111–119 of 119 posts
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Monorails suck and are properity garabage. Is a recepy for bad transit at increase cost.
Japan has plenty of monorails and they work great. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monorails_in_Japan
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This one seems to work... surprisingly well, considering how bonkers it is: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wuppertal_Schwebebahn I've always wondered why they've been so generally unsuccessful; conventional elevated rail works fairly well, and at least in theory they should be much cheaper and less obtrusive.
I didnt say they dont work. You just end up with highly costume properitery stuff.
Underground metro systems mostly started off as deeply weird and proprietary, as well (look at this one, weird gauge, tiny little trains, originally _cable_ operated: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glasgow_Subway), but nowadays they're _fairly_ standard, say.
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I remember the day I decided to finally go see the London Bridge and I drove over it three times trying to find it.
> I drove over it three times You tried driving in central London? Are you mad?
The Swiss Federal Railways is a really interesting organizational model. It is run as government owened private corporation. it can issue it's own bonds and the swiss states (cantons) enter purchase contract negotiations with it for service. The federal goverment beurocrats provide arms length objectives, and the coorporation figures out how to acheive them. SBB profits do not feed into the government general fund, b…
This is different from the swiss air resuce and ambulence fleet Rega, which is entirely private. It is funded by volunatry insurance paid by the swiss citizens and the annual premium is about 40 CHF for coverage.
For CHF 40 you can become a Rega patron and then they will usually pay whatever the insurance didn't cover, I think, but technically they don't have to.
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I have 13 acres. My dream is to have a homebuilt rail system around the land. Probably can't afford professional stuff so I'll have to get creative.
There is a tourist attraction here in New Zealand that started its life as a way for a potter, Barry Brickell, to get his clay and fuel for the kilns to his studio. It’s a beautiful spot, particularly if you manage to avoid a busy time. I’m sure there are other mini ones out there. https://drivingcreek.nz/activities/driving-creek-railway-tou... https://drivingcreek.nz/activities/driving-creek-railway-tou...
Thanks for this!
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I didnt say they dont work. You just end up with highly costume properitery stuff.
Sure, but there's no reason that _has_ to be the case. Like, there've been attempts at standards; the volume is just never really there to make any of them _the_ standard. Underground metro systems mostly started off as deeply weird and proprietary, as well (look at this one, weird gauge, tiny little trains, originally _cable_ operated: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glasgow_Subway ), but nowadays they're _fairly_ sta…
Monorail operations aren't cheaper, at best their construction is cheaper. But if you need interchanges it gets more expensive again.
Its simple really they over very few actual advantages while having many disadvantages, so when they are built its usually because some monorail builder managed to convince some local politicians despite most experts saying they should just build normal rail.
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Yeah some overnight trains can adjust their gauge on the France/Spain border. On the China/Mongolia border on the other hand they disassemble the train, lift the train cars up one by one (with passengers inside), switch out the boogies and then reassemble. 3 hour process, you can fully sleep through it and not notice.
Not notice loud banging and violent shaking underneath you? You can sleep through that, with practice, but you will notice it.
These aren't American trains.
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Not notice loud banging and violent shaking underneath you? You can sleep through that, with practice, but you will notice it.
It's actually rather quiet from the relatively sound-proof interior, and there is no noticeable shaking. These aren't American trains.