July 07, 2006
Let's Hear it for the Rainbow Tour!
If you saw Evita, this'll make sense. If not, then go read this and hunt for "Rainbow Tour".
Either way, enjoy: Condi's Rainbow Tour.
(OK, so I thought it was funny.
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The chap talking about being called a revanchist is Ernst Roehm, late of the National Socialist Sturmabteilung.
July 03, 2006
Passenger Service PAC Formed
I don't suppose it's any secret that I support the existence of passenger rail service. I do believe I would prefer it to long-range aviation or automobile travel, and if I had the money, I'd probably stick to passenger trains for travel. However, I have not had the opportunity to put my money where my mouth is, primarily because I don't happen to live anywhere near an Amtrak or Virginia Railway Express station. I think the nearest one is around Charlottesville, Virginia, on the C&O line through there. However, it appears that perhaps something is coming to change that.
Courtesy of D.B. Zukowski's site, I have learned of the formation of a new political action committee whose "exclusive purpose of supporting candidates for public office who are dedicated to the advancement and expansion of a national rail passenger network". I interpret that to be a lobbying arm for Amtrak, since they're the only ones (either de facto or de jure) who do that.
This PAC, dubbed "Passenger Rail…Today", has two names attached to it already. First is a man named Tim Gillespie, who apparently has several years experience in government relations at Amtrak. Through my own ignorance, I've never heard of him before; I can't say anything about him. The second is someone that I've heard of, a chap named Bennett Levin.
Mr. Levin is known to rail enthusiast circles as the man who operates former Conrail business train E8As as PRR 5711 and 5809. He's done something very nice with his operation of Liberty Limited specials for wounded soldiers recently. He is also a trustee of the Army War College Foundation, so make of that what you will.
The PAC have no website as of yet, but Mr. Zukowski's interview with Mr. Gillespie tells you pretty much all you need to know for the time being. I for one am glad that they exist. Thanks to Mr. Zukowski for giving me the initial information.
UPDATE: Whoops, I forgot to post the link to Mr. Zukowski's article. Here it is. The Country Pundit regrets the error.
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A contrary view to my belief in Amtrak is held by Mr. Joseph Vranich, who operates a blog dedicated to the disestablishment of Amtrak. He has not opined on this subject as of yet. When/if he does and I notice it, I will modify this post accordingly. My chief question for him, asked in an honest way, is this: The private railroads did everything in their power to bail out of the passenger service by 1970 for the most part, with the Southern Railway staying in solely because of Graham Claytor from all appearances. What has changed that should convince me that the Class I carriers would want back into the market, or would allow anyone else to operate over their trackage?
Stop Spying on Me!
I cruised through Absinthe & Cookies this morning, and found a quiz which generates a bumper sticker for you based upon your type of automobile. Ith got this; I got the following:
Your Bumper Sticker Should Be |
 If you can read this, I can stop suddenly and sue you |
Yeah, this came from 19 June 2006, but what's two weeks among friends? Nevertheless, I'm pretty surprised to have gotten this, given that such a statement is, more accurate than not in the Commonwealth. Bloody packet sniffers!
Norfolk Southern Diesel Patterns
One of the things that I've found valuable for Train Simulator is knowing what hauls what on a particular road. There are, after all, usually observable patterns if not outright assignments for particular types of diesel-electric locomotives. Offered without warranty is the following list for the Norfolk Southern Railway; representative units are generally believed to be available for free or for purchase.
Electro-Motive Diesel
GP38-2 - Locals, work trains, and yard service.
GP40-2 - Locals, yard service, and work trains. Any surviving GP40s are slug master units.
GP50 - Locals, occasional road service, and yard service. Many are being converted to GP38-3 standard, which involves de-rating of the prime mover and creating a low short hood where applicable.
GP60 - High priority intermodal trains; usually seen with Triple Crown Services RoadRailers.
SD40-2 - Road service and yard service.
SD50 - Road service. Former Conrail SD50s have been seen in MOW service.
SD60 - Road service, exclusively.
SD70 - Popular for coal service and also assigned to road service.
SD70M - Road service; reportedly popular in cab signal (i.e. former PRR) territory.
General Electric Transportation
C39-8 - Road service; survivors reportedly based around Roanoke, Virginia.
D8-40CW - Road service systemwide.
D9-40C - Road service systemwide.
D9-40CW - Road service systemwide.
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The original source of this information is unknown; I've tinkered with the format and have added HTML. The ES40DC and SD70M-2 are not included because they weren't on the original list. Corrections and/or other opinions are appreciated.
All surviving ex-NKP SD9M units are reportedly assigned to the East Carolina Business Unit internal short line.