Term limits? Only the president and governors of some states have term limits.
Everyone else is elected for life or until they get arrested but some of those make a come back.
There is no land anymore around big cities. In Baltimore and Washington, there are beltways that need to be crossed by high speed rail. Development or urban sprawl, took place around and outside the beltways.
You would have to bulldoze a lot of homes, businesses, shopping centers and office buldings, where ever you tried to put the rail line. Those owners wouldn't like it and neither would the people that didn't get pushed out, but now are looking at a high speed rail line in their backyard.
The American way of doing things would require huge parking lots at the stations, because people wouldn't take buses or light rail to get to the train station.
California has spent 6 billion and to finish it will cost 71 billion more.
CNBC has a good video on the issues.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
BigDaddyCalifornia has spent 6 billion and to finish it will cost 71 billion more.
And some engineers who know about all the tunnels needed believe that $70 billion will be far too low.
And all of that is for one 500 mile rail system.
York1 John
Good Afternoon,
A pleasant -8C here with a light snowfall and expected to be the same all week. That counts as a heatwave at this time of year for us. I don't even have the block heater plugged in. It is cloudy though.
Well I've had my share of plane delays as I did fly a lot when I was working. It was all within Canada. I have to say that the delays were usually weather related and due to the fact that I was often flying to smaller airports. I did get stuck in Castlgar, B.C. once for 3 days due to fog and snow. I finally made it out by road in a rental car.
I ran trains yesterday and found that my Bachmann consolidation was stalling a lot so I cleaned the wheels. Very little improvement so I put it on the workbench and found that there were small clumps of dust on some of the wipers. Also a few of them weren't making good contact so I decided to order a new wiper set as I did for a light mountain. No such thing. You have to buy the whole chassis for $70 ! I will pull the bottom plate and see what I can do. I did manage to get 2 sets working so should be an improvment but better to have them all making contact.
Had the piliated woodpecker at the feeder again. Sure is a magnificent bird. A Northern Shrike took a Downy in our yard a couple of days ago and my wife saw it all. Not a pleasant sight.
Time to do something.
CN Charlie
Aye. It's a wonder anything gets built with federal dollars - even without term limits.
How about joining me in a ride on the 9th Ave. EL in 1929?
Enjoy!
Say, as January is coming to an end in a few days, are there any ideas for the February location yet?
Happy times!
Ulrich (aka The Tin Man)
"You´re never too old for a happy childhood!"
Track fiddlerA while back I watched the construction of the world's largest (Cement) Arch Bridge by the Hoover Dam in Arizona. It is also the largest Arch Bridge of any in North America. . . They had to build two high towers in Arizona and two hightower's in Nevada to string two sets of 5 cables across the river. Cable cranes transported all the materials back and forth over the river to construct the bridge.
The construction was not without incident. During the early stages of construction a strong wind, common to the area, blew one of the cranes off the top of the canyon, delaying the project by two years.
Richard
CNCharlieHad the piliated woodpecker at the feeder again. Sure is a magnificent bird.
That deserves a photo:
Pileated by Edmund, on Flickr
My Pileateds always seem to know when I put a fresh cake of suet out. They're first in line
Cheers, Ed
I cropped the little fellas a bit!
Woke up early to prepare the bedroom for the painter. Took the night stands, TV, and all the dresser drawers and lamps to another room. Then we found a text from him, he was sick and wasn't coming.
I have a Stewart F3 B to put a decoder and speaker in and a Proto GP9 with cracked gears and in need of a decoder, a 44 tonner that wants a decoder and sound and an old Atlas S1. Not enough decoders to go around. I should have new gears tomorrow for the Geep and then I'll make a decision whether it gets a decoder now or the 44.
I've been cold all day. I have the heat cranked up to an unbeliveable 74, and my nose is still cold.
Tinplate ToddlerI cropped the little fellas a bit!
—and you kept the image sharp Nice work.
I actually shot the photo through the window glass.
Thanks, Ed
Hey Ed!
Me thinks you got the same birdfeeder I have....
Did you get yours at Tractor Supply?
You can see one of my pet squirrels is getting a meal during the snow storm a couple weeks back.
73
Ray Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western R.R. (S.L.O.&W.) in HO
We'll get there sooner or later!
gmpullmanMy Pileateds always seem to know when I put a fresh cake of suet out. They're first in line
If Dianne and I were to get a Pileated woodpecker in our backyard we would probably die of shock! Then again, we weren't expecting to see a pair of Bald Eagles in the area in the middle of January either!
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
howmusDid you get yours at Tractor Supply?
Yep, sure did. I'm pretty sure the first one is over five years old. Liked it so much I bought two more. They hold up pretty well
hon30critterIf Dianne and I were to get a Pileated woodpecker in our backyard we would probably die of shock!
