The last train to Clarkesville?

I’d like to travel from San Luis Obispo, California to Indianapolis, Indiana.

The options:

Driving; with gasoline at $4 a gallon (plus motels and meals) and a drive time of over 40 hours (not including sleep and meals) elapsed time isn’t too attractve.

The Bus: At $209, taking the bus is certainly the most economical option, but with an elapsed travel time of 2days, 7hours, 35minutes it sounds uncomfortable at best (upright seating). Combined with over 40 stops (consuming over three hours (including the MCDONALDS in Mojave, Ca)), and station layovers of 8 hours, it could be suicidal.

Flying; American Airlines fare of $695 (plus $15 per bag (rather than just conceding that a fare increase is necessary) is onerous. Elasped time: 9 hours … can’t beat it.

The Train: at $235 … reasonable. But 70 hours in a “bus seat” ? True, there is the opportunity to get up and walk around, visit with other passengers, a lounge car, dining facilites, and alcohol service would help. Upgrade to a “bedroom suite” with private bathroom: $985. $300 more, and still 70 hours? Not worth it.

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!

Why is it that Americans are not afforded Rapid Rail Service? Why is it that
corporate/media America has not realized the potential for rebuilding what was this nation’s original “high speed” transportation mode?

70 hours to Indianapolis is ridiculous; a train traveling at 200 mph would do the run in 12 hours. With an entertainment, dining, and lounge cars for distraction I could do 12 hours in a “bus seat”.

At roughly 3,000 miles coast to coast, this country is well suited to rail travel. Restoration of long decaying rights-of-way would initially provide thousands of jobs. Additionally, employment of thousands of train and maintenance crews and support staff, steel production, locomotive and coach construction, infrastructure … more jobs.

Created in April 1935 by Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s presidential order, the WPA (Works Projects Administration) provided jobs and income to the unemployed and built many public buildings, projects and roads during the Great Depression in the United States.

So why haven’t ANY of our presidential candiates considered this? “Big Oil”, “Motor Culture”, Federal investment in the “Airline System”? Maybe.

Myopia more likely.

I’ll save the discussion of a TransUS Canal System for another rant.

LAX to Indy is $350- surely you can get to LAX for a reasonable amount of money and time? I’d kind of like to take a cross country bus trip some time just for the anthropological interest. Still, I imagine I’d get off after about 12 hours and take a taxi to the nearest airport.

Trains are great, but our network was designed in the 19th century, and would need massive investment to be capable of handling 200mph trains. Combine that with the entrenched interests (and powerful political lobbies) of the people who run the road and air networks, and nothing will ever change. We would also need an intelligence upgrade- think how many people already manage to get their cars run into while crossing slow ass coal trains, then imagine those same buffoons trying to cut under the gate in front of a TGV.

TGV’s don’t cross roads. It’s one of the differences with high speed trains. They also don’t do sharp turns, they run on rails that are wider, smoother and flatter than US rails.

There is a reason that Amtrak is government owned…

surely you can get to LAX for a reasonable amount of money and time?

My point being that I would have to drive to LAX … my car + parking fees?; the bus (6hours; 235 miles)?; my thumb?

our network was designed in the 19th century, and would need massive investment to be capable of handling 200mph trains.

Exactly my idea. America offers aid to the world, and rebuilds everything except itself.

Combine that with the entrenched interests (and powerful political lobbies) of the people who run the road and air networks, and nothing will ever change.

Change … . who’s that guy talking about changing America… . . ?

We would also need an intelligence upgrade … imagine those same buffoons trying to cut under the gate in front of a TGV.

Not likely considering that high-speed rail systems are segregated from motor vehicle traffic.

But you are on the mark; an intelligence upgrade is absolutely in order.

Like most Americans, I enjoy the freedom of movement that driving offers, but we must ween ourselves off of oil; foreign oil in particular. If this means more platforms in the Santa Barbara Channel, nuclear power plants, increased use of coal, oil exploration in (gasp!) Alaska … then so be it.

