If you love trains, then help them!

[cascaderailroad]

There are those who love trains, and those who make donations to trains ... and there are others who would rather sit on the sidelines, sitting on their hands, and do nothing, complacently watching the terrible demise unfold.

I'm done ...

If you're not hiding something ... then there is nothing for them to watch you for !

 

[RRSignal]

And so you could write those things freely from a computer that isn't watched by the government.

I wished I could lol to this, but I can't, because you're right.

 

[RRSignal]

There are those who love trains, and those who make donations to trains ... and there are others who would rather sit on the sidelines, sitting on their hands, and do nothing, complacently watching the terrible demise unfold.

I'm done ...

The war and history aside, I don't mind donating to our trains. Nor supporting their practical use, where feasible. I put my money where my mouth is on a regular basis, and hope others do the same.

 

[amtrak2041864]

There are those who love trains, and those who make donations to trains ... and there are others who would rather sit on the sidelines, sitting on their hands, and do nothing, complacently watching the terrible demise unfold.

I'm done ...

If you're not hiding something ... then there is nothing for them to watch you for !

I have a job now, so I know I can. Now I need to find the right railroad, because the big four can careless about me. And my Penney donation, which is the bread and butter of this country.

But you want to know how much everyday the war in Iraq costed. About 27,397,260.274 estimated but I heard could be more.
About 10 billion a year, but remember could be more. LINK I Know it's Wikipedia, but there are reference links, you know.
But Amtrak is asking for probably 1/10 of that a year. To help get itself into a state of good repair and after those projects are done invest in newer technologies, higher speeds and better service. Amtrak will become self reliant in the future. But Wow, what a great land, a land of great opportunity.

Where also money rules the congress members,(Which are for the people....supposedly) we don't see any rail projects because the oil company's prevent any moving forward for passenger rail(oil lobbyist). Electric trains use electric not oil. And cars use what oil. If people are using more of the High Speed train system they are bound to use their car less. Remember the NEC is taking 70% of the travel market between New York and Washington,DC. And 50% Between Boston and New York. What do you expect any less if other high speed corridors are created else where. It may at first have low ridership. But just look how the NEC has exploded. Trains back in the day, use to run every hour. Now the North River Tunnels are at capacity. That means a train is going through them every 2 and half mins. If High Speed rail travel has that same effect on metropolitan, what less do you expect from other large city centers. The NEC is a High Speed Line.

I am not saying world conflict is not important, and should be handled in its respected place. But would a army doctor let you go back into service with a bullet wound in your shoulder, in your leg, or both. No, he will make sure your in good condition for battle. Why cant the US do the same for itself?

 

[amtrak2041864]

I think if I was president of the United States. I would have been assassinated, because this country would be reformed. Food system, business system, congress, transport system, infrastructure, external affairs, the whole nine yards. This country is ruled by the power of money, and greed. That may equal into cutting cost, so big corporations can make more money. It is very sick and the American people have to live with it. Just saying like it is from an American point of view. If someone here has seen Food inc, you may be able to see my view point.

 

[cascaderailroad]

Congress really doesn't want RR's ... it just doesn't fund big oil, gas and coal company interests.

We desperately need RR's ... but Congress doesn't want to have to pay for RR's !

They could care less about Amtrak, and let it fail ... let alone scenic RR's !

 

[H222]

I don't know what's worse, the WW2 dribble, or the dribble that comes out of Amtrak's mouth. Yes I'll be president and ill change everything and fix it. Where have I heard that before? Oh yeah. EVERY political campaign.

by the way, cascade. During WWII your biggest allies WERE communists.

 

[bassist118]

.

They are big countries, but the ratio of car ownership per capita is far lower than here in the States. Most people need the trains for their daily lives, it's the only way they can travel great distances. Here, just about anybody can own a car, gas is plentiful and still relatively cheap so people are going to drive. Even if rail travel was improved here, most people would not give up their cars unless forced to. Owning a car has been a sort of American birthright for a long time now.

BTW, Russia can't afford to try to run the world now because they went bankrupt trying it 30 years ago. China is trying, in a different way, and just may succeed. But that's a discussion for another forum. But I do agree, we could be better suited spending more money sprucing up our own backyard.

