More On California's High-Speed Train Corruption

Not only is the corruption and over-spending in the California high speed rail project bad enough that it is at 135 Billion dollars in spending with no tangible results -- from a budget that was supposed to be 10 billion dollars total for the project when it was announced in 2009 with no end in sight.

It's now bad enough that the Democrats in California are pushing a law to make the  news of how corrupt the high-speed rail project has been, and continues to be, a secret from Californians.

Daniel Greenfield:  California Politicians Propose Law Hiding Corruption from the Public

 You could say the California Democrats are running a train on the residents of California, and you wouldn't be wrong.

Oh, and if you're not reading Daniel Greenfield on a regular basis, you are missing out.

What Is It About Democrats And Choo-Choo Trains?

I suspect it is mainly about the opportunity for grift, massive government spending, control, and land speculation not to mention lots of make-work jobs for their supporters.

Our current Secretary of State and Democrat candidate for governor Jocelyn Benson is jumping on the train bandwagon.

 Bridge Michigan: Jocelyn Benson wants to bring high-speed rail to Michigan. What would it take?'

Democrats' high-speed rail programs have led to utter failure and the lack of real results. 

The massive spending as can been seen with high-speed trains to nowhere in California with over 17 billion spent without accountability, and not a track even laid in years, and a budget that has already gone over by 200% has been a massive failure - except that failure has been a boon for Democrat bureaucrats and grifters.

 It sure looks like Michigan Democrats want a similar failure here so they can get a piece of that high-speed massive wasteful spending pie.

London Trip 9 - Getting Back Is More Than Half The Fun

So we left Duxford, got on the train to Cambridge, switched trains onto the Great Northern Rail Service there and started heading south.

All was going well.  Too well.

The train made it to a couple stations and then stopped at a station. It did not start moving again.

The conductor stated that a power line was down farther south on the line and we were stuck until it was fixed.

Moments later he said the train now also showed a fault and we all had to get off.  He then indicated buses would be coming and he then took the train south off into the distance leaving all passengers behind.

So about 70 passengers stood around the Baldock station.

What's in Baldock by the train station you may be asking?  Not much.  

I'm sure Baldock is a nice place and all that, but it was rather far from London, about an hour by car, or a 14 hour walk which would have been a tad much.

No buses or anything else came, and some passengers connected to the information line first said it would be fixed momentarily and a train would be along.

During this time we had some good chats with other passengers and Mr. B. kindly let one use his power pack to charge their phone which was getting low on battery power.  Nice bunch of people.

An hour later, passengers again connected to the information line and were told all the north lines were out and they'd send someone for us eventually.

Eventually was hardly comforting.

So, instead of waiting,  with two other passengers, Mr. B. and I called up an Uber which had one heckuva surge price uptick.  We all piled in and split the cost at 25 quid each, and took it down to King's Cross Station for the tube, as all the Great Northern Rail lines were down. Uber was doing great business that day.

At King's Cross we said goodbye to our fellow stranded passengers, and then took the tube back to a station nearest our hotel at Trafalgar Square. Then we went out and grabbed a very late dinner, and that ended the day.

Still one helluva great birthday, even with the disruption.  The power to the northern lines was still unrestored the next day. It was a darn good thing we didn't stay there waiting for another train to come along.

Biden Claims He Travelled On The Francis Scott Key Bridge Many A Time By Train

The problem with that statement is that the now destroyed Francis Scott Key Bridge has NEVER HAD RAIL LINES ON IT, much less a train running passenger service - ever.

The New York Post:  Biden claims he commuted over collapsed Baltimore Key Bridge by train ‘many times’ – but it doesn’t have any rail lines  

I'm sure this is fine that Biden is so cognitively sharp and mentally fit that he is claiming he did something that he could not possibly have done.

Damn, but Democrats do love their choo choo trains, even the ones that have never existed.

Michigan Moronrail: Let's Talk About Choo-Choos for $100 Million Dollars

High-speed rail is a Democrat fever-dream they just can't give up on.  They problem is their only answer for their fever is instead of more cowbell is more of your tax dollars.

MLive.com: High-speed rail a $100m conversation starter in early Michigan budget 

The state Senate’s initial budget proposal for the Michigan Department of Transportation, which a committee on Tuesday passed to the full legislature for negotiations, includes $100 million “to encourage high-speed rail development.”