The current leadership of this country has talked the talk, but done nothing substantive. The candidates on the other side of the isle are equally idealess. The US is digging itself into a very deep hole and we’ve gotta get our sh*t together and fast.

I’m on a rant here guys. If it’s in the wrong forum move it, but it is transportation related.

The FAA’s NextGen system should help by effectively creating more “lanes in the sky.”:

http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/air_space/4219569.html

I think a better idea is to just give hydrogen free (produced in non-carbon emitting ways) to the airlines. We would see H2 powered aircraft in 5-8 years that don’t pollute and were cheaper to fly than today. Plus the infrastructure could be used for all kinds of transport.

Love it! The government makes a short term investment that “rises the tide” for all.
I hope our new president will have the guts to think this audaciously.

On a smaller scale, this worked for me recently. The San Diego Gas & Electric company have dramatically subsidized the cost of CFL light-bulbs at the register, making them cost-competitive with regular bulbs ($0.75 vs. $5.00). I jumped at the opportunity and switched out all of my incandescent bulbs.

Can’t you take the train down the coast? Probably costs $350…

The fact that any theoretical high speed rail line can’t cross roads only makes it more unlikely to ever happen, because now you can’t use the existing rights of way. Instead you need to use eminent domain to buy up properties along thousands and thousands of miles of track. You might be able to make stuff like that work on a small regional scale, but forget ever being able to hop on a high speed train to Indy. Oil could be a million dollars a barrel and it still wouldn’t happen.

Here’s an example: here in Denver we are spending $6 billion to build a modest, fairly useless light rail line (that’s the current cost mind you, and it’s not getting cheaper). This system will be far less extensive than the streetcar system we shut down in the 50s, whose tracks I can still see peeking out from the asphalt all over my neighborhood. Most of it uses existing rail right of way, so the tracks are already in place (which begs the question WTF are they spending the $6 billion on?) The total length of all the routes on this system is 125 miles. So that’s around $5 million a mile, and that’s with the rails already in place. Using that as a guide, what would a comprehensive nationwide high speed rail network cost? I think you’d be starting the bids around $1 trillion.

I totally agree with the sentiment, but we made this mess over 60 years ago, and it’s too late to go back now. And if you think Obama’s going to change our current idiotic energy policies, you need to read his positions on corn ethanol and coal. And even if he had the right ideas, he’d still have to get them through a corrupt congress that has been 100% bought and paid for on both sides by people who don’t want anything to change.

Scott: exactly!

the drive from SLO to Indy is pretty boring after you clear the mountains. mind-numbing, really.

if you think Obama’s going to change our current idiotic energy policies> , you need to read his positions on corn ethanol and coal. And even if he had the right ideas, > he’d still have to get them through a corrupt congress that has been 100% bought and paid for on both sides by people who don’t want anything to change.

I agree … . … damn it. I may have been born at night, but I wasn’t born last night. So I guess all there is for us to do is to roll over and take it?

the drive from SLO to Indy is pretty boring after you clear the mountains. mind-numbing, really.

I’ve done it three times, and it is too mind-numbing to want to do it again that is for sure. Unless, of course, it’s in an Audi RS8

BTW, Regular hit $4.39 a gallon this morning; wifie’s CLK burns Premium, now @ $4.59. $5-a-gallon Regular before July 4th I’d bet.

i have my car tuned to run on premium (california’s premium fuel is piss water). i was trying to compete in a full season of time attack this year, but the fuel prices are really throwing more offset into my hobby’s budget.

the car averages about 28 around town, but add the track events and i get about 8-10 mpg. i also had to give up on using the wife’s suv to trailer the car to events and now drive it to the events. this puts a crimp in my perfomance because if i wad it, i have to find an alternative way home now.

i knew this was coming, but gas prices have doubled by my recollection since '04-'05. i wasn’t expecting that this quickly.