California agency auction:   135 TON Locomotives for sale - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: RJSV
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 27, 2024, 03:07:20 am
content: (They don't say if they run).Too Dodgy, for regular topic, but technology related, and I can't resist helping others, have their fun.So, I'm putting this out for someone who has the cash, but maybe didn't see the news of the sale.I thinks it's 20 diesel electric Locomotives, and they will have some sort of starting minimum auction bid.I'm already fantacising:Small town gets into it, bids $1, (one dollar), and shockingly WINS ...a messed up, rusty, 130 ton fuel guzzler, purchased with town funds, with idea of starting up a 'system'.(I heard they also need 'rails'.Responses, please place your own ideas here; what amusing story, involving, uh...,involving 135 tons.And by the way, would that much weight even be supported in a typical backyard lawn ?Kids would love it, but just the cab deck is way high...about 2 meters up off the ground.Maybe you've had ongoing hassles, with neighbor (s).Definitely Dodgy category. Enjoy.(Google on Caltrain Locomotive Auction 2024).Rick

author: Xena E
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 27, 2024, 12:43:39 pm
content: Quote from: RJSV on September 27, 2024, 03:07:20 amProject being run by Lyle Langley by any chance?What's the price of mixed scrap in the US these days, that's where that dream will end...

author: PA0PBZ
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 27, 2024, 12:56:32 pm
content: Pickup only, no thankshttps://www.caltrainstore.com/special-items/p/caltrain-emd-f40ph-2-locomotive-used

author: schmitt trigger
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 27, 2024, 02:55:50 pm
content: Quote from: RJSV on September 27, 2024, 03:07:20 amThe website mentions that as part of the transfer agreement, the engine must be disabled.

author: ComfyChair
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: September 27, 2024, 03:17:16 pm
content: According to the web store page (https://www.caltrainstore.com/special-items/p/caltrain-emd-f40ph-2-locomotive-used):"Locomotive engine must be disabled per a state grant funding agreement"Moreover you have to tow (?) this 130 ton beast to some place. No thanks.Maybe it's a good idea for a café or a fancy restaurant, provided that you find a suitable place to park it

author: TimFox
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 27, 2024, 04:14:19 pm
content: Although someone at Caltrans added some whimsical details about B&B, etc., this is a normal disposal of a surplus locomotive by a government agency.The F40PH at one time (1980s) was the normal model for passenger trains, including Amtrak and various local transit agencies.Properly maintained, a million mile useful lifetime is quite believable.It might be able to move under its own power to a site for disabling/scrapping/imaginative re-use.

author: RJSV
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 27, 2024, 04:57:58 pm
content: Re-use is not a new thing:I recall a children's book had an excavator Steam Shovel, that could talk and express emotions. Eventually, the shovel was converted as it could not get out of the basement it had excavated! Thing was converted into a BOILER, for building heat.Seems like I'd prefer a passenger car, for a cute cabin or play space, out back of house.OR, maybe a neighbor has complained about your old car parked. Just simply 'park' the loco up near neighbor's fence....(Don't,....there might be zoning and eyesore issues).

author: jpanhalt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 27, 2024, 05:14:56 pm
content: Scrap mixed metal and junk (e.g., appliances) sold locally in small amounts is $0.065/#. The scrap yard probably gets at least double that for larger loads. 135 tons (270,000#) of relatively clean steal/iron is probably worth in excess of $30,000. $1 may be off by 5 orders of magnitude, excluding transportation cost.

author: TimFox
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 27, 2024, 05:26:36 pm
content: When the US railroads eliminated cabooses from their freight trains, replacing them with “FREDs” (flashing rear-end devices) to monitor brake air pressure, they sold them as surplus with delivery to rail sidings.Many were bought and transported by truck to rural properties for use as cabins.I assume that they are gone now.Typical caboose weight is 25 tons.

author: Xena E
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 27, 2024, 05:51:52 pm
content: Is Carney's restaurant still on Sunset in LA?That's an economical reuse for old rollingstock!

