lexande

@lexande

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lexande@lexande· 2d

CP InterCity train seen from inside tunnel on the abandoned Porto Campanhã-Alfandega rail line

lexande@lexande· 2d

I noticed this week that Porto's metro maps all show the under construction Metro line G without any indication that it's not open yet, but at least in that case you'll notice that the station isn't there before you wind up waiting for a train that won't come until next year.

lexande@lexande· 2d

Abandoned Porto Campanhã-Alfandega railway with tunnel at left, abandoned Maria Pia rail bridge, and CP Urbanos train crossing modern São João rail bridge in background

lexande@lexande· 18d

The London Midland train I took from Euston to Crewe in May was ten carriages.

lexande@lexande· Jul 21

These four photos were taken over the course of less than seven seconds as the wagons came together.

lexande@lexande· Jul 6

In the 80s there were three trains a day CDMX-Monterrey with one continuing to Nuevo Laredo. timetableworld.com/ttw-viewer.p...

lexande@lexande· Jul 1

The Key System lines over the bridge were mostly every 20 minutes or worse even at peak, don't think they'll add up to much compared to frequent long subway trains.

lexande@lexande· Jul 1

By raw numbers the Manhattan and Williamsburg bridges have actually fallen slightly further. docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

lexande@lexande· Jul 1

Pretty sure the el tracks were replaced with vehicle lanes?

lexande@lexande· Jul 1

That said, there *were* steam trains from the Brooklyn elevated lines that ran through to Park Row in 1898, hauled by electric motor cars through the bridge terminal areas and across the bridge itself by cable. See Cudahy "How We Got to Coney Island" p164-165:

It took considerable negotiating skill, helped along by judicial
intervention and the transfer of authority for bridge matters from
quasi-independent trustees to the city government with the amal-
gamation of Greater New York in 1898, before any Brooklyn ele-
vated railway could operate its trains across the bridge to Park
Row. Although no through service with Manhattan elevated lines
would ever come to pass, first Brooklyn Union and then Kings
County did build track connections at the Brooklyn end of the
bridge between their own lines and the bridge cable railway so
through service could be operated. The first through train from
Park Row—a ceremonial inaugural that took railway and civic of-
ficials all the way to Manhattan Beach—operated on May 18, 1898.
Brooklyn Union acquired a fleet of twelve electric elevated cars
to move its trains into and out of the bridge terminals. The cars
were built by Pullman Palace, rode on McGuire trucks, and were
powered by four eighty-horsepower Walker motors. The motors
were specially designed for heavy-duty applications by S. H. Short
of the Walker Company, one of the many pioneers in railway elec-
trification. The new cars, which Brooklyn Union identified as its
400-series equipment, featured center doors to speed loading and

MERGER, CONSOLIDATION, AND EMERGENCE OF THE BRT (1890–1900) 165
unloading at Park Row and included the Sprague multiple-unit
control system. The Sprague system was not something the cars
would need while serving as transbridge motors. However, Brook-
lyn Union would soon be converting from steam to electrical
power, and the multiple-unit controls would be needed to run
multicar trains of electric-powered cars.75 Electrification of the
Brooklyn elevated railways was a year or more away when Brook-
lyn Union acquired its first electric-powered cars. The new cars
were initially assigned to replace steam locomotive so elevated
trains could continue into Manhattan across the Brooklyn Bridge.
The Kings County Railroad operated its first trains across the
Brooklyn Bridge on November 1, 1898, after taking delivery of its
own fleet of electric motor cars.
Brooklyn Union trains reached the bridge over a newly con-
structed elevated link that left the company’s line along Adams
Street between Concord and Tillary and headed west to connect
with the bridge railway south of the Sands Street Terminal. Kings
County trains branched off that company’s main line at Fulton and
Tillary Streets and linked up with the bridge railway a short dis-
tance away.
Electric bridge motors were not the only new equipment that
had to be acquired before Brooklyn elevated trains could cross
the bridge. Elevated cars used in transbridge service also had to
be equipped with cable grips, since the twin moving cables re-
mained the primary source of traction on the Brooklyn Bridge.

lexande@lexande· Jun 30

I came across this photo which makes me suspect that the (then-mainline) St George terminal may have had high platforms from opening in 1886, and at any rate had them before electrification in 1925, but haven't found sources discussing it explicitly.

