Everyone has abandoned the concept except for the CCP who claims they are going to make it work and be economically feasible by 2035, last I read. 
If it was you being Eaten, you would probably feel that it was worth capitalizing
Capitalizing can also be used for Emphasis
Gee Charlie, going full grammar police in retaliation for a misperceived case grammar policing, that was even apologized for, though it wasnât intended to be grammar policing?
Not unexpected
Doug
I donât know why in an informal opinion forum all the side semantics are important. As long as the post can be read and understood. Should be OK, in my view. Some of the older folks here have eye issues and potentially other disabilities and there needs to be some tolerance in my opinion.
Cite the post where you stated how many years since you moved into the TX Metroplex then if you can. Your comments sound like those of a relative newcomer, even if decades!
Doug. It was obviously sarcasm. I guess we need the old sarcasm emoji You seem grumpy. Bad 4th?
And how many times will I have to do that into the future? Please, why would I even spend time on that. Not important to me how you misread things. I was just pointing out an observation about generalizations on other states which others also have pointed out and you are going on and on about it.
2 Likes
Try once. You tend to claim you have stated stuff in past. My memory is not failing yet. I recall quite well your experiences with owning and managing a sandwich shop, briefly. And being on homeowner board(s). And a moderator. All those experiences make you an expert. Congrats!
Itâs the Weird Al Yankovic cover of this:
It interpolates their other song âItâs Too Late to Turn Back Nowâ, tooâŚ
1 Like
Or a variation on the Margaret Thatcher line âThe ladyâs not for turning.â It was was a pun on the 1948 play The Ladyâs Not for Burning, although Thatcher missed the reference herself.
I know that Aurora launched driverless, no on3 on board, in Texas. Within a week or two thay had people back in the cab. Thatâs been a couple months ago, I donât know if they still have riders or not. Media seems to report the big, hyped launch of something, but doesnât always follow up when the story changes.
Trains in a recent issue had a column about CSX wanting to test the enhanced Trip Optimizer Zero to Zero system. It can go start and stop the train. Currently engineers have to do this. That column was so full of BS about how great it is. The spokesman was said to be a former locomotive engineer, to give legitimacy to the story.
Sorry, he works for them. Of course heâs going to say how well it works, how much better than a human it is. How a human can learn from it. I guess thatâs true. I tell students, they do give me them, DONâT run the train the way EMS does. If I did what it does, I would be disciplined. Iâve noticed, that like a human, the easier the train is to handle the better it does.
There are two EMS, LEADER and Trip Optimizer. LEADER is a New York Air Brake (now Knorr) system and is part of the autonomous package the Rio Tinto uses in Australia. Trip Optimizer is a GE, (now Wabtec) system. New EMD locos come with LEADER. New GE locos come with Trip Optimizer.
When UP retro fits older GEs that donât have EMS, they equip them with LEADER. That kind of says it all for which system is better. Even though LEADER does strange things, too.
Jeff
PS. I donât know which system was in use, but recently I read in our recrew report about an EMS caused incident. It was on a big long manifest with a mid and rear DP somewhere down on the southern area of the railroad. The engineer had just placed EMS in control. (Our instructions are to use it whenever itâs available. Management will call on the radio and ask why itâs not being used when itâs available.) Two miles after EMS took over, the train experienced two knuckles and two pulled out drawbars. It was downloaded and there was no engine problems that might have caused the incident. Everything was working as intended. Thatâs one good thing about EMS. They donât hold engineers responsible for EMS caused incidents.
1 Like
History is written by the successful.
This one wandered around Chicago before being shot by the police. I had forgotten about that. Only one in the city.
Woman called police saying there was a cat sleeping on her porch. Cop says we donât do missing cats. She replied itâs as big as my husband. Ok weâll come out.
1 Like
The only one in this forum that has ever claimed expert status is youâŚon behalf of others who never solicited it. Expert status is only given on the condition you agree with what that person is saying.
I have always recognized this is only an opinion forum and always will recognize it as such. By the way, the civil approach on social media is to tell someone you disagree with them vs any other method that you employ. Just trying to coach you once again.
I donât see any experts here. Only people expressing life experience.
1 Like
I can only claim a pretty good competence in clinical psychology, teaching, and less so with European history. I would say (I guess you would disagree, as thatâs what you do) several members are quite competent or even experts in one (or more) areas: railroad engineers, several areas of engineering, teaching, geology, dispatching, trucking and information technology. I wonât say who is what in what area and I doubtless overlooked a few members in my dotage. All in all there are many members who can bring a wealth of experience, expertise and knowledge to these forums. You should recognize that, but I guess you donât.
It will be interesting in how far this new technology takes us in 20 or 30 years.
In the mid-1990s, cell phones were just starting to be widely used. Today you can find smart phones virtually everywhere in the world.
Also in the 1990s, the Internet was still a mysterious technology, just starting to get widespread use. Today we consider life without the Internet nearly impossible.
Self-driving cars and trucks, engineer-less trains, pilotless planes, etc. seem so mysterious and unsafe. I wonât be around in twenty-five years, but I imagine they will be commonplace by then.
1 Like
I recognize the experience in some cases but certainly not âexpertâ status on anything for anyone posting here. The issue I have with conveying it here is we have no idea who we are having a discussion with. Which is not really important for an informal opinion forum. The fact of the matter is here, you have no clue who is an expert at whatever in almost every case and category. Your conveying the title based on your own subjective standardsâŚwhatever they may be. Which is OK in your case, I could care less, does not impact me.
You shouldnât expect others to do the same as you do. Nor should you impose that âexpertâ regime on other posters in the forum or use it to censor other peoples opinions. I wonât speak for others here but I am pretty sure some find it awkward. Others get a big head, which is also a little humorous but I donât hold it against them. That is social media.
The forum is an exchange of opinions. Fine to disagree but this whole credibility litmus test, I think you would lose in most cases if people actually were willing to post their bios and resumes. Which is in part why we should stay informal.
I think it might be faster than that.
I remember my dad commenting at 90 how much change there had been in his lifetime: 2 world wars, several other major wars, airplanes, jets, rockets, radio, TV, stereo, computers.
Well you are entitled, of course, to your opinions that there are no experts on here, for whatever motivation. Personally, I think of folks like Jeff Hergert or Zugmann as pretty damn adept (so I wonât say the E word) as engineers based on their many years of successful experience. Ditto with Balt in dispatching. And Challenger and Shadow Trucks in their field. It takes skill to survive in such a tough line of work. And I doubt if any of those folks will get a big head. This is not a litmus test. That is your projection so maybe my fav, a Rorschach!
Speaking of wildlife in the city. A town near me had a very interesting case a couple years ago. Someone who has a Wallabee yes Iâm talking about the type from Australia as a pet. Well his pet escaped from his house and all the local animal control officers had one hell of a time capturing it again.Wally the Wallarooâs escape and capture captivates Illinois city Wally the Wallaroo's escape and capture captivates Illinois city
Then another one escaped in Monee in 2023. The state of Illinois banned them as pets last year.
1 Like