author: jpanhalt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 27, 2024, 06:03:03 pm
content: Quote from: Xena E on September 27, 2024, 05:51:52 pmApparently, yes:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carney%27sThat predates my cruising the Strip in the late 50's. We called it the boulevard of broken taillights. It was a major reason the wash and wax the family car.Edit: Small restaurants made from old rail cars (like Red Line cars) were not that unusual in those days in East LA and related areas.

author: johnk0gcj@gmail.com
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: September 28, 2024, 01:51:21 am
content: If you're undecided as to whether you want to buy, go to the Isaac Walton Lodge and try it out, spend a nightin one. Looks pretty nice, like to have one in my yard, but no RR track within 8 or so miles.''

author: xrunner
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 28, 2024, 02:09:27 am
content: Quote from: PA0PBZ on September 27, 2024, 12:56:32 pmQuote

author: themadhippy
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 28, 2024, 02:56:37 am
content: be fun to park it in your front garden somewhere that try and impose restrictions on what you can park on your own property,bet theres nothing in there rules thats says no trains.

author: guenthert
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 28, 2024, 08:41:59 am
content: I was more than a bit surprised to see old (maybe 60s or early 70s vintage) locomotives in commercial (freight) operation here in Germany this summer (after having been away for quite a few years). There's even a market for thosehttps://railmarket.com/eu/germany/locomotive-rental-leasingAfaiu, the rail system is all (or the vast majority at least) owned by one company (inheriting from the former state monopoly), but these days there are a number of private train operators.I would have guessed those would be most interested in this auction, so I don't quite understand the requirement for disabling the engine here.

author: jpanhalt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 28, 2024, 11:25:07 am
content: Re: DisablingIt is quite common in the US to disable surplus before it is sold for scrap or re-purposing.For example, military aircraft were sold without engines and critical electronics to prevent misuse. Liability is another concern if a usable piece of equipment is sold. It might be extreme, but consider what a renegade locomotive operated by a terrorist might do.

author: forrestc
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 28, 2024, 11:44:07 am
content: Quote from: RJSV on September 27, 2024, 04:57:58 pmOne of my favorite children's books from when I was a kid (like the age when I started to read). "Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel" by Virginia Lee Burton. I not only had the book, but also a cassette tape 'audiobook' complete with sound effects.Now, more relevant to the original post: I know of at least one spot that you can stay in a converted locomotive:https://www.gn441.com/

author: RJSV
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 28, 2024, 08:02:37 pm
content: Now, what I DONT SEE, here, so far, is mention of th labor and materials, to render SCRAP into pieces suitable for the sales to scrap metal accepters.I would not underestimate the hassles, of dismantling big steel engine blocks etc.Sorry, I didn't read all the details, but question if the CALTRAIN folks actually remove the motor and generator, or if they do something more like sabotage, like blowing up internal cylinder walls and seals, rendering the diesel engine without needed compression.Do they ruin the electric generator ?If I was to use the 'Shell' only, then I would prefer the locomotive be delivered WITHOUT those engine / generator portions.

author: TimFox
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 28, 2024, 08:12:05 pm
content: You need to contact the vendor.Incidentally, when I was looking for Diesel generator sets twenty years ago, I found vendors that removed the chassis with Diesel (prime mover) and alternator/generator, renovated them, and sold them for use.The F40PH used an EMD (formerly part of General Motors) 16-645E3 16 cylinder V-16 Diesel (645 in3displacement per cylinder) and AR10D14 alternator: 3000 horsepower prime mover.Some later models had a smaller Diesel for hotel power, with a smaller alternator (a few hundred kW) that could be run at constant rpm.Historical notes: EMC was an early manufacturer of Diesel-electric locomotives, before WWII.General Motors bought them in 1941 and named the division EMD.GM spun off that division in 2005, and they are now a subsidiary of Caterpillar (Progress Rail).During that time, EMD lost a lot of market share to GE and Siemens.

