When Trains Magazine turns to mainstream click-bait for lead articles

[BaltACD]

erikem

The real disaster that few are talking about is the next big Cascadia earthquake and associated tsunami.

Don't overlook the eruption of the Yellowstone Caldera that is overdue on its cycle of eruptions.

[daveklepper]

A major in-depth multi-railroad article on PTC is an absolute necessity.

[CSSHEGEWISCH]

Euclid

I would like to see an article about equipping tank cars with ECP brakes as required by the mandate to have ECP brakes on oil trains by a certain date.  Specifically, how much work has been done so far, and what is expectation that railroads will meet the deadline?  What are the technical details of this ECP brake installation?  Are they expected to be the same for all participating railroads?

 

It would help if you read the magazine.  There is a write-up in the latest issue about a review of the FRA mandate by the Government Accountability Office.

[Paul_D_North_Jr]

BaltACD

erikem

The real disaster that few are talking about is the next big Cascadia earthquake and associated tsunami.

Don't overlook the eruption of the Yellowstone Caldera that is overdue on its cycle of eruptions. 

"+1" Or Mt. Ranier (ash flow).  Or the New Madrid Fault in Missouri.  Or a for-real Cat 4 - 5 hurricane on a populated segment of the East Coast (technically, Sandy wasn't even a Cat 1 hurricane when the eye came ashore).   

[Euclid]

CSSHEGEWISCH

 

Euclid

I would like to see an article about equipping tank cars with ECP brakes as required by the mandate to have ECP brakes on oil trains by a certain date.  Specifically, how much work has been done so far, and what is expectation that railroads will meet the deadline?  What are the technical details of this ECP brake installation?  Are they expected to be the same for all participating railroads?

 

 

 

 

It would help if you read the magazine.  There is a write-up in the latest issue about a review of the FRA mandate by the Government Accountability Office.

 

Does the article address my questions?  I can go buy the magazine tomorrow.

[Norm48327]

The article is short enough you can probably read it in the store. One quick page if I recall.

[Murphy Siding]

I'm one of those boring people that likes to read the history stuff- if it's well written.  I'd like to see a long article or series of articles along the line of "The current routes of America's railroads are system are what they are because of the history of how the system developed, and here's how they did....".

[Murphy Siding]

Norm48327

The article is short enough you can probably read it in the store. One quick page if I recall.

 

To be fair, it's 8 pages with 15 color photos, plus a flaming letter "E".

[PNWRMNM]

Murphy Siding

I'm one of those boring people that likes to read the history stuff- if it's well written.  I'd like to see a long article or series of articles along the line of "The current routes of America's railroads are system are what they are because of the history of how the system developed, and here's how they did....".

Murphy,

The nearest thing I know to this is two books by Richard Saunders; Main Lines and Merging Lines which need to be read in that order. I presume they are available at Amazon.

Mac

[Buslist]

Might even include an item on how the claimed overdesign has come close to killing the electrification project In the U.K.

[erikem]

BaltACD

erikem

The real disaster that few are talking about is the next big Cascadia earthquake and associated tsunami.

 

Don't overlook the eruption of the Yellowstone Caldera that is overdue on its cycle of eruptions.

 

True, as it would dwarf the Cascadia quake, though it might be a couple of hundred thousand years away. There's a small chance that the next Cascadia quake will happen in my lifetime and a more significant chance (maybe 10 to 50%) that it will happen in my kids's lifetime. It will also pretty much wipe out the entire route of the Sounders..

 

Another major disaster will be the next major quake on the San Andreas fault, which "has been due" for the last half century, which could put quite a crimp on rail operations in California. Still would rather be in California during "the big one" versus Portland, Tacoma or Seattle during a Cascadia quake (figure 8 to 8.5 for San Andreas, 9 to 9.5 for Cascadia).

 

As for increased storms and other extreme weather "from climate change", the jury is definitely out as there hasn't been any statistically significant increase in tornadoes of hurricanes for the US. One of effect of climate change from ncreased green house gases is that the poles will warm up more than the equator, which is more likely to reduce extreme cyclonic activity than increase it.

 

[Euclid]

There seems to be a growing list of bad things attributed to climate change.

http://www.newsweek.com/nepal-earthquake-could-have-been-manmade-disaster-climate-change-brings-326017

[schlimm]

erikem

As for increased storms and other extreme weather "from climate change", the jury is definitely out as there hasn't been any statistically significant increase in tornadoes of hurricanes for the US.

You may be right or not.  However, what's your source?  Also, extreme weather is not limited to tornadoes and hurricanes, nor to just the USA.

https://www.ametsoc.org/ams/index.cfm/publications/bulletin-of-the-american-meteorological-society-bams/explaining-extremes/

[schlimm]

In any case, it's a moot point.  Trump is going to turn back the clock.  It sounds as though he will purge the Department of Enrrgy of any employees who attended UN climate conferences in the last five years.

[schlimm]

I also think it's less than polite for the OP to have given this thread such a derogatory (to Wrinn) title.

[Convicted One]

[CMStPnP]

schlimm

I also think it's less than polite for the OP to have given this thread such a derogatory (to Wrinn) title.

Agree, something to be said for private communications vs public, IMHO.

[CMStPnP]

schlimm

In any case, it's a moot point.  Trump is going to turn back the clock.  It sounds as though he will purge the Department of Enrrgy of any employees who attended UN climate conferences in the last five years.

I think we should wait for him to take office first before attempting to guess.

[Murphy Siding]

schlimm

I also think it's less than polite for the OP to have given this thread such a derogatory (to Wrinn) title.

 

Because on public forums you're not supposed to have opinions? I think Jim was right on with his reply.

[Norm48327]

Given that the topic of climate change is as divisive as that of gun control don't expect either side to be willing to negotiate their position. Politeness, under the guise of political correctness will not likely be found in the discussion. Think it's bad here, try reading some of the comments sections on news sites where the trolls are.

[dakotafred]

BaltACD

 

 

erikem

The real disaster that few are talking about is the next big Cascadia earthquake and associated tsunami.

 

 

Don't overlook the eruption of the Yellowstone Caldera that is overdue on its cycle of eruptions.

 

 

Or the asteroid with our name on it. Astronomers have been warning of it for years, but Democrats in Washington could care less about early detection or a missile-intercept system. Altho the asteroid would quickly make all their statist, social-engineering plans irrelevant, putting all of us in instant survival mode.

[RME]

dakotafred

Democrats in Washington could care less about early detection or a missile-intercept system.

We have much of the early detection, for example this project, and as relatively inexpensive cameras and motion tracking and analysis systems proliferate (and intercommunication among pro and amateur astronomers does too) we should have plenty of advance warning.  I grant you SPACEGUARD is a reasonable priority, but we need a more coherent, and preferably more global, allocation of the response cost.

But a "missile intercept system"?  That's not what you need.  What needs to be flown is a soft-landing, configurable boost system that can put enough lateral momentum change on a suspected orbit-crossing asteroid to miss... or place into stable orbit for capture and mining.  Automate it if you have to, but don't think that throwing large-yield devices, or fast-boost high-kinetic-energy heads, will do much to any 'extinction-level-event' sized celestial body...

[erikem]

schlimm

 

 

erikem

As for increased storms and other extreme weather "from climate change", the jury is definitely out as there hasn't been any statistically significant increase in tornadoes of hurricanes for the US.

 

 

You may be right or not.  However, what's your source?  Also, extreme weather is not limited to tornadoes and hurricanes, nor to just the USA.

https://www.ametsoc.org/ams/index.cfm/publications/bulletin-of-the-american-meteorological-society-bams/explaining-extremes/

 

For analysis of major storm damage in the US, see Roger Pielke Jr's work. For Storm energy, see Klotzbach and Landsea in Journal of Climate 28 7621-7629.

As for extreme weather events in California, nothing has exceeded the flooding of the San Joaquin Valley circa 1860 (due to an "atmospheric river"). The drought we've had the last 5 years, which appears to be ending this week (at least in the Sierras) pales in comparison to the two or so centuries of drought around the year 1000. Fires are another issue, turns out that the landscape in much of California prior to 1770 was heavily influenced by deliberately set fires.

One of the more eye-opening facts about CO2 is that the lifetime for a given CO2 molecule in the atmosphere is about 15 years based on the experience with 14C produced by hydrogen bomb testing - the 14.1 MeV neutrons from the D-T fusion reaction kick protons out of 14N nuclei to produce 14C. The question then becomes is how does it take for a given increase in CO2 to decay away, allowing for the fact that the processes that absorb CO2 also release CO2.

[tree68]

erikem

The drought we've had the last 5 years, which appears to be ending this week (at least in the Sierras) pales in comparison to the two or so centuries of drought around the year 1000.

The folks in the middle ages must have been responsible, f'rinstance:

The development of a three-field rotation system for planting crops increased the usage of land from one half in use each year under the old two-field system to two-thirds under the new system, with a consequent increase in production. The development of the heavy plough allowed heavier soils to be farmed more efficiently, aided by the spread of the horse collar, which led to the use of draught horses in place of oxen. Horses are faster than oxen and require less pasture, factors that aided the implementation of the three-field system.