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FYI, using "fan-boy" is kind of frowned upon on hacker news. However as someone who commonly agrees with Elon on many things, I do think trains are a good idea

FYI, using "fan-boy" is kind of frowned upon on hacker news. However as someone who commonly agrees with Elon on many things, I do think trains are a good idea, but you can't look at them in a vacuum. The train network of the late 19th century is long gone in the US and many of those right-of-ways are long gone. There's no way to re-integrate a train network into the wider US without a lot of forcing people out of their houses. Using electric semis is the next best option. Trains definitely have a future in the US, but not as a massive fix-all.

xracy 4y ago
> FYI, using "fan-boy" is kind of frowned upon on hacker news. Why? It's not derogatory. What word would you have me use in place of it? There are a bunch of people speaking very highly of Elon for what is not a very interesting/ground-breaking paper, if I'm being honest. An impromptu Google search turned up a .gov website with a lot of the stuff in here[1]... I suspect the rest of it is also googleable (Grid setup, and per-grid usage, cost per watt, MPG, Dollar per kW). They made some cool infographics... But mostly this is a very thinly veiled sales pitch for Tesla products, wrapped in the beginnings of a case for more gov't funding. re: rail network You could readily cannibalize a lot of our highway system, as well as invest in fixing up the rail that we already have. Companies that have been making money off of rail should start paying for that infrastructure, in particular... [1] https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/us-energy-facts/data-and-statistics.php https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/us-energy-facts/data-and...
- panick21_ 4y ago
  "fanboy" is of course derogatory. How is that a question? If you insist on using that kind of language, "fan" would be reasonable. Also calling HN pro Musk and Tesla is just nonsense.
  - simondotau 4y ago
    Among the online communities I actually respect, HN is easily the most hysterically anti-Tesla/anti-Elon.
  - xracy 4y ago
    Where did I call HN pro Musk and Tesla? I made a specific comment about how people on this thread were gushing about a "plan" that I still don't understand the hype about. Nothing they're doing in this "plan" (that others have mentioned is not really a plan) is groundbreaking.
    - panick21_ 4y ago
      I though you refer to HN as a whole. Sorry.
      - xracy 4y ago
        No worries! I definitely tailored it to the comments after reading through a bunch of them. Normally I expect to find a lot more pushback in the comments of HN for Elon's grandiose promises, and I just wasn't seeing it here.
panick21_ 4y ago
The amount of space need for trains is tiny, and if you do expantion smartly it's really not that hard on the population. Compared to the endless and insane expantions of highway that is for some reason still ongoing it's totally reasonable. Also there is a huge amount that could be done with existing rights off way. Train companies are making enough profit that forcing them to electricity is totally reasonable.
- travisporter 4y ago
  I saw this video recently that claims that right of way from freight trains are the only thing stopping expanded Amtrak service between many big metros - eg. LA to Vegas. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQTjLWIHN74 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQTjLWIHN74
- mlindner 4y ago
  The amount of space needed is indeed tiny, but you still need to cut a fresh line through areas where buildings exist, and it can't follow the road network generally and has to take gradual curves, which increases the amount of buildings that must be destroyed rather than going around them.
  - panick21_ 4y ago
    If you are not building for high speed and super long trains, the curves aren't that crazy. And lets not pretend the US is some incredibly densely populated place. Lots of those areas are filled with cheap single family home subburbs, not skyscrapers. If we are not willing to move a few houses for climate change, then how are we ever gone solve anything? Somehow most nations of manage this without that many issues. And again, remove money from highway, to trains and you remove less houses.
    - mlindner 4y ago
      Trains go best in those few densely populated areas though. That's kind of the catch 22 with trains, they're best in dense areas, but dense areas tend to obviate the ability to build trains.

xracy 4y ago

> FYI, using "fan-boy" is kind of frowned upon on hacker news. Why? It's not derogatory. What word would you have me use in place of it? There are a bunch of people speaking very highly of Elon for what is not a very interesting/ground-breaking paper, if I'm being honest. An impromptu Google search turned up a .gov website with a lot of the stuff in here[1]... I suspect the rest of it is also googleable (Grid setup, and per-grid usage, cost per watt, MPG, Dollar per kW). They made some cool infographics... But mostly this is a very thinly veiled sales pitch for Tesla products, wrapped in the beginnings of a case for more gov't funding. re: rail network You could readily cannibalize a lot of our highway system, as well as invest in fixing up the rail that we already have. Companies that have been making money off of rail should start paying for that infrastructure, in particular... [1] https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/us-energy-facts/data-and-statistics.php https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/us-energy-facts/data-and...

panick21_ 4y ago
"fanboy" is of course derogatory. How is that a question? If you insist on using that kind of language, "fan" would be reasonable. Also calling HN pro Musk and Tesla is just nonsense.
- simondotau 4y ago
  Among the online communities I actually respect, HN is easily the most hysterically anti-Tesla/anti-Elon.
- xracy 4y ago
  Where did I call HN pro Musk and Tesla? I made a specific comment about how people on this thread were gushing about a "plan" that I still don't understand the hype about. Nothing they're doing in this "plan" (that others have mentioned is not really a plan) is groundbreaking.
  - panick21_ 4y ago
    I though you refer to HN as a whole. Sorry.
    - xracy 4y ago
      No worries! I definitely tailored it to the comments after reading through a bunch of them. Normally I expect to find a lot more pushback in the comments of HN for Elon's grandiose promises, and I just wasn't seeing it here.

panick21_ 4y ago

The amount of space need for trains is tiny, and if you do expantion smartly it's really not that hard on the population. Compared to the endless and insane expantions of highway that is for some reason still ongoing it's totally reasonable. Also there is a huge amount that could be done with existing rights off way. Train companies are making enough profit that forcing them to electricity is totally reasonable.

travisporter 4y ago
I saw this video recently that claims that right of way from freight trains are the only thing stopping expanded Amtrak service between many big metros - eg. LA to Vegas. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQTjLWIHN74 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQTjLWIHN74
mlindner 4y ago
The amount of space needed is indeed tiny, but you still need to cut a fresh line through areas where buildings exist, and it can't follow the road network generally and has to take gradual curves, which increases the amount of buildings that must be destroyed rather than going around them.
- panick21_ 4y ago
  If you are not building for high speed and super long trains, the curves aren't that crazy. And lets not pretend the US is some incredibly densely populated place. Lots of those areas are filled with cheap single family home subburbs, not skyscrapers. If we are not willing to move a few houses for climate change, then how are we ever gone solve anything? Somehow most nations of manage this without that many issues. And again, remove money from highway, to trains and you remove less houses.
  - mlindner 4y ago
    Trains go best in those few densely populated areas though. That's kind of the catch 22 with trains, they're best in dense areas, but dense areas tend to obviate the ability to build trains.