Russia using freight cars for a military barrier line.
Russia Building 20-Mile-Long 'Tsar Train' Barrier in Eastern Ukraine: ISW (msn.com)
JayBeeOnly the Maersk service between the US East Coast and Australia/New Zealand is using the PCRC, at least so far.
Maersk is stopping transit of the Suez account what is happening in the Red Sea with Houthis et.al.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
Only the Maersk service between the US East Coast and Australia/New Zealand is using the PCRC, at least so far.
Pannama canal RR getting more business. Maersk is bypassing canal because canal is limiting numver of lifts due to drought.
Maersk to Bypass Panama Canal Via ‘Land Bridge' (msn.com)
Freight bridge in southern Ukraine destroyed.
Ukraine Destroys Key Rail Bridge Connecting Occupied Mariupol to Russia (msn.com)
OvermodI remain of the opinion that a great deal of the money actually 'spent' on crossing protection needs to go into longer-term effective deterrence of that 'intentionally and wilfully ignoring signals' behavior. Where that is practicable.
Shortly after I made that remark, I spent 10 days in Switzerland. I noticed three things about grade crossings.
1) Quad gates were very common, but not in rural areas. The arms themselves were kinda wimpy looking, compared to North American ones. There were also fewer lights arranged in a different, but not too different, pattern. Some examples:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/eBhkc7nFN2cf36B38 This is a common rural one. You only get two lights, with none on the opposite side like you do at the most basic signaled crossing in the US.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/s2TKJyNBZj7eFcXh6 This is a common quad gate non-rural one. You get four lights, but no lights on the opposite side of the track.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/LNzwV4tSA2Heujkq9 As you can see here, they blink the same way though.
2) The lights activate way earlier. I didn't time any of them that I witnessed, but it seemed substantially longer a wait period for the train than in the US.
3) The engineers also have a grade crossing signal. There's a signal pointing at the approaching train that indicates the protection is active and that the train can proceed.
All of that said, the Swiss attitude of rule following and compliance is pervasive and all encompassing. They could put up a single sign that lights up TRAIN and that would get the job done over there.
follow up. It happened in Siberia a long way from Ukraine. May cause Russia to expend many resources thruout Russia?
Ukrainian special forces ‘bomb two Russian trains on Siberian railway’ (msn.com)
An apparent bridge explosion in Russia after a tunnel explosion..
Rail havoc in Russia after second explosion in as many days destroys key ‘Devil’s Bridge’ – NV souces (msn.com)
blue streak 1 A troubling news for Ukrain if true. Russia trying to bypass Crieman bridge Russians build rail links to Mariupol, Volnovakha and Donetsk (msn.com)
A troubling news for Ukrain if true. Russia trying to bypass Crieman bridge
Russians build rail links to Mariupol, Volnovakha and Donetsk (msn.com)
Well, it intercepted something, I guess.
hard to veerify this report. Russian ground to air defense system hit by freight train.
A Russian air-defense system got wrecked after it fell off a bridge into the path of a moving train, report says (msn.com)
The Russians have problems taking advantage of the higher prices. First sales of refined products have fallen and now Putin has banned such sales. Second they cannot sell most of the Natural Gas they were producing. They haven't had facilities to convert pipeline gas to LNG, because they didn't need them before the EU banned most of their members from buying Russian Natural Gas. Only a small fraction of Russian gas is pipelined to China. Also reported to be happening is that China and India liked the cheaper Russian oil and are resisting paying the world price for gas and when they do buy, it is with their own currency which Russia is having trouble exchanging for US Dollars, as that is what the people who have what Russia needs to buy for their "Special Military Operation", specifically microchips and the like. They also are having to pay inflated prices for such items as the smugglers know that Russia is desperate and in a poor bargaining position.
The high price of oil and natural gas is fueling their war. These rail lines will cost billions and the ruble is not the world's reserve currency so they can't just print money. So oil and natural gas at high prices gives them a steady flow of revenue for their imperial initiatives. The law of supply and demand takes over. Cut world oil supply by 4%-5%, which has happened, and the price per barrel doubles.
Crimea bridge hit
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/photo-shows-crimea-bridge-damage-as-strike-deals-blow-to-russian-logistics/ar-AA1eCUNC?ocid=cf-launch
rdamonAmsterdam -> Madrid = 1110 Miles
I only get 179 miles. Wait - that's Amsterdam, NY to Madrid, NY... ;-)
Larry 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...
NittanyLionPlus, you know, the part where the lower 48 is 206 times the size of Switzerland.
45 x 206 = 9,270.
I don't have time to find the current stats on 'unprotected crossings' with similar traffic counts or other critical characteristics; someone should find and provide them here.
