Travel Thread

[robbiestoupe]

Someday I want to do the Canadian Pacific Railway. I've always wanted to visit Banff, so this would check two things off my bucket list.

[nocera]

In a fit of nostalgia for that train trip, I googled Southwest Chief and found this hour and a half long "documentary" on YouTube:



There's some narration but it's mostly long sections of uninterrupted video of the trip. Train people are crazy, man.

[robbiestoupe]

Source of the post Train people are crazy, man.

QFT, I work with a bunch of them.

[nocera]

robbiestoupe, how was the ride on those high speed trains in China? The Southwest Chief maxes out around 90 mph through Kansas and it feels like you're going to derail at any moment. I'm guessing the US tracks would need quite a bit of work to get near the China rail speeds.

[shafnutz05]

We just don't have the stomach (or the tax base?) to build out infrastructure any longer.

Yup. The Interstate 73 project is an interesting one. The path it would take through south central Virginia is definitely needed, since there's nothing between the I-81 corridor and I-85/95. It would be a nice alternative to going down through Richmond to get down to Winston-Salem/RDU area.

[robbiestoupe]

robbiestoupe, how was the ride on those high speed trains in China? The Southwest Chief maxes out around 90 mph through Kansas and it feels like you're going to derail at any moment. I'm guessing the US tracks would need quite a bit of work to get near the China rail speeds.

JB Smoove. They put some kind of special glass in the windows that cut down on motion sickness. The train hit 320 kph (198 mph) but I'm pretty sure it pegs out closer to 350.

Part of the design of high speed train is the quality of the rail. You can't get away with some of the expansion gaps the rails have for lower speeds. It also requires super-elevation around the curves or you'll end up flying into orbit. Not sure if the US infrastructure has that built in - even if it does, it's not designed for the speeds of a high speed train.

It was pretty neat seeing a train fly through a station. I'm sure it's not at top speed, but it's gone in a flash. And the noise the traction motors make when getting up to speed sound like something from Space Odyssey.

[NTP66]

Taking a ride on a Shinkansen is literally the only reason I’d ever want to visit Japan.

[Freddy Rumsen]

It was fun when I rode.on it 16 years ago.

[Shyster]

Taking a ride on a Shinkansen is literally the only reason I’d ever want to visit Japan.

It probably wouldn't even be in my top 50. Of course, number one on my list was sumo. Most entries after that would probably be something to eat, drink, or see. The trains were very nice, though.

I think there are many reasons that the US doesn't have the train infrastructure. High-speed rail lines like the Shinkansen cannot run on conventional tracks and need their own lines where there are no level crossings (where a railway line crosses a road or path at the same level). Any intersection with a road needs an underpass or overpass. You can't have a train going 150 mph rely upon flashing lights and gates to keep cars out of its way. In the US, some dipsh!t would probably drive around the gates and cause a disaster on the very first day of operation. China not only doesn't need to care about environmental impacts, they don't have to care about stuff like eminent domain and can just tell people to GTFO and take the land needed for the new lines, bridges, and tunnels. Imagine how many lawsuits it would take (and how much they would cost) to condemn a completely new rail right-of-way from New York to Chicago, and that's not even counting the costs of of actual construction.

Japan's rail construction was made easier by the destruction of WWII. When all your major cities are pretty much rubble already, it's pretty easy to lay out rail and subway lines when rebuilding them. Japan's eminent-domain laws, while way better than China's, are also weaker than in the US, and there are cultural differences that make it easier for government to get the public behind public-works projects—even projects that take people's land. The NIMBYs in the US would be screaming their heads off.

[NTP66]

TL;DR: Shyster wants WWIII to hit the US to make way for high speed rail construction.

[Shyster]

While the trains are great in Japan, the intercity buses are a little less so. Imagine a 75% scale version of a US coach bus. That's how big they are. If one is, shall we say, broad of beam (and butt), it's a very good idea to buy two seats. I found that out the bad way. The buses are spotlessly clean and run precisely on time, but darn they are small.

[tifosi77]

"Please refrain from using your mobile phone, as they tend to annoy the neighbors." -- Actual audio message played on the bus from Narita to Tokyo

I *heart* Japan, and hope that our next big international trip will be to there.

[tifosi77]

High-speed rail lines like the Shinkansen cannot run on conventional tracks and need their own lines where there are no level crossings (where a railway line crosses a road or path at the same level). Any intersection with a road needs an underpass or overpass. You can't have a train going 150 mph rely upon flashing lights and gates to keep cars out of its way.

You would also have a hard time making any such road-level intersections sufficiently smooth to allow the passage of the train. A deviation of 1/4" at 70 mph barely makes the train wobble. That same bump at twice that speed would feel like something exploded and could cause a derailment.

So you'd have to impose speed limits at such crossings, which defeats the purpose of having high speed lines in the first place.

[Freddy Rumsen]

Another thing I remember about riding city buses in smaller Japanese cities is that you sat down in the next open spot, not just wherever you felt like.

[Shyster]

You would also have a hard time making any such road-level intersections sufficiently smooth to allow the passage of the train. A deviation of 1/4" at 70 mph barely makes the train wobble. That same bump at twice that speed would feel like something exploded and could cause a derailment.

I remembered something about that in an episode of Begin Japanology, and I tracked it down. They don't clearly say what the minimum tolerance is, but around the 7:50 point they mention that a vertical displacement of 6mm per 10m would be outside the tolerances for the Shinkansen track.

[Gaucho]

Europe needs a Shinkansen.

[obhave]

Anyone traveled to Scotland before? Where were your favorite places (outside of Skye)?

[blackjack68]

Anyone traveled to Scotland before? Where were your favorite places (outside of Skye)?

Edinburgh along the Royal Mile.

Stirling Castle, William Wallace Monument

St. Andrews town and course

[Freddy Rumsen]

Gairney Bridge

[mamaemeritus]

Heading to the Big Easy tomorrow. Anyone been through Greater PIT recently? Wondering how the TSA process has been with shutdown.

[willeyeam]

I flew out Sunday and there was normal staffing and three people in the security line. I wouldn't expect anything out of the ordinary. The airport website has an estimated wait time as well

[eddy]

If approaching NJ around 8PM, is it better to stay on the turnpike and stay north of Philly or branch off to 76 through Philly? Going to the Medford area...

[dodint]

Turn around.

[RonnieFranchise]

Heading to the Big Easy tomorrow. Anyone been through Greater PIT recently? Wondering how the TSA process has been with shutdown.

I have flown between PIT and Houston Hobby a few times this year already and no different than usual at either.

How long that will last remains to be seen.

[NTP66]

If approaching NJ around 8PM, is it better to stay on the turnpike and stay north of Philly or branch off to 76 through Philly? Going to the Medford area...

@dodint's answer is correct, but if it were me, I'd stay on the PATP the entire time, crossing over into NJ and then taking 295 South. 76 is the absolute worst, and there is never a guarantee that you won't run into massive traffic at any time of day. It's just not worth it.