A cool steam train revival in Wales.

[Aeson]

Steam (the steam locamotive) hate is so 1904

[regexcellent]

Steam (the game platform) hate is so 2004

Few years back I had to take a dumb as **** "first year enrichment" course as a freshman and uggghh the topic was "innovation" and one kid did his talk on "steam" is an "innovative platform for delivery of games" jesus christ, he was fat and was wearing a minecraft t-shirt too.

Wasn't enough to make me hate steam though.

Apolyton's advertising system is highlighting minecraft t-shirt. I hope the shirt is delivered soaked in VX toxin.

[Sava]

Why? Minecraft is fun.

[regexcellent]

Nothing against people who play minecraft. People who wear minecraft branded clothing and minecraft scarves and oh christ. Sorry, my school has a game design major and all of the people in that program are insufferable.

[Sava]

Ages ago, I was enrolled in a game design program.

I agree with you.

[dannubis]

he is trolling, dude. nobody is that pretentious and uneducated at the same time.

[Sava]

nobody?

[dannubis]

[Colonâ„¢]

You're "pretty certain"...



Given you're flat out wrong with your first statement, I'm "pretty certain" everything else is flat out wrong too. In fact all the stuff you wrote about moving passengers by rail is egregiously wrong!

American freight rail actually is top of the bill and European is rather the opposite. In the old continent the state incumbents have been pretty effective at blocking competition from start-ups, as they typically own the tracks. Different rules and standards across national borders have also been stiffling rail freight. Road freight doesn't have to change drivers and trucks at border crossings.

[Dinner]

I'm pretty certain the first steam railroad trains to run regular routes were in the US.

No, they were in the UK.

[Dinner]

Didn't you ever play Sid Meier's Railroad Tycoon?

[molly bloom]

No, they were in the UK.

Stockton to Darlington and Manchester to Liverpool. My other half is a steam railway enthusiast and a devotee of industrial archaeology, as well as being a member of the Blaenau Ffestiniog and Tywyn railways:

http://www.greatlittletrainsofwales.co.uk/ffestiniog.html

I have a friend who works on the Bluebell Line too....

http://www.bluebell-railway.co.uk/

[Colonâ„¢]

Thanks. That's the bit I wasn't sure about, but given how the rest of reg's post was so completely wrong... I guess it's down to the fact that nobody actually travels on trains in the US, thus leaving the way clear for freight over long distances, which actually makes loads of sense!

Rail freight is making a big comeback (relatively) in the UK in recent years. In Wales the railways are used extensively in this capacity (steel, timber, coal exports etc) and there are a number of lines that aren't open to the public expressly serving those industries.

American freight rail was liberalised 3 decades ago, since when prices halved and productivity exploded. They've been trying to do the same in the EU but progress has been patchy.

[regexcellent]

No, they were in the UK.

My bad. I'm absolutely certain about the passenger/freight distribution on rail/air in the US versus EU though. Passenger rail can't really take off in the US because the freight traffic, which is frankly way more profitable, hogs the lines and goes way slower. You'd really have to have two different sets of tracks for it to be efficient. Low population density and the fact that our cities aren't easily connected on a line topology are other major problems that will probably always prevent successful long distance rail passenger transport outside of the northeast and possibly coastal California.

[Hauldren Collider]

It turns out that planes make a lot more sense. Lower costs, higher speeds. Infrastructure is expensive, and having people sit in a box doing nothing while it moves across the continent for a week is very expensive.