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“A locomotive is a 50- to 80-year asset."

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Posted by Murphy Siding on Tuesday, February 12, 2019 5:27 PM

zugmann

 

 
Murphy Siding
And I bet he still has a flip phone.

 

They're making somewhat of a comeback.

 

So are turntables and record albums. I'm a cool Dad. I have a turntable and a collection of authentic record albumbs from the 70's & 80's. Geeked

Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.

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Posted by Paul_D_North_Jr on Tuesday, February 12, 2019 5:56 PM

oltmannd
from:

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/legislation/can-the-railroads-win-the-green-new-deal-game

 in context "

Arnakis, who laid out the association’s policy agenda for reporters at AAR headquarters in Washington, D.C. on February 8, said that moving toward electrification of diesel locomotives in 10 years, however, would be impossible.  “A locomotive is a 50- to 80-year asset. It’s the same issue that the industry is having with tank cars right now” in meeting federal guidelines to more safely move hazardous materials by replacing or retrofitting them, she said.

Which is a really dumb thing to say. When there is a good ROI, road locomotives are a 15 year asset.

The question would really be, what is the net present cost of doing mainline electification in 10 or 20 years and arguing of the money to do it. Just saying "no" is dumb.

Especially from the AAR.

As one of Tom Clancy's characters (General Alexseyev [sp?]) said in Red Storm Rising: "Lies are bad enough, but these are stupid lies!" Anyone with knowledge of the industry could point out that the depreciation period is usually only 10 to 15 years - which puts the lie to that statement - and that period is OK with the IRS, so it must be valid.

I believe both EMD and GE had a model or two that were taken out of service at the 10 to 12 year mark and retired early, being kept on the roster and the property only until their equipment trusts (or other financing) expired.

Class 1 locmotive fleets* that have lasted 50 years can be counted on the fingers of one hand - maybe both. The GG1's (40 - 50 years) and the little NYC S-motor electric switchers at Grand Central (60+ and even to to 75 years for one!) come to mind, plus I suppose some of the SD-40s and SD40-2's are on the far side of 40.

*Excluding 'one-of's' such as those from Class 1's that went to logging, mining, or short lines.

The AAR should have come up with a better response, something along the lines of "Replacing the diesel fleet with electrification would be a challenge, but we'd welcome the financial, technological, and institutional assistance necessary to start it and make it happen where practical over a reasonable time frame." Encouraging but non-committal.

- PDN.

"This Fascinating Railroad Business" (title of 1943 book by Robert Selph Henry of the AAR)
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Posted by Convicted One on Tuesday, February 12, 2019 6:04 PM

I think you will see operational self-contained fuel cell locomotives before you see caternary going up along the major trunk lines

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Posted by ATLANTIC CENTRAL on Tuesday, February 12, 2019 6:10 PM

Murphy Siding

 

 
zugmann

 

 
Murphy Siding
And I bet he still has a flip phone.

 

They're making somewhat of a comeback.

 

 

 

So are turntables and record albums. I'm a cool Dad. I have a turntable and a collection of authentic record albumbs from the 70's & 80's. Geeked

 

 

They never went out of style at my house, two turntables, speakers I designed and built, and about 1700 vinyl albums........every record I every bought since about 1968, most in near mint condition because early on I bought a high quality turntable and cartridge, I my albums never left my house.....

Sheldon

    

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Posted by Convicted One on Tuesday, February 12, 2019 6:19 PM

ATLANTIC CENTRAL
two turntables, speakers I designed and built

What kind of amp?    I'm using a Marantz 2325 pushing 4 JBL L 166 speakers. Just had the Marantz refurbished.....it's insane what those will sell for these days.

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Posted by ATLANTIC CENTRAL on Tuesday, February 12, 2019 8:24 PM

Convicted One

 

 
ATLANTIC CENTRAL
two turntables, speakers I designed and built

 

What kind of amp?    I'm using a Marantz 2325 pushing 4 JBL L 166 speakers. Just had the Marantz refurbished.....it's insane what those will sell for these days.

