D-League
- Thread starter Wildcat Droppings
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Dr Suess says yes
This was a mystery tune. Why did he jump
Yes. “we are spread out compared to them.........”.
When it comes to railroad economics I am an expert. 32 years as an official at CSX in Sales and Marketing.
By the time I retired in January 2000 the Washington to Boston run was on my railroad: CSX. The federal government subsidizes the hell out of Amtrak and it is electrified between just south of Baltimore to Boston. To my knowledge it is the only section of U.S. rail under Amtrak that is electrified. It is fast and actually makes money, or made money when I retired.
Let me educate you on Amtrak. Amtrak was a Federal government program crammed down the throats of the U.S. railroad companies. We at the railroad could not say no because the feds meant business. We had this thing called the Interstate Commerce Commission and they dictated terms to private businesses that they dictated terms to, the private railroads.
I started to work for the L&N in May 1968, straight out of college. The L&N was getting out of passenger rail business (we actually did not know that the federal government would force us to do something that would make us lose money – we were stupid at that point) as you could not make any money hauling around human beings via rail. From Cincinnati to New Orleans (an L&N run) you could fly in a little over two hours at one third the price of going via rail and rail would take you hours and hours and hours. So unable to compete with buses and planes the railroads were getting out of the passenger business, or at the least we thought we were.
Then Uncle Sam decided that those damned railroads could not do that to those poor folks who wanted to travel via rail; although they were incredible low in numbers. So, the U.S government forced the railroads to offer passenger service at a loss.
Everyone talks about the great rail service in Europe or Japan or England. They never talk about the massive subsidies that it takes to haul people around in a postage stamp sized country. The United States and Canada are anything but small.
What most folks don’t know is that the U.S. railroads are the only railroads that actually are private and make money. You can’t make money moving people via rail except in extremely dense population areas such as from Washington DC to Boston.
Also, I totally agree with the size of the UK. “we are spread out compared to them.........”. That is the point.
From London (South England) to Thurso, Scotland (extreme Northern Scotland) it is a whopping 678 miles. From Cincinnati to New Orleans it is 806 miles. That is middle to south. Let us not talk about the distance from San Diego, CA to Caribou, ME: 3,289 miles. That is farther than from London to Moscow (1,924 miles). Those distances are made for airplanes. The cost to fly from London to Moscow is a fraction of rail between those points. Plus, when it takes three days instead of a few hours we human beings must eat and sleep which add more cost.
End of rant.
awf that was not pointed toward you. I understand what you posted.
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I have never been on a train (except one of those tiny amusement park ones). I have only flown 4-5 times.
Should have included that I am 100% against vaccine mandates. And masks. And hysteria.
Interesting song considering recent news events with missing people and what not. Throw in her papa dying from the virus and it's a topical tune.
Max Baer (Jethro Bodeen) produced a movie about this song in 1976. The reason he jumped was due to grief from a homosexual encounter with an older man. Robbie Benson played Billie Joe. Leave it up to Hollywood to screw up a good song.
Thanks a lot man. Some of us might not have seen that movie! I haven't even got started on the Robbie Benson collection yet. I'm saving it for some other time, some other life.
Wow, all I can say is, if a man is more attracted to an old man than to Bobby Gentry he needs to jump off of something. Does the movie tell what they were throwing off of the bridge?Max Baer (Jethro Bodeen) produced a movie about this song in 1976. The reason he jumped was due to grief from a homosexual encounter with an older man. Robbie Benson played Billie Joe. Leave it up to Hollywood to screw up a good song.
I need to watch it.
Yeah but not with all the side bars and intangibles going on. Oh, I am sure there were scuzz that turned a profit off things like this back years ago but not blatantly against constitutionality.
Speaking of movies, it is Friday Night Movie time at my house. The corn is a popping.
No, you really don't need to watch it. I watched when it came out on TV. All I can remember was suffering though until the end just to find out why he jumped. It was a real stinker and I think it bombed at the box office. Should have.
Best Christmas movie of all-time? That's highly subjective. For me though it has to be A Christmas Story. Nostalgic plus it perfectly captures a child's emotions during the season.
Sir, Sir, Sir,...... Ole Leon is getting larger for sure (This Leon...) My Darling has been on a rampage of late...She always cooks well and I eat well but now she is upping the quantities. I've been eating these today and for three days like popcorn... (Freshly made daily) (What you see below is still digesting)
(Inside chucked full of; hamburger meat along with cabbage, spices, and some egg noodles)
Along with some of these... (Sweet potatoes...)
Yeah....
What is the saying? In England, 200 miles is a long way. In the USA, 200 years is a long time.
Interesting correlating the dates... (readable in English)
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You are a 75 year old retired guy. What else do you have to do with all that spare time?
We old guys are not very appealing. I've had several women in recent years threaten to jump if I came any closer (one of them being my wife).Max Baer (Jethro Bodeen) produced a movie about this song in 1976. The reason he jumped was due to grief from a homosexual encounter with an older man. Robbie Benson played Billie Joe. Leave it up to Hollywood to screw up a good song.
Watching right now with my wife. popcorn coming soon. Flick just got his tongue loose.
Stuck? Stuck! STUUUUUUCK!!!!!!!
Good morning, D-League!
It's a balmy 56° and sunshinee this er night morning. Can see clearly enough out here in the sticks to walk around without any artifical light. It's just gorgeous.
Hope youre gettin rested up for the scrap with the tarbabies or some time with family. May God bless you and yours exceedingly!
It's a balmy 56° and sunshinee this er night morning. Can see clearly enough out here in the sticks to walk around without any artifical light. It's just gorgeous.
Hope youre gettin rested up for the scrap with the tarbabies or some time with family. May God bless you and yours exceedingly!