I hope you get your chance sometime, Dave. Do you have any tall trees around? I think that's what keeps ours happy (plus the suet). I believe they like to nest way up high?
hawk1crop by Edmund, on Flickr
This curious guy stopped by a few years back. Every once in a while a hawk will grab one of the chickens. Happened right in front of me one time!
Birding is rewarding! I've seen eagles passing over now-and-then but not nesting. There are quite a few nesting sites around us but none within say, a half-mile.
Wow Richard, any body killed? Reminds me of the crane collapse of "Big Blue", during construction of Miller Park, in Milwaukee, WI.
Tried pictures and a story, link didn't work.
Mike.
My You Tube
I lived in Massachusetts for decades, but never saw an eagle. I've lived here 7 months, and I was just out for a walk and there he was, across the creek from my house. He was sitting atop a dead tree, and was there for some time.
I like it here in Delaware.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Hey everyone.....WHAT A HEADACHE INDUCING DAY!
On Saturday night, my truck burned through a brake pad, and gouged up my rotor (ouch!), possibly because a Calliper locked up. No warning it was going to do that. So I asked some friends to help change it, took two days, and none of us could get the lugnuts off-someone used an impact gun on it and overtightened them....wouldn't even budge. So, I've got to get it towed to a garage tomorrow....and get two new tires- when the brake burned through, it ate the tread on the left front down to exposing a cord.... yeah. Fun times.
At least the train show on sunday was enjoyable. We may have had 500 people walk through the doors in 7 hours-Our best show yet. 4 layouts, including the division T-TRAK group, I'll post pics of the layout tomorrow or thursday. I got a couple SW1500 shells for 15 each-full kits including handrails, glass and detail parts. I picked up a Proto2000 loco for 40 bucks, and the other real steal....Atlas flex track, 10 pieces for 28 bucks.
(My Model Railroad, My Rules)
These are the opinions of an under 35 , from the east end of, and modeling, the same section of the Wheeling and Lake Erie railway. As well as a freelanced road (Austinville and Dynamite City railroad).
Good Evening,
Ed, nice picture of a male Piliated. The one on our feeder was a female but we had a male stop by a couple of weeks ago. They swoop in, feed for a few minutes and then are gone so it luck if you happen to be looking out the window at the right time. Last night , two Great Horned Owls were hooting nearby at dusk. We have a lot of large spruce trees in our neibourhood so I think that is one reason we get a lot of birds and being very close to a golf course that is now closed, plus very close to the Red River.
Well I managed to fix the K5a !!! I couldn't have done it without the help of doctorwayne. It is now smooth and quiet.
Just took Robbie out for a wiz and heard the owls hooting to each other. I go with him at night just in case an owl makes a try to make a meal of him. He is far too heavy for them to lift but just the attempt could be fatal.
Well tea and tellie time,
Hey ya guys
Stopped back at the room for a little Casino break tonight.
Slot machines, heck with that. I was done with those machines before Judy was. They have become more riged with a lesser payout year after year.
Judy and I have been coming out ahead on Roulette every time at the table but not enough on these little dollar chips.
You guys got any good lucky numbers for me to play. I'm going down there in a few more minutes with some Bigger chips.
Help me out with your lucky numbers
I will let you know how it turns out.
TF
Hi Everyone,
Term limits? No one is elected for life. It just seems like it.
As one Illinois legislator put it, "We have term limits, they're called elections."
Congress people are elected for two year terms and have to rune for re-election at the end of each term. Senators are elected for 6 year terms. True, some of these people keep getting re-elected for 40 years. Nuff said.
The pictures of Hoover Dam and the bridge are cool. I can just imagine the engineering that went into that. There have long been stories that there are a few workers buried in the dam. The story is that they fell into the fresh concrete when they were pouring, and the crews couldn't stop the pour, so they buried them there. Sounds kind of grizzly, but I suppose it's possible to have happened.
Hi speed rail: One thing to consider with rail is that unlike trucks, the railroads have historically built and maintainedtheir own right of way. Whether thats still true or not, don't know.
Jim (with a nod to Mies Van Der Rohe)
Jim,
I once heard about the burials in the cement, but later read an article that this was not true--that the bodies would weaken the structure. I did read that they buried cooling pipes in the cement to prevent it from overheating as it cured. The engineers pumped cold water through the pipes.
Many years ago I had an old-timer tell me Maine had two ways of removing politicians from office,---elections, and deer season.
The crop we have in Augusta are safe, they would get lost if they left the side walk at their homes, and strayed onto the lawn.
Nice photos of the woodpecker, and the gray tree rat, the grey looks like it would fit nicely into a frying pan--along with some potatoes------
herrinchoker
Good Morning!
Can trains be ugly? Yes, they can!
The Nankei Airport Express train looks like coming from a bad SciFi comic of the 1950s!
herrinchokerMany years ago I had an old-timer tell me Maine had two ways of removing politicians from office,---elections, and deer season.
gmpullmanhon30critter If Dianne and I were to get a Pileated woodpecker in our backyard we would probably die of shock!
gmpullmanI hope you get your chance sometime, Dave. Do you have any tall trees around? I think that's what keeps ours happy (plus the suet). I believe they like to nest way up high?
