Railroads

Roller Bearings, Railcar Owners and East Palestine

Posted on by jccarlton

Recently there was a derailment in East Palestine OH that has raised some controversy. This CNN video has most of the major issues.

Here is some NTSB Drone footage in another video

The ambulance chasers have come out and raised the controversy level to a high pitch already and are blaming Norfolk Southern for the derailment. But as usual, there is more to the story.

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Did slavery “build” the US?

Posted on by jccarlton

One claim made in certain circles is that because America was “built” on the backs of slaves, people of African descent are owed “reparations” for the way that African Americans were treated in the Antebellum South. For a variety of reasons, the demand for “reparations” is ridiculous and the people demanding same are nothing more than extortionists.

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Why The Germans Lost The War On The Eastern Front

Posted on by jccarlton

There have been and will be, scores of articles on why the Germans lost the Eastern front. They will talk about the lack of tanks, not enough Panthers or Tigers, or the crappy roads and rails. I think, though that a key number that just about everybody will overlook is the one I found here:

https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/kent-csi/vol6no4/html/v06i4a07p_0001.htm

The number is that the train drawbar load for the German Army is 428 tons. That number is why the Germans lost the Eastern Front.

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More Research Odds and ends.

Posted on by jccarlton

Here’s some more link and related stuff. In this post I’m going to do things like link to books in my library as well. Do I think that everybody will be able to access naval academy textbooks from the 1930’s? Not really, but I never expected to find them either, but when I did I bought them. and the set of The History of Technology and that book on farm life in the Nineteenth Century.  The reason I have those references is that that I was open to buying them in the first place. As a writer the goal to be to write a book that Sarah Hoyt will not throw across the room. Your goal should be to not insult the reader’s intelligence, not go so far off the deep end that reader never wants to come back.  You should do enough world building that the reader will feel comfortable living in that  world.

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Don’t Do It On The Train Tracks

Posted on by jccarlton

That’s the last sentence in this report from the Today Show:
http://www.today.com/video/rossen-reports-update-see-how-long-it-can-take-to-hear-a-train-coming-911815235593

The rails are not playground. Mr. Rossen is absolutely right when he says that trains can sneak up on you.  I’ve been around trains most of my live and I experienced first hand.  Yet there are people doing stuff like this.

DSC_3466

Consider that I shot this video the same day that those two people were playing with that water bottle.

The railroads keep trying to tell people not to be stupid.  Yet nobody listens.

A train can trash a car in seconds and what happens to somebody hit by one is never pretty.  Yet people don’t seem to understand just how powerful trains are. Two weeks and yet, here we are again.

https://theartsmechanical.wordpress.com/2017/03/16/how-many-people-have-to-die-before-people-stay-off-the-tracks/

There are plenty of dumb ways to die.

How Many People Have To Die Before People Stay Off The Tracks

Posted on by jccarlton

Another one of those stories.

http://abc7ny.com/news/woman-killed-by-train-in-midst-of-modeling-shoot/1801811/

There are just too many of these stories.  RR tracks are not photo sets, trails or playgrounds. Nobody ever plays in the middle of a highway, yet here we are, yet another story of somebody hanging around on a busy RR track and paying the price.

https://theartsmechanical.wordpress.com/2017/03/04/dont-be-this-kid/?frame-nonce=44a8b7f381

Don’t Be This Kid

Posted on by jccarlton

The train doesn’t care that you are an honor student.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4278254/Teen-hit-train-Georgia-loses-feet.html

Apparently being an honor student means that you get to do stupid stuff on railroad tracks. Or not. So I’m doing another, people do stupid stuff on RR tracks post.

So here’s some pics of people walking along, and doing stupid stuff on RR tracks.

DSC_3466

Now is that line active? Judge for yourself.

This is getting stupid. Saving the planer will not save you from 19,000 tons of steel at 40 mph.

https://theartsmechanical.wordpress.com/2016/01/26/the-new-defense-for-criminal-activity-we-did-it-to-save-the-planet/

The railroad is not a photo backdrop.

https://theartsmechanical.wordpress.com/2015/05/13/dont-play-on-the-track/

Or a movie set, trail, gym or playground.

https://theartsmechanical.wordpress.com/2015/03/13/train-tracks-are-not-a-trail-or-playground/

A railroad is a road and traffic can be very heavy, even on a single track, trains can come from either direction on any track, they can be moving very fast, they are very long and heavy and they cannot stop until they are long past where you are. So don’t be on the track.  Here’s a short video from Larry the Cable Guy on how to avoid being hit by a train.  It’s simple, don’t be on the track.

 

If you want to be sure what the rules are, you can go to Operation Lifesaver here.

https://oli.org/