The catch, however, is that this number, which represents more than 14% of MDOT’s proposed budget increase, is “just trying to start the conversation,” says the lawmaker who took point on crafting the Senate’s transportation proposal for fiscal year 2023-24.

$100 Million to "spark a  conversation" about high-speed rail,  Not build it mind you, but to talk about and study it.

Given the stupidly high cost of Michigan's road repairs, that $100 million is about 100 miles of roads that could have been fixed for this money earmarked to study and "spark a conversation" about trains. Still, 100 miles of rebuilt roads is nothing to sneeze at and far more worthy than sending the money to discuss  high speed rail.

 Of course they want it to move leftists to places they like:

One proposal MARP has given lawmakers would expand passenger rail service into and out of Detroit, and another would create a route that goes from Ann Arbor to Traverse City and Petoskey.

Yep a subsidized a high-speed route for well-off leftists to travel between Ann Arbor and their cottages in Petoskey/Traverse City.  Maybe we can  name it the SWPL Rail Line - assuming it ever gets built for less than a few billion. 

I'd instead propose talking to them to about the cautionary tale of California's cost overrun budget-busting experience with building or in reality not building High Speed rail . I might also explain how California has a larger population to support such a project and they can't even make it work - except for the lovely amount of graft and pay that has been making its way to Democrat constituencies in the process. 

I'd even have an in depth "conversation" for a heckuva lot less than $100 Million dollars.

Monorail! Now With Proposed New Expensive Connections To Toledo and Monroe!

The fever dreams of urban mass-transit planners and their love of trains is so quaint. At least it is until you realize taxpayers will be on the hook for these vanity choo-choo projects.

The Detroit Free Press: New 110-mph passenger train could connect Detroit, Toledo and Ann Arbor

A new study presented to Toledo officials looked at a rail concept — dubbed the T because of its layout — that would connect Detroit, Toledo and Ann Arbor and cities in between.

If it were built, you could leave Detroit and get to Toledo in about an hour, about the same as if you drove straight down I-75, assuming you didn't run into any construction detours, rush-hour traffic, major accidents — or make any stops to top off your tank with gas.

Toledo City Councilman Chris Delaney, who has championed the study, said Wednesday that the T would not be just for "the luxury of being able to board a train." He viewed passenger rail service as a means to longer-term economic development and prosperity.

Like we've never heard that before.

Note in the article they plan to use existing freight rail tracks, for at least some of the run. This means that their claimed 80-100 mile speed will not be so fast in reality as they're going to have to stop and wait for freight trains and no, you really won't get there as fast as you would in your own motor vehicle. Cost is estimated at $390-$524 million, and given the cost overruns we've seen on similar train projects, you can safely double those estimates to get an idea of the true cost for this project.

Of course, once you get to Toledo or Monroe, you're going to need to call an Uber or rent a car or something to get around, certainly negating the savings of taking a train, the ticket price for which will almost assuredly be higher than the mileage cost for driving that distance or will be heavily subsidized by you up front from your taxes - probably both.

These planners love the idea of train projects - nice, expensive, programs with lots of opportunity for graft, vanity naming rights, and union feather-bedding combined with their disdain of the proles for daring to drive themselves where and how they wish. Reality tends to indicate people don't actually want these trains to nowhere.

And an excellent example of the hand-waving and excuses made when these rail projects don't quite work as expected in reality is displayed in this very article when it looks at the regions latest choo-choo project that cost over $182 million:

In its first year, the QLINE was expected to deliver 3,000 to 5,000 rides a day, and it hit that goal for part of the year. But from November through March, average daily ridership dipped to 2,700, potentially because of colder weather.

Nice slight of hand there "potentially because of colder weather". Yes, because riders don't like to be in enclosed vehicles during colder weather, right? Not so much. Ridership of Qline didn't decline because of the weather, ridership actually dropped when riders had to actually pay for a train that moved as fast as a slow walk for all of 3.3 miles.

Also note that in order for QLine to break even, they need 5,000 rides per day, not 2,700 meaning guess who is going to pay the difference?

$524 million would be far better put to use repairing the multitude of potholes, bridges and infrastructure that already lies along that route. Not nearly as sexy, there's no opportunity to rename the route for favored persons or entities in that, and no guarantee of continued subsidies to operate it. But, people will actually use it to go where they want, how they want. Urban planners hate that.

