7 ms·
Buy a train, bridge or tracks from the Swiss Railway
- garyfirestorm 4mo agoDo they ship internationally
- mplanchard 4mo agoYou can pay Amtrak to haul your train car around[0], so you’ve just got to figure out a way to get the car from Switzerland to the US, and then you can really get around in style. [0]: https://www.amtrak.com/privately-owned-rail-cars https://www.amtrak.com/privately-owned-rail-cars
- kortilla 4mo agoIs there someone that does this frequently with a breakdown in costs and their experience? This sounds lit as a goal for an eccentric millionaire.
- mplanchard 4mo agoIf I ever get to be a millionaire, it’s certainly on my list!
- sailfast 4mo agoBuy a house first - then make another 20 million, then maybe consider this haha
- kirubakaran 4mo ago"Mark, do you have live quite so relentlessly in the real world?" -- Jeremy, Peep Show
- sailfast 3mo agoIt’s a question I ask my therapist all the time :)
- skinfaxi 4mo agoThere is a fee schedule available: https://www.amtrak.com/content/dam/projects/dotcom/english/public/documents/privatecars/Amtrak-Private-Car-Rate-Addendum-8-100125.pdf https://www.amtrak.com/content/dam/projects/dotcom/english/p...
- fineIllregister 4mo agoI don't have personal experience, but I've heard it's not viable. The biggest issue is that Amtrak offers the service on a "best effort" basis, which means that if the train you want to hook up to is running late (which this frequently are due to conflicts with cargo traffic), they won't hook your car up, and you have to wait for the next train, which also might not be able to hook you up.
- bombcar 4mo agoPart of doing this is knowing the rules and the “real rules” - you have the car attached at an end node (Los Angeles or San Diego, say) even if your group gets on in Burbank.
- bluGill 4mo agoThere are a few clubs that have cars that do this for a club outing. Members pay a small amount of dues, but the largest cost is labor - you are expected to help rebuild their cars. Most of the club money seems to come from renting the cars out. The above is what I gather from reading their websites. However there is no club close enough to me for joining to be reasonable and so I didn't verify the above.
- dabluecaboose 4mo agoThere are clubs[1][2] of owners, and they'll generally rent them out to people. We looked into doing it for my bachelor party. Unfortunately, the cost is akin to renting a yacht for the same amount of time (On the order of thousands per day, minimum), so we quickly shelved that plan for an AirBnB. [1] https://www.aaprco.com/ https://www.aaprco.com/ [2] https://www.rpca.com/ https://www.rpca.com/
- Caracas288 4mo agoSomewhere, the locomotove nomads travel the wastes of North America in their reinforced rail cars. They never speak to one another, but sometimes you can glimpse the deisel smoke of a distant train on the horizon at sunset…
- voidUpdate 4mo agoMake sure you get one that matches American gauge and isn't one of the the meter gauge mountain trains
- bluGill 4mo agogauge is likely easy to change. Not cheap, but Amtrak demands expensive inspections and refurbishment to run, so the cost of changing the gauge is likely fairly small compared to the other costs.
- elil17 4mo agoOff topic, but some trains can even change gauge while in motion: https://www.reddit.com/r/trains/comments/kq6eds/this_is_how_trains_change_gauge_while_moving_1000/ https://www.reddit.com/r/trains/comments/kq6eds/this_is_how_...
- m4rtink 4mo agoThis is actually quite a significant technical achievement - for example, a similar project in Japan failed. Japanese Railways wanted to build a train that can run at full speed (~300 km/h) on the standard gauge (1435 mm) regular Shinkansen lines but also use the narrow gauge (1067 mm) existing lines at slower speed. Those older lines would not have to be rebuilt for the Shinkansen standard & there would still be significant time savings: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gauge_Change_Train https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gauge_Change_Train This failed to produce a viable train, resulting in falling back to track rebuilds or using relay trains that connect directly from Shinkansen to the local rail line on the same platform.
- m463 4mo agoThey don't seem to say why it didn't work. I wonder if it was not just the change in gauge, but tolerances as well. I got to see "Dr. Yellow" running on the shinkansen line and it checks everything out. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_Yellow https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_Yellow I wonder if the slower-speed lines have looser tolerances. Then maybe running the gauge-change train on the slower lines might kill the train's tolerances before it moves back to the super smooth high-speed lines.
- doe88 4mo agoSomeone should definitely forward this to Kim Jong Un, maybe they also make a custom armored version.
- retired 4mo agoIt’s possible in The Netherlands to charter a private train. I have seen large companies do this for a company retreat. It’s not even that expensive. I remember it being €5000/hour which isn’t a bad way to move 300 employees to the other side of the country.
