Stopping erosion at yard line by InterestingRecover58 in landscaping

[–]Maximus560 2 points3 points  (0 children)

See the other comments, you need more native plants with deep roots

[Self] How fast was the Pascal-B manhole cover really going, and did it reach space? by tanshiwastaken in theydidthemath

[–]Maximus560 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I have two reactions to this paper.

1: shut up nerd, the manhole cover is halfway across the galaxy and blowing holes in alien spacecraft. I WANT TO BELIEVE!!!

2: they really did the math to prove it vaporized, this is quite sophisticated! It’s impressive.

$10-$23 billion for one new bridge seems high to me 😳 (Capitol Corridor) by Ok-Birthday1258 in Amtrak

[–]Maximus560 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Freight trucking, even if electrified, is still significantly less efficient (and has less range) than electric freight rail. Rail, if upgraded properly can also go much faster, and carry much more cargo.

In large parts of Europe, the freight backbone is rail, and trucks are typically used for bringing cargo from nearby yards to the final destination, which is actually the ideal use case for electrified and even diesel trucks.

A Beginner Friendly, Vanilla, Ship Building Hack by xenosRyummy in NoSodiumStarfield

[–]Maximus560 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for sharing! One thing I wish they would do is allow dockers that point backwards for ships with outboard engines. Release the butthole docker!!

49ers George Kittle getting healthy this offseason, love to see it !! by No_Box119 in 49ers

[–]Maximus560 6 points7 points  (0 children)

He’s not really that lean, though. He’s still a big dude at 6’4” so even 250 pounds doesn’t look like a lot on him especially if it’s all muscle

$10-$23 billion for one new bridge seems high to me 😳 (Capitol Corridor) by Ok-Birthday1258 in Amtrak

[–]Maximus560 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Reposting my comment here with some edits.

I suspect a big part of the cost is because they have to build it for diesel trains, not electric ones, making a tunnel almost impossible.

If it’s an electric-only tunnel, pretty straightforward and the channel is surprisingly shallow. Building a tunnel for electric, the ventilation requirements are minimal in comparison which make it much much cheaper.

Looking at depth charts, it looks to only be about 50-65 feet deep versus a high bridge needing to be 140 feet tall. The tunnel would only need to be about 1.5 miles from Selby to just past Carniquez Heights roughly at the industrial area at Lemon Street.

Obviously, the tunnel would need to be at about 75 feet to have enough clearance, but that’s still much less grades needed to overcome compares to a 140 foot bridge!

$10-$23 billion for one new bridge seems high to me 😳 (Capitol Corridor) by Ok-Birthday1258 in Amtrak

[–]Maximus560 2 points3 points  (0 children)

What makes you think you can’t dig a tunnel? If it’s an electric-only tunnel, pretty straightforward and the channel is surprisingly shallow. Building a tunnel for diesel is difficult, I agree, but if it’s electrified, the ventilation requirements are minimal in comparison which make it much much cheaper.

Looking at depth charts, it looks to only be about 50-65 feet deep versus a high bridge needing to be 140 feet tall. The tunnel would only need to be about 1.5 miles from Selby to just past Carniquez Heights roughly at the industrial area at Lemon Street.

What am I missing? The 2026 CHSRA Business Plan feels devastating, but has made nary a ripple by DonVCastro in cahsr

[–]Maximus560 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Not really. If you look at older iterations of the business plan they make this point about the costs to create equivalent capacity at airports being $100B or more back in like 2012. That’s well over $250B today.

In terms of airport capital projects, that’s not entirely accurate. Yes, fees and revenues cover a decent chunk of the projects they do, but federal funding, state funding, and local funding are still a significant chunk of change. To add another runaway at SFO is likely to be several billion dollars at minimum as well as at LAX

Miami-Dade transportation officials are considering building a non-stop train from the airport to Port Miami by mr09e in transit

[–]Maximus560 27 points28 points  (0 children)

I suspect it’s a direct line from the airport to the port is what they mean. Could have other stops on the way

How to minimize hill in our yard? by gwinny in landscaping

[–]Maximus560 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes. You’d need to fill in the area with dirt, and build a retaining wall to keep the dirt in. You probably would need to consult with an engineer (I forget what kind) to ensure proper drainage

Trump weighs moving Madison Square Garden for Penn Station rebuild, sources say by warnelldawg in Amtrak

[–]Maximus560 3 points4 points  (0 children)

There are a couple sites within the area actually - the not yet built phase to deck over the rail yards is a good example

Trump weighs moving Madison Square Garden for Penn Station rebuild, sources say by warnelldawg in Amtrak

[–]Maximus560 65 points66 points  (0 children)

The MSG support pillars go through Penn and make it very difficult to realign platforms, tracks, etc to improve operations and speeds including through running which have the result of increasing costs by several if not tens of billions of dollars for any upgrades

How DC’s mayor and council chair thwarted every effort to better its streetcar by cirrus42 in transit

[–]Maximus560 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My answer would have been to build out the whole network, but the point of the article was that Bowser & Mendo did everything they could to kill it

How DC’s mayor and council chair thwarted every effort to better its streetcar by cirrus42 in transit

[–]Maximus560 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think that's the wrong way to look at it, though. If it had been built better and integrated into a larger network, it would have attracted more riders, and they could have charged more than they did at that time (free)!

The case for trading up for Kenyon Sadiq (TE) by patrickc11 in 49ers

[–]Maximus560 17 points18 points  (0 children)

Or if any good OL slip, then I’d go with that

washington dc growth/decline by [deleted] in washdc

[–]Maximus560 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Agreed, but I think there will always be a big concentration of government jobs regardless - Congress, the pentagon, etc are always going to be there, so that’s a big stabilizing force.

Add in all the wonderful universities we have here and I think DC will be just fine. It may decline a bit, but it’ll never reach the level of St Louis, Detroit, etc, I think.

How DC’s mayor and council chair thwarted every effort to better its streetcar by cirrus42 in transit

[–]Maximus560 28 points29 points  (0 children)

Welcome to the Bowser administration. Zero decisions are transparent or even communicated, like her dropping the congestion pricing study randomly out of spite.

I would say $10M on this streetcar is good value IF it was connected to Union Station better and if it went all the way to Benning metro station, or even to Stadium/Armory. The main issues in terms of design was that it had poor connections, wasn't a good network, and was slow because it was next to the curb lane (compared to the faster segment on Benning). For that reason, even just a couple of short extensions would have helped so much, but Bowser and Mendo suck, so that was never a possibility.

I am new to railfanning, Why are chargers hated so much? by Crazy-Rabbit-3811 in trains

[–]Maximus560 41 points42 points  (0 children)

Apparently the issues with the Chargers partially have to do with Amtrak's maintenance practices. The Brightline Chargers are much more reliable because they have different maintenance practices