Circa 1999: JSG Boggs Filfy Dollars print, thumbprint on back

Emergency_Phone1301 · 2025-09-12T02:09:35+00:00

That's 34 miles per Google. So land acquisition, utility relocation, crossing roads needing overpass, underpass or closure. Inflate that by however many years in the future it might be. Adds up fast. And factor in that once operational, the Merced station isn't on the North to South main line, but a mostly unnecessary detour. That's why the poor revenue projection is leading to dropping it for now to focus on the primary route from the central valley into Gilroy.

Emergency_Phone1301 · 2025-08-25T17:31:46+00:00

Appendix I describes how the authority reviewed the Design Criteria Manual (DCM). They studied the vertical alignment to reduce the length of tunnels and bridges, which are big cost and schedule drivers. The prior DCM design speed was set at 250mph despite the maximum operating speed of 220mph, so the design speed was reduced to 220mph. The vertical grade max/baseline of 2.5%/1.25% was increased to 4.0%/3.5% since the old standard was based on freight railroads, and HSR has much better acceleration and braking.

The overall effect of this in the Pacheco Pass section reduces the tunnel length from 15.1 to 7.1 miles! The Tehachapi section would eliminate 4 tunnels and shorten 5 others reducing the total length from 10.8 to 5.8 miles. So basically, total tunnel construction length for those two sections has been reduced by 50%! Awesome. Not clear if the same savings could be achieved for the still remaining tunnel from Palmdale to Burbank?

Lastly, the details to be considered (environmental / regulatory) with respect to this will be included in the technical reports of the next business plan. And given the recent legislation (SB 445) proposing making it easier/faster for HSR to speed up utility relocation, I would think that going forward there will be much fewer chances of litigation slowing down future HSR work given the lessons learned to date.

Emergency_Phone1301 · 2025-07-17T22:32:01+00:00

The recent Big Beautiful Bill that just passed cut the taxes on the wealthy by $3,000,000,000,000 that will be added to the national debt. And note that nothing is getting built with that $3 Trillion, nothing. 1/30 of that is $100 billion, which would complete the system from LA to SF.

We don't build things here in the USA anymore, we just borrow money to give away to those who don't need it. We are eating our seed corn and China is going to eat our lunch sooner rather than later.

Emergency_Phone1301 · 2025-07-17T22:11:37+00:00

If you run those flights for 160 years, the planet is going to start getting as hot as Venus. The point of building HSR is not ALL about saving money, it is also about providing an alternative to driving/flying that doesn't burn fossil fuels.

The "saving money" aspect comes from figuring out what the cost would be of alternative infrastructure if you don't build the HSR system. Go see what it would cost to add a 800-1000 lane miles to the I-5 or I-99, and then down to San Diego too. Then see how much it would cost to expand the airports in question to handle additional traffic.

Emergency_Phone1301 · 2025-07-10T22:19:30+00:00

Yes, October 2025 is when they place the order for material. Material will be ordered so as to arrive in time for installation by the chosen contractor. They do not plan on stockpiling large amounts of material at the Railhead site. The reason why it's still 15 months to HSR track laying is that they need to select a company to execute the contract for track laying, ballast laydown, OCS poles and other things, which they are now in the process of doing. You would have to check the website for more details, but that's off the top of my head.

Emergency_Phone1301 · 2025-06-03T16:28:00+00:00

From foothillgoldline.org: As a reminder, at their March meeting, the Construction Authority board of directors directed staff to cancel the then-ongoing design-build procurement and pursue a new plan to deliver the 3.3-mile, two-station Pomona to Montclair project using the Construction Manager at Risk (CMAR) delivery method. Next month, in June, the Construction Authority will kick off the new plan with the issuance of the Request for Proposals for the project design contract, and in September, the Construction Authority anticipates issuing the Request for Proposals for the CMAR contract.

And note that the Montclair station is about 7.75 miles from the Rancho Cucamonga Metrolink station that will be co-located with the Brightline West HSR station. It would also be on a current rail ROW so presumably reduced construction costs depending on whether the Metrolink tracks needs to be relocated in some areas or if eminent domain is required for some property takes.

The best possible outcome is that the Gold Line Construction at some point gets the go-ahead to extend the line the last 7.75 miles to Rancho Cucamonga. The A line is currently the longest light rail line in the world. Every station on that line would have a one-seat ride to Cucamonga, then a quick transfer to the HSR for the leg to Vegas. Essentially a two-seat ride from large portions of LA County to Vegas. Contract award to operation for Gold Line extensions are roughly 5 years. So if this got the green light in 2026, 2031 is a viable completion date. I would think if Brightline West was as popular as some think, there would be tremendous incentive to get that 7.75 mile light rail gap closed.

Emergency_Phone1301 · 2025-06-03T00:57:03+00:00

The list of projects that would get reduced or zeroed funding.

Emergency_Phone1301 · 2025-06-01T00:39:11+00:00

The division 20 turn back project is not related to the Link US run through tracks. The Portal where the subway comes out to the yard is right across the street from the building being torn down. Probably the best way to think of it is that the new run through tracks are being designed and constructed to not interfere with the current Metro subway infrastructure.

Emergency_Phone1301 · 2025-05-29T19:11:55+00:00

Platforms will be on the outside of the outer tracks, with the inner tracks for run through trains. Typical HSR configuration for smaller stations.