Unfortunately we don't have the size of trees close our area that would attract Pileateds. The closest they might come would be to the Conservation Area a couple of kms north.
We do have lots of mature trees in the neighbourhood that are big enough to attract the smaller birds. Our feeders are always busy. We also get hawks frequently. It is amazing to see them swoop through the tree branches. It is not unusual to have a pile of feathers in the back yard, mostly Mourning Doves and Blackbirds which are plentiful.
We are hoping that our trip to Point Pelee in mid May will be successful. As I said previously, it all depends on which way the wind is blowing.
We have decided to buy a new TV.
Our existing 38" TV is at least 10 years old and it is still working just fine, so why buy a new one? Well, our son just installed a new 58" 4K HDR TV in his living room and we were blown away by the difference in picture quality and the difference in the size of the screen. Dianne watches a lot of TV so we figured why not catch up with the modern age?
Up until now I have barely watched any TV. When I saw the difference in picture quality that my son's new TV offered I couldn't take my eyes off the screen. We were watching a National Geographic documentary on Palisades National Park in Washington and the picture quality made the already incredible photography absolutely stunning! I suspect that I will be watching more TV in the future.
I was going to use the phrase ".....invest in a new TV...." but the word 'invest' is hardly applicable given the price that we are paying. TV prices are all over the place as you are likely aware, and it is easy to spend $2000 on a similar sized TV, but I just don't see enough difference between the $450 55" Toshiba that we are getting and models costing four times as much. There are several hundred reviews of this model on the Best Buy website and the average is 4.5 out of 5. The negative reviews mostly seem to revolve around production quality issues, and all of those issues occurred well within the warranty period, so I don't see a reason to worry about quality. Our existing 10 year old TV is a Toshiba as well, not that that has any bearing on current production quality. It does make me feel more comfortable with the brand though.
hon30critterWe have decided to buy a new TV.
Petra and I gave up on watching TV nearly 5 years ago and have not missed it since. I have hooked up a 27" flat screen to my computer, which makes watching train and other videos quite nice.
I don´t feel like paying $60 a month for endless reruns, stupid soap operas and boring game shows, or any of the "educational" features called "The News".
Tinplate ToddlerPetra and I gave up on watching TV nearly 5 years ago and have not missed it since. I have hooked up a 27" flat screen to my computer, which makes watching train and other videos quite nice. I don´t feel like paying $60 a month for endless reruns, stupid soap operas and boring game shows, or any of the "educational" features called "The News".
Hi Ulrich,
I pretty much gave up on TV a long time ago too, but I am rethinking my position given what is now available in terms of advertizement free programming. I still can't stand watching multiple commercials in a row even when I am viewing channels like The Food Network which I do enjoy from time to time. I just signed up again for the National Geographic Wild channel which we had dropped a few months ago. No ads.
If I´d sign up to those channels that only remotely meet my interest and are ad free, I´d have to pay over $ 100 a month. I´d rather put that money into my Denmark fund.
Tinplate ToddlerIf I´d sign up to those channels that only remotely meet my interest and are ad free, I´d have to pay over $ 100 a month. I´d rather put that money into my Denmark fund.
I totally understand your position Ulrich. TV is a luxury. If you can afford it that's great. Under your circumstances I wouldn't be spending any money on it either.
Good luck with your move to Denmark!
It just came to my mind - I am running the risk of turning into a Scrooge! I don´t spend any money on going out, I don´t pay for any TV subscriptions, I turn off the lights when leaving a room, I haven´t bought any clothing for I even can´t remember how long, and I have given up on my hobby! I keep telling anybody how much fun it is, but it is only to cover up the fact, that I am not enjoying life and I am not doing what I would like to do. The whole thing is born out of dire necessity, connected with a hope for better days one day.
herrinchokerI once heard about the burials in the cement, but later read an article that this was not true
.
I had always heard about bodies buried in the Hoover Dam cement, but then when I visited there last year, all the guides said that was not true.
They all stated the concrete pours were less than 24 inches deep, so you could not fall in and drown.
What about all the bodies (7 I think) that are in the Brooklyn Bridge Piers? Is that also a myth?
-Kevin
Living the dream.
SeeYou190They all stated the concrete pours were less than 24 inches deep, so you could not fall in and drown.
Plus the fact that it all was poured at about a 2"or 3" slump, using aggregate up to 3". You could walk across that.
The only thing that would end it all for you, is if a bucket was dumped right on you.
The Brooklyn Bridge thing is more believable, with caissons, and the "bends", also called caissons disease, back then.
Concrete was poured through tremie pipes, ensuring the caisson filled completely, from the bottom up, displacing any mud, water and debris, and forcing it to the top, as the caisson filled.
Much easier for a worker to get trapped in that.
Not much going on today, back to the train room.