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This speaks more to the lack of technological progress in US rail than anything else. Foreigners from nations where state of the art HSR is commonplace probabl
by pengaru 4y ago
This speaks more to the lack of technological progress in US rail than anything else.
Foreigners from nations where state of the art HSR is commonplace probably do bat an eye upon seeing such things, in the supposedly modern and progressive USA of all places.
- lazide 4y agoHSR has nothing to do with efficient pulling of freight? Similar locomotives are the common the world over.
- pengaru 4y agoThat's fair, I mistakenly apple-and-oranged this one.
- bobthepanda 4y agoUS freight locos are different, if only because US rail safety regulations until recently prioritized buff strength whereas European and Japanese regulations do not. (Buff strength is a terrible way to maintain safety. We moved away from it in automobiles decades ago for a reason.)
- dsfyu404ed 4y agoYour comment reeks of typical internet crumple zone worship. You absolutely do need “buff strength” in the parts of a vehicle that hold the occupants. Cabins have only gotten stronger and more rigid with time.
- Panzer04 4y agoSeems like there'd be a big difference between a train with a thousand tons of carriages pushing it along (ie. Not Going To Stop) and a car that will stop, necessitating a crumple zone to drag that stop over the longest possible period.
- bobthepanda 4y agoIf you throw a steel box of eggs at the wall, the box will probably be fine, but not the eggs.
- Panzer04 4y agoRight - but in this case the steel box is 1000 ton and going straight through the wall, so it's not going to be stopping - in this case you want the steel box to protect the eggs, rather than splattering them by using a cardboard box (carrying on the analogy)