8 responses to “Slow Speed Rail – 150th Birthday”

1. James

   January 20, 2014

   I thought the Bgame Depot opened way before 1984? Should it be 1884? Just wondering.

2. Jeff

   January 20, 2014

   Actually, 1894…just a slight transposition of numbers.

3. Joe

   January 20, 2014

   Sorry, fixing it now….sharp eyes. It would be hard to get the national designation prior to opening!! 🙂

4. Holyroller

   January 21, 2014

   Why is the sign at the Burlingame Train Station spelled with a V instead of a U?

5. Bruce Dickinson

   January 21, 2014

   Holy-baby, c’mon you have got to be pulling my leg. I guess your grumpiness isn’t a reflection of your true age and yes, Bruce Dickinson is more grumpy these days compared to years past so forgive me for the presumptiveness. I may be dating myself but in the earlier part of the 20th Century “U” was expressed artistically with the Roman letter “V” and often substituted. In fact, it was that way on our own currency, even on the five hundred dollar bills. Ask me how I know? Well after I did some production work with John Hammond when Dylan signed with Columbia, I got a $500 bill signed by both of those cats as a Christmas bonus, which to this day hangs in my office. Very clearly shows “IN GOD WE TRVST” From then on, as they say, baby, I saw nothing but a path of gold (and platinum!). So there you go, I love the letter “V”, and everytime I see the beautiful Burlingame train station, I think of the $500 bill framed in my office.
   Back to current events, I gotta tell ya, this HSR is the biggest joke since Milli Vanilli was called out for lip-syncing fraud. Why is HSR so crazy? Well the reason is why slow speed rail is so effective. Ask how much commercial freight is moved globally via HSR? The answer is: zero. Because no commercial customer in their right mind would support paying to move freight on HSR lines because it would cost too much, just as much as any railroad would build such a line. And why is that? Because my friends we have airplanes, so for anything that needs to get somewhere quickly, freight is sent by air, which is far more cost effective and un-subsidized. For passengers there is something called Southwest Airlines, which from what my commercial airline traveling friends tell me they can do SF to LA for $100 a roundtrip ticket, a dynamite price! So the point is why have HSR when airlines are more effective, cheaper, and are not a financial burden to society? Makes no economic sense to me at all. Bruce Dickinson is a big proponent of creativity, but why reinvent the wheel when it seems to be rolling just fine!?!

6. hillsider

   January 22, 2014

   Too fvnny.

7. Holyroller

   January 23, 2014

   I think it has something to do with Free Masons.
   Maybe Bruce Dickinson could ask Bruce Dickeninson.

8. High Speed Con Artists/Cheats/Liars/Criminals

   January 23, 2014

   I drove to LA in 5 1/2 hours on 3/4 of a tank of gas last year. True story.