author: Xena E
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 28, 2024, 08:42:44 pm
content: Quote from: RJSV on September 28, 2024, 08:02:37 pmThe usual way to ensure scrappage to prevent reuse of the motor in these situations is to run the engines with water glass resin in the oil until they seize.The use of old carriage stock for homes and such was popular in the UK, as a novel and cheap option, but as everyone is now frightened of asbestos, old rolling stock from the 1950's to 1970's is uneconomical to strip the mineral from, unless you really want to pay of course.One use that I've seen for an old passenger carriage is a mechanical engineering company I've delt with who house a large lathe in one!X

author: Stray Electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 29, 2024, 12:42:21 am
content: Quote from: RJSV on September 27, 2024, 04:57:58 pmAs a matter of possible interest, The HMS Erebus and HMS Terror that were lost in the Canadian arctic in 1848 on Sir John Franklin's expedition to find the North West Passage where both equipped with locomotive boilers and engines. The engine could be used to drive a propeller that was lowered into place when needed or raised and removed entirely while traveling thru ice and the boilers were used with steam pipes to heat all of the interior spaces of the ships.The Terror was originally built as a "bomb ship". That is a very heavily built ship designed to carry large mortars that fired very heavy shells in an almost vertical angle in order to fire them over the walls of large fortifications. Both ships were used to bombard Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Maryland in 1814. And for those of you that don't know American history, that bombardment was witnessed by Francis Scott Key and he wrote the song 'The Star Spangled Banner' after seeing that the American flag was still flying over Fort McHenry the following morning. The HMS Erebus also fired on Fort McHenry during the same battle but it was a lighter built ship and designed to fire Congreve rockets.The HMS Erebus was just located a few years ago (2014) and the hull of the ship is largely still intact.One of my distant cousins from England, James Frederick Elgar Rigden, was Franklin's personal coxswain on the HMS Erebus and was lost on the 1848 voyage.

author: TimFox
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 29, 2024, 02:14:42 am
content: "And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air"F S Key, after whom an unfortunate bridge was named.Look up "Congreve rockets" for the first bit."Erebus" comes from Greek mythology for "darkness", "Terror" is obvious.Mount Erebus is a volcano in Antarctica, named after the vessel, that much later was the site of a bad plane crash in 1979.

author: RJSV
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 29, 2024, 04:29:51 am
content: ? Has anyone else viewed the workplace videos, showing India workers in a foundry?(Discussion on scrap metal from buying oldocomotive). The skip over the scrap supply portions, but feature a technician in a sand area for building molds, say, for making a GEAR, having dimensions like a large round table (2 meter diameter).The worker, very fast, applies what appears to be primitive tools, but obviously gets all the sand down and surface shaped, using things like long pile on a swivel center, shaving and packing the sand.Heck; I'd be very upright and concerned about accuracy, but the big wheel, gear, does go next into a big lathe for the next step, (of course after pouring the molten foundry metal.Idea is here they would take Xena's 'seized' and deliberate ruined engine and just chuck the whole block, into foundry melt bucket.But there are so many steps skipped in that description, like the part where the team extracts the whole engine / alternator set (crane?), and sets that down, before separating out, and possibly cutting up.Also just the transportation of that bulk, to final foundry isn't trivial.Such things could really cause a negative 'GO' outcome, being expense exceeding scrap value....?Hmmm, there's got to be some possible book or two, at local Library, on the whole scrap industry, including steel shipped to India foundaries. That part, the shipping, is well established..once you've gotten your metal portioned out into chunks.

author: Kurets
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 29, 2024, 06:01:18 am
content: Quote from: jpanhalt on September 28, 2024, 11:25:07 amRemebering when Ali G asked if no one is concerned about terrorists running a train into the White house.

author: 5U4GB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 29, 2024, 06:44:27 am
content: Those things develop 2.4MW, sounds like they'd make for a decent vaguely-mobile generator. You'd just have to arrange for the disabling to be easily removable with a grinder or similar.

