• What is a "mixed train"?

    From Mike Powell@21:1/175 to hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com on Tue Jan 1 09:29:00 2019
    hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote to Mike Powell <=-

    The most successful unit was the RDC. Excellent design.
    Unfortunately, even though it was much cheaper to operate,
    branch line service was still a money-loser in most cases.

    I like the RDCs and the idea of one. I wish they had been more successful.
    They would have been great for the branch lines.


    ... DalekDOS v(overflow): (I)Obey (V)ision impaired (E)xterminate
    --- MultiMail/??Unknow v0.43
    * Origin: capitolcityonline.net * Telnet/SSH:2022/HTTP (21:1/175)
  • From hounslow3@yahoo.co.uk@21:1/5 to Mike Powell on Tue Jan 1 19:34:42 2019
    On 31/12/2018 21:29, Mike Powell wrote:
    hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote to Mike Powell <=-

    ha> The most successful unit was the RDC. Excellent design.
    ha> Unfortunately, even though it was much cheaper to operate,
    ha> branch line service was still a money-loser in most cases.

    I like the RDCs and the idea of one. I wish they had been more successful.
    They would have been great for the branch lines.


    ... DalekDOS v(overflow): (I)Obey (V)ision impaired (E)xterminate


    I take it that you've never seen the SPV-2000, which Budd built as a
    successor to the RDC?

    In a word, these units were a lesson of how ***not*** to build a rail car.

    The SPV-2000 ran on New Haven Line's Waterbury Branch, where the speed
    was relatively low. But it would also run on the Hudson Line between Poughkeepsie and Croton-Harmon, where speeds were 79 miles

    That's where the SPV-2000 truly demonstrated how much a piece of junk it
    was with its lateral motion.

    I also realise that it might take a couple of seconds for relays and
    circuits to energise on a DMU or EMU when departing, but it was a
    completely different scenario with the SPV-2000; At times, when the
    engineer engaged the controller, the unit would simply respond with:
    "Huh? Oh, yeah, erm ... okay."

    The passenger salon had absolutely shoddy work and easily visible
    welding points, though the exterior was a different story as it looked
    rather futuristic for its time -- a perfect case of "don't judge a book
    by its cover."

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budd_SPV-2000

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com@21:1/5 to Mike Powell on Wed Jan 2 14:44:31 2019
    On Tuesday, January 1, 2019 at 11:15:11 AM UTC-5, Mike Powell wrote:
    hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote to Mike Powell <=-

    The most successful unit was the RDC. Excellent design.
    Unfortunately, even though it was much cheaper to operate,
    branch line service was still a money-loser in most cases.

    I like the RDCs and the idea of one. I wish they had been more successful.
    They would have been great for the branch lines.

    The RDC was very successful, and they were great for branch lines.
    However, they came along late in the game, and passenger patronage
    was dying. People were driving, taking the bus, or flying, and
    ridership on the trains was way down. Branch lines, which offered
    only one slow train a day, were particularly vulnerable to the
    convenience and speed of a car, especially has highways were
    upgraded in the 1950s.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com@21:1/5 to houn...@yahoo.co.uk on Wed Jan 2 14:46:57 2019
    On Tuesday, January 1, 2019 at 2:34:47 PM UTC-5, houn...@yahoo.co.uk wrote:

    I like the RDCs and the idea of one. I wish they had been more successful.
    They would have been great for the branch lines.

    I take it that you've never seen the SPV-2000, which Budd built as a successor to the RDC?

    In a word, these units were a lesson of how ***not*** to build a rail car.

    I rode the SPV a few times and it was ok.

    However, they had a very poor reliability record.

    I'm not sure what went wrong. Budd had extensive experience
    with the RDC and certainly knew how to build a reliable
    self-powered train. I don't know what they did differently
    on the SPV that made that a failure.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From hounslow3@yahoo.co.uk@21:1/5 to hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com on Thu Jan 3 02:01:48 2019
    On 02/01/2019 22:46, hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote:
    On Tuesday, January 1, 2019 at 2:34:47 PM UTC-5, houn...@yahoo.co.uk wrote:

    I like the RDCs and the idea of one. I wish they had been more successful. >>> They would have been great for the branch lines.

    I take it that you've never seen the SPV-2000, which Budd built as a
    successor to the RDC?

    In a word, these units were a lesson of how ***not*** to build a rail car.

    I rode the SPV a few times and it was ok.

    However, they had a very poor reliability record.

