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Mr. Luddite

"BAR" wrote in message
. ..

In article ,
says...

On 9/3/13 11:30 AM, wrote:
On Tue, 3 Sep 2013 09:57:25 -0400, iBoaterer
wrote:

No, it's mostly a stigma, people think elevated trains, they
think
noise, they think unsafe, etc. Add to that that for some reason
beyond
me, there are a LOT of people in the U.S. who just fear and
loathe any
new technology.

Elevated trains ARE noisier and if they derail, over a major road,
they are a lot more dangerous.
We are not talking about the Lake Street El here. You want that
train
going 150 MPH or more.

BTW you keep saying "innovation" and "new technology" but this is
200
year old technology and every plan I have heard involves buying
existing technology from Europe or Japan. Were is the innovation?

Bringing high speed trains over from Europe would be new technology
for
this country, because we have no capability anymore for passenger
rail
innovation. We'd have to reverse engineer what they are doing across
the
big pond.

If they change the octane of gasoline and it makes cars go faster is
that new technology or
an improvement on an existing technology. Fixed track trains are 200
years old and they only
thing that has changed is how the locomotive is powered.

------------------------------

Well, some things on the train tracks have changed. Railroad "ties"
are typically concrete now and the rail butts are welded and smooth.
Ever notice that the "clackity-clack" sound of a train travelling
down the track has disappeared?