author: TimFox
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 29, 2024, 02:32:42 pm
content: Quote from: Kurets on September 29, 2024, 06:01:18 am"Keep on the tracks, no matter what" (from a children's book about a cute locomotive).The turnouts ("switches") that route locomotives and trains from one track to another are usually remotely controlled.In real disasters and disaster movies, the rogue unit is usually crashed into stationary equipment or otherwise derailed.

author: RJSV
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 29, 2024, 03:05:56 pm
content: Ah; 2.4 MegaWatts, thanks for that power figure.I had been musing, about how much power would a 'Solar Friggin Commuter Train'. For that, would need a square footage figure, for, in that case, a typical shorter train, as for commuters, not a long freight train.It's a pretty pitiful fraction, with train cars covered with solar panels...quick guess is 14%...or less, of power needed to run, direct solar.

author: Gregg
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 01, 2024, 12:26:06 am
content: Shipping a locomotive could cost hundreds of times more than the initial purchase not to mention preparing a place for it at the destination such as getting it off commercial rails and onto your property. I pretty sure it is next to impossible to connect a private spur to most commercial tracks.

author: themadhippy
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 01, 2024, 01:38:28 am
content: Quotenot impossible,just a bit on the pricey side

author: vk6zgo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 01, 2024, 02:52:19 am
content: Quote from: ComfyChair on September 27, 2024, 03:17:16 pmThere are trucks which can, & have, carried locomotives, both diesel & steam.Of course a service like that would cost "an arm & a leg"

author: johansen
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 01, 2024, 02:59:40 am
content: Quote from: RJSV on September 27, 2024, 04:57:58 pmthis reminds me of a very old children's story book about an excavator that was left in the basement of the 3 underground story basement house it had dug out.i later realized some of these old stories messed me up more than i thought they did.. when i was a child. -what i mean is even as an 8 year old reading the story i had the self awareness this is messed up and sad.fuck it might be the same one.

author: themadhippy
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 01, 2024, 02:20:01 pm
content: QuoteAnd here in the uk we even have a tv series all about themhttps://u.co.uk/shows/train-truckers/watch-online

author: forrestc
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: October 02, 2024, 12:06:21 am
content: Quote from: johansen on October 01, 2024, 02:59:40 amI don't disagree about some of the old stories being sick/twisted. Especially nursery rhymes. But in this case, the book actually has a pretty good message that could be applied to lots of things, such as overcoming stereotypes and adapting to change.

author: Seekonk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 02, 2024, 02:17:29 pm
content: Always read the fine print. I bough an electronics cabinet for a piece of inspection equipment at a mail bid auction. I had visited the warehouse to inspect the item. At time of pickup I was informed it also came with a 10 ton piece of granite, from Rock of Ages. I was lucky to know a machine tooling company willing to take it away for free as it was a large and quite expensive precision surface table. They had a heck of a time moving it.

author: TimFox
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 02, 2024, 02:25:47 pm
content: Quote from: forrestc on October 02, 2024, 12:06:21 amThe story "Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Mulligan_and_His_Steam_Shovelhas a happy ending where the steam shovel becomes the boiler for the apartment building, Mike becomes the janitor, and they live happily ever after.A much happier story than many of theKinder- und Hausmärchenof the brothers Grimm. Don't ever read "The Robber Bridegroom" to a child.

author: Analog Kid
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 11, 2024, 06:53:04 am
content: Quote from: TimFox on September 27, 2024, 04:14:19 pmVery common mistake: Caltrainhas nothing whatsoever to do with Caltrans. I know; I used to ride Caltrain (not "Caltrains"!) to work.The commuter line used to be under the California Dep't. of Transportation, but for the last 25 years or so has been owned and operated by the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board (San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties).And that railroad is one gigantic cluster-fuck, but that's another topic altogether ...

author: TimFox
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 11, 2024, 01:58:08 pm
content: Quote from: Analog Kid on October 11, 2024, 06:53:04 amCaltrans took over the service from the Southern Pacific in 1980, and named it Caltrain.Further re-organization since then.

