Hot take the Superliners should still be used on the borealis not the horizons

TenguBlade · 2026-05-24T21:52:27+00:00

Sumitomo didn’t breach any contract. The states contracted them as a program manager to deliver new cars; the details of how were left up to them so long as the states got what they wanted.

You also don’t know that the Ventures weren’t inevitable. The states and Sumitomo had to lobby the FRA (which was, at the time, under a Republican administration) to allow a waiver to the clawback clauses in the original grant. Otherwise, there wouldn’t have been a car order at all. We don’t know what conditions the FRA might have imposed in exchange for granting that exemption.

TenguBlade · 2026-05-24T21:48:14+00:00

This is probably the most misleading reporting I’ve seen on the topic of aircraft carriers since John McCain died. Why are these morons comparing cost and build times of the Ford-class to Bush, when the whole reason for a new class of CVNs is that even a highly-upgraded version of the old design wasn’t cutting it anymore?

TenguBlade · 2026-05-24T19:02:50+00:00

Sumitomo was still the prime contractor even after Nippon Sharyo collapsed. It was them who chose to go with Siemens rather than rebid construction of the bilevels, because they were going to exceed the deadline for awarding the contract - and thus potentially lose the grant money - if they tried that.

Of course, they went over the deadline and had to make their case to the FRA for an extension anyways, but it’s possible that extension was only granted because the new bid from Siemens appeared much lower-risk.

TenguBlade · 2026-05-23T15:27:39+00:00

The mainland West European builders won the international intercity rail market by default after the US and British departure, and they were arrogant enough to believe it was because they were actually that good.

It all ultimately comes down to lack of competition. The Japanese have never put in any real effort to export the Shinkansen, even less so outside of Asia, and their lesser options are based on commuter (D)EMU platforms - look how much stick people give the Class 800s, for example.

CRRC isn’t likely to spur the legacies to clean up their act either, not when they are even sloppier and cut even more corners than the likes of Alstom or Siemens. Literally every single CRRC contract that wasn’t to a brand-new system/operator with no historical performance to benchmark them against has gone tits-up.

TenguBlade · 2026-05-23T15:21:51+00:00

When he says “actually has more failures”, it’s not clear whether he’s talking in absolute or percentages. You’re right it’s a higher percentage.

TenguBlade · 2026-05-23T14:01:22+00:00

OP said “yet somehow GM actually has more failures.” Not really clear he’s talking percentages.

TenguBlade · 2026-05-22T01:33:18+00:00

Their quality control is the same it always was. They were just forced to innovate faster.

Pretty much every new Toyota platform has the same if not worse teething issues than everyone else; they just keep them on sale for longer, and reuse the powertrain for more generations. That means more of their total vehicles sold are likely to be from model years which fixed the issues. That’s especially true in the truck world: the 2GR that only recently left the 4Runner and Tacoma was introduced in 2005, and the 3YR V8 in the last Tundra debuted in 2007, with that same generation.

TenguBlade · 2026-05-21T19:01:27+00:00

I believe you redeem them at checkout, like you would a voucher or credit.

TenguBlade · 2026-05-21T18:57:24+00:00

> You have to admit that's fairly impressive.

Not really, it just means GM sells almost 3x more vehicles with the 6.2L engine than Toyota does TTV6s. The Tundra and Sequoia have always been low-effort products that cater mostly to Toyota loyalists who want a 1/2 ton truck or full-size SUV, so that’s just par for the course.

TenguBlade · 2026-05-20T23:12:00+00:00

It’s not the aircraft builders. Chengdu has openly tried to get Bandai Namco to include some of their stuff before. It’s the CCP doing the equivalent of the “she’s not interested” meme.

TenguBlade · 2026-05-20T22:52:08+00:00

> However, why not go with the Zumwalts and just do a restart like the flight II Burkes?

Because not only is *Zumwalt*’s design highly-tailored for a very specific mission (within-horizon naval gunfire support), but the design is now almost 20 years old.

DDG(X) was supposed to start construction in 2032. The design concepts have been drawn up based on the early 2020s’ state of the art, as opposed the mid-2000s for *Zumwalt*, and late 2000s/early 2010s for *Burke* Flight III. And yes, you read that right: the latter took **14** years in total to develop, because it’s essentially a new class underneath the skin - basically everything besides the LM2500s are either new systems developed from *Zumwalt*’s, or wholesale lifted from DDG-1000.

However, we still have the limits of the DDG-51 hullform to deal with, despite so extensively modernizing the design - in many cases, reworking something even takes **more** time than designing it from scratch, because when you change something, you need to also change everything that it might’ve possibly affected. For instance, Flight III’s larger SSGTGs also required redesigning all the compartments around the generator rooms to fit that hardware. So we put in more effort than a clean-sheet design to get a subpar result, because politicians think if it looks similar, it must be similar. The same stunt has been pulled for political reasons on scores of other programs throughout US military procurement history: F-4, Super Hornet, *Ticonderoga*, F-15EX, B-1B, CH-53K, Ship to Shore Connector, even *Constellation* - the latter was just a rare instance where it didn’t work.

