Locomotive Insanity: Murder on the BNSF Mixed Consist doesnt have the same ring to it

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Automotive Insanity > Locomotive Insanity: Murder on the BNSF Mixed Consist doesnt have the same ring to it

Cocoa Crispies: Jul 20, 2001; Vehicular Manslaughter!; Pillbug

aswert1223 posted:

OK, not a huge train buff, but the this is bad rear end:http://www.tcm.com/mediaroom/video/293554/Bad-Day-At-Black-Rock-Movie-Clip-Open-Adobe-Flat.html

The director says that the amazing shot from 15 to 22 seconds was a trick http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047849/trivia?tr=tr0747365, but I think was a pilot playing chicken with a train.

Also a great movie...

Run train backwards, fly low over it with the camera pointed backwards and down?

# ¿ Mar 17, 2011 00:12

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# ¿ May 5, 2024 20:50

Cocoa Crispies: Jul 20, 2001; Vehicular Manslaughter!; Pillbug

BrokenKnucklez posted:

Per the GCOR (General Consolidated Operating Rules) rule book, you can make a reverse movement at a maximum authorized speed for a freight train is 20MPH, a passenger train has an authorized maximum speed of 30MPH.

Trust me, riding a car moving backwards at 20MPH feels like a dare devil move.

Also, locomotives can run just as fast forward as they can in reverse.

That forward/reverse is from the perspective of the crew, right? The local commuter rail doesn't turn around at either end, just the engineer moves.

# ¿ Mar 21, 2011 03:42

Cocoa Crispies: Jul 20, 2001; Vehicular Manslaughter!; Pillbug

Catzilla posted:

This used to be my local station when I lived in London:

Look at that, a flying saucer in the middle of suburbia. Charles Holden

Reminds me of North and Apple Store on the �L� Red Line.

# ¿ May 28, 2012 02:39

Cocoa Crispies: Jul 20, 2001; Vehicular Manslaughter!; Pillbug

Cygni posted:

Vids like that always remind me that 'london fog' used to be a real thing. Look at that black coal smoke, and imagine it multiplied by a million. Unreal.

I spent some time earlier this month in and out of a handful of stations (Paddington, King's Cross, and St. Pancras in London, and Waverley in Edinburgh) and it's amazing how beautiful and how wasted the high ceilings are with modern trains.

King's Cross

Newcastle

The Governor's House on the way out of Waverley

# ¿ Jul 18, 2012 23:26

Cocoa Crispies: Jul 20, 2001; Vehicular Manslaughter!; Pillbug

Dick Diggler posted:

Wouldn't it be fairly simple to have a program account for the time delay in braking and have all the brakes be applied at the exact same time?

You'd have to control the brakes on a car-by-car basis instead of the whole train at once. It could be done, but you'd need to have every car you ever plan to run on your train set up for it.

You could probably get close to the functionality just by being able to brake in segments, but if you're going to automate that much why not automate the whole train?

# ¿ Sep 7, 2012 22:01

Cocoa Crispies: Jul 20, 2001; Vehicular Manslaughter!; Pillbug

NoWake posted:

I've heard before that the railroad is like an operating museum, the brake technology you see out there working now was invented almost 150 years ago. I've been with the railroad 9 months and it's been very evident to me that nothing changes quickly out here, if at all.

Why change when what exists works? The annual costs of and losses from pneumatic brakes aren't as expensive as moving to something that may be better in the long run but hasn't been designed, built, and tested for a century.

# ¿ Sep 8, 2012 00:23

Cocoa Crispies: Jul 20, 2001; Vehicular Manslaughter!; Pillbug

bytebark posted:

It's surprising how many big cities don't have rail transit access to their airports. I don't even think NYC has direct rail access to either airport. You have to get on a bus and then transfer to a subway at a later stop.

We only got subway access to MIA last month. I think the Amtrak/Tri-Rail commuter station at the airport will open in 2013.

# ¿ Oct 2, 2012 04:21

Cocoa Crispies: Jul 20, 2001; Vehicular Manslaughter!; Pillbug

Disgruntled Bovine posted:

I've learned from this to never take a flight with 770 in it's number. Hell, flight 1771 crashed at 770 mph

It was also on December 7th, 1987!!

7s don't go well with planes.

None of the 777 rides I've been on have crashed.

# ¿ Jun 22, 2013 16:20

Cocoa Crispies: Jul 20, 2001; Vehicular Manslaughter!; Pillbug

Jonnty posted:

How many times have you been on one? Presumably you'll be at most risk on the 77th!

More times than I've been in a Piper Cherokee, and the best I can say about that is that nobody was injured.

# ¿ Jun 22, 2013 23:02

Cocoa Crispies: Jul 20, 2001; Vehicular Manslaughter!; Pillbug

No Pun Intended posted:

This term maybe old hat but one of my workmates referred to train pictures as "Foamergraphs".

