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(01-12-2018, 10:39 PM)ijmorlan Wrote: (01-12-2018, 10:24 PM)Canard Wrote: Darn, was hoping there would be some actual info in there. Dying to know when my birbs are coming.
Me too. I’m interested to see just what birbs look like — I’ve never heard of them before! 
Also I just wanted to say, way to debunk on Twitter the “can’t deliver to my business” person! Now if only they would interview you to provide that information right in the newscast.
Inspired by distelfinks.
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01-13-2018, 12:59 PM
(This post was last modified: 01-13-2018, 02:59 PM by Pheidippides.)
(01-12-2018, 10:39 PM)ijmorlan Wrote: (01-12-2018, 10:24 PM)Canard Wrote: Darn, was hoping there would be some actual info in there. Dying to know when my birbs are coming.
Also I just wanted to say, way to debunk on Twitter the “can’t deliver to my business” person! Now if only they would interview you to provide that information right in the newscast.
Yes, thanks to all who set the facts straight.
What a ridiculous notion. There is even a sign in the window (shown in the video) encouraging use of the back door:
As seen in streetview:
Everyone move to the back of the bus and we all get home faster.
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(01-12-2018, 10:23 PM)Canard Wrote:
Fun to look back at clips like this: 2 years ago, Kansas City was doing the same thing we did yesterday.
Cool!
So from that point how long did it take to start operations for that system?
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KC is not a good comparison. It is only 3.5km in length (although it does have 10(!) stations) and has three vehicles running at a time.
Perhaps someone can explain in another thread how KC ended up with this system. The number of stops per km seems very high, the headways low (10-15min), and it only carries 5,700 riders a day despite being free.
Everyone move to the back of the bus and we all get home faster.
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(01-13-2018, 10:54 PM)Pheidippides Wrote: KC is not a good comparison. It is only 3.5km in length (although it does have 10(!) stations) and has three vehicles running at a time.
Perhaps someone can explain in another thread how KC ended up with this system. The number of stops per km seems very high, the headways low (10-15min), and it only carries 5,700 riders a day despite being free.
Streetcars are trendy right now. So they get installed even in situations where they aren’t really that useful, or with system designs that make them less useful.
A very interesting and relevant article:
http://humantransit.org/2009/07/streetca...truth.html
I am a railfan and wish there were streetcars (and LRT, and freight and passenger rail) everywhere, so it’s a bit painful for me to say, but some streetcar systems aren’t worthwhile. I can live in both worlds, though: I can appreciate a system for its coolness like a kid, while still evaluating it pragmatically for whether it serves a useful purpose at a reasonable cost.
I suspect that some of them suffer from being insufficient — maybe if the system was massively extended to more destinations it would become more useful. Or maybe they are short because funding for a more extensive system was unavailable and really it would have been better not to build the shorter system. Or maybe they should have reserved lanes, possibly even at the expense of general traffic lanes, but that is politically impossible in certain places.
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I think we're incredibly lucky that we got our system started and pushed through with some... ignorance? of what was going on in the US at the time. Looking back (and having ridden both the KC and Cinci streetcars), I can't help but think "this type of system would have probably met the development goals of the region, for a lot less money".
What we got, instead, was a "full blown" system - probably because the decision makers here didn't realize there was another (cheaper) rail-based option.
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Crews were out this morning jackhammering concrete at Borden and Charles.
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Yikes. That can't be good.
I noticed a number of tarp tents along the tracks at the base of catenary poles between Benton and Charles yesterday (some near Willis station too).
Everyone move to the back of the bus and we all get home faster.
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Still at it when we returned to town about 30 minutes ago. They’re destroying a bunch of concrete right around the rail on the SB curve.
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01-14-2018, 03:44 PM
(This post was last modified: 01-14-2018, 03:55 PM by Canard.)
Just biked by. About 60% of the concrete adjacent to the outboard rail on the SB curve is gone. Crew up to about 15 guys now.
(only reporting this here - don’t want CTV getting hold of this and running more smear trash pieces.)
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If something was out of spec there, good they caught it and are fixing it now rather than when testing begins. The real question is, why was it not caught earlier?
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01-14-2018, 04:44 PM
(This post was last modified: 01-14-2018, 04:45 PM by Canard.)
None of them really looked like they were in a mood to chat, otherwise I would have asked them.
That curve has been done for like, a year and a half, though - so that’s a bit annoying.
Since they’ll have to re-pour concrete, best case were looking at a 1-1.5 week delay to a pull-through up-to (or past) this point, depending of course on when they do the pour...
I think I’ll revise my drive to work for the next little bit to keep tabs on progress here.
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01-14-2018, 05:09 PM
(This post was last modified: 01-14-2018, 05:09 PM by trainspotter139.)
(01-14-2018, 04:44 PM)Canard Wrote: None of them really looked like they were in a mood to chat, otherwise I would have asked them.
That curve has been done for like, a year and a half, though - so that’s a bit annoying.
Since they’ll have to re-pour concrete, best case were looking at a 1-1.5 week delay to a pull-through up-to (or past) this point, depending of course on when they do the pour...
I think I’ll revise my drive to work for the next little bit to keep tabs on progress here.
that curve was a little wonky when i went past it on the iXpress. at least they have the Cameron crossover to turn back at. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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(01-14-2018, 05:09 PM)trainspotter139 Wrote: (01-14-2018, 04:44 PM)Canard Wrote: None of them really looked like they were in a mood to chat, otherwise I would have asked them.
That curve has been done for like, a year and a half, though - so that’s a bit annoying.
Since they’ll have to re-pour concrete, best case were looking at a 1-1.5 week delay to a pull-through up-to (or past) this point, depending of course on when they do the pour...
I think I’ll revise my drive to work for the next little bit to keep tabs on progress here.
that curve was a little wonky when i went past it on the iXpress. at least they have the Cameron crossover to turn back at. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
For pull-through they go both directions on each track anyway, so they should be able to go up to just short of the work, then go back, use the crossover to get to the other track, go past the work, and use the next crossover to get back onto that track. In short, unless I’m misunderstanding the geometry, the only part that needs to be excluded from the pull-through should be the work area and areas immediately adjacent to it.
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