author: Analog Kid
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 11, 2024, 06:56:39 pm
content: Yes. Actually, they (Caltrans) named it CalTrain (note camel case); JPB changed it to Caltrain in a rebranding ~2000.People were still calling it "Caltrans" or Caltrains" in the late 90s when I was a rider.

author: TimFox
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 11, 2024, 07:00:08 pm
content: The advertisement was issued by a souvenir store operated by Caltrain, who also sells tee shirts.The original purchase was by Caltrans sometime around 1985: who actually has title to it now?

author: Analog Kid
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 11, 2024, 07:19:30 pm
content: Who has title? Probably the JPB.And I wonder about the requirement that the locos be disabled by the buyer: that sounds like a state of California edict (environmental/climate-change). But what if the buyer moves it out of state? Seems like a bad deal; those units are well-cared for and could offer rail service for many more years. I know there are people who have bought locomotives (and even airplanes) and turned them into B&Bs and such, though.

author: TimFox
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 11, 2024, 07:28:58 pm
content: The original ad states that sales and shipping are only to California.If you really want to run this on a tourist railroad, you need to pass all sorts of FRA regulations.Most railroad right-of-way is private property, but railroad regulations go back to the 19th century.

author: Analog Kid
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 11, 2024, 08:43:57 pm
content: Quote from: TimFox on October 11, 2024, 07:28:58 pmWell, for sure. That part of California has a bunch of operating tourist lines: the Skunk trains up in Marin, the Roaring Camp & Big Trees in Felton, several others. Some still operating steam.

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 11, 2024, 08:55:43 pm
content: choo choo

author: TimFox
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 11, 2024, 09:18:33 pm
content: Quote from: Analog Kid on October 11, 2024, 08:43:57 pmI was photographing once (4 by 5 inch field camera) at the railroad museum in Ely, Nevada while they were rehabbing a steam locomotive for use at the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics. Certified boiler technicians were installing new fire tubes: very interesting to watch.

author: RJSV
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 18, 2024, 09:46:25 pm
content: My experience is that 'CALTRANS' is a freeway planning and funding gig. That means also being a rather large landowner, which is a big source of contempt, from Caltrans Tenents, renting their residence under State management (have to recite the word...; 'Incompetant', to describe that management).Apparently, the diesel engine cylinders were ruined, in the sales agreement, by way of ruining the cylinder seals. Would be interested in hearing or reading the basic logic for doing that.Imagine a Craig's List AD:"Recently Sabotaged Locomotive for Sale...doesn't run, but you could sleep there.Ridiculous.

author: Xena E
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 20, 2024, 03:50:34 am
content: Quote from: RJSV on October 18, 2024, 09:46:25 pmI'll field that question Rick.It's because a bunch of snowflake shitheads thought they were doing something good for the environment.X

author: Analog Kid
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 20, 2024, 04:20:27 am
content: Quote from: RJSV on October 18, 2024, 09:46:25 pmAgain, Caltrans (California Dep't. of Transportation) has nothing whatsoever to do with Caltrain (operated by the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board).

author: RJSV
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 20, 2024, 04:29:33 am
content: Thank you, Xena; I know you read the detailed contractual offering for auction, and thanks for information that the engine cylinders were 'seized up', apparently by introducing things into the fuel.But, would be able, please, to recite some of what you read, there in the on-line stuff ?I'm currently on a broken-screen smart phone and no laptop, so I'm not fully accessing things out there.I'm fairly interested in crooks and scams, and can appreciate a clever rip-off tale. (Never arrested, so I don't even get to brag, in a bar...unless I lie.That's that old, flirty bar pickup line, lifted from Star Wars:"I'm wanted in 4 provinces !"So, can you recollect anything that was stated, regarding REASONS, not the actual destruction.Like, maybe the auction description said:'According to CA 4103-6 any surplus offering must be in non-service condition...'I know about the non-service aspect, but just interested in the delivery, of that news.Scams, fraud, murder coverups are all interesting...from an armchair distance that is.New smartphone was supposed to be September...oh well, it will happen.Thanks.