Condition White Often Leads To Condition Pancake

Not paying attention may cause you to miss the train, but not paying attention won't cause the train won't miss you.

The Detroit Free Press: Police to review video from train that struck 14-year-old boy in Wyandotte

The teen, who was wearing an iPod and headphones, was struck by an 86-car cargo train going 28 m.p.h. as he walked down the center of the tracks, Grant said.

The whistle on the train blew several times. Police said they aren’t sure if Marion heard it before he was struck near Oak and 9th streets.

The train’s engineer pulled the emergency brakes but couldn’t stop in time, Grant said.

As has been noted often before, trains are large and have a lot of mass that takes a considerable amount of time and distance to stop and are not to be taken lightly, nor ignored.

Apparently you can miss a train approaching you at 28 miles per hour when you've got your head in your iPod. Amazingly, the kid has survived so far and is in what is described as "very serious condition".

Let's hope the kid makes a full recovery and comes out the wiser for the experience and without permanent damage.

Pay attention out there people.

On The Train Again....

I had a great visit with my Dad this weekend.

He's able to get up and around and is tons better since the surgery and on the way to a hopefully full recovery. The surgeon went in and widened the canal in the spine and eased the pressure on the nerve, and the differenc eis night and day. All you can see is a 1.5 inc scar on his back and he's looking great and getting around well. Saturday we went out around Toronto and it was his first day out and about in 8 weeks.

For brunch we went to Cora's, a very nice spot for some excellent food and great friendly service. If you're in midtown Toronto I'd highly recommend stopping there for breakfast. Great food, tons of nice fresh fruit and coffee, eggs, crepes and assorted side meats delectable and numerous enough to satisfy the hungriest and most demanding of patrons. In other words, brunch was awesome, and I had good company too.

After brunch we did a bit of shopping. Dad is still not allowed to lift over 10 pounds so I was glad to be there to help carry stuff.

We bought some wine, and in Ontario you can't buy that just anywhere. We had to go to the LCBO, the government run wine/liquor store, as opposed to the imaginately named (and again government run) Beer Store. Musn't let the proles buy it in corner stores -- madness could well result.

The selection wasn't terrible at the LCBO but any Kroger, Hillers, or Meijers would have far more wines on offer for sale and many would offer about the same variety of spirits. Some types of wine were completely missing such as sake and quite a few brands were notable by their absence. Ah well, they like it that way.

Dad was a bit tired so after the shopping we went home and relaxed. I helped him with some computer issues and we watched some episodes of Band of Brothers. Later we had dinner and took it easy and after breakfast this morning I got on this train to head home.

The train's internet service keeps blipping in and out so I can't do any work on my VPN, and we're now only 10 minutes behind schedule.

Getting on the train at Toronto station is an experience.

They don't want you sitting in the relatively comfy chairs by the boarding gate. No, those must be left unoccupied. Instead, they have you line up with everyone until its time to board. VIA customer service seems to consist of a bunch of crabby and rude people. People who feel they missed out on not being elected class commisar at school and are making up for the lost chance to enforce their version of undisclosed rules on others.

It would help if they put up signs telling you which line is for which train. However, that would be informative and would make them lose the opportunity of barking at you for trying to move forward to see what line is for which train. Thankfully I got in the right line so I'm not bound for Ottawa or Montreal at the moment, at least I certainly hope not.

THe internet connection on this train drops the web just about every two minutes or so, making me close out the IE, log back in and then try again momentarily. Pretty frustrating but since we're only 15 minutes behind schedule and coming up on London I probably should be glad to exchange wonky internet access for a relatively timely arrival at Windsor.

Oh, and did I mention the really sharp edges on the arm rests of the seats? Squared off and sharp enough underneadth to draw blood when your leg rubs it as you stand up? Yep, VIA rail is quite a way to travel.

I'll post this while the connection is still good and we'll see if I can reconnect somethime between London and Windsor.

Blogging on a Train

Ah, the romance of the rails.

I drove across the border to Windsor today to take a train from Windsor to Toronto. I'm going to visit my Dad, who is recovering from back surgery that he finally got after 8 weeks of being in very intense pain from a bulged disc that was pressing on a nerve. Intense as in can't walk, can't get up or downstairs and having trouble just standing - that kind of pain.

The surgery seems to have been a great sucess and he's recovering nicely.