Driving is a priviladge, I have Congenital Nystagmus and cant drive (even tho there are plenty of old people on the roads that would fail a driving test but thats a different matter)... So what you saying is that if your 'disabled' and can't drive then you should be stuck in the 1 place and anyone who uses public transport is screwing the ecconomy..... Then you have to filter in the effects of driving you have seen the pictures of smog over LA which increases lung diseases extra money is then needed for health care - then flood defences over here we've spent billions on flood defences funnily enough its around the same amount as our budget deficit - it is now widley excepted that clobal warming is manmade (except those scientists that work for the oil companies or congress who have a reason to have an alternative viewpoint to fill their pockets!?!) and then theres efficency a car produces 100hp or more with one person tn the car thats 100hp per person Intercity 125 (class 43) 2,500hp x 2 (2 powercars) 5,000hp and can carry 544 people seated thats 9.19hp per person most of the time trains coast in a car you need to have your foot down all the time driving a train most power is used in acceleration once at line speed throttle comes down to maintain the speed..... I have two kids and would very much like their kids to have a beautifull world to live in not smog and lazyness from people who cant walk for 10 minuites I'm not religious (because people only take out of it what they want) but it says in the bible greed will destroy the world and its easirer for a cammel to pass through the eye of a needle than a richman can get into heaven....... If sea tempratures raise by 5 degrees then the trapped methane in hte deep oceans is released I would look like the seas boiling and would help kick off the 'deadly plagues' which would be a direct cause of a runaway greenhouse effect....

We need to change our views for our childrens sake

My half pennies worth



Andy

 

[bassist118]

Supercilious? Hardly. Along with 80%+ of the American public at the beginning, I would have preferred we not get involved in the war at all. QUOTE]

I was once told when anyone brings the war into an argument then that argument has failed but hey were obversuly tutching a sore spot so I'll continue

Yep you should have sat back and let Japan bomb the peverbal out of you?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!??!?!!??! Most of the money you spent was on developing the Nuke (look at all the pock marks over Nevada
0 and who did you use the nuke on????? Japan not Germany and for the first year of the war the US was supporting Nazi Germany till the Lusitainia was torpeadoed.....

Btw your more recent than the rest of the world civil war cost you 3 times as much as WW2

Don't be so blinkered , your not a horse...



Andy

 

[boc61]

So what you saying is that if your 'disabled' and can't drive then you should be stuck in the 1 place and anyone who uses public transport is screwing the ecconomy.....

Where did I say that?

We need to change our views for our childrens sake

I agree with this 100% even though I don't have any children.

 

[rjhowie]

History does how that America only came into WW1 at the end game and in WW2 delayed as long as it could. It wouldn't have become involved in the Far East except for Pearl so it illustrates well that reluctance mentioned. As for the comment that the US funded the allies, considering we had been fighting the Nazis ourselves for long enough we didn't get some gift - we got a loan! And the sum took actually decades to pay off following a war which had devastated cities, infrastructure including our extensive railway system. Suitable interest payments of course so as we suffered near bankruptcy the US did a profit. Well that is history and life. The US is really run by money people. Wages have hardly moved much percentage-wise for the last couple of decades but boy oh boy look at those at the top?! Increased money, less tax percentages and so on. Over half the Congress are at least, millionaires and a large minority of the Senate. A million a year lose homes, fraud, poverty, food stamps people in tens of millions. If Mcarthy that neo-fascist was here today he would be calling them un-American. The internal history contradicts everything the Constitution says. Equality, freedoms, racial stuff all fought. So much for principles to dish out to the world when it didn't happen at home. It is almost criminal what decent people are being used as over there. Decent county loving families in bad shape through no fault of their own. The "Dream" is just that. It is a strangeness that there is a thread through those determined that rail gets zilch if possible whereas they blithely ignore that ridiculous costly bill to rule the world. The debt rises as we speak and trillions treated like nothing of importance. America should stop marching all over the globe and realise that the political system is a falsehood whatever the founders intended. Indeed it is an out of control nationalism that gives great profits to the corporate barons. It is the money men who run the nation and give elections to keep the people kind of happy and the propaganda has worked! So we get spluttering over the idea of helping passenger rail but make excuses for spending trillions the country cannot afford and use that old cobblers of "having to be the world policeman." No you don't as that was made up by the profit boys and it has never been wanted but brained into generations as an all-American fundalism that is well, immature. Antrak2041864 was hardly demanding hundreds of trillions for railways in his country but he has got some stick for even being modest in his point of view. I dare say that if he was mouthing about another base to add to the over 200 over the globe or an invasion of some "conceived enemy" it would be different. Each country overthrown gets a base then the corporates move in. For a fraction of that policy the USA could have a national rail to equal other progressive and modern nations. Can I say again to the thread starter, I still say I enjoyed my Amtrak visits in your country and only wish there was more of it!