Hardcore Foamography.

# ¿ Jun 27, 2013 23:42

Cocoa Crispies: Jul 20, 2001; Vehicular Manslaughter!; Pillbug

Zeether posted:

I went out to Winter Park today and got some shots of an Amtrak service pulling in. They're building a new station because of SunRail.

Where is it in relation to the old train station / current farmer's market in Winter Park? That's where my brother got married, and it's a beautiful space but a bit rustic.

# ¿ Nov 1, 2013 21:16

Cocoa Crispies: Jul 20, 2001; Vehicular Manslaughter!; Pillbug

ExplodingSims posted:

Also, sup fellow Orlando goon.

Miami, actually.

# ¿ Nov 2, 2013 15:29

Cocoa Crispies: Jul 20, 2001; Vehicular Manslaughter!; Pillbug

Axeman Jim posted:

^{The train now arriving at Platform 1, Platform 2, Platform 3, the Cafe and the car park is likely to be delayed}

Is that St. Pancras? That hotel is fuckin' decent these days.

# ¿ Apr 10, 2014 04:29

Cocoa Crispies: Jul 20, 2001; Vehicular Manslaughter!; Pillbug

Das Volk posted:

I couldn't stop myself from calling it St. Pancreas. King's Cross manages to be a charming ~~mashup~~blend of Brunel and Bauhaus, probably my favorite station. As an American who experienced British rail in all its horrifying glory I find these accounts both deeply fascinating and honest.

My favorite journey was Reading, which could either take 45 minutes from Fulham Broadway, or 3 hours. Always depended on things like leaves on the track, or mice in the belfry, or whatever ridiculous excuse they came up with at the moment. I always assumed delays were the result of hung over union employees myself.

I only took the trains from London to Edinburgh and back; having the previous day arrived on a flight from Miami, I showed up at King's Cross two hours early :downs:

thinking there'd be any ordeal at all.

# ¿ Apr 11, 2014 16:10

Cocoa Crispies: Jul 20, 2001; Vehicular Manslaughter!; Pillbug

Train chat in YOSPOS:

qirex posted:

FUTURE BART

qirex posted:

there was a giant line so I skipped it but I've seen the seats and renderings and they look like modern subway cars

way back in the day the point of the seats was to make it comfortable because they were trying to gey people to stop driving now that it's the only option for most commuters nobody cares about comfort anymore

there was also a group of disabled protesters with "no poles" signs

Metrication posted:

nice doors between carriages

Metrication posted:

if you physically separate carriages with physical doors in tyool 2014 you hosed up really bad

rotor posted:

how else you gonna decouple the cars?

How do you decouple articulated trains? Nobody responded to my blas� answer of "very carefully."

# ¿ Apr 17, 2014 18:32

Cocoa Crispies: Jul 20, 2001; Vehicular Manslaughter!; Pillbug

JuffoWup posted:

I know it is different, but wouldn't one being delayed help? At the Orlando airport, the trams would open one side to depart passengers for a few minutes before opening the entry doors for new riders.

At MCO (TPA and LAS too) the stations are structured so that you can board either train from the same platform (to support both trains running, and provide a useful fallback for when only one train runs). Having the passengers getting off the train to the waiting platform would make it more of a clusterfuck than everything at MCO already is. Public transit stations don't have two trains going to the same place from parallel tracks; instead they generally run in opposite directions. Instead of building a platform for each side of the train (and massively increasing the amount of excavation or construction necessary), stations are built with one platform serving two different trains.

Even opening the exit doors first wouldn't help, because yokels and other people that don't know how to behave in public would just try and jam their way in anyways.

# ¿ Oct 16, 2014 00:38

Cocoa Crispies: Jul 20, 2001; Vehicular Manslaughter!; Pillbug

EssOEss posted:

Why do many of the stations appear to be literally a minute's walk from each other?

Not everyone walks particularly quickly, winter in Chicago is awful, and I suspect there's some logistic value in having more stations.

Miami MetroMover stations are pretty close to each other on the main loop too.

# ¿ Jul 18, 2015 15:08

Cocoa Crispies: Jul 20, 2001; Vehicular Manslaughter!; Pillbug

Terrible Robot posted:

lol

Show me a way to slow down over a mile of 80+ ton train cars faster, that is actually feasible in the real world.

More braking capacity per-car? Here's a 487-ton vehicle stopping from 200mph in 30 seconds:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qc_v6tXsv6g

# ¿ Feb 8, 2017 17:04

Cocoa Crispies: Jul 20, 2001; Vehicular Manslaughter!; Pillbug

CAT INTERCEPTOR posted:

While that would be something, I believe the Space Shuttle would have been a more impressive experience. Just the visuals caused by the SRB's would have been something.

The current crop of SpaceX rockets that land back at the cape are pretty amazing at night, even from 40 miles away.

