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_Rooster said:
Me too, Many moons ago, I when I was a boy about 4. A boy across the street got some toy soldiers. We played and I went home took them with me. My little companion came to get them back. Mom asked me to get them. I did. She told me to tell him I was sorry. I wasn't sorry. She then proceeded to spank me until he cried and went home. When Dad got home he explained, Mom was to be obeyed. That was fine. Order was established.
As many moons passed I grew larger and stronger. I learned to throw stones. I was dangerous. Dad explained that it was risky behavior. I needed to be careful. That when I broke a window, to expect the physical discipline of a promised spanking. Then as predicted, an errant ricochet and crash. The driver stopped, knocked on the door, showed Pop the busted window. Dad paid and I received a class "A" butt busting spanking. A couple of hours later, he brought me some ice cream and explained something about keeping promises. Last spanking, after that it was all financial restitution for poor little oh me. I was 10 years old and old enough to work.
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I had a brother who was about five years older than me. He left home at about age 16 and moved up north. He got a job and was independent. He came home for a visit once when he was 17 or 18 years old. He sassed my mom and she whipped him with a belt. Ha ha. Sassing was not tolerated in our house. TS.
 
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Bert Higginbotha said:
There in one and only one reason why the U.S. has limited rail passenger service: you cannot make money in rail passenger service if your service is competitive with air and bus. The U.S. railroads are private business not supported by the federal government. The European railroads are state owned and get massive subsidies.

I started to work for the railroad in May 1968. The railroads were in the process of getting out of the rail passenger business as it was forcing them into bankruptcy. Amtrak was started in 1971 and was forced on the U.S. carriers by the federal government. Now all these years later we still struggle with what we are forced to accept.

The U.S. carriers are still trying to figure out how to deal with Amtrak as they dictate terms. Every time a rail passenger is killed by Amtrak they come after the private railroad company even though we have no control of the operations of Amtrak. We always win but we have to keep a fleet of lawyers ready.

Now that I have made the initial statement, I want to explain that all Amtrak service is not negative. From Washington D.C. to Boston, MA the line is electric and is designed for highspeed service. It makes money. It is 437 miles of high speed rail and you can get from DC to Boston really fast. The reason it makes money is that the population density in that area is high enough to justify rail service, plus the speed of the rail is better than flying from D.C. to Boston. Outside of that one corridor, I do not know of another area of the country that is near the population density as the northeast.

On the other hand, England, Scotland and Western Europe is densely populated and the distances are short. From London, England to Paris, France is a whopping 213 miles. London to Berlin is 690 miles. London to Paris is about like Louisville, KY to Nashville, TN. Louisville to New York city is 738 miles which is longer than from London to Berlin.

The United States is big and is built for air service because it is faster and cheaper.
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I've traveled extensively on British and German rail. Good call on population density. Works great in the northeast corridor. Fairly profitable up there. Outside New England to DC, US service operates at a huge loss.

Even some German and British lines still utilize diesel locomotives on outlying, non-electrified routes. Based on my experience and research, Euro diesel service is also subsidized. Fares simply can't compensate for lack of riders.
 
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starchief5 said:
Good to hear. Has he indicated whether or not he will be posting again? I'm not asking for the reason for his absence.
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I am hopeful, I know for me it was near impossible not to post again. (Kind of like a chain smoker who is trying to quit cigarettes.) I have been on this site officially since 2005 but was here before that too without an account. What keeps me here now is the decent people I have now come in contact with versus where I have been.

Oh, While this day is nearing an end as is the week my prayer for you all is that you are able to rest comfortably this weekend to where you can enjoy your time. Meditate on Christ and dwell in his sanctuary and you will have peace on earth. God Bless you all...
 
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Bert Higginbotha said:
There in one and only one reason why the U.S. has limited rail passenger service: you cannot make money in rail passenger service if your service is competitive with air and bus. The U.S. railroads are private business not supported by the federal government. The European railroads are state owned and get massive subsidies.

I started to work for the railroad in May 1968. The railroads were in the process of getting out of the rail passenger business as it was forcing them into bankruptcy. Amtrak was started in 1971 and was forced on the U.S. carriers by the federal government. Now all these years later we still struggle with what we are forced to accept.