 

[RRSignal]

Sure, the U.S. profited off the war, including our railroads. Or, put another way, had we not gotten involved, we wouldn't have profited.

As for the problems in the U.S., that suggests pretty much the last thing we need to squander money on are passenger rail program, including HSR, which Amtrak2041864 has suggested we support in the past. Amtrak's estimates for a high-speed NEC, put that at $151 billion so the real cost, after overruns, will likely be over a trillion, and that's being kind. All so you can cut half an hour off of a New York to Philly trip. Rinse and repeat for most of the rest of the country. As you mentioned, there is lots of poverty and unemployment. A shiny new life-sized trainset isn't going to help them, if it even serves their area. Spending the money that on them - or, better yet, allowing them to keep their money in the first place - will do more.

 

[Bluewater]

You know, if every million-dollar and billion-dollar company gave just one million dollars to the government, we just might get ourselves out of debt and still have enough money to work on pulling troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan and fund Amtrak and their attempt to upgrade service. If we UPGRADE service, Amtrak will actually be able to compete with Airlines. Faster trains, more frequent trains, and reliable trains will get us off the roads and onto the trains. (Amtrak already competes with the highway into Chicago from the east, considering the skyway has a roundabout way to getting into CHI.) My $0.02

 

[RRSignal]

First, let's just assume those corporations had $1 million to give. It would take one million such corporations to give enough money just to fund NEC HSR. It would take between 16 million corporations and 70 million to get us out of debt, depending on whose figures you use. On top of it all, this is assumes the very same people who got us into such massive debt in the first place - the government - would use that money wisely.

And, ultimately, those corporations aren't just going to suck up that $1 million each loss. Would you? They'll pass it on to consumers. So, in the end, the little guy is still the one who pays.

 

[amtrak2041864]

I don't know what's worse, the WW2 dribble, or the dribble that comes out of Amtrak's mouth. Yes I'll be president and ill change everything and fix it. Where have I heard that before? Oh yeah. EVERY political campaign.

by the way, cascade. During WWII your biggest allies WERE communists.

Thank You. Like Abraham Lincoln, but if I am going to say somethings as crazy as I said earlier I am going to make sure my work sticks.

 

[Bluewater]

Ok....I support Amtrak and HSR (since Kalamazoo is already is getting HSR). All I have to say. Staying out of this thread before it turns farther south.

 

[boc61]

Ok....I support Amtrak and HSR (since Kalamazoo is already is getting HSR). All I have to say. Staying out of this thread before it turns farther south.

I think it's too late for that........

 

[cascaderailroad]

Why would I need High Speed Rail ?

I don't go anyplace ... and wherever High Speed Rail goes, it goes nowhere near my workplace or destination.

If High Speed Rail came through your town ... would you take it ? No ... of course not, you'd drive your car !

 

[boc61]

Why would I need High Speed Rail ?

I don't go anyplace ... and wherever High Speed Rail goes, it goes nowhere near my workplace or destination.

If High Speed Rail came through your town ... would you take it ? No ... of course not, you'd drive your car !

I'd definitely consider it, depending on where it went. If I can avoid the awful traffic here, I'm for it.

 

[RooRocz]

Why would I need High Speed Rail ?

I don't go anyplace ... and wherever High Speed Rail goes, it goes nowhere near my workplace or destination.

If High Speed Rail came through your town ... would you take it ? No ... of course not, you'd drive your car !

I have no car. I take the Northeast Regional multiple times a month.

If I had a car, I would continue to take the Northeast Regional, because traffic between Philly and DC is abhorrent.