# ¿ Feb 9, 2017 13:07

Cocoa Crispies: Jul 20, 2001; Vehicular Manslaughter!; Pillbug

wilfredmerriweathr posted:

Yeah i know a lot about IC engines and turbines and all of that but steam locomotives I only have the basics.

An in depth explanation would be sweet if you're willing to give it.

Honestly for some reason (autism spectrum disorders) the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_locomotive#Basic_form wikipedia page is pretty good!

# ¿ Jul 20, 2017 19:02

Cocoa Crispies: Jul 20, 2001; Vehicular Manslaughter!; Pillbug

Clarence posted:

Some basics of steam operation, with doubtless many tangents along the way. This has turned out to be much longer than expected, so it'll be just the burning of coal in a locomotive in this part and I'll cover steam itself later.

Hell yeah, thanks for this. It's fascinating how much the chemistry of coal combustion relates to but is simplified by gasoline and diesel engines.

# ¿ Jul 21, 2017 14:39

Cocoa Crispies: Jul 20, 2001; Vehicular Manslaughter!; Pillbug

Tex Avery posted:

That's no joke. I got to spend some time working on a steam locomotive, and one of the things I did was prep it in the morning for the daytime service. There's a valve right below the whistle that you can shut off so that you can remove the whistle while the boiler is under pressure. The guys I was working with shut that off every evening, and back on in the morning. I had to do it one morning, and they gave me earplugs AND ear muffs because it'll go full volume for a few seconds while you're twisting the valve.

On the flipmode, how are (modern) trains in the Netherlands so drat quiet? I've been on Acela, Amtrak Silver service, and UK West Coast and they were all loud or at least not quiet, while on every Dutch train I felt self-conscious about the tack-tack-tack noise the iPhone keyboard made before I muted it.

# ¿ Aug 19, 2017 18:19

Cocoa Crispies: Jul 20, 2001; Vehicular Manslaughter!; Pillbug

~Coxy posted:

Save money on tunnelling costs by only requiring � the volume!

I mean, that's why airliners are cylinders instead of prisms�

# ¿ Jan 20, 2018 16:51

Cocoa Crispies: Jul 20, 2001; Vehicular Manslaughter!; Pillbug

smackfu posted:

What�s the benefit of high platforms? Connecticut just spent a lot of money on the Springfield line upgrading a bunch of stations from low (ground level) platforms to high ones, including elevated bridges to get from one side to the other.

Are they high enough that you can walk right on to the train without having to go up a step? That's important for accessibility, since that allows someone with mobility limitations (i.e. a wheelchair user or someone pulling wheeled luggage) to get in the train easily and without assistance.

# ¿ Feb 5, 2018 15:04

Cocoa Crispies: Jul 20, 2001; Vehicular Manslaughter!; Pillbug

MikeCrotch posted:

Paxman Valentas and Intercity Swallow livery. Name a more classic combo.

Shinkansen Series 0, as featured in the 🚅 emoji.

# ¿ Apr 3, 2018 01:09

Cocoa Crispies: Jul 20, 2001; Vehicular Manslaughter!; Pillbug

JuffoWup posted:

I can see this getting annoying as hell on a freight train:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Av_Kkh3mp4E

Apparently, they point at all important signage as they go. Aka, speed or other warnings. This provides proof to the camera watching them that they did indeed see the signage. It also visually makes sure both are aware of the other's actions. But, even in north america, there isn't many driving accidents as much as either bad maintenance or just mishandling when parked (such as the oil car collision sever years ago in canada).

Yeah it�s pretty cool:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpkrIu2p_iM

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/pointing-and-calling-japan-trains

# ¿ Apr 15, 2018 05:46

Cocoa Crispies: Jul 20, 2001; Vehicular Manslaughter!; Pillbug

Found a website with a bunch of technical articles in English about rail technology in Japan: http://www.ejrcf.or.jp/jrtr/technology/index_technology.html

mekilljoydammit posted:

Does anybody care how some of this poo poo works? I'm not sure if the maintenance side of stuff is covered much or is interesting to anyone.

Yeah, just post.

# ¿ Jan 8, 2019 13:42

Cocoa Crispies: Jul 20, 2001; Vehicular Manslaughter!; Pillbug

This video about a virtual train you can buy(?) spends a lot of time talking about the history and economics of articulated locomotives:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gifz9IcwrPs

# ¿ May 15, 2019 13:21

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# ¿ May 5, 2024 20:50

Cocoa Crispies: Jul 20, 2001; Vehicular Manslaughter!; Pillbug

This train triggered one level crossing a full minute before the other one at this spot, what�d make it do that?

# ¿ Dec 9, 2019 18:12

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Automotive Insanity > Locomotive Insanity: Murder on the BNSF Mixed Consist doesnt have the same ring to it