Good Saturday Morning D League
Sitting here waiting for the sun to come up with the smell of sausage in the pan and grits in the pot. Gonna be a bright bright sunshiny day.
It is 63° and should get up to about 81° in the early afternoon. 2% chance of rain this morning.
I trust all have a nice day, need a coffee refill
Sitting here waiting for the sun to come up with the smell of sausage in the pan and grits in the pot. Gonna be a bright bright sunshiny day.
It is 63° and should get up to about 81° in the early afternoon. 2% chance of rain this morning.
I trust all have a nice day, need a coffee refill
Good morning from ATX. We've got 71°F and cloudy. Today's high projected at around 78°F. Cold front coming in Saturday night.
My laptop just upgraded to Windows 11. So far, so good.
Shopped a little for Christmas yesterday. Purchased a new Keurig K-cup coffee maker. Wife loves coffee. One cup per day is enough for me. Jury duty was an exception. Never doze off with a judge in the room. Drank 2-3 cups/day during that week.
Wishing happiness and health for all our fellow D-League members.
The day america officially switched to coffee!! It's a party! It's a party!
Remember the "outrage" over banning same sex bathrooms? Where they "had to" move a big game to a D run city?
Wonder if the NFL will get some stones and move the SB to a non-communist city and state... When are they going to start worshipping the dollar and get a full stadium for such a grand event? Lol
What's even more sad about these last 2 years is the knowledge that 10-20 years from now there will be a new generation of kidiots that will have been taught in schools that the reason the stadiums were empty was because of the unvaccinated and the deadliness of the pandemic, that FrancisJaBlowme was the savior of the country before divoc took his mind, and that it all stopped the madness of the most (popular) "awful" (pedo/trafficking busting) president ever, who had reporters kicked out of his few press conferences where he didn't answer questions, forced people to be banned from social media, and tanked the economy.
All because "they wanted to catch the Ds stealing the election" and lock em all up.... All planned to sell our country down the river and put Gropey Joe into the office he could never sniff winning for decades.
Gonna let it go now
I have never lived in a place where you would need to ride a train but I would like to do the cross Canadian trip. My mama said I rode my first train when I was 6 months old. She took me from Clearwater to Jacksonville on the Orange Blossom Special with the Seaboard Line. I don't remember much about it.
My next train ride was 50 years later when I took a train from Atlantic City, NJ to Grand Central in New York City. I was working up there on Storm Duty after a major storm hit the Jersey Shore and tore up a few resort hotels. UK was playing in Madison Square Garden. I remember the conductor came through punchng tickets and he had such a strong Yankee accent I could not understand what he was saying. I was on pins and needles.
I wish more freight was shipped by rail today. It would take some of the trucks off of the roads. I believe half of the vehicles down here on the Interstaes are trucks. Especially I 75 and I 95. I 10 has a bunch too headed out of Jacksonville. I love trains.
Hope it's a safe and spectacular weekend for you and yours!
Happy anniversary!
He saw a premonition of what our country would become...?
Thanks for the tip. I think I will pass on the movie and save two wasted hours of my life. There is nothing worse than a bad movie. I ain't got time for that
The only train I've ridden is the L in Chicago. Back when I loved visiting there, we'd take a 1 hour flight into Midway and the L straight to our hotels in the Loop. Plenty to do and see. I'm simply not interested in encouraging their politics and blatant disregard for life, liberty, and personal safety. They will get as little of my money as possible from here forward
We are getting flooded with people running out of Chicago and their story is interesting. A lot of the people coming down here are in the restaurant business or service related and hotels, etc.
So far the ones I have had the occasion to talked to seem to be decent, hard working people who just want to live a peaceful life and raise their family in their values, not mandated by the government. I haven't talked to a Democrat yet with the exception of a man from New Jersey and I couldn't understand him because he had on two masks and we were outside. I did request he not continue voting for liberals because the Democrats in our state are like Pelosi and AOC. They are far left, fortunately they only have political power in a few big cities and SE Florida. We try to contain them there.
Good morning D-League. It's currently 52° and clear here in Eastern Kentucky. This afternoon will bring periods of rain and a high of 66F.
Everyone stay safe out there today.
Everyone stay safe out there today.
I did not like it either but, I "liked" it anyway.
I jest of course. It was very informative and was something I never gave much thought to concerning passenger train usage in America. Rode in many across Germany and Europe and just wondered why we did not have a similar system. Your post made sense as to why we did not.
It had already been popped in some of these post.😋
Thanks Warrior cat.I did not like it either but, I "liked" it anyway.
Morning folks. It is already in the low sixties and raining lightly.
It sure is good to have utilities working. Last week we had nothing. I had to run the vehicle to charge the cell phones and then the cell phone towers went down.
I don't like living in the 19th Century.
It sure is good to have utilities working. Last week we had nothing. I had to run the vehicle to charge the cell phones and then the cell phone towers went down.
I don't like living in the 19th Century.
Good morning from ATX. Currently 64°F with thunderstorms. Power flicked off a couple times already. Cold front moving in. We're already near today's high. Expect upper-30s later tonight.
Cats got a game today vs UNC in Vegas at 4:30 pm CST. Go Cats!
Six college FB bowl games playing today. May watch a few.
I'm heading out grocery shopping later on this morning for roast turkey breast and other holiday goodies. Planning on making Christmas meal at home this year.
Wishing happiness and health for all our fellow D-League members.
Cats got a game today vs UNC in Vegas at 4:30 pm CST. Go Cats!
Six college FB bowl games playing today. May watch a few.
I'm heading out grocery shopping later on this morning for roast turkey breast and other holiday goodies. Planning on making Christmas meal at home this year.
Wishing happiness and health for all our fellow D-League members.
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