author: AVGresponding
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 20, 2024, 10:02:40 am
content: It's likely to do with taking diesel engines out of service and replacing them with electric: "Locomotive engine must be disabled per a state grant funding agreement."Haven't dug very deep, but these are probably the relevant links:https://www.gov.ca.gov/2023/12/05/california-to-receive-6-billion-federal-investment-for-high-speed-rail/andhttps://dot.ca.gov/programs/budgets/state-transportation-grants->https://dot.ca.gov/programs/transportation-planning

author: Analog Kid
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 20, 2024, 07:23:34 pm
content: Speaking of gigantic crocks of shit, California's entire HSR project is exactly that. Something that will never come to fruition, or that will never be completed in our lifetimes.And I speak as someone who really, really likes trains--when they're well done, which most of the dunderheads in the US seem incapable of doing (unlike in Yurp and Asia)--and would love to be able to jump on a nice comfy HSR from the Bay Area to LA. (Turns out HSR can actually be faster than flying in some cases, as the trains go from city center to city center and not some outlying airport requiring extra transit connections.)If you want to read about some of the many, many fuck-ups that have made this (HSR) a pipe dream, check outthis blogwhich covers both Cal HSR and Caltrain (the SF peninsula commute service), which are joined at the hip in this scheme (the initial run from SF will supposedly share the Caltrain ROW). (Caltrain is run by a bunch of fucking idiots.) They know where a lot of the bodies are buried and reveal a lot of the gory details.

author: RJSV
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 20, 2024, 09:04:04 pm
content: Thanks, folks.Some clarification, as far as I know.CALTRANS - -: Caltrans is the lead agency for automobile based systems. I believe the agency was formerly called California Highway Commission.But the history, here in East Bay's Hayward, San Leandro, Oakland, Fremont, is as a roadway planning and also urban property holder, which maybe doesn't sound sinister enough. That's because CALTRANS would go in, condemning swaths of land straight through the heart of community, and, often, becoming a defacto Landlord, for years and years before any freeway construction or ground clearing can happen.Hayward rejected the Route 238 so-called hillside freeway, that would have built another 6 laned and sound walled parallel route, to the giant 880 freeway.This history relates pretty heavily to the whole Silicon Valley life package, that, as we know here, contributed some background feeling used in the movie 'OFFICE SPACE'.(Rt. 238 is essentially a no-build status).Just thought I would help clarify that.--------------------------------------------Caltrain is the agency over the rail system stuff. I actually feel same as Thermahippy, here. I last owned my car, 2009, and it was a relief, to donate!So...back to topic. No agency in Canada, or Cuba, for example, could BUY themselves another diesel-electric Locomotive...Sounds familiar:Some (agency) tried to go forward, unburdened by the past. But...sorry; NO GO on that sale; THAT decision was made by the seller. (Or the Federal mandate). No, that little piece of technology gets trashed.Waste is, naturally, one thing that humans seem to notice, and despise.

author: Analog Kid
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 20, 2024, 09:46:07 pm
content: Quote from: RJSV on October 20, 2024, 09:04:04 pmOnly on the San Francisco peninsula, on the former Espee commuter line between SF and San Jose. (The line actually extends south to Morgan Hill.) That's the extent of their domain.BTW, since you mention Bay Area freeway outrages: 1) check out the San Francisco "freeway revolt" of the 1950s. Caltrans had planned several freeways through the city that would have ripped neighborhoods to shreds. People pushed back, organized and basically said "Fuck, no!". Some of them got built (like the notorious ugly piece of shit that was the Embarcadero Freeway that was mercifully torn down after being damaged by the 1989 earthquake), but most didn't.2) In a truly outrageous scheme, Caltrans planned to punch Hwy. 380, which today is just short stub near SFO that connects 101 with 280, all the way through west to the coast at Pacifica. See reaction described above for the pushback that rendered this a no-go.

