The Cellar / What, no choo choo trains?

**Posted by xoxoxoBruce** 1/25/2021 8:00 pm

There is now...

**Posted by griff** 1/25/2021 8:58 pm

Hey, I've seen that!

**Posted by glatt** 1/25/2021 9:59 pm

That's too bad. I was there in the summer of 2013. It was kind of a pretty bridge.

Last edited by glatt (1/25/2021 9:59 pm)

**Posted by BigV** 1/25/2021 10:24 pm

griff wrote:
...
“The tragedy of life is not so much what
men suffer, but rather what they miss.”
― Thomas Carlyle
...

I miss your old signature. I think of it often.

**Posted by xoxoxoBruce** 1/26/2021 12:30 am

glatt wrote:
That's too bad. I was there in the summer of 2013. It was kind of a pretty bridge.

**Posted by griff** 1/26/2021 7:09 am

Yeah, kind of a bummer.

**Posted by griff** 1/26/2021 7:09 am

BigV wrote:
griff wrote:
...
“The tragedy of life is not so much what
men suffer, but rather what they miss.”
― Thomas Carlyle
...
I miss your old signature. I think of it often.

I was thinking of going back.

**Posted by Diaphone Jim** 1/26/2021 12:22 pm

I wonder if it will cost more to dismantle than to mantle (should be a word).

**Posted by BigV** 1/27/2021 9:56 pm

psst.

it is a word.

**Posted by fargon** 1/28/2021 6:55 am

Mantle: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mantle

**Posted by Diaphone Jim** 1/28/2021 1:26 pm

BigV wrote:
psst.

it is a word.

But not the opposite of dismantle.

**Posted by BigV** 1/29/2021 7:18 pm

Diaphone Jim wrote:
BigV wrote:
psst.

it is a word.
But not the opposite of dismantle.

You're quite right!

And you point out one of English's more idiosyncratic charms. There are many such examples--EX - ample. Not the same as "formerly ample". I love it.

**Posted by xoxoxoBruce** 2/24/2021 1:32 am

I liked this picture of a railroad ferry which was labeled crossing the Mississippi.
I found that hard to believe so went digging. Twarnt even in the US.

**Posted by Two Short Planks** 2/24/2021 5:35 am

Thanks for the picture, Bruce.

Bangladesh has more than its fair share of river crossings and even now the railway timetables often synchronize with those of the ferries. In Hindi, Bahadurabad Ghat would just mean 'The pier at Bahudarabad'. Bangladesh didn't exist in 1936, of course, so I guess that publications of the day would have captioned the photo as Bengal, India.

**Posted by griff** 2/24/2021 7:00 am

Thanks for filling in the blanks guys!

**Posted by Diaphone Jim** 2/24/2021 12:13 pm

Two halves or sections of one train side by side?

**Posted by xoxoxoBruce** 3/07/2021 1:20 am

Two sections of a train not necessarily halves.
When you have to move the heavy loads the weak link is the axle bearings, so double the trucks and it'll carry 400,000 lbs.

**Posted by xoxoxoBruce** 4/16/2021 10:17 pm

Full head of steam and running late...

**Posted by xoxoxoBruce** 4/16/2021 10:24 pm

Railroad Crossing. That's railroad tracks crossing a road.
Could be interpreted as the road crossing railroad tracks too, I guess.
But what do you call railroad tracks crossing railroad tracks?
A railroad double cross?

**Posted by xoxoxoBruce** 2/08/2022 11:47 pm

The most photographed Steam Engine ever, Sierra Number 3...

**Posted by xoxoxoBruce** 2/20/2022 12:39 am

Last gasp of steam...

**Posted by TheNeverWas** 2/20/2022 8:38 am

xoxoxoBruce wrote:
But what do you call railroad tracks crossing railroad tracks?

That crossing in the pic (post #19) is called a drawbridge crossing.

No idea why...

Last edited by TheNeverWas (2/20/2022 8:38 am)

**Posted by xoxoxoBruce** 11/14/2023 1:57 am

When I see railroad tracks I used to think now they are there they're good to go when they need them.
But then i learned how much upkeep, maintenance, and repair it takes to make them safe.
That means they have to keep and eye on them.
A train that weighs as much as you house may not notice a defect unless it collapses.
So inspectors must travel millions of miles of track periodically.
Hand cars are great for slapstick movies but the job calls for something more practical to reduce cost.

Oh yeah, I threw in that parking elevator for you, no extra charge.

**Posted by griff** 11/14/2023 7:13 am

Pete's previous employer does a lot of advanced work in rail safety. It's gone well beyond craning your head out of the side window of your old Chevy. You might find something interesting: https://www.ensco.com/rail

**Posted by xoxoxoBruce** 11/17/2023 3:57 am

They have some real high tech rail inspection tools, I'd never heard of some of them.
ENSCO - Using our best tech we found a couple serious problems in that section of track.
RR - Great, glad you caught it, what will it cost to fix it so it's safe for our people and the public.
ENSCO - We figure roughly, depending on the unforeseen, about $1.3 Million to make it safe.
RR - We'll see if the budget will handle it next year or maybe the year after.
Those numbers would worry Wall St at the next quarterly projection.
Might take a bite out of my Christmas bonus too..

Old school...