I remain of the opinion that a great deal of the money actually 'spent' on crossing protection needs to go into longer-term effective deterrence of that 'intentionally and wilfully ignoring signals' behavior. Where that is practicable. I'm also of the opinion that effective methods of communicating the proximity of a train to an otherwise-unguarded crossing is a big part of what's required -- and that can be done practically at far lower cost than heavy bollards with standardized Holley Rudd lights on them, even if the latter operate on low-maintenance renewable energy.
Driving Distance
Seattle -> San Diego = 1256 miles
Amsterdam -> Madrid = 1110 Miles
Fred M CainActually, I'm not sure how much these Swiss crossing devices would even help in the U.S. I think that the biggest grade crossing issues in the U.S. are NOT a lack of protection but rather motorists intentionally and willfully disregarding signals.
Plus, you know, the part where the lower 48 is 206 times the size of Switzerland.
blue streak 1Uunconfirmed reports of Russian freight derailment near Ukrain border.
Who would have thunk it? For whatever the reason.
Uunconfirmed reports of Russian freight derailment near Ukrain border.
blue streak 1 8. Switzerland -- last 10 of unprotected RR crossings will have protection installed by end of 2014. Now why cannot the US do the same? http://www.railwaygazette.com/nc/news/single-view/view/low-cost-level-crossing-warning-system.html
8. Switzerland -- last 10 of unprotected RR crossings will have protection installed by end of 2014. Now why cannot the US do the same?
http://www.railwaygazette.com/nc/news/single-view/view/low-cost-level-crossing-warning-system.html
Are either of them using the 'hybrid' coupler for locomotives, with the built-in winch for the 'drop coupler' head that exposes conventional draw hook connection?
blue streak 1 The EU finally gets just one overall certification authority (ERA) . Maybe any of the differences of various equipment and other items will start to come together.Maybe finally an automatic coupler for instance ? https://www.railjournal.com/policy/era-becomes-european-unions-sole-certification-authority/
The EU finally gets just one overall certification authority (ERA) . Maybe any of the differences of various equipment and other items will start to come together.Maybe finally an automatic coupler for instance ?
https://www.railjournal.com/policy/era-becomes-european-unions-sole-certification-authority/
Swiss Federal Railways(SBB) and German Federal Railways(DB) are not waiting around for the ERA, CER, or UIC to develop an autocoupler. Both have chosen a variant of the Scharfenberg autocoupler, suitably beefed-up, for operational testing in real life condistions. SBB Cargo has equipped 75 freight cars, 6 road locomotives, 4 roadswitchers, and 2 tractors with this coupling systems and are testing it in everyday service, with the only restriction being the cars are used in domestic service only. I think all three Germanic companies, DB, SBB and ÖBB, will begin the conversion process as soon as the durability of the coupler is proven.
Voith Autocoupler
The latest episode of NHK World Japan Railway Journal mentions that a local shortage of truck drivers (among other things) may divert more freight from truck to JR Freight (they call 'modal shift'). I'm not up on the latest economics of this, as I thought that JRF was government owned and not technically profitable. Anyone more familiar with this?
Links to my Google Maps ---> Sunset Route overview, SoCal metro, Yuma sub, Gila sub, SR east of Tucson, BNSF Northern Transcon and Southern Transcon *** Why you should support Ukraine! ***
Australia completes first section of inland freight line.
https://www.railwaygazette.com/infrastructure/inland-rail-first-phase-completed/57374.article
For those who are not famaliar with the project here is a link to the whole project. Note this will allow feight to go Melborne - Brisbane but will allow freight to bypass Canberra, Sydney and Newcastle.
https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/ehq-production-australia/dac8bb9a6f5229e672ce702c88ba1c561ea7418a/original/1594360237/inlandrail-route-history-2006-2019-updated-july-2020.pdf_da1f225a58acdc2142fe0ce67847db80?1594360237
Will it work ? German city is going to try using trams to deliver freight. This is an expansion of the Dresden delivery of auto parts.
https://www.railjournal.com/passenger/light-rail/freight-tram-trials-planned-in-karslruhe/
The indicated horsepower (which is your number x 1000, of course) is not that 'amazing' if you treat it as an A-B-B-B-B-A set, which by axle count appears to be what it is (B trucks are visible in some of the pictures). I would presume drawbars and some sharing of components between units, for example access to pantographs, both to save cost and distribute adhesive weight.
There will be the usual constraints on continuous power imposed by the catenary and wayside architecture. My first opinion is that the high horsepower is intended more for higher speeds than for additional peak tractive effort, and my second opinion is that dividing this into smaller units with good DP control, something the Chinese have surely mastered by now, would have been wiser operationally (if not quite as impressive for propaganda).
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