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#81

General Highway Talk / Re: Roads that you have been o...

Last post by JayhawkCO - Today at 12:07:23 PM

I never made it on the Key, but I was on I-35W a ton as a kid. I've also driven the PCH before the rockslides that have made sections impassible.

#82

Suggestions and Questions / Re: Can someone fill me in on ...

Last post by hotdogPi - Today at 12:06:33 PM

These are two different issues. The earlier one is that someone wanted to have no trace of themselves on the forum, and that broke the database. This is the reason for the mojibake. Later, a software upgrade is what caused the theme change; the forum was down due to server overload from a mismatch between SMF and PHP, which necessitated the change.

I'm "1". Immediately after the theme change, people could rename themselves at will, but that was quickly removed. I changed my username to match what I use on every other website.

Because the software was updated, the mobile version functions decently (although it hides a few things).

There is one major bug left: searching a particular thread always gives 0 results.

#83

Mid-Atlantic / Re: West Virginia Turnpike

Last post by seicer - Today at 12:06:28 PM

It should be noted that some of these reconstruction projects have different funding sources. The Turnpike widening around Beckley, the Interstate 64 widening projects around Barboursville and Nitro-St. Albans and the Interstate 79 widening project in Fairmont were funded through the $2.8 billion Roads to Prosperity highway construction and maintenance program. The Interstate 64 and 79 projects involve rebuilding 60+ year-old roadway bases and correcting long-standing drainage issues, including significant bridge replacement projects (I've covered this for Bridges & Tunnels). Earlier projects were more piecemeal and shorter in length and were not part of the Roads to Prosperity bonds. I disagree with Governor Justice on many topics, but the bond program has kickstarted long-proposed and delayed widening and reconstruction projects.

Those who have disagreed with how West Virginia is tackling its highway infrastructure come from other states. If your state has four-lane corridors carrying 60,000 AADT, you should ask what it is doing with its funding and why it doesn't have senators and house representatives bringing home the dollars.

#84

General Highway Talk / Roads that you have been on be...

Last post by Roadgeekteen - Today at 12:06:03 PM

What roads/bridges have you been on that no longer exist due to a disaster/collapse? For me, the only one I can think of is I-95 in Philly before the collapse. I've never been on the Francis Scott Key Bridge, but I'm sure many have.

#85

Suggestions and Questions / Re: Can someone fill me in on ...

Last post by JayhawkCO - Today at 12:04:29 PM

It was down for a couple of nights here and there while some things needed to be upgraded. One thing was upgraded without upgrading simple machines (the webforum software) which caused issues, so they had to upgrade that as well, which led to only having the default theme at the moment. I think it was down for a total of 6 nights(?).

#86

Suggestions and Questions / Re: Slow Forum

Last post by Roadgeekteen - Today at 12:00:25 PM

It's running quite slow for me as well.

#87

Suggestions and Questions / Can someone fill me in on what...

Last post by Roadgeekteen - Today at 12:00:00 PM

I last used the forum consistently months ago, and since then the forum has been down for (weeks?), it looks different now and I'm hearing something about Tulsa copyright. How long was the forum down? Why does it look different?

[s]

#88

Traffic Control / Re: The road sign city name ph...

Last post by formulanone - Today at 11:39:40 AM

I don't think I've ever seen a mileage sign with a split between distances and an arrow for "almost there"...

(...also, "PQ" is the postal abbreviation for Province Québec.)

Amos, QB —> Sperryville, VA:

Sperryville -> Edinburg (Ohio)

#89

Off-Topic / Re: Changing one letter of a t...

Last post by JayhawkCO - Today at 11:31:41 AM

911 outage reported across multiple US states, officials pay -- someone is getting fired

#90

Pacific Southwest / Re: Route 1/Rice Avenue in Oxn...

Last post by heynow415 - Today at 11:08:41 AM

I was just looking at this in Google Earth, and I can't help wondering if it wouldn't be easier and cheaper to raise the railroad tracks over Rice Ave. It looks like there's room to temporarily move the tracks over, so they're right next to 5th St, then build a half-mile or so incline on each side of Rice Ave, a short bridge over Rice, route the trains over that, and tear up the temporary track. They wouldn't have to touch the road at all, or acquire any property.

Assuming the railroad is still active (meaning trains still run on it, not just that there are tracks sitting there) land would need to be acquired, even if temporarily to construct the shoofly.  Railroads also don't like creating running grades where they don't exist currently, especially for a situation like this where a freight train could be longer than the up-and-over which would create a slingshot effect for the train as it passes through. 
Lastly, FRA-recognized rail corridors generally take primacy over any crossing roadways (because they were there first) so whatever railroad it is would likely make Caltrans deal with the roadway instead of the RR modifying the tracks, i.e. Caltrans would need to get an encroachment permit to do work in the RR ROW as opposed to the RR needing to get one from Caltrans, since the RR technically controls the crossing. 

Good points. But the land between the tracks and the road certainly isn't private property. It either belongs to the railroad already, Oxnard, or the state along 34, so I wouldn't think using it would be expensive, especially since it would be temporary.

I'm curious what this "slingshot effect" is. If a train is longer than a rise and equal fall in the elevation, I would think it would take some energy to start going over, but once the head is over, it would be more or less neutral (a mechanical siphon) until the tail starts to go over, at which point it would get back most of the energy it put in at the beginning. Is that bit at the end the "slingshot effect"? I think the grades would be about 1%, but don't trains experience that effect frequently in hilly areas?

Also, I'm not sure the railroad was first in this case. The 1904 USGS maps show a road where Rice Ave is now, and the rail line, but no road along the rail line. When I look at the various maps of the area I've downloaded from Rumsey and other places, I see the rail line existing in 1901, but not in 1897. Before that, the coast railroad connected to LA only along what's now route 126.

That said, I'm just thinking outside the box. It looks like building a half-cloverleaf there could be quite expensive, especially given the width of the road, and the rail bridge and its approaches could be a lot cheaper to build. The railroad might be induced to cooperate by giving it a cut of the difference.

Since railcar couplers aren't a perfect/snug fit there's a gap within each set of couplers.  Assuming the locomotive(s) are traveling at a constant speed, going uphill the cars are all being pulled but going downhill, particularly if the cars are laden, they can be pushing against the locomotives which end up functioning as a brake.  So the "gap" in the couplers either opens up or closes.  Multiply that by many cars and the length of the overall train expands and contracts.  You can hear this in play when a freight first starts moving with the banging sound going down the line as the cars start being pulled.  Over a long, constant grade it's not really a factor but for a short up and down it could be.  Yes, rail couplers are designed to handle that kind of loading but to the extent it creates unnecessary wear and tear, I would venture the railroads would discourage it.