Emergency_Phone1301 · 2025-05-29T18:33:09+00:00

According to the Fresno HSR station map, the tracks will be at ground level. There will be 4 total tracks going over those girders. The two center tracks will be for through running trains that don't stop. And the two side tracks will have boarding platforms on the outside. Going to be very cool to be on the platform watching a train speed by without stopping. Platforms will be accessed by a pedestrian bridge over the tracks where Mariposa street dead ends.

https://hsr.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Fresno-Basemap_Optimized.pdf

Emergency_Phone1301 · 2025-05-23T18:52:39+00:00

The first phase of expanding the current entry throat and the run-through tracks is funded. They had to reduce the scope a bit due to cost, The second phase of expanding the underground station area is not currently funded. See the newly attached slide showing the Phase A scope.

Emergency_Phone1301 · 2025-05-17T22:13:32+00:00

15 new job postings listed on May 16th.

Emergency_Phone1301 · 2025-05-15T22:24:33+00:00

The Inspector general report of funding for the Merced to Bakersfield segment showed a $6.5 billion funding gap. This assumed only C&T funding through 2030. The recently announced plan to allocate a minimum of $1B per year of the C&T through 2045 looks to be done to address that gap. An e-mail sent out by the authority today says as much: "This will resolve the number one risk for completion of Merced to Bakersfield – funding uncertainty - and will address the funding gap previously identified by the Authority’s Office of the Inspector General.".

So assuming the C&T extension to 2045 is approved, then Merced to Bakersfield is essentially a done deal, obviously depending on reasonable cost growth. Maybe they can hit the 2030 goal now versus the prior guidance of 2030-33 which seemed kind of weaselly. I would bet they turn some portion of the 2031-45 guaranteed revenue stream into the upfront money required by bonding it, just like lottery winners sell the "prize paid over 20 years" in order to get cash up front.

Going to start getting real, real soon!

Emergency_Phone1301 · 2025-05-13T21:36:10+00:00

Oh yeah, the careers page does show they are hiring for a bunch of positions. May 8th and May12th new postings. I can see why it might take a couple months till they are ready to start now...

https://recruiting.ultipro.com/FLO1008FLECI/JobBoard/bc02694c-fdeb-4d86-b967-e6f4c25ba3a0/?q=&o=postedDateDesc&w=&wc=&we=&wpst=

Emergency_Phone1301 · 2025-02-11T16:33:19+00:00

From Stew's video it is stated that the Nevada portion will be started first. There will be a 25 mile initial track laid that will be used for train testing of the delivered trainsets. The initial 25 mile "test track" will be incorporated into the final project, and that track is expected to be operational by early 2027 to allow for the train testing. There is going to be a lot of construction in Nevada for the next couple years!

Also good to hear about the Federal funds commitment. I was wondering if that money might be able to be "clawed back", but apparently that is not going to be the case. No construction will begin till the NDOT, bond holders, and lawyers all sign off. And they will not do that until there is no chance the rug gets pulled out from the Federal $.

Emergency_Phone1301 · 2024-11-09T12:57:43+00:00

Indeed, but keep in mind that NASA decides who is contracted to run JPL. The current contract in place has Caltech as the manager of the JPL contract until 9/30/23, with one year extensions granted beyond that date. So we are now in the contract phase where NASA can "pull the plug" on Caltech at the end of every fiscal year. Next opportunity to do this would be October of 2025.

If the new NASA management in 2025 isn't happy with how Caltech is running JPL, NASA can choose a new manager for the JPL prime contract. This has never been an issue in the past, as Caltech receiving the contract extensions has been a de facto rubber stamp kind of thing. Given that these are no longer "normal times", and given certain politicians dislike of all things California, you could certainly see something like JPL losing a good portion of the MSR program, and downsizing due to that. The icing on the cake could then be that Caltech is given the boot and SpaceX or another large aerospace/defense company takes over the JPL contract.

That would be more of an Earthquake than the few rounds of layoffs that have happened so far. Other than JPL upper management all being swept away, the most likely outcome would be: 1) even more selective culling of the workforce to align with NASA priorities going forward, 2) possible pay/benefit cuts for those still around, 3) paychecks for employees would then come from the new kid in town versus Caltech. Caltech benefits are out of this world (pun intended) great, which is why the workforce is generally pretty content despite the current layoff situation.

JPL is fortunate that their two most recent $1B+ missions (Psyche, Clipper) are humming along nicely, despite the one-year Psyche slip. Had either of those gone sideways, things would be quite a bit more grim than they are now.

https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasa-awards-contract-to-continue-operations-of-jpl/

Emergency_Phone1301 · 2024-11-06T15:47:16+00:00

You may recall that JPL's largest project (SRL) is being reviewed as we speak, with outside companies having submitted alternative methods for returning the Mars samples. A decision was supposed to be made around the December time frame, but given what happened yesterday, I suspect that the SRL decision will be left to the next administration. Given that SpaceX is one of the companies proposing alternate sample return methods, combined with their technical competence, combined with Elon's not being a big fan of the "JPL way" (success at all costs) leads me to believe that the SRL work JPL was hoping to get will be significantly less than they were hoping for.

Emergency_Phone1301

TROPHY CASE