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Dolly Parton's Dollywood Express

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Re: Dolly Parton's Dollywood Express

#131

Post by mig39 »

cleverwebble wrote: post #71

I grew up in a town called Seymour, which is in the same county as Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge. It's Dolly country. She's a hero - she's done so much for her community. Much of the money you spend at Dollywood goes to help so many public causes. One of them is the Imagination Library, which gives out free books every month from birth to 5 years of age. I was one of the first families that got to take a part in it. I cert…

You'll be happy to know that Imagination Library sent monthly books to my 3 Canadian kids as well! We loved every single one of them!

Re: Dolly Parton's Dollywood Express

#132

Post by pjc50 »

NoblePublius wrote: post #25

“ I love Disney and I love Dolly Parton, but it says something deeply broken about our national priorities when their theme park trains outclass public infrastructure in billion-dollar economies. Be serious.” Europe has lots of train infrastructure because it was very poor after WW2, and its people could afford nothing but train fare. America has lots of car infrastructure because it was very rich after WS2, and its…

Timeline is wrong. Most of the European rail infrastructure (and indeed American) was built before WW1, quite a lot before WW1.

The critical ingredient wasn't wealth per se but oil. Which also determined the lines of attack and victory in the war.

Re: Dolly Parton's Dollywood Express

#133

Post by lukas099 »

creaturemachine wrote: post #58
johng wrote: post #16

I still believe that if Dolly ran for President, she would win. She's probably one of the most liked people in the country, percentage wise. I've actually asked quite a few random people what they think of her and I've never met someone that had anything bad to say.

We thought Hillary and Kamala were shoo-ins too. This rot runs deep throughout the electorate, something the media and parties know and are all too willing to exploit.

I never thought either of them was a shoo-in, especially Harris. Was that really a consensus?

Re: Dolly Parton's Dollywood Express

#134

Post by ThunderSizzle »

rtkwe wrote: post #36
jancsika wrote: post #35

In real life freight trains have the right of way in the U.S. In other words, the Dollywood Express would be a lot less fun if it spent half the day waiting while trolls unload corndogs from two-person handcars randomly distributed along the track.

Sadly true even though legally it's supposed to be the opposite. [0] It's just not enforced at all and as a result of that (and freight trains becoming massive monsters that can't even fit on the passing sidings designed for them) Amtrak service sucks. [0] https://www.amtrak.com/on-time-performance#:~:text=For%20ove...

If Amtrak wants right of way, it can build its own rail network.

Re: Dolly Parton's Dollywood Express

#135

Post by marcusb »

madcaptenor wrote: post #75
strictnein wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a great park with some surprisingly enjoyable rides. Lightning Rod is one of the most intense coasters I've been on. Definitely a little rough at times, but man it does not hold back at all. And it's kind of hidden in the layout of the park, with a lot of the track over the top of a hill. A visit to the Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg area and the Smoky Mountains is great trip, especially with kids. Lots of quirky nonse…

I live in Atlanta and have not been up there. I have kids. I should probably fix that. (That is, I should "fix that" by going up to the Smokies with them, not by getting rid of the kids!)

It's worth it - just check to see if any big events are going on in Gatlinburg before you book. We went there one time (without checking) during a hot rod/motorcycle convention. The traffic was insane.

Re: Dolly Parton's Dollywood Express

#136

Post by bluGill »

sarchertech wrote: post #120
bluGill wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The freights respond if Amtrack would keep their schedules things would work, but once a train is late they have to do extra work to find places for that train that isn't running schedule. (and one badly maintained local railroad early in the trip is enough to ensure Amtrak is always late) I'm not sure who is right in the above, but it is important to at least consider all sides of the argument.

Oh yeah I’m sure there’s plenty of blame to go around. But for passenger service, you really can’t have a system where being 5 minutes late compounds into an hour late because then it’s a positive feedback loop and there’s no way to recover.

that nobody has fixed the problem despite laws and years of talk shows how incompetent management is...

Re: Dolly Parton's Dollywood Express

#137

Post by esseph »

xp84 wrote: post #101
hollywood_court wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where do you live that has garages open on a Sunday morning? I don't think I've ever seen a tire shop or auto repair place (other than the big box and wholesale warehouse places) that's open on a Sunday.

I decided to take a very non-representative sample, and found that in many (but not all) parts of northern California, locations of the chain tire shop that I use are closed on Sundays, but most locations in the LA area are open 7 days a week. This chain has a lot of locations. It could be that they're responding to what their competitors do in both cases. So maybe getting tires on Sunday is a so-cal thing? TBH, I pe…

LA is an anomaly. Most places are 5-6 days a week, tops. Around where I'm at currently, if the place is open on Saturdays, they're closed on Monday to compensate. There's a lot of those

Re: Dolly Parton's Dollywood Express

#138

Post by esseph »

BiteCode_dev wrote: post #56
pizzathyme wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly, more rails would not be useful because there is lower density in the US. Denmark is 141 persons/km^2, whereas the U.S. is about 36 persons/km^2 (census data). Even if you built train lines everywhere outside urban areas, any stop you step off at would still require a 20 minute drive to get to where you are going. (Or in your case 15!)

With that logic airportd should not have been built everywhere and useless, yet they were and are not.

Most airports are privately owned.

Re: Dolly Parton's Dollywood Express

#139

Post by BlackjackCF »

hirvi74 wrote: post #118
cleverwebble wrote: post #71

I grew up in a town called Seymour, which is in the same county as Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge. It's Dolly country. She's a hero - she's done so much for her community. Much of the money you spend at Dollywood goes to help so many public causes. One of them is the Imagination Library, which gives out free books every month from birth to 5 years of age. I was one of the first families that got to take a part in it. I cert…

Fellow native Tennessean here, as well. Words cannot describe the love and admiration myself and the vast majority of Tennesseans have for Dolly Parton. She is the closest thing to a living Saint that many of us will ever witness.

Americans are divided on a lot of things, but Dolly is universally beloved.

Re: Dolly Parton's Dollywood Express

#140

Post by golemiprague »

pizzathyme wrote: post #43
conception wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, etc etc.

Is the suggestion here to build more subways/rails? The problem is that more rails would not be useful because there is lower density in the US. Denmark is 141 persons/km^2, whereas the U.S. is about 36 person(census data). Even if you built train lines everywhere outside urban areas, any stop you step off at would still require a 20 minute drive to get to where you are going.

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