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Riding LSW at late night yesterday - it was distinctively trashy. Riders sprawled (because there is no better way to put it) across multiple seats like it is a Triclinium; a washroom looking like it is a disaster and to add insult to injury - finding out there is no water after soaping up.

AoD
I've had that happen a few times with the soap.
 
I'm out of the loop, so I will ask - was there a country music concert downtown last night?

My experience is, that particular audience is far messier than most - death metal and hiphop fans go home peacefully, but the out of town country kids seem to expect to drink on the trains on the way downtown, and come home blind drunk afterwards.... leaving bottles and cans inntheir wake.

I don't usually single any one group out for judgement, and the music itself is within my tastes and I have been to such concerts ... but I won't deny having made this observation before.

- Paul
No idea. I met someone at Union coming in on VIA.
 
I'm out of the loop, so I will ask - was there a country music concert downtown last night?

My experience is, that particular audience is far messier than most - death metal and hiphop fans go home peacefully, but the out of town country kids seem to expect to drink on the trains on the way downtown, and come home blind drunk afterwards.... leaving bottles and cans inntheir wake.

I don't usually single any one group out for judgement, and the music itself is within my tastes and I have been to such concerts ... but I won't deny having made this observation before.

- Paul
Those folks and groups of rural teens.
 
I don't think I saw this posted here...

Looks like a near miss with DOW truck last week at the Manse Rd crossing (LSE) is going to slow trains to 50 and have them blow the whistle. Presumably until the safety assessment completes...

This is one of the spots residents complained about the whistles before... Now they're back.

View attachment 572521

Interestingly.. From the same late 2023 article:
View attachment 572536

And what work are they doing and why did they remove the whistles/speed restrictions?
View attachment 572537

Is this a big speed decrease from what the trains were previously doing? cc @smallspy @crs1026
 
Alvin, you're softening in your old age! LOL No caning?

Not really - I thought dropping them off at the end of the line on the last train of the night counter to the direction of their original trip might be more informative, but it might be a little too extra-judicial.

AoD
 
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Is this a big speed decrease from what the trains were previously doing? cc @smallspy @crs1026
Yes. But only kinda.

The speed limit through that section is 95mph. There has been an additional PSO through the curves just to the west of that level crossing of 90mph for LRC and 75mph for everything else, so any non-stop trains generally aren't running the full speed limit over the crossing anyways - they're either braking for the PSO, or accelerating out of it.

On top of that, due to the proximity to Guildwood Station along with the Guildwood plant about a mile to the west, and the pretty stiff grade for westbounds, any local GOs aren't really doing track speed anyways. Yes, they will have to slow down, but the reality of the situation is that slowing down to 50mph while occupying the crossing is only costing them seconds on each trip, not minutes.

There are immediate plans afoot for work to reduce or remove the speed limit - cutting back brush along the ROW, along with some reshaping of the berms/ditches on either side of the level crossing to improve sightlines - but I am curious to see what they propose to the roadway changes to prevent this from continuing to be a problem.

Dan
 
There are immediate plans afoot for work to reduce or remove the speed limit - cutting back brush along the ROW, along with some reshaping of the berms/ditches on either side of the level crossing to improve sightlines - but I am curious to see what they propose to the roadway changes to prevent this from continuing to be a problem.

Is it too much to ask for retractable bollards with reactive armour?
 

"During prolonged periods of high heat, rail tracks have the potential to soften and expand that require us to run trains at slower speeds," the transit agency said in a news release issued Tuesday.
I used to commute on VIA between Guelph & Toronto and we had to slow down for the same reason on super hot days. Kinda surprised (yet not), that we still haven't figured out how to fix this... 20 years later?
 
I used to commute on VIA between Guelph & Toronto and we had to slow down for the same reason on super hot days. Kinda surprised (yet not), that we still haven't figured out how to fix this... 20 years later?
This just happened to my spouse on VIA the hot day last week.
 
I used to commute on VIA between Guelph & Toronto and we had to slow down for the same reason on super hot days. Kinda surprised (yet not), that we still haven't figured out how to fix this... 20 years later?

It applies to all railway tracks, especially welded rail - at higher temperature metal expands, and if that expansion happens along a very long piece of rail, the accumulated stress can create a kink in the rail. The track is designed and built to minimise this, but when the temperature reaches the 30's in bright sun, the risk is greater and it makes sense to play it safe. Lower speeds mean the stresses imposed by the train on the rail (which add to the thermal stresses) are less.
There were plenty of track patrols out there yesterday and this will no doubt continue as long as the weather holds.

- Paul

PS - it happens to other civil structures also - eg bridges are built with expansion joints as they expand and contract with temperature.
 
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