author: RJSV
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 21, 2024, 01:23:15 am
content: Thank you for that mention of Caltrain.I'm guessing then that each new project is a separate deal; with Federal 'Green' project money, and control ?Example perhaps, let's say a new line, Sacramento to Fresno....O.M.G. Is all this only for electrification, on special Federal program and subsidies ?I'm concerned about climate change involved disasters but this here is a lot of PHONEY SHIT!Even worse, giving legitimate mitigation measures an impediment.I'm maybe stupid, but I've benefitted from many years of local actions and community meetings. Learned a lot about government agency tricks.So, (to repeat), is CALTRAIN only for piecemeal little pet projects, in electrification ?We don't have the energy, if we calculate the numbers.We can't 'unburden the present' in order to, uh, go back to forward, or shhhh; unburden the Pasch'.Be the change. (At least I got that, empty phrase correct.)(I'm just kidding.)

author: Analog Kid
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 21, 2024, 04:03:23 am
content: I'm starting to wonder if maybe any time is a bad time for you to post ...Anyhoo: Not sure what your image of Caltrain is; it's the body that runs just that one railroad line, from San Francisco to San Jose-ish. Yes, they just completed an electrification project, actually a huge deal for the RR, but years overdue, waaaay over budget, plagued by stupid shit mistakes ... But yes, electrification was a whole separate deal with sources of funding and all.Read that blog I linked above if you're interested in horror stories about Caltrain. There are some doozies.

author: RJSV
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 21, 2024, 04:24:11 am
content: Thanks, I'll check out that post.You might want to check out, privately for yourself, a few, or more political and election related verbal 'presentations'....if you are curious where I've gotten some material, for a bit of pointed sarcasm.You see, the REAL babble prone nonsense dispensing stuff is way better, than any purely made up sarcasm that I've engaged in.But since I've avoided names or other more direct (politically related) issues, maybe it appears as babble.But, no; I'm just not very good at issuing sarcasm based on things I'm seeing and reading. If I put in more clarity, it goes astray of Forum guidelines.My musings and (attempted) sarcasm is nothing, compared to the ones that speak in circles.

author: themadhippy
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 21, 2024, 07:39:44 pm
content: QuoteAre they owned by the british by any chance

author: Analog Kid
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 21, 2024, 10:23:16 pm
content: Nope, totally 100% homegrown 'Murican, as in "we know better than the rest of the world how to design and build stuff". (It's a public agency, not a private enterprise.)

author: RJSV
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 21, 2024, 11:55:11 pm
content: A while ago, the subject of political postings here came up (probably not the first time). THIS Forum managers and many members know, that the politics, religious, racial, etc. topics can mess up the 'decorum',...running the risk of offending some portion or culture of readers.Due to the often 'loose' relations, between folks who never met each other, we can't tolerate the heavier 'combatants' engaging among the topics. I agree.I mean; imagine if some Xtra hot headed person comes on, picking fights aggressively, and making others uncomfortable. That's not good, partially because we are already very thinly relating to each other, and over distances.I'm too aggressive, sometimes. I wished to discuss VACCINES, some, here. It did not go well (thread locked), due to fact that some folks can't resist letting loose a whole sudden dump of contention.Post a picture of your cat, maybe a bit off, but start discussion of war and politics and things degrade. Poor Dave and other tenders here likely rest their heads on the desk (or worse), when trying to manage a bunch of children, at each other's throats.Folks: You always send PM question to myself, if it's something controversial, as there isn't a risk of offending THOUSANDS of readers.For any political related details, you maybe have to go to your (own) TV Set, although I'll take on a PM question.(We had been on the topic, of politicians issuing verbal 'babble'.)

author: RJSV
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 20, 2024, 04:53:42 am
content: Today's news, November 19, 2024, the rail engines and cars have been sold, in a package deal, apparently.The legislature had passed a bill to 'rescue' the diesel engine ban, I suppose just in a one off deal, here.

author: Analog Kid
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 20, 2024, 05:05:23 am
content: Quote from: RJSV on November 20, 2024, 04:53:42 amThey were sold to Peru, which is nice, as they'll be actually running down there.Article here.Quote