- crote 4mo agoAll European railway operators are legally required to offer this, by the way: it's an open market, so (provided there is physical space) they have to allow anyone to run their own train. Normally this means freight trains, but it also means companies like FlixTrain can attempt to compete with the large national train operators - and of course it allows for one-off charters. The only downside is that preference is given to regularly scheduled services, and the remaining space is first-come-first-serve, so on the busier routes there's a decent chance you'll have to take a large detour instead, or sit in a siding waiting for a while.
- gpvos 4mo agoThe infrastructure operators have to allow anyone with a train operating license on their tracks, and such license is very nontrivial to acquire. Usually you would hire a train from a train operating company, and those companies are not required to rent out their trains - although several have been set up explicitly with that goal, of course.
- mrlonglong 4mo agoBack in Victorian times very rich people owned their own railway carriage which they would have hauled across country.
- gpvos 4mo agoBasically like it still is in the US.
- xattt 4mo agoA similar option is available in North America (1). Very niche, and it’s run by Larry Paikin, 93-year-old father of legendary Canadian journalist Steve Paikin. (1) http://www.locomotives.ca http://www.locomotives.ca
- tacostakohashi 4mo agoWhat a charming little website!
- fidotron 4mo agoCurse you. Now I have a new objective in life. For those of this persuasion in the Montreal area we have https://exporail.org https://exporail.org
- voidUpdate 4mo agoIs it pickup only, or do they deliver as well?
- MrBuddyCasino 4mo agoWhen SBB has a bridge to sell you, you should pick it up in person.
- wongarsu 4mo agoWhen London Bridge was sold in the 1960s it was also on the buyer to pick it up from its original location and transport it to the US
- dhosek 4mo agoI remember the day I decided to finally go see the London Bridge and I drove over it three times trying to find it.
- GJim 4mo ago> I drove over it three times You tried driving in central London? Are you mad?
- dhosek 4mo agoIn case you’re not joking, London Bridge was purchased an American entrepreneur in 1968 and rebuilt in the city of Lake Havasu, Arizona. There is a persistent rumor that he thought he was buying the Tower Bridge, but in contemporaneous newspaper accounts he denied it. Nevertheless, that’s what I was expecting to see when I drove off I-40 that day—I envisioned the Tower Bridge in the middle of the desert connected to nothing which would have been something worth the trip. The actual bridge is not that much to look at.
- hydrogen7800 4mo agoI have to look this up each time I am reminded of it, to make sure it's not some absurd urban legend.
- deleted 4mo ago[deleted]
- Svip 4mo agoIf I was filthy rich, I'd buy a plot of land near a railway line (that is at least attached to the main lines), build my own siding, and buy one of DSB's IC3 MUs[0], maybe also an IR4 MU[1], so they can together ride on electrified and non-electrified tracks. Then refurbish their interior, install as many signal compatibility systems, and, for the IR4, have it support as many overhead voltage systems as possible. I have a soft spot for the MF/ER class trains. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DSB_Class_MF https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DSB_Class_MF [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DSB_Class_MF#IR4_%22InterRegional_4%22 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DSB_Class_MF#IR4_%22InterRegio...
- AnimalMuppet 4mo agoOr maybe donate it to the Illinois Railway Museum (irm.org) so that they could run it for more people than just yourself.
- user_7832 4mo agoIf we're doing hypotheticals, why not both?
- bluGill 4mo agoMost people do this as part of a club. You join the club and combine everyone's money to buy the things needed, and then everyone in the club can enjoy it.
- embedding-shape 4mo ago"Clubs" as a thing is such a great concept, and if you feel like there is some humanity missing because of all the things going on, they're real places with lots of humans and humanity in them. They work great for lots of things, from trains, computing, music to boats, puppets, gardening and whatever else. If there is no club where you live, you'll surely find at least one other member if you start it yourself :)
- james_pm 4mo agoThat is exactly how the Halton County Railway Museum near Toronto came to be. A bunch of dudes bought an old streetcar (tram) to save it from the scrappers and built a track on some property to have fun driving it around. https://hcry.org/ https://hcry.org/
- mwexler 4mo agoI just want the clocks. Mondaine tries, but they aren't the same. That 58.5 second rotation then pause is quite clever. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_railway_clock https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_railway_clock
- hydrogen7800 4mo agoAfter my first visit to Switzerland, I knew I needed one of those clocks for my home. Unfortunately the ones available are cheap (though expensive) and don't have the second hand dwell at the top of each minute.
- game_the0ry 4mo agoThe central clock dependency is cool, but I wonder is there were any problems with latency -- like does the centralized electrical impulse reach a train station 10km away and another one at 20km at the same time? Did they factor that in?
- madaxe_again 4mo agoI know the Swiss are known for punctuality and timekeeping, but I don’t