The U.S. carriers are still trying to figure out how to deal with Amtrak as they dictate terms. Every time a rail passenger is killed by Amtrak they come after the private railroad company even though we have no control of the operations of Amtrak. We always win but we have to keep a fleet of lawyers ready.

Now that I have made the initial statement, I want to explain that all Amtrak service is not negative. From Washington D.C. to Boston, MA the line is electric and is designed for highspeed service. It makes money. It is 437 miles of high speed rail and you can get from DC to Boston really fast. The reason it makes money is that the population density in that area is high enough to justify rail service, plus the speed of the rail is better than flying from D.C. to Boston. Outside of that one corridor, I do not know of another area of the country that is near the population density as the northeast.

On the other hand, England, Scotland and Western Europe is densely populated and the distances are short. From London, England to Paris, France is a whopping 213 miles. London to Berlin is 690 miles. London to Paris is about like Louisville, KY to Nashville, TN. Louisville to New York city is 738 miles which is longer than from London to Berlin.

The United States is big and is built for air service because it is faster and cheaper.
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I used to ride the George Washington from Ashland to Louisville when I was a kid. Rode it maybe 30 times. I knew every stop, before we got there. Once, I rode L&N from Louisville to Pensacola, and back. I was 10 and they placed me in a roomette, and had the conductors keep an eye on me. Pretty neat trip for a 10 year old.
 
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BBUK said:
...I have been on this site officially since 2005 but was here before that too without an account. What keeps me here now is the decent people I have now come in contact with versus where I have been.
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I have almost the same story, but I think it was 2006 for me.

But I did not start posting off and on until just a few years ago.
 
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Morning all from a snowy Ohio. Only about an inch with the snow coming down so it's a beautiful, peaceful Saturday morning.

Glad to hear that Sawnee is OK. I had noticed a few days ago that his last post was the 3rd (I believe) and I was thinking of contacting him. Good to hear @BBUK did. I joined in 2009, but read for a number of years without an account just to see what people were saying about the team(s). Site has gone thru a few name changes over the years....what was the name when the guy who started it passed away? Seems he started it and got sick. Can't remember exactly.
Use to post some during f'ball (got my first and only ban when I posted that Joker was a joke....bam, you're out of here) and then much more during b'ball. Then during the Summer months I wouldn't come to the site at all. Most threads I would look at were like RR now, or the Political thread....someone doesn't agree with what you post....they don't just disagree or state an opposing opinion for discussion purposes...they name call, etc. I don't need that.

One of the granddaughters turned 20 yesterday so we had a little family dinner get together last night. She always wants me to make her a cake for her b'day...so yesterday was a day in the kitchen making white cake with Swiss Buttercream icing with a red rasberry layer. Pretty good.

Everyone have a great day.
 
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Good morning D-League. Back from a six- mile hike and now my wife and I are going to drive over to Old Town Alexandria, Virginia, for lunch. It’s the closest place you can dine in - our part of Maryland and DC are shut down.

I used to live over there 40 years ago when I was right out of Kentucky and first living in this area. I’ve checked online, and an Irish Pub where I used to hang out in 1979 is still open! Excited to see if their fish and chips is still any good. Going to be interesting walking into a place I last stumbled out of at age 23, drunk as a waltzing piss ant.

Hope everyone has a good day -including the Cats.
 
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Hello folks of the D-League. We got a little snow last night. It is maybe a spotty one inch, but it is already up to 33.4°F so it will probably melt pretty quickly as our high today is to be 39°.

On railroad trips, my first one was as a kid with my dad. Then I worked for the railroad and on my home line passenger service was free, so I used it some. The longest trip was Louisville, KY to Jacksonville, FL and also the reverse. That is a long trip because you go through Alabama and then across Florida. It takes about 16 hours if I remember correctly. When I worked in Baltimore, MD I would always take the fast Amtrak if I had to go to Phily, New York or Boston. Those were good trips as you could make them day trips and enjoy a drink on the way back.

My best rail trips were in Evansville, IN. I was the District Sales Manager for CSX. At the time my CEO was Dick Sanborn. We ended up really enjoying each other company. He had a private train that we used as a sales tool. He would come to Evansville and I would invite 6 customers for a night out on the train. Depending on operations needs we would either got west toward St. Louis, east toward Louisville, North toward Chicago or South toward Nashville. The private cars were originally owned by the brother in law of King Edward VIII, the king that abdicated the throne after he married an American woman. It was a private car with two bedrooms, a dining car and a coach car with an open deck on the back. The cars were straight out of the 19th century.