St George terminal, from https://www.silive.com/timecapsule/2021/06/then-and-now-railroad-tracks-that-carried-life-around-staten-island.html

lexande@lexande· Jun 30

I'm less sure about the c. 1871 Grand Central Depot. Wikipedia at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History... claims it had level-boarding high platforms but in the photos and drawings I've found they look low or medium height.

lexande@lexande· Jun 30

Buffalo is one place where I expect the interurbans to have had much more significant commuter ridership than the steam railroads. As shown on @lostsubways.com's map 53studio.com/collections/..., the International Railway ran every 15 minutes Buffalo-Niagara, mostly on dedicated right-of-way.

Map of interurbans around Buffalo with line thickness representing frequency, from https://53studio.com/collections/maps/products/buffalo-interurban-electric-railways-map-1910

lexande@lexande· May 27

But I'm not going to Port Erin today. The request stop at Ronaldsway Airport makes this the world's only steam-powered airport rail link. Here I'm transferring directly from a 1910-built steam train to an ATR-72 turboprop aircraft for the first leg of my flight home.

lexande@lexande· May 27

The other significant railway on the island is the Isle of Man Steam Railway, which runs four times a day in summer from Douglas to Port Erin.

lexande@lexande· May 26

This is such a fun railway

lexande@lexande· May 26

After spending a couple hours walking back down the hill to Laxey, I'm on the MER interurban again heading to Ramsey; I'll have dinner there and get the last departure back to Douglas at 21:40.

lexande@lexande· May 26

On a clear day one can reportedly see England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland from up here, but it's definitely not clear enough today.

lexande@lexande· May 26

Successfully reached the summit after just a brief delay for sheep on the tracks.

lexande@lexande· May 26

An hour later and the problem is reportedly fixed! (Or at least mitigated.) Let's try this again.

lexande@lexande· May 26

Somewhere near Agneash the railcar lost power due to a downed wire; eventually we were transferred across the tracks to a downward-bound tram back to Laxey

lexande@lexande· May 26

The railcar stopped for the passengers to take photos of the Laxey water wheel, then asked if everyone was done with their photos before continuing

lexande@lexande· May 26

The Snaefell Mountain Railway uses ordinary wheel-on-rail adhesion for traction, but has a third rail between the tracks specifically for emergency braking.

lexande@lexande· May 26

The interurban stops in Laxey where one can transfer to a *different* weird electric railway to the highest point in the Isle of Man, Snaefell Summit.

lexande@lexande· May 26

At the north end of the horse tram one can transfer to... a weird electric interurban, also half-hourly in summer

lexande@lexande· May 26

The Douglas Bay Horse Tramway has dedicated (ish) lanes and accepts contactless cards for fare payment onboard. On the other hand it only runs every 30+ minutes, and only in summer.

lexande@lexande· May 26

Now that's a transit wayfinding symbol I hadn't seen before

Wayfinding sign in a ferry terminal, with icons for "Baggage Reclaim", "Cafe / Restaurant", "Taxis / Meeting Point", "Buses / Coach Transfers", and... "Horse Trams"

lexande@lexande· May 15

It's on bahn.de (though not bookable there). Only three times a week and not a particularly popular time of day so it's easy to miss.

lexande@lexande· May 9

All of those have at least a little bit of street running at the downtown end , see for example www.rideprt.org/pdfs/p1.pdf

Map of Pittsburgh East Busway P1 and P3 routes; the P1 is almost entirely on the busway but at its western end makes a small loop through downtown on surface streets. The P3 makes a larger surface loop through Shadyside and Oakland.

lexande@lexande· May 8

Looks okay? Not sure these are comparable to the US numbers we are talking about. (Though relatedly I do think it's quite possible that UMich's methodology is just fucked and the US vibes aren't actually that bad or weren't until very recently.)