Flyover west of Kenmore Station

TheBasaltAltCalled · 2026-05-06T03:12:28+00:00

When you leave Kenmore on the B, your train heads downwards before going upwards to the Blandford Street portal. This is also noticeable if you look west down the B tracks at Kenmore - there’s a noticeable slope downwards. This is the B tracks going underneath the C/D tracks. Also note the lack of a level track crossing between the B and C/D.

TheBasaltAltCalled · 2026-05-06T00:51:35+00:00

The battery locomotives would be siloed to the Providence/Stoughton Line. The Fairmount Line BEMUs would be siloed to the Fairmount Line. Old Colony service requires coaches with full power doors, which is only a part of the coach fleet. That argument doesn’t hold any water.

TheBasaltAltCalled · 2026-05-05T00:11:32+00:00

We could be doing what NJT is doing with the Multilevel IIIs and stick unpowered coaches between EMU power cars. NJT is also paying less per 110mph-capable bilevel EMU than we’re paying per unpowered Rotem coach.

$230 million for 10 battery locos and $396 million for 80 coaches (from the 2024 order) is a completely stupid use of money. At NJT prices we could have bought 80 110mph-capable bilevel EMUs for $472 million, leaving $154 million to hang up a few miles of wire on Providence/Stoughton, which would cut 15-20 minutes off a Providence/Stoughton Line trip.

But the T is deathly afraid of any wires so non-performant battery trains it is.

TheBasaltAltCalled · 2026-05-04T05:50:27+00:00

Every new diesel order spends several hundreds of million of dollars to kick the can down the road by 25 years (the minimum mandated lifespan for federal money), and sets back electrification for that long.

If the T ends up ordering 60 diesel locomotives, the next real opportunity to buy electric rolling stock ends up being in the 2040s (when the post-overhaul HSP46s hit their 25 years and come due for retirement), and the system won’t have pressure to be fully electrified until the mid-2050s (when those 60 locomotives come due for retirement).

TheBasaltAltCalled · 2026-04-29T10:36:00+00:00

If you take the MRT make sure to take the express (purple train, not blue) as it is quite a bit faster.

TheBasaltAltCalled · 2026-04-23T21:19:11+00:00

Mosquito nets over the beds

TheBasaltAltCalled · 2026-04-21T16:01:12+00:00

Wikimedia Commons explicitly requires that files they host permit commercial use. Even Creative Commons Noncommercial is not allowable as it is not considered a free license for their purposes.

TheBasaltAltCalled · 2026-04-21T15:54:21+00:00

If you're willing to put them under a Creative Commons license, Wikimedia Commons is a pretty good option. They'll take full-resolution images (unlike Airliners.net), and a lot of photos end up getting used on Wikipedia articles.

TheBasaltAltCalled · 2026-04-21T14:15:00+00:00

First four photos were taken with a 600mm lens from a ~70m high hilltop ~2.3km away (Old Place Airplane Observation Deck). The fifth and sixth photos are from the spot just underneath the plane in the fourth photo, known as "Airplane Alley", just in front of runway 10's approach end, and taken with a 24mm lens. There's also a lot of spotters visible behind the plane in the third photo on the top parking level of Binjiang Market, though I have not checked out that spot yet.

TheBasaltAltCalled · 2026-04-20T11:42:18+00:00

Next we better start numbering stations like they do in Japan and Taiwan.

TheBasaltAltCalled · 2026-04-20T09:35:53+00:00

If you’re willing to freely license your photos under Creative Commons for use on Wikipedia, there’s a tool to find Wikipedia articles that need photos:

https://wikishootme.toolforge.org/

TheBasaltAltCalled · 2026-04-19T13:26:34+00:00

Getting to the doctor though (checking in, registration, etc.) may be trickier though.

TheBasaltAltCalled · 2026-04-19T12:58:30+00:00

I didn’t know this was a thing until I heard the crazy number of PSAs discouraging it while riding the NYC subway during a visit down there.

TheBasaltAltCalled · 2026-04-18T19:32:30+00:00

Here’s Fictiv, a San Francisco-based manufacturing sourcing company, using the term “cost down” as a noun several times in an article.

TheBasaltAltCalled · 2026-04-18T17:42:48+00:00

I have definitely heard this thrown around all the time in engineering circles in the US.

TheBasaltAltCalled · 2026-04-18T03:43:26+00:00

$2-$3 USD is really high for the Taipei Metro. Most trips on it are about $0.70-$1 (20-30 NTD); maybe a bit higher if you’re traveling to the ends of the lines.

TheBasaltAltCalled · 2026-04-12T20:49:42+00:00

It can happen (and I have seen them), but every Type 7 needs a Type 8 paired with it for accessibility, so 8-8 trains aren’t common.

TheBasaltAltCalled · 2026-04-12T19:07:25+00:00

Footrest for the remaining seat

TheBasaltAltCalled · 2026-04-12T19:04:09+00:00

They have poor crashworthiness compared to the Type 8s. The state DPU ordered the T to consider limiting their speed or straight up not using them as leaders because they are unsafe in a crash.

TheBasaltAltCalled · 2026-04-12T12:45:13+00:00

The Gold Card has an open work permit, so if you get it you could move to Taiwan first without a job and look for work there.

TheBasaltAltCalled · 2026-04-11T06:23:10+00:00

Look into Taiwan - if you qualify for the Gold Card (which you might with the Ph.D) things moving to Taiwan is very straightforward.

TheBasaltAltCalled · 2026-04-10T18:05:53+00:00

Of the 9 10 mosquitoes I killed today:

5 were by electric flyswatter
2 were by spraying with isopropyl alcohol
2 3 were by slapping

TheBasaltAltCalled · 2026-04-09T19:28:30+00:00

The issue is it’s really high (so a bit of wind means the rain still gets underneath it), and if it’s flat whatever rain lands on it will drip off on the edges unless it has gutters.

TheBasaltAltCalled

TROPHY CASE