We would start out the night on the open deck where you would have drinks and smoke long cigars. Then go in and eat steak and lobster. Then back out to relax and tell lies. Those were wonder trips and it would blow our customers away. It gave our customers, and me, a taste of how the ultra rich used to live.
 
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Bert Higginbotha said:
Hello folks of the D-League. We got a little snow last night. It is maybe a spotty one inch, but it is already up to 33.4°F so it will probably melt pretty quickly as our high today is to be 39°.

On railroad trips, my first one was as a kid with my dad. Then I worked for the railroad and on my home line passenger service was free, so I used it some. The longest trip was Louisville, KY to Jacksonville, FL and also the reverse. That is a long trip because you go through Alabama and then across Florida. It takes about 16 hours if I remember correctly. When I worked in Baltimore, MD I would always take the fast Amtrak if I had to go to Phily, New York or Boston. Those were good trips as you could make them day trips and enjoy a drink on the way back.

My best rail trips were in Evansville, IN. I was the District Sales Manager for CSX. At the time my CEO was Dick Sanborn. We ended up really enjoying each other company. He had a private train that we used as a sales tool. He would come to Evansville and I would invite 6 customers for a night out on the train. Depending on operations needs we would either got west toward St. Louis, east toward Louisville, North toward Chicago or South toward Nashville. The private cars were originally owned by the brother in law of King Edward VIII, the king that abdicated the throne after he married an American woman. It was a private car with two bedrooms, a dining car and a coach car with an open deck on the back. The cars were straight out of the 19th century.

We would start out the night on the open deck where you would have drinks and smoke long cigars. Then go in and eat steak and lobster. Then back out to relax and tell lies. Those were wonder trips and it would blow our customers away. It gave our customers, and me, a taste of how the ultra rich used to live.
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Does CSX still have that train?
 
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cordmaker said:
Good morning D, cold here with a dusting on the ground! Can't believe what I am watching outside, some guys are putting on a roof on my MOM'S old house!!! 32 degrees!!!

Going to hand out another Thin Blue Line shield at 12 today, STATE TROOPER of the year.

I hope the D, has a great day. Prayers for all!
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My son-in-law was State Trooper of the year for the state in 2012. Award ceremony was in Louisville.
 
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Bert Higginbotha said:
Hello folks of the D-League. We got a little snow last night. It is maybe a spotty one inch, but it is already up to 33.4°F so it will probably melt pretty quickly as our high today is to be 39°.

On railroad trips, my first one was as a kid with my dad. Then I worked for the railroad and on my home line passenger service was free, so I used it some. The longest trip was Louisville, KY to Jacksonville, FL and also the reverse. That is a long trip because you go through Alabama and then across Florida. It takes about 16 hours if I remember correctly. When I worked in Baltimore, MD I would always take the fast Amtrak if I had to go to Phily, New York or Boston. Those were good trips as you could make them day trips and enjoy a drink on the way back.

My best rail trips were in Evansville, IN. I was the District Sales Manager for CSX. At the time my CEO was Dick Sanborn. We ended up really enjoying each other company. He had a private train that we used as a sales tool. He would come to Evansville and I would invite 6 customers for a night out on the train. Depending on operations needs we would either got west toward St. Louis, east toward Louisville, North toward Chicago or South toward Nashville. The private cars were originally owned by the brother in law of King Edward VIII, the king that abdicated the throne after he married an American woman. It was a private car with two bedrooms, a dining car and a coach car with an open deck on the back. The cars were straight out of the 19th century.

We would start out the night on the open deck where you would have drinks and smoke long cigars. Then go in and eat steak and lobster. Then back out to relax and tell lies. Those were wonder trips and it would blow our customers away. It gave our customers, and me, a taste of how the ultra rich used to live.
Click to expand...

"It was a private car with two bedrooms, a dining car and a coach car with an open deck on the back. The cars were straight out of the 19th century.

We would start out the night on the open deck where you would have drinks and smoke long cigars. Then go in and eat steak and lobster. Then back out to relax and tell lies. Those were wonder trips and it would blow our customers away. It gave our customers, and me, a taste of how the ultra rich used to live."

Thank you for your service, Bert.
 
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