 

Well, until about a year ago, a 20 year old ONKYO solid state surround reciever, near their top end at the time.

It finally gave up, replaced it with a mid grade surround reciever from ONKYO - because we just moved into our retirement down size home, and I'm going to put the records, turntables and killer speakers in the basement model train room. I will go buy something cool for that.

The newly purchased ONKYO will power some sort of new smaller surround sound speakers in the new living room.

Another older reciever powers another one of my speaker designs in the sunroom of the new to us house.

Here are a few shots of the speakers that will be in the train room:

I developed and build these about 1990 along with matching smaller surround and center channel speakers that share the same tweeters and mids, and use nearly the same crossover for well matched sound.

BUT, like your JBL's, they are a little on the big side. The wife wants something smaller in new smaller house.......

In the old house I built a 17' long, 10' high, custom entertainment center that held the front speakers, TV, equipment, the 1700 albums, 700 music CD's and about 500 DVD and VHS movies.

Not really an option at the new house, mounting the TV over a fireplace, building a 6' wide x 4' tall equipment built in.

So I get the killer stereo in the train room......the one in the sun room rocks the house as well.

Sheldon

 

    

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Posted by BaltACD on Tuesday, February 12, 2019 9:03 PM

How many cars will the pull - or push?

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

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Posted by ATLANTIC CENTRAL on Tuesday, February 12, 2019 9:17 PM

BaltACD

How many cars will the pull - or push?

 

Good question, but they will be in the 1200 sq foot layout room with the layout designed for 30 to 50 car trains on a 350' (nearly 6 scale miles) mainline in HO.

Sheldon

    

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Posted by tree68 on Tuesday, February 12, 2019 9:18 PM

ATLANTIC CENTRAL
BUT, like your JBL's, they are a little on the big side. The wife wants something smaller in new smaller house.......

My Sansui speakers qualify as furniture all by themselves.  But they sound great!

LarryWhistling
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Posted by Overmod on Tuesday, February 12, 2019 11:16 PM

tree68
ATLANTIC CENTRAL

My Sansui speakers qualify as furniture all by themselves.  But they sound great!

Sheldon, those tweeters and mids remind me of the LS3/5a... still one of the reference standards for small monitors.  Are you channelling some of the direct/reflecting architecture of the Bose 901s with that alignment?

I was happy to become involved in audiophilia in the great days of "tweeter fuzz" Irving Fried and the arguments about Bextrene cones -- hard to beat the B2 satellites and the infamous T2 coffee-table subwoofer (which required carpentry skills to construct but could give you clean bass down to about 10Hz).  I cheated and modified my T2 to use KEF 104 flat-plate drivers with interesting results.  Somewhere in storage I still have the Phase Linear and Luxman stuff I used to drive it, too.  This brings back memories...

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Posted by ATLANTIC CENTRAL on Wednesday, February 13, 2019 4:49 AM

Yes, it is a reflected sound field design, obviously the other speaker is a mirror image. And the crossover is a gentle 6db, with no phase shift, creating a strong field into the room, and a matching high/mid field relecting around you from the side/rear.

f3 on the woofer is about 23 Hz, it is kevlar. Mids are poly, tweeters are titanium.

My other most successful design uses the same driver count and crossover, and is a piece of furniture the size of a night stand. Tweeter and two mids front facing across the top front. Another tweeter and an 8" woofer rear firing, no pics handy right now.

Very effective in the right room.........

Take care,

Sheldon

    

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Posted by tree68 on Wednesday, February 13, 2019 7:18 AM

I gotta say, this is one of the most bizarre thread creeps we've had in a while...

LarryWhistling
Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) 
Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you
My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date
Come ride the rails with me!
There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...

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Posted by BOB WITHORN on Wednesday, February 13, 2019 9:31 AM
SO, Murphy, what's wrong with a flip phone? It's more durable when dropped, it doesn't crack the screen when you sit on it in your back pocket, it actually fits in a pocket.....They do work well on the farm.
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Posted by Erik_Mag on Wednesday, February 13, 2019 10:04 AM

tree68

I gotta say, this is one of the most bizarre thread creeps we've had in a while...

