[ By Date ] [ By Message ] [ By Subject ] [ By Author ]
Here is a new entry for Wikipedia that hasn't even been edited yet.
It's a vocabulary, nomenclature, or taxonomy of railway rolling
stock. Consider it one of the curriculum units of "Railway 101."
Intelligent conversations about trains require some knowledge of
matters such as this. I don't know what all those devices are yet
(Schnabel car?Pendolino?), but that's my new homework assignment.
The second entry, below, is a blog from someone named Jim Bacon, as in "Bacon's Rebellion." He makes a good point about the differences between passenger and freight rail. In that context, I would argue that just as California does not need a north-south high speed train, it does need a far more extensive freight rail system (which the trucking system would, of course, oppose). California's economy relies far more on moving goods than moving people up and down the state.
Martin
The is a list of all types of vehicle that can be used on a railway, either specifically for running on the rails, or for maintenance or up-keep of a railway.
General classes of railway vehicle
Locomotive
Multiple unit
Electric Multiple Unit
Diesel Multiple Unit
Railcar
Road-rail vehicle
Passenger car
Freight car
Rail motor coach
High speed train
Pacer (train)
Pendolino
Travelling Post Office
Railway vehicles listed by usage
=Traction vehicles or propelled cars =
Autorail
Control car (rail)
Cab Car
Driving Van trailer
Driving Brake Standard Open
Shunter
Switcher
Tank locomotive
=Passenger use =
Baggage car
Bilevel car
Coach (rail)
Couchette car
Comet (passenger car)
Dome car
Dining car
Observation car
Sleeping car
Superliner (rail-car)
Slip coach
=Freight use =
Boxmotor
CargoSprinter
Conflat
Double-stack car
Boxcar
Centrebeam car
Covered hopper
Flatcar
Gondola (rail)
Hicube boxcar
Hopper car
Tank car
Refrigerator car
=Specialist use=
Autorack
Airplane parts cars
Coil car (rail)
Lowmac
Stock car (rail)
Schnabel car
Slate wagon
=Multi-modal=
Container car
Modalohr road trailer carriers
Roadrailer
=Ancillary vehicles =
Brake Van
Caboose
Crane (railroad)
Handcar
Scale test car
Transporter wagon
Troop sleeper
Railroad plough
Roll-block wagon
=Maintenance of way vehicles =
Ballast cleaner
Clearance car
Crew car
Dynamometer car
Flanger
HiRail truck
Railgrinder
Rotary snowplow
Spiker
Tamper
Track geometry car
Railway vehicles listed alphabetically
=A =
Airplane parts cars
Autorack
Autorail
=B =
Ballast cleaner
Baggage car
Bilevel car
Boxcar
Boxmotor
Brake Van
=C =
Cab Car
Caboose
CargoSprinter
Centrebeam car
Clearance car
Coach (rail)
Conflat
Container car
Coil car (rail)
Comet (passenger car)
Control car (rail)
Couchette car
Covered hopper
Crane (railroad)
Crew car
=D =
Diesel Multiple Unit
Dining car
Dome car
Double-stack car
Driving Van trailer
Driving Brake Standard Open
Dynamometer car
=E =
Electric Multiple Unit
=F =
Flatcar
Flanger
Freight car
=G =
Gondola (rail)
=H =
Handcar
High speed train
HiRail truck
Hicube boxcar
Hopper car
=L =
Locomotive
Lowmac
=M =
Modalohr road trailer carriers
Multiple unit
Medical/Hospital car
=O =
Observation car
=P =
Pacer (train)
Passenger car
Pendolino
=R =
Rail motor coach
Railcar
Railgrinder
Railroad plough
Refrigerator car
Roadrailer
Road-rail vehicle
Roll-block wagon
Rotary snowplow
=S =
Scale test car
Schnabel car
Shunter
Slate wagon
Sleeping car
Slip coach
Spiker
Stock car (rail)
Superliner (rail-car)
Switcher
=T =
Tamper
Tank car
Tank locomotive
Track geometry car
Transporter wagon
Travelling Post Office
Troop sleeper
The above entry is a raw new Wikipedia.com submission provided under the GFDL. It has not have been reviewed by professional editors.
MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2007
Freight Rail: The Robust Transportation Mode
Let me put in a plug for Peter Galuszka's column this week, "Forget Passenger Rail," which is based upon recent remarks by Norfolk Southern CEO Charles Moorman. Here's the thrust of the column: Moorman doesn't see much future for passenger rail in the United States: The political will doesn't exist to build it. But he does foresee a bright future for freight rail. And public-private partnerships with the freight rail companies could make sense.
Here's my spin on Peter's story. Instead of flogging the fantasy of high-speed, inter-city passenger rail, wasting money and creativity on studies that will lead to nothing, Virginians should focus on working with the freight railroads to divert millions of trucks off the roads and highways.
Freight rail in the United States is muscular and robust: It kicks sand in the face of that scrawny weakling, passenger rail. Freight rail, unlike passenger rail, is profitable. Freight rail carriers spend billions of dollars annually upgrading their systems -- the capital budget of Norfolk Southern alone is $1.4 billion this year. Bottom line for taxpayers: Freight rail is a transportation mode that pays its own way.
Of course, there's only so much that Norfolk Southern and other railroads can do by themselves. They have to generate competitive returns on investment or they will be punished by the money lords of Wall Street. That means they are unwilling to invest in an array of projects that might offer important social benefits, such as getting even more trucks off congested highways.
I'm one of those anti-tax zealots that Peter has little patience with, so I'm not persuaded that subsidizing rail, even freight rail, is a good idea under any circumstances. But if we're determined to do so, we'd be better off focusing our attention on partnering with Norfolk Southern and CSX rather than pursuing pipe dreams like a Bristol-Richmond-Washington rail corridor.
(Photo credit of Norfolk Southern and CSX trains: Pentrex Railroad Videos and Books.)
Labels: Transportation/land use
posted by Jim Bacon @ 9:43 AM
23 comments links to this post
-- ********************** Martin Engel 1621 Stone Pine Lane Menlo Park, CA 94025 650:323-1670 martinengel@earthlink.net **********************Received on Tue Dec 11 12:34:40 2007
[ Home ] [ By Date ] [ By Message ] [ By Subject ] [ By Author ] [ 05/06 Archive ]
Email communications sent to the City Council are public records. This site is an archive of emails received by the City Council at its city.council@menlopark.org email address. The posting process is automated and can cause formatting issues when viewed from the website. File attachments sent to this address can be viewed as a link from the main message body. Please note the City Council is also copied on each correspondence. This site can be viewed by the public and sorted by subject, date, author or message thread. The email address of the sender is not disclosed for security purposes. It is the City's practice to remove SPAM (Unsolicited Bulk Email) email from the Council email log. If you believe your email has been removed in error, please contact the City at ccin.log@menlopark.org.