their troubleshooting role). This can be done by wayside equipment at grade crossings, LIDAR on the vehicles, or other sensor systems.
I'm not quite sure what the benefit would be. At most you'd eliminate 35-40 employees of ~350 PATCO employees. 16th & Locust & Lindenwold are such terrible terminals you'd never see a decrease in peak headway, and off-peak midday track work means you won't see better than 12 minute headways.
December 18, 2025 at 7:53 AM
I'm not quite sure what the benefit would be. At most you'd eliminate 35-40 employees of ~350 PATCO employees. 16th & Locust & Lindenwold are such terrible terminals you'd never see a decrease in peak headway, and off-peak midday track work means you won't see better than 12 minute headways.
A PATCO extension to Glassboro wouldn't necessarily have to be entirely grade separated. It'd be good if it were, but the benefits of a one seat ride into Philadelphia should override the requirement for full grade separation. 1500vdc OHLE and high platforms would suffice. www.patcolightrail.com
PATCO Light Rail
This website provides information about the PATCO Light Rail or Modified PATCO mode of transportation. The site was created to educate the general public and government leaders about relevent facts s...
www.patcolightrail.com
December 17, 2025 at 4:40 AM
A PATCO extension to Glassboro wouldn't necessarily have to be entirely grade separated. It'd be good if it were, but the benefits of a one seat ride into Philadelphia should override the requirement for full grade separation. 1500vdc OHLE and high platforms would suffice. www.patcolightrail.com
Sooner or later someone has to cut out something to move something because some component broke and all bets are off CBTC just lets management play Monday morning QB on those moves without the arduous task of having to actually watch footage. The boxes will tattle on the operator/RCC for them.
December 17, 2025 at 4:35 AM
Sooner or later someone has to cut out something to move something because some component broke and all bets are off CBTC just lets management play Monday morning QB on those moves without the arduous task of having to actually watch footage. The boxes will tattle on the operator/RCC for them.