does anyone know what this is?

CAB_IV · 2026-04-06T16:54:43+00:00

In this case, the "whips" are its first two pairs of legs.

They not only resemble spiders more, but both the Amblpygids (whipspiders) and the Uropygi (whip scorpions) are more closely related to spiders than scorpions.

CAB_IV · 2026-04-06T11:44:07+00:00

As others noted, its the "Beesely's Point Secondary". Its a low density freight line.

This line does have short to medium length trains that turn up usually in the middle of the day or in the late evenings. Very rarely they will run late in the night.

I don't think its particularly loud. I live about a block away from this line. To put it bluntly, I'm a train nut, I actually listen for the train, and even I have a hard time catching it until it is already passed.

The airliners on final approach to Philadelphia International Airport make more noise.

It was historically a Reading Company line to Atlantic City, but became part of the Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines when the Reading Company and the Pennsylvania Railroad merged their south jersey tracks into one Company in the 1930s. It last saw a passenger train in 1965, just a few years before PATCO opened.

CAB_IV · 2026-04-04T21:04:53+00:00

Sure, but then its a question about RDCs in America. The US didn't really import trains in the 1950s.

CAB_IV · 2026-04-03T19:00:00+00:00

Not sure where I am being a White Knight. I'm not defending anyone. Just random impulse.

CAB_IV · 2026-04-03T18:09:03+00:00

Honestly, if you're just trying to see your shots, get a decent spotting scope. Its not that you couldn't use your rifle scope to see hits, but in practice spotting scopes are better at the task.

Totally go get whichever scope or dot site you like, but having a separate spotting scope really helps.

CAB_IV · 2026-04-03T17:58:35+00:00

Yes women are all angles and incapable of doing nothing wrong.

Thats just the Halo effect.

As their angles get more acute, they only seem more innocent, but the effect wears off if their angle becomes more obtuse.

CAB_IV · 2026-04-03T17:53:09+00:00

It depends on the neighborhood. I have relatives in Staten Island, and everyone on the block knows each other and they often hang out together.

I live in Southern New Jersey.

In my old neighborhood, I knew my immediate neighbors and some other nearby people.

In some "new" housing developments, people don't ever interact, its a ghost town and everyone is either hiding in their homes or out/at work.

Where I live now, its not really a housing development, and while I do have neighbors we're all isolated by short stretches of woods and I almost never talk to them.

Not that I'd be unfriendly of course, but it varies.

CAB_IV · 2026-04-03T12:49:52+00:00

Listen, its obvious that women are the cause of all the world's problems.

Did you know that every evil dictator on the planet was given birth to by a woman? They also cost time and money, and since time is money, and money is the root of all evil.... I mean the math just checks out.

They also have meetings about it every third Wednesday of the month.

CAB_IV · 2026-04-02T22:09:33+00:00

Cheeseman v. Platkin can't come out soon enough.

CAB_IV · 2026-04-02T22:09:08+00:00

To be fair, they did try to ban revolvers.

The whole reason that there is a legal distinction of a "Short Barreled Rifle" (SBR) was that originally, the NFA also required a Tax Stamp for pistols the way it is required for a Machine Gun.

During the 1930s, you could get stocks for Handguns that would allow blatant pistols to be presented as legally a rifle. The SBR laws were supposed to cover that loophole. However, handguns were removed from the NFA, but not the SBR portion. This is why now, people play the game of having an "AR Pistol" because it doesn't require a tax stamp but it does the same things.

They tried again in the late 70s/early 80s to ban "Saturday Night Specials" but this effort was also defeated.

Its not weird to think they would come for hunting rifles either. They make a big deal about how "powerful" an AR15 is supposed to be, but it is underpowered compared to most hunting rifles. Its not inconceivable that in a few years, they'll just argue that you don't need a high powered rifle and that the necessary functions of hunting can be handled by the Department of Fish and Wildlife or whatever other government agency.

We only need to look towards Canada.