So I figured it would be good to take the train - after all I can work on it, the train has got free wifi and should get me to the station in about the same amount of time it would have taken me to drive to his house. It should be easy as it would take slightly more time by train but I could be more productive on board. Between the train ticket and parking at the station it will cost more than gas money to get there but I should be able to enjoy the ride.

Well, that was the idea.

First was fun with parking. I pulled into the parking lot and no attendant was there. Plenty of warning signs that unpaid for cars will be towed. I;m early so I wait. I go to the station, get my ticket printed and the Via rail clerks there are pretty uniformally unhelpful. After awhile i finally ask them when the oarking attendnat will be there and they tell me that lot can't be used for parking, I have to go across the stereet to another lot or my car would be towed. Nevermind the lot says "Open" and "Long and Short Term Parking". Great. So I move my car, pay for parking and zip back in time to get on my train.

I should have arrived at Toronto by now but first we were sidelined before London as another Via rail train going the other direction had the right-of-way on the track. Since I'm in favor of avoiding head-on train collisions this was a sensible idea. Of course having parallel tracks would have been an even better one, yes? Then we got sidelined for quite awhile outside Brockville due first to a freight train having priority on the track and then because our train needed to be "inspected". No reason was given for the inspection so for all we know a wheel could have been falling off and we wouldn't be told.

So I should have been at Union Station at 17:30. It is now 18:00 and we're by Brantford with quite a ways to go to get to Toronto. The internet connection is sporadic and slow (yes I shouldn't complain it is rather amazing that you can connect to the internet on a moving train and get stuff done in another country, but I guess I'm a bit jaded and have high expectations of connectivity by now). The train is also packed to the gills and I'm squeezed in a seat. On the upside the passengers are pretty decent except for one lady that keeps chatting lously enough on her cell phone so the whole train car can hear about her decision to move to get a new job. Yipee.

On the upside, its been rather relaxing to do some work on the train and do a bit of internet browsing.

That is tempered by the sporadic nature of the connection, the squeezed seats and the lack of any info about the delay or estimate from the train crew about the new arrival time. In fact, I had to go to VIA's website to find that our new arrival time is estimated to be 18:46. Hooray for the Internet as an information provider, cause the VIA Rail crew sure are not.

We'll see if the trip back proves to be any better, but at least I can happily report there are no snakes on this train.

Driver TRAINing Required

I've mentioned before that attempting to beat a train at a railway crossing typically ends badly.

Toss in a teenager who was suspended and shouldn't even be driving and 4 friends along for their last ride and tragedy results.

Note the mangled remains of what used to be a Ford Fusion.

In reading the Detroit Free Press column by Rochelle Riley Opportunities missed to stop driver in car-train crash she points out that this particular driver was no stranger to lousy driving habits, and indeed was a habitual "driving while suspended" driver. He had a history of being arrested for driving suspended. Oh, and he was suspended while driving this time as well.

Of course if he had nailed himself that would be some darwinism in action. Unfortunately and unforgivably, he took out a 19 year old, a 14 year old, a 17 year old, and a 21 year old - and I can almost bet that none of them knew he was driving suspended or that he royally sucked as a driver.

Once again, trying to dodge a train to save a few minutes is riddiculously stupid and threatening to your health and your passengers. Do Not Do This. It Is Not Worth It.

Sadly it is not enough being a safe driver anymore, you have to worry about idiots like this on the road, and anyone you get into the car with as a passenger.

Beating a Train is a Fool's Game

Trying to save a few minutes by ignoring the gates and trying to beat a train thorugh a rail crossing is simply not smart. For a few minutes saved you're risking being struck by a multi-ton speeding train that cannot stop on a time as a matter of simple physics.

Sadly, as Reported in the Detroit Free Press this driver found out this wasn't smart the hard way:

Pontiac police said a 56-year-old Pontiac woman died Tuesday evening when she tried to beat a passing train with her vehicle on the city’s east side.

Etoi Houston was killed after her Dodge Dakota stalled on railroad tracks at the intersection of Sanford Street and South Boulevard and an Amtrak train struck her car, said Pontiac Police Chief Val Gross.
. . .
Gross said witnesses told police the car went around the crossing gates and tried to beat the train before it crossed. He said the train dragged the car for about a quarter mile before a conductor was able to stop at Paddock and Woodward.

Be smart and don't try to outrun a multi-ton behemoth just so you can get to where you want to go a few minutes faster. The time saved by such foolishness just isn't worth your life.