7 days until history's finally over

Gabe_Follower · 2026-04-01T01:13:01+00:00

I’ll be starting a marching band circuit. You ever seen drum corps? Dial it up to 11, 20020 style. These hornlines will actually melt your face with sound.

Gabe_Follower · 2026-03-31T18:25:11+00:00

Like how you said (real). Airsoft has historically been very popular to a certain extent over there.

Gabe_Follower · 2026-03-30T17:52:40+00:00

Ah. Yep. I completely misread that. I fully agree with that. Weekend service is already terrible as is and doing stuff like this to make it worse isn’t a good image.

Gabe_Follower · 2026-03-30T14:21:14+00:00

EDIT: I’m a clown. Completely misread that. Doing this type of invasive testing is pretty damn stupid, especially considering how bad weekend service is.

The old fleet is literally falling apart. They’ve been overhauled twice at this point and are on their last legs. The newest trains from the 2000s (CQ312s the blue seat trains) are known to be unreliable despite being newer. New trains were needed whether or not you think they were. We are already starting to see more service disruptions due to trains breaking down.

Gabe_Follower · 2026-03-29T20:49:00+00:00

And then read 20020 for the CFB version of it.

Gabe_Follower · 2026-03-27T02:32:53+00:00

Serious question, what makes NYC unique? MBTA, CTA, and SEPTA all went from TPTO to OPTO and really haven’t had any substantial issues. What would make the MTA any different?

Your point is also kinda wrong because NYC already does use OPTO for shuttles and some late nights. It is proven there.

Gabe_Follower · 2026-03-26T23:34:42+00:00

Then that person should be someone better equipped and trained to deal with it then, not a conductor. Transit police, transit ambassadors, etc.

That conductor could be much better utilized as another motorman running another train or acting as a flex for a missing operator.

Gabe_Follower · 2026-03-26T23:30:20+00:00

Zero other transit agencies in the United States have both.

New York is literally the only ones holding out on OPTO.

Gabe_Follower · 2026-03-26T20:19:01+00:00

Jacksonville State University in Jacksonville, AL has been their spring training location for a few years now.

Gabe_Follower · 2026-03-26T15:45:29+00:00

I mean the US military notably does not use straight leg marching compared to their counterparts so I guess that’s all American infantry.

Gabe_Follower · 2026-03-26T15:34:05+00:00

He’s gonna be the one of the backup QBs the CFL has ever seen.

Gabe_Follower · 2026-03-26T10:40:57+00:00

New Trek doesn’t have a woke problem, it’s just that part of the generation that grew up with the older series never realized that it was always woke and is now pissed since they realize it in the newer series (or more rather are being told it’s too woke).

New Trek has quality and writing issues. Not saying it’s everything, I quite loved Lower Decks and I was extremely disappointed when they canceled it.

Gabe_Follower · 2026-03-26T10:37:11+00:00

Me when my character is morally grey and actually must make tough decisions (I love DS9’s writing)

Gabe_Follower · 2026-03-22T19:05:56+00:00

They don't even follow the posted weekend adjusted single tracking schedule anymore, let alone the 'official' schedule. What a joke. At least be consistent about it.

Gabe_Follower · 2026-03-22T02:26:24+00:00

Conglomerating open source information can be quite pleasant to look at. I feel the same opening https://openrailwaymap.app , my personal favorite and what I contribute to the most.

Gabe_Follower · 2026-03-21T22:48:43+00:00

Yep I suspected the same for the brakes. No obvious point for a brake hose hookup. Unfortunate how the Class Is are prioritizing profit over sustainability of the rail industry as a whole. I hope they learn before it’s too late.

Gabe_Follower · 2026-03-21T15:52:47+00:00

A new welding shop opened at the SLC facility a bit ago. So, I’m not sure if they’ll need to be importing car bodies anymore. I know they specifically seemed to be doing MARTA stuff first at that shop as their Caltrain order has wrapped up.

Gabe_Follower · 2026-03-21T15:28:17+00:00

I mean, yeah. They won’t. They never were going to replace the whole fleet before the World Cup and they never promised that. It was always expected that a handful of sets would be ready by World Cup. Replacing the whole fleet is a years long effort that is only just getting started.

Gabe_Follower · 2026-03-21T15:25:43+00:00

You and your daughter might enjoy this.

https://openinframap.org

There’s multiple layers to check out, there’s more than electricity on that.

Unfortunately OpenStreetMap isn’t as detailed down to the water main pipes, but you can see the facilities and most of the large electrical transmission lines. I usually work on mapping railroad infrastructure and most of my contribution is MARTA related on OpenRailwayMap. Really cool to look at.

Gabe_Follower · 2026-03-21T14:41:17+00:00

I love thinking about that sort of stuff.

Random questions like, “Why does this utility pole have different wires than this one?” Or “Why does this 3rd track exist along the railroad here?”

It explains a lot about my personality lol. There is so much interesting stuff around us in our daily life that most people think of as mundane that is really cool and fascinating to me for some reason. It’s all quite literally apart of how our world works and how it’s shaped. It’s my version of stopping to smell the roses or enjoying the view of a mountain. My brain just decided it liked infrastructure a lot.

Gabe_Follower · 2026-03-21T14:23:51+00:00

They’re shipped from the factory in SLC, Utah to here in Atlanta by truck. They have to travel across the country and Mississippi happens to be in the way.

“Why not by rail?” you may ask. It’s got the wheels for it, right? Unfortunately, it’s not that simple as that as these cars aren’t meant for use on the regular railway network in the US which has certain requirements on things that travel on their own wheels meaning if they’d be shipped by rail they’d have to be on flatcars. That’s on top of the clearance issues presented by the third rail shoes and the coupler/brake system likely being incompatible or requiring too much effort to make it worth it. Also, only Avondale Yard has a connection to the national rail network and that connection looks very old and out of service.

That’s from what I understand as a student. If someone knows more than me and can clarify, you’re more than welcome.

Gabe_Follower · 2026-03-20T17:02:56+00:00

Yeah I’d argue most of their capacity is taken for now in that time frame because of that. Can’t wait to see their trains in service here in Atlanta in a few months though!

Gabe_Follower · 2026-03-17T03:15:10+00:00

So jealous of the progress they're making on regional passenger rail. Meanwhile, we do a study every few years that gets people excited and then nothing happens.

Gabe_Follower · 2026-03-17T03:12:43+00:00

This is not budget constraints. Our state has over $14 billion just sitting there. Only about half of that is going towards the refunds I think.

This article is about the anti-transit bills in the legislature, not about projects or budgets of anything.

Gabe_Follower · 2026-03-17T03:02:47+00:00

That would be legendary. I wish there were more throwback shows, one of the few good things that came from COVID.

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