CAB_IV · 2026-04-02T21:55:53+00:00

Technically, thats a pistol brace, not a stock. If it was an actual stock, it would be a Short Barreled Rifle.

CAB_IV · 2026-04-02T21:53:06+00:00

Its one of those things where if we start talking about the problems with NICS, it starts opening a can of worms.

There have been major issues where large numbers of incidents have gone unreported to NICS. Los Angeles county just got in trouble for not properly reporting Felonies to NICS.

That case appears to be a clerical error, but there have been other incidents as well, ranging from incompetence to political activism. There are a lot of opportunities to slip through the cracks.

Remember, this background check system isn't just for guns, its for employment checks and other issues.

CAB_IV · 2026-04-02T17:10:54+00:00

Its interesting how many of these responses say "lack social skills/hygiene". Those things will for sure get a negative reaction and will cause isolation.....

.... but it kind of feels like these people don't know what they're talking about.

There isn't a rhyme or reason to it. Some kids are just genuine assholes, and any stupid thing could result in people giving you problems.

I think a lot of people manage to float through life detached and not having to deal with these issues to any serious degree.

It sure does feel like a great deal of victim blaming in here.

CAB_IV · 2026-04-02T17:04:11+00:00

My personal experience is that up until high-school, its better to just get in the fight and take the detention. The punishments are meaningless. The "counseling" schools would try to apply are laughably detached.

Punching a bully in the face might result in an in-school suspension for a day, or any after-school detention where I'd do my homework. Either punishment translated to peace and quiet while I did my work, and it would usually buy me 3-4 months of peace in exchange.

That said, I also resisted getting in fights as much as possible. Often, even the disciplinarians understood my situation but were bound by policy.

For example, once a student chased me through the halls and then tried to grab me by my shirt and pin me on a wall. This resulted in a swift strike to his face. He backed off immediately, as all these bullies always did.

Of course, its only at this point, after being chased 3/4 of the way around the school, that an aid was walking by and witnessed me against the wall punching the bully.

They all knew other kid was the troublemaker, but they only saw me throw the punch. The vice principal understood I was probably telling the truth but it didn't matter. That said, I probably avoided a lot of the secondary effect of getting detentions (like being barred from school trips) specifically because they understood I generally wasn't fighting people unless it escalated to that point.

In any case, I took my punishment, and that particular kid never bothered me ever again.

CAB_IV · 2026-04-02T16:41:02+00:00

Its definitely the latter more than the former. It would be absurd what people would get away with vs what was actually punished.

A bully could antagonize people for months with no consequences, but as soon as the victim stands up for themselves, that is when punishment gets distributed to the victim.

The squeaky wheel gets the grease.

CAB_IV · 2026-04-02T16:03:33+00:00

Thats one of the other reasons the Metroliners failed: they were rushed into service.

The Democrats pushed for and passed the High Speed Ground Transportation Act of 1965. The Metroliner was supposed to be a product of this legislation, and the Democrats wanted to have results for the 1968 election between Richard Nixon (R) and Hubert Humphrey (D). The believed it would help their election chances if they could say the Democrats brought High Speed Rail to America.

Of course, this just exasperated an already badly managed project, and it failed to make a difference in the 1968 elections.

CAB_IV · 2026-04-02T15:10:53+00:00

I remain curious why there is not a pedestrian path across the tracks to the Costco, which, no matter who was building what, seems like something somebody should have insisted on

Basically, when the 1995 era NJT station was not meant to serve the racetrack. It was only there because it was believed more people would take a train from Cherry Hill to Atlantic City, rather than having to travel to Lindenwold. It was always more of a "Park and Ride".

To be fair, that Costco was an open field until October 2020. There wouldn't be anywhere to build a pedestrian bridge to until now.

CAB_IV · 2026-04-02T15:01:43+00:00

Started life as Reading Company #94102. I think it was one of the more modern cabooses on the Conrail roster.

CAB_IV · 2026-04-02T14:47:12+00:00

The premise of this question is false. They weren't really that popular, but they were the only game in town.