 

Who are you calling a creep??? Mischief

This thread certainly has a Checker'ed history and it's probably time for me to stop sounding off.

 - Erik

P.S. Electrostatic speakers are my favorites...

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Posted by oltmannd on Wednesday, February 13, 2019 10:59 AM

I had a flip phone long ago.  Took too long to pump up the air every time I tried to use it.

-Don (Random stuff, mostly about trains - what else? http://blerfblog.blogspot.com/

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Posted by Overmod on Wednesday, February 13, 2019 11:07 AM

oltmannd
I had a flip phone long ago.  Took too long to pump up the air every time I tried to use it.

 Be glad you didn't have to have a steam-powered one like the one I had in the early '90s.  That annoying hot peroxide exhaust next to your head could be irritating in summer!

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Posted by Semper Vaporo on Wednesday, February 13, 2019 12:27 PM

Yeah, irritating in the summer but nice under your earmuffs in the winter... and the chuffing sound was pretty good, too.

Semper Vaporo

Pkgs.

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Posted by tree68 on Wednesday, February 13, 2019 1:13 PM

oltmannd

I had a flip phone long ago.  Took too long to pump up the air every time I tried to use it.

Started with a bag phone, then flip phone, then several iterations of smart phones, which is where  I am today.  

The bag phone was a Christmas gift from the kids.  Had to get in the truck and drive to the top of the hill outside town to get reception.  And I had to pay the monthly service charges...

OTOH, I've had the same number since day 1.

LarryWhistling
Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) 
Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you
My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date
Come ride the rails with me!
There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...

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Posted by Overmod on Wednesday, February 13, 2019 1:39 PM

Semper Vaporo
... and the chuffing sound was pretty good, too.

Mine had a turbine. 

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Posted by Flintlock76 on Wednesday, February 13, 2019 2:49 PM

I thought I had a coal-fired laptop for a while, but the juice where I live comes from the Dominion Power North Anna nuclear power generating station.

Dominion's still got a coal-fired plant down in Chesterfield County, but who knows for how long?  

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Posted by Murphy Siding on Wednesday, February 13, 2019 2:59 PM

BOB WITHORN
SO, Murphy, what's wrong with a flip phone? It's more durable when dropped, it doesn't crack the screen when you sit on it in your back pocket, it actually fits in a pocket.....They do work well on the farm.
 

I’m a technology dinosaur. I liked it but phones evolved and I needed a smart phone. Whenever I go into Verizon for anything, there is always someone in there trying to find a flip phone just like the one they had 10 years ago. They always get discouraged when they are told that model was discontinued- about 10 years ago. Old dog+new trick=Grumpy.

 

Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.

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Posted by Murphy Siding on Wednesday, February 13, 2019 3:01 PM

oltmannd

I had a flip phone long ago.  Took too long to pump up the air every time I tried to use it.

 

Huh?  Zoom! Right over my head. Sigh

Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.

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Posted by Convicted One on Wednesday, February 13, 2019 6:24 PM

Murphy Siding
Huh?  Zoom! Right over my head.

I think that was an "air brake" joke.

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Posted by Convicted One on Wednesday, February 13, 2019 6:27 PM

tree68
I gotta say, this is one of the most bizarre thread creeps we've had in a while...

Just be glad that the "dreaded Huns" did not have flip phones  Star

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Posted by Paul_D_North_Jr on Wednesday, February 13, 2019 9:12 PM

oltmannd

I had a flip phone long ago.  Took too long to pump up the air every time I tried to use it.

Convicted One
 
Murphy Siding
Huh?  Zoom! Right over my head.

Related to the "Pumping air. How long does it take?" thread by oltmannd at:

http://cs.trains.com/trn/f/111/t/274313.aspx 

- PDN. 

"This Fascinating Railroad Business" (title of 1943 book by Robert Selph Henry of the AAR)

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