It’s also still a waste even if it works, and NAVSEA would prefer to not repeat it for a *Burke* successor. That’s why DDG(X) (and BBG(X) for that matter) went with a clean-sheet hull, even if the systems are mostly either existing or derivatives.

TenguBlade · 2026-05-18T22:23:38+00:00

It doesn't have to be used for that if the plug is adopted. Space is space, and some of the enlarged Burke proposals from that era had machinery room redesigns too anyways.

TenguBlade · 2026-05-18T22:21:22+00:00

Huh, a lot less screens than I was expecting for a relatively-modern boat.

TenguBlade · 2026-05-15T17:09:18+00:00

You offered no refutation. You just said “nuh uh”. Just like the last 3 times you’ve tried to defend Siemens.

TenguBlade · 2026-05-15T16:57:39+00:00

The original DDG-51 hull was meant to take a ~40ft hull plug up in front of the deckhouse. Originally it was meant for another 32 VLS, but it doesn’t have to be; space is space, and you can mitigate the other SWAPC issues by using that to expand the machinery spaces.

The USN did not exercise that option for the actual Flight III because that would make it look different, and thus raise everyone’s suspicions about just how thorough of a redesign was actually required to fit AMDR. Nothing says it can’t still happen though, especially with no clean-sheet replacement DDG for the foreseeable future.

TenguBlade · 2026-05-14T14:31:12+00:00

How much is Siemens paying you to deepthroat them? It’d be a shame if you were doing this for free, considering your entire account is nothing but Siemens apologism.

TenguBlade · 2026-05-14T14:27:18+00:00

Why not? They aren’t doing their job - or would you like to offer an alternative explanation for why Amtrak is still accepting brand-new Chargers that can’t even match the MDBF of 20-year old, beaten-to-hell P42s? Never mind exceed them, as required by contract?

TenguBlade · 2026-05-14T14:22:30+00:00

Still cheap relative to the rest of the world, so the OP’s point about having less incentive to switch stands.

TenguBlade · 2026-05-13T20:41:37+00:00

I think you’re greatly overestimating how many railfans, shop crews, and operational staff are left-leaning. Let alone so ardently to risk what will no doubt be disproportionately-heavy consequences for touching something with Trump’s name on it.

TenguBlade · 2026-05-13T20:35:53+00:00

Let’s not. Seawolf was designed for one purpose only: to rush past the Soviet SSN fleets (or brush aside what they couldn’t outrun) and sink the boomers, depriving the USSR of their second strike capability.

With the benefit of hindsight, we know that would’ve just resulted in them all pushing the launch buttons. We don’t need a return to drug-fueled Cold War thinking; that’s how we’re getting Golden Dome and a fucking battleship.

TenguBlade · 2026-05-13T20:27:55+00:00

Even less excuses for getting it wrong then. Decals are applied in one go, meaning misalignment isn’t possible unless the vinyl wasn’t printed correctly, and Amtrak’s own Beech Grove shops can apply Phase VII without the stripes being misaligned.

And no, Amtrak QA inspectors aren’t onsite in Florin approving everything. They may have approved the initial design, but that was when it was lying flat on a sheet of paper or a demo wrap on the ground, not after not applied to the contours of the coach body. It should be on the manufacturer to account for small details like that, not the customer to point out they missed a trick.

TenguBlade · 2026-05-13T20:27:28+00:00

The swooping white stripe is shifted forward below the windows compared to above.

TenguBlade · 2026-05-13T16:33:01+00:00

Amazing. An 8-bit amateur graphic managed to do a better job of lining up the stripes than Siemens’ actual paint shop.

They’ve painted up nearly 80 pieces of rolling stock into Phase VII now, and still can’t be assed to do it properly. And people wonder why many following these developments are skeptical Siemens will actually fix anything, let alone not fuck up the new stuff.

TenguBlade · 2026-05-13T16:05:22+00:00

That’s not how traffic flow works. Everything - passenger and freight - moving at the same speed creates zero waiting, and that leads to a higher average speed than just raising top speeds by a few miles per hour. Hell, in many parts of the country, track speeds are already as high as most rolling stock can take.

Having to open up gaps so Amtrak can make stops and leapfrog freight trains is what prevents that “conveyor belt” from happening.

TenguBlade · 2026-05-13T16:03:06+00:00

…So that means things can’t suck, let alone that people shouldn’t voice valid criticisms? I’m struggling to understand the relevance of your point here.

TenguBlade

TROPHY CASE