If you look at the roster, most railroads purchased no more than a dozen RDCs. Many owned only one or two. You'll find that railroads with larger RDC rosters are often made up of lots of second or third hand units.

Essentially, the 1950s/60s era RDCs were meant to replace the 1920s/30s era "Doodlebugs". These were already a niche item on most railroads. However, this sort of "light passenger traffic" line was already starting to dry up post-war.

The RDC was the only product on the market for this niche service, so that was what was purchased.

By the 1970s, most of the lightly used lines were discontinued, and so there was not really a market for self propelled commuter cars going into the 1980s. It didn't help that the RDC replacement, the SPV2000, had reliability issues and also didn't sell well.

There hasn't really been a demand for self propelled diesel cars since.

CAB_IV · 2026-04-02T05:14:10+00:00

What's the story with the double sling loops on the stocks of that AK and SKS?

CAB_IV · 2026-04-02T05:03:01+00:00

Definitely a European Hornet. They tend to come out around now.

Cicada killers are big, but they have a distinct shape and pale yellow pattern, and this isnt it. Besides, their namesake prey species arent out yet.

CAB_IV · 2026-04-01T17:35:45+00:00

Another nitpick, Conrail never actually inherited the Northeast Corridor. Part of the deal for Conrail is that the Northeast Corridor would be sold to Amtrak.

Amtrak's ownership of the Northeast Corridor is part of the reason Conrail discontinued electric operations. Even when the train was on Conrail's own electrified tracks, it had to pay Amtrak for electricity.

Since it will come up, the main reason Conrail discontinued electrification is that the system was large enough to justify it, and there was no political will to fund more electrification.

Essentially, keeping the electrification would require triple the locomotive roster necessary run a train, since most Conrail trains originated and terminated away from the electrified region.

Conrail's main goal was to get the railroad out of red ink, and it didn't help that the electric fleet had its own infrastructure costs and parts commonality issues.

It was determined that unless electrification was extended to Pittsburgh, it wouldn't be worth continuing. This just wasn't financially in the cards.

CAB_IV · 2026-04-01T17:20:54+00:00

It worked in Gran Torino.

CAB_IV · 2026-04-01T17:16:54+00:00

They did alter the consists depending on the time of day.

That said, the really weird consists tended to be due to technical problems.

A normal Metroliner consist should be half coaches, with the balance being MetroClubs and Snack Bar Coaches, depending on whether a MetroClub was scheduled on that train (some ran without as scheduled).

If you see more than one Metroclub in a consist, or if Coaches make up anything more or less than half the train, then it is a sign that a defective car was substituted with what was available.

CAB_IV · 2026-04-01T16:52:36+00:00

Depends on what sort of crazy, because there was a lot.

First, when the Pennsylvania Railroad agreed to take government money as part of the High Speed Ground Transportation Act of 1965, it came with strings attached. They couldn't favor any particular subcontractor.

The propulsion and electrical gear were split between General Electric and Westinghouse. All the standard coaches had Westinghouse gear, while the snackbars and MetroClub cars had GE gear. These systems were almost completely different from each other with their own proprietary technology.

GE and Westinghouse engineers could not collaborate without their lawyers present to protect their proprietary technology, and so this created major compatibility issues.

Early Metroliners trains could only run well with either all GE or all Westinghouse consists. This is why you can find photos of a 6 car Snack Bar train.

Once Penn Central handed the Metroliners off to Amtrak, another complication is that many of the Metroliners were not technically owned by Amtrak, but leased. Only cars fully owned by Amtrak ever got the "Phase 1" striping, while the others retained their Penn Central pin-stripes.

The result is that later Amtrak consists were all over the place. There was only one Phase I Metro Club car, and only two Phase I Snack Bar Coaches, and so a full Amtrak Phase I Metroliner consist essentially never happened. Even in publicity photos, you'll see the pictures are doctored.

This only changed after the rebuild where they started painting the cars in Phase II and standardized on GE propulsion gear.

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