    I'm not sure what went wrong. Budd had extensive experience
    with the RDC and certainly knew how to build a reliable
    self-powered train. I don't know what they did differently
    on the SPV that made that a failure.

    Hit and miss, I suppose.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com@21:1/5 to hanc...@bbs.cpcn.com on Sat Jan 12 12:37:23 2019
    On Saturday, December 15, 2018 at 3:19:47 PM UTC-5, hanc...@bbs.cpcn.com wrote:

    In the Official Guide of 1954, there were many 'mixed trains' shown
    on little branch lines. For whatever reason, they felt it necessary
    to mark the train as such.

    In further reading, there were a great many mixed trains in 1954.
    Almost all the railroads had at least one, sometimes several. Some
    of the branches were rather short, like ten miles, but others were
    longer. As mentioned, the trains were slow--needing an hour to
    travel just ten to twenty miles.

    In some cases service was provided in only one direction.

    Curiously, the railroads also had listings for many branch lines
    that were freight only. There were also numerous tiny carriers
    that were freight only.

    A few branches did carry passengers, but with the notation
    "irregular schedule, consult agent". Must have been a 'fun' trip.
    But some hardy railfans liked to rack up rare mileage and actually
    sought out and rode those trains.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From hounslow3@yahoo.co.uk@21:1/5 to hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com on Sun Jan 13 00:56:58 2019
    On 12/01/2019 20:37, hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote:
    On Saturday, December 15, 2018 at 3:19:47 PM UTC-5, hanc...@bbs.cpcn.com wrote:

    In the Official Guide of 1954, there were many 'mixed trains' shown
    on little branch lines. For whatever reason, they felt it necessary
    to mark the train as such.

    In further reading, there were a great many mixed trains in 1954.
    Almost all the railroads had at least one, sometimes several. Some
    of the branches were rather short, like ten miles, but others were
    longer. As mentioned, the trains were slow--needing an hour to
    travel just ten to twenty miles.

    In some cases service was provided in only one direction.

    Curiously, the railroads also had listings for many branch lines
    that were freight only. There were also numerous tiny carriers
    that were freight only.

    A few branches did carry passengers, but with the notation
    "irregular schedule, consult agent". Must have been a 'fun' trip.
    But some hardy railfans liked to rack up rare mileage and actually
    sought out and rode those trains.



    Have you ever heard of a Parliamentary train, a.k.a. a Parly?

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From John Levine@21:1/5 to hounslow3@yahoo.co.uk on Sun Jan 13 02:30:21 2019
    In article <q1e2d0$mnk$1@dont-email.me>,
    hounslow3@yahoo.co.uk <hounslow3@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
    Have you ever heard of a Parliamentary train, a.k.a. a Parly?

    Yes.



    --
    Regards,
    John Levine, johnl@iecc.com, Primary Perpetrator of "The Internet for Dummies", Please consider the environment before reading this e-mail. https://jl.ly

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From danny burstein@21:1/5 to John Levine on Sun Jan 13 02:53:06 2019
    In <q1e7rt$2e9s$1@gal.iecc.com> John Levine <johnl@taugh.com> writes:

    In article <q1e2d0$mnk$1@dont-email.me>,
    hounslow3@yahoo.co.uk <hounslow3@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
    Have you ever heard of a Parliamentary train, a.k.a. a Parly?

    Yes.

    Have you ever heard of the "white train"?

    (yes, there's even a wiki article...)

    --
    _____________________________________________________
    Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key
    dannyb@panix.com
    [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded]

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From hounslow3@yahoo.co.uk@21:1/5 to danny burstein on Sun Jan 13 17:51:12 2019
    On 13/01/2019 02:53, danny burstein wrote:
    In <q1e7rt$2e9s$1@gal.iecc.com> John Levine <johnl@taugh.com> writes:

    In article <q1e2d0$mnk$1@dont-email.me>,
    hounslow3@yahoo.co.uk <hounslow3@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
    Have you ever heard of a Parliamentary train, a.k.a. a Parly?

    Yes.

    Have you ever heard of the "white train"?

    (yes, there's even a wiki article...)


    Well, a Parliamentary Train these days is one that runs a route on an
    irregular schedule, such as once a week or once a day, and usually at
    obscure times.

    They exist because a TOC or the infrastructure company believe that it
    is just easier and cheaper in some cases to operate a train on that
    route only once in a while, rather than go through the entire legal
    process -- plus cost -- of eliminating a service.

    The process also requires approval from Parliament, IIRC, hence the term Parliamentary Train or Parly.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)