Railfanning With High Gas Prices -- SMART START--What it is and what it does.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by cogload

Makes me laugh seeing our friends over the pond rant about high Petrol/ Diesel prices - design your cities better around the transport of the proles chaps. Petrol hs broken through the £1/litre here which equates to about $6 a UK gallon.

And rising......

It's higher priced over there because you call it "Petrol". [:p]

[chad thomas]

QUOTE: Originally posted by farmer03

QUOTE: Originally posted by chad thomas

QUOTE: Originally posted by farmer03

QUOTE: Originally posted by chad thomas

$3.94 9/10 at the Silverwood store. Yea boy. Did 500 miles worth of railfanning this weekend and it cost $70. Lowest price I saw was $3.20 in Hesperia.

***, you are one dedicated dude. lol

Price went down here to $2.85. Yay

It's a tough job but somebody has to do it.[:D]

It's a good thing you quit smoking a while back. Now you can use that money you saved by not buying a pack of smokes and buy A gallon of gas. lol [B)]

[:D][:D][:D][:D][:D][:D][:D][:D][:D][:D][:D][:D][:D][:D][:D][:D][:D][:D][:D][:D][:D][:D][:D][:D]

[Anonymous]

Makes me laugh seeing our friends over the pond rant about high Petrol/ Diesel prices - design your cities better around the transport of the proles chaps. Petrol hs broken through the £1/litre here which equates to about $6 a UK gallon.

And rising......

[vsmith]

....also the exhaust smells like French Fries!

[Anonymous]

The noon news carried an article today about a man in California who was converting vintage Benzs into vegetable oil burning cars. [:0] The conversion cost about $700 but he stated that you could buy vegetable oil in bulk for about $2.00 to $2.50 a gallon. He also was selling some of the vintage Benzs and aother guy said he paid about $6,000 for one of them.

This is exactly what we need going on. People trying out new things and bring them to market. Of course only if they actually work.

Diesel itself gets about 30% greater milage than gas and diesel sales are rising. The benefit of vegetable oil over diesel is no pollution, or so they say.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by chad thomas

QUOTE: Originally posted by farmer03

QUOTE: Originally posted by chad thomas

$3.94 9/10 at the Silverwood store. Yea boy. Did 500 miles worth of railfanning this weekend and it cost $70. Lowest price I saw was $3.20 in Hesperia.

***, you are one dedicated dude. lol

Price went down here to $2.85. Yay

It's a tough job but somebody has to do it.[:D]

It's a good thing you quit smoking a while back. Now you can use that money you saved by not buying a pack of smokes and buy A gallon of gas. lol [B)]

[Modelcar]

vsmith....Yes, I know 1938 was totally different conditions compared to now. We were still in the clutches of the great depression and work was still scarce. But I remember that was a good price for a customer at the time.
That new business did manage to make a go of it and then in a few years the Pennsylvania Turnpike {first 160 miles}, became a reality and removed a lot of through traffic from Rt. 30 where the station was situated. Of course then WWII reared it's ugly head and it was mothballed for the duration and opened again in 1946. Business operated for 45 years before it was sold out of the family.
A painting exists of it in the Westmoreland Arts Museum in Greensburg,Pa. that was done while it was closed for the war duration....

[chad thomas]

QUOTE: Originally posted by farmer03

QUOTE: Originally posted by chad thomas

$3.94 9/10 at the Silverwood store. Yea boy. Did 500 miles worth of railfanning this weekend and it cost $70. Lowest price I saw was $3.20 in Hesperia.

***, you are one dedicated dude. lol

Price went down here to $2.85. Yay

It's a tough job but somebody has to do it.[:D]

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by chad thomas

$3.94 9/10 at the Silverwood store. Yea boy. Did 500 miles worth of railfanning this weekend and it cost $70. Lowest price I saw was $3.20 in Hesperia.

***, you are one dedicated dude. lol

Price went down here to $2.85. Yay

[vsmith]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Modelcar

....Let me relate a comparison: My family built and opened an Esso Station back in 1938 and it was located over in western Pennsylvania. I remember a promotional sign indicating 6 GAL FOR 1.00....!! That's about 16.6 cents a gal. Of couse taxes were minimal then which is a big difference.

In 1938, $10 a week was considered good money! So 10% of your paycheck going to a tank of gas was still a big slice of the pie, of course in L.A. in 1938 you could still take the PE everywhere so who needed a car.[;)]

[chad thomas]

$3.94 9/10 at the Silverwood store. Yea boy. Did 500 miles worth of railfanning this weekend and it cost $70. Lowest price I saw was $3.20 in Hesperia.

[kolechovski]

Well, at 2.99 a gallon here, my railfanning is over. It sucks, because NS is reconstructing a route around here, and there's a lot of work action I could be seeing.

[Modelcar]

....Let me relate a comparison: My family built and opened an Esso Station back in 1938 and it was located over in western Pennsylvania. I remember a promotional sign indicating 6 GAL FOR 1.00....!! That's about 16.6 cents a gal. Of couse taxes were minimal then which is a big difference.
Item: We now have a 2nd super Wal-Mart store here in Muncie.....and the new one has a gas staion....Now, we're seeing a new pricing attitude in the city. Being familiar with a Wal-mart located station in the Mt. Dora area of Florida I know they are VERY competitive in pricing and it's happening here now...! We have been noted for having the highest prices around the area most of the time and now with the "incentive" of the new W M station I'm seeing a different pricing structure over much of Muncie. Yesterday I noted several locaions with $2.67 per gal....{That's cheap...??}, so we've seen the new "kid" in town effect pricing here.....

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by vsmith

Seen this AM, regular $3.43
Cheapest payed, yesterday $3.21

Heck I remember when we could pay just 43 cents a gallon. [;)] [8D]

When it hit $1 a gallon we all thought it was nonsense then. I would gladly pay a buck a gallon now.

Did I hear someone say, "Those were the days?" [:)]

[Anonymous]

Railfanning and the High price of gas is pointless.

[vsmith]

Seen this AM, regular $3.43
Cheapest payed, yesterday $3.21

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by solzrules

This may be met with a few sarcastic responses, but I think the price will drop considerably now. ($.20-$.30) There has been a lot of speculation the last couple of weeks, and none of the nay-saying is coming true (Iran, Iraq, and so on). It isn't just the price of oil that has risen, but the price of all commodities. These prices can't be maintained, they are irrational and will eventually have to be brought in check. And, once the price drops below $2.60 a gallon, all of these fake politicians from both parties clammoring for 'investigaitons' and so on will disappear. Until the next time the price goes up. Every time gas goes up certain people claim price fixing and excess profits are to blame. Then the price goes down and silence reigns supreme. They may be right, they may not be, but I wi***hey would actually follow through and investigate it once so they can get it out of their system.

I was going to say it in an earlier post, but I thought I had better not. Unfortunately it's true how it's workin out. Almost as if we're being 'tested' to see how much we'll really tolerate.

[Anonymous]

There was an article today in the local paper about Exxon's current profits. They were not a record but close to it.

[solzrules]

Oh, and yes it sucks to rail fan with high gas prices. You have to get a vehicle with a nice big engine to chase trains around here and that isn't too good for the wallet. [:D]

[solzrules]

This may be met with a few sarcastic responses, but I think the price will drop considerably now. ($.20-$.30) There has been a lot of speculation the last couple of weeks, and none of the nay-saying is coming true (Iran, Iraq, and so on). It isn't just the price of oil that has risen, but the price of all commodities. These prices can't be maintained, they are irrational and will eventually have to be brought in check. And, once the price drops below $2.60 a gallon, all of these fake politicians from both parties clammoring for 'investigaitons' and so on will disappear. Until the next time the price goes up. Every time gas goes up certain people claim price fixing and excess profits are to blame. Then the price goes down and silence reigns supreme. They may be right, they may not be, but I wi***hey would actually follow through and investigate it once so they can get it out of their system.

[spbed]

Around $2.95 in SE Florida[:(]

QUOTE: Originally posted by farmer03

$2.89er and holding in these parts, has been for a bit over a week now.

[Anonymous]

$2.89er and holding in these parts, has been for a bit over a week now.

[Anonymous]

Just for the record, our current prices range from $2.83 or regular unleaded to $3.03 for premium unleaded. I am actually very surprised the price has remained such for about a week now.

It has not gone up. It has not gone down.

[Anonymous]

Gas Hog tax (more of a flat rate fee per vehicle with a bigger than you need motor), Sales taxes are about it in addition to all the license, title and doc. fees.

As to Ed's post...I could never understand why more vehicles aren't made like his. Back when the new Chevy HD's were first coming out in '01 the new big block motor was rumored to have technology similar to that...all 8 when you needed it, only 4 when you didn't but it never came around. It's nice having the power when you do need it, but when you're out cruising down the highway in the more than often flat lands I'd appreciate a little more mileage.

If gas does go much higher I'm considering trading my truck off for a diesel pickup. 15-20 mpg as opposed to the 8-11 I get now makes a little more sense. Plus its fairly easy to tweak your diesel for more power and still get the same if not better mileage. And if worse comes to worse, I can use the farm fuel to avoid paying the taxes on the fuel. [;)]

[Anonymous]

My next vehicle will most likely be a Hybird. I would like something along the lines of a small to medium sized truck. I hope in the next year or two they have some good choices along those lines.

That way, I could actually railfan some if I kept my foot out of it. [:o)]

[blhanel]

QUOTE: Originally posted by germanium

Brian - As a matter of idle curiosity, what taxes are levied on your vehicles ? In Great Britain we have fuel duty, Road tax (which is supposed to pay for highway maintenance), and of course the obligatory insurance.

Dennis Franklin.

It's no different than what we have over here, I think, other than maybe the percentages- but then I'm not an expert. I'm sure there are other members who pay greater attention to the details of how much the government gets out of our passion for independent personal transportation.

[edblysard]

Own a 2005 Dodge Magnum, Hemi 5.7 MDE(multiply displacement engine)
Get on average normal highway (to and from work) 27 to 29 MPG.
On extended trips over 200 miles, I have gotten 32 MPG at a constant 70 mph, with the A/C.
In town driving, averages 17 to 21 mpg, depending on how much I hot rod it.
Entire car is computer controlled, doesn’t even have a throttle cable, as are all the LX platform cars from Dodge, the Magnum, Charger and the 300...and if we are lucky, the Challenger next year!
Point to this?
Well, if Dodge of all companies can make a 4400 lb station wagon haul butt like this thing, then turn around and get better gas mileage than most small cars...why not apply the same concept to OTR trucks, or...hey, how about trains?
I know, I know...but think about it...first, they don’t really spend all their time in run 8, and at idle, they are dragging all the pistons around for no real reason...all you want to do is keep the batteries charged and the train line charged...so why not shut off the cylinders you don’t really need, when you don’t need them?
Dodge does it the easy way...they lock the lifters in the closed position, shut off the injectors to 4 of the 8 cylinders when the demand on the engine falls into certain parameters...then rotates the four shut downs amongst all the cylinders to keep piston and ring wear even...and you never even notice it happening.

Just got my car back from the body shop(long, frustrating story there) and while they had it there, I had them check the soft wear and install the newer package...tweaks the stereo system some, adjust the proportioning on the front to rear brake ratio, shift points on the tranny changed, fun stuff....and I ask my man to download the event recorder.
Yup, they got those too, but it only keeps the last 10 seconds, then loops thru and starts over, unless you tell it not to.
Which he did...we went on a little run with him in the passenger seat with his laptop.
Found a surprising thing...this car spends almost as much time running on 4 cylinders as it does running on 8.
Also found that the car shifted gears over 100 times in under three minutes at 60 mph...it would measure the data from all the sensors, and "choose" a gear that gave the best mileage.
Along with adjusting the injectors almost constantly....

So, if Dodge can fit all this technology into a box about the size of my wife’s purse, what is stopping GE or EMD from applying the same concept to a diesel locomotive engine?
Granted, locomotives for the most part have no transmission, but that is by design, not necessarily an absolute.
You could gear a diesel to an alternator to keep the alternator spinning at the required speed, while easing back on the diesel, it just hasn’t been necessary up till now.
And you can shut off cylinders not needed in a diesel.
I know, diesels are most efficient when running at a high, constant speed, but again, that is a design choice, not an absolute there, either...it has just always been easier that way, and there was no need to do it differently.

What I am driving at is this...we have pretty much reached the end of squeaking any more useable HP out of today’s existing locomotive technology, short of making them bigger just because we can, there is no where else to go with it.
Unless someone invents a cheap superconductor magnet and wiring system for locomotive alternators and DC traction motors, we have reached the pinnacle of this fixed design.

I am betting we will see more MDE technology in automobiles within the next two or three years...Dodge already wised up and put the MDE 5.7 in its most popular pick up, and I got a feeling if GM and Ford survive as a auto makers, they will have something close to it in a year...I was expecting Nissan and Mazda to introduce theirs at the Auto Show, but they are still in the R&D step...

So, as a nod to Bergie's not so subtle nudge about trains, lets debate the chances of something like this technology being applied to current locomotive designs...or future ones for that matter.
Anyone know if something like this was ever tried before?
Adjustable, or on demand injectors?
Ed

[signmasters24]

I love fanning in my Ford Ranger but it's a 4X4 and even with a 3.0L engine it's not great on gas, so I end up driving our old Dodge Carvan 3.3L. Our trip to Rochelle and a few yards in Chicago this weekend we spent $130.00 for gas(not kidding), the point is we had a great time and we would do it again, but next time we might have to take our Carrvan or walk (ha ha). Lucky we had 3 free nights at Red Roof Inn so that saved us, we took our owen food and drinks and didn't have to buy flim, you got to love digital. I did buy a lock gas cap. I like to hear any ideas to help save gas rail fanning. I keep my truck tuned, tires about 1 1/2 pound over unless I'm on a long trip or its hot. don't carry any extra weight, start out slow keep my speed down and turn off my truck as soon as I can. I still can't get my wife to push (yet). Stay safe, have fun, rail fan rule!

[germanium]

Brian - As a matter of idle curiosity, what taxes are levied on your vehicles ? In Great Britain we have fuel duty, Road tax (which is supposed to pay for highway maintenance), and of course the obligatory insurance.

Dennis Franklin.

[blhanel]

Amen, Brother Vic!

Our (wife and I) main vehicle is a Dodge Grand Caravan mini-van- gets 24 MPG on the highway and can haul our daughter's furniture, including her single bed, to and from college. I think it's safe to say at this point that we will never own an SUV, or even a pick-up. When we want to run around in style and don't have to worry about a large payload, we take our other vehicle- a Pontiac Bonneville SSEI. It gets even better mileage, up around 26 MPG on the road, but has more muscle than I will ever need (supercharged).

Even with those vehicles and their better-than-average mileage, we're still struggling to keep fuel expenses down. I'm seriously considering doing all my local railfanning this summer from the seat of my bicycle. It might take me an extra 30 min. to an hour to get to and from the action, but my pocketbook as well as my health will most certainly benefit.