Why do circuit breakers go up for on and down for off?

In the US it's a testament to ignoring maintenance to squeeze out the last dollar.

We've had others that dumped grain cars. The bears really appreciate those.

Only in the USA.

There is more than one rail company, and set of rail lines.

A company that is not capitalized properly, can't really afford to fix anything.

The tracks that are used for passenger rail, are likely better than some of these little spur lines.

When the Hudsons Bay line flooded out, and there was a lot of track damage, the owners didn't want to fix it, so a group bought the line, and that group paid to fix it up. That's mainly for grain shipments, via the port at Hudsons Bay. This shows you what a rail line looks like, after flood damage.

It seems they're still pouring money into that line.

Sounds normal to me :-) You don't always get to choose where a rail line goes.

And the fools want to run oil trains on those rails. Who are they kidding ? :-) Regular tracks don't like oil trains, what chance does that rickety mess have.

Paul

At least the US is better than Canada...

"The score for railroad infrastrucutre quality is based on only one question. The respondents are asked to rate the railroads in their country of operation on a scale from 1 (underdeveloped) to 7 (extensive and efficient by international standards)."

The rail system in the US is extensive, I'll give it that. It probably is fairly efficient. They don't lose too many boxcars but then a boxcar can't stray too far from the rails.

I may be a little prejudiced. I briefly worked for Penn Central during its two year path from merger to the largest at the time bankruptcy.

It was sad. When I was a young kid you could take a train from Union Station in Troy NY to Boston or NYC and expect to get home the same day. By the time I was in my teens the station was gone, but you could take the train to NYC from the station in Albany if you didn't have any pressing engagements in the city. You might get there someday, and in the winter the cars might even have heat. You did get to admire the scenic Hudson at

I was pleasantly surprised when I took the train from the Rensselaer station in the mid-80s after it had become AmTrak. On time, and with comfortable, modern cars. I think it owed that to being an extension of the AmTrak corridor loved by Biden to the NYS capitol.

They stole that idea from Wilson, Keppel and Betty.

This is a wonderful book:

The California Zephyr is a very scenic tourist route. Passes through Truckee and under Sugar Bowl.

One would think.

There is another stretch near St. Regis that convinced me a suspension seat post was a good idea. It's also open to motorized vehicles so it's not all that appealing.

There's something magical and eerie and sort of sad about the old railroad tunnels.

Tunnel6 used to be open to vehicles (it needed a jeep) but I don't think it is any more. There was a rumor that it might be re-tracked and used for trains again.

We drove a jeep about 4 miles, starting on the west entrance, through the tunnels, and then through miles of snow sheds back into daylight. Very cool.

The old Lincoln Highway is just below the tunnel, running below the Rainbow Bridge.

Did you really write maths correctly? We're getting there.

You're lucky to only have 13%. I bet you in 30 years, more than 50% will be Muslims. UK and USA.

How about if they kill one of their own kind, you don't jail them? That would cut costs and their population.

:-)

I did not have Muslims in mind. I'm not sure something like Nation if Islam is even recognized by Muslims.

That is effectively the case in many large US cities but the population percentage remains stable. The Chicago PD released an in depth analysis of homicides in 2011. To summarize less than 4% of the cases involved whites as either the perpetrator or the victim. It hasn't improved in the intervening years.

Ironically the Chicago blacks have come to the realization that unchecked immigration means more mestizos to dilute their political power. That 'people of color' label starts to unravel when you realize that each subset doesn't care all that much for the others.

We have the Kim Williams trail which is another chunk of the Milwaukee Road. It runs along the river so is a gentle grade, with one exception.

There are other stretches with tunnels that are accessible but aren't even formal trail to trails with some really shaky looking tunnels compared to

Pretty.

We have the Foresthill Bridge.

Tunnel6 would be tough on a bike; it's tricky to walk. The floor is gravel and mud and the railroad cinder things, puddles in places, dripping from above, pitch black in places with a dull glow from one end. Fun acoustics.

If you're ever out this way, hike it.

It's not super human if anyone can do it.

Can't say I can hear many of the words....

You're an idiot. I've gone in 32F water for hours. The myth is you die in 15 minutes, but just try it for yourself, don't believe the bullshit. The correct answer is the average person is fine for 2 hours. The US Marines say 6 hours. Myself, I don't even shiver for 30 minutes. But then shivering makes heat....

I have days and days. On bad days I'd be walking very gingerly. I had no problem walking across the Golden Gate but that doesn't have the visual relief.

There was a small airport on the north side of Ft. Wayne. One takeoff from one of the runways you climbed past an WOWO's AM antenna array. It was a strange feeling visualizing yourself on the antenna rather than the cockpit of the Tomahawk. Somebody has to change the light bulbs but it ain't me.

The CN Tower in Toronto is another one. I've been in tall buildings like the John Hancock in Chicago but something in that needle like structure caused my reptilian brain to say "NO!"

I do, depending what I'm doing. I don't like lugging 12 litre steel scuba tanks far from the car. But I'll stick a snorkel in a bumbag and go running for 15 miles to a lake.

I've walked and run and cycled the west highland way, but the weirdest person I met was doing the whole thing on bicycle, with an enormous trailer, big enough to look like it should be towed by car. He said he liked to have luxuries with him, I said I preferred to expend less energy and live a simpler life. No cooked food, no cooker required. No tent or sleeping bag, just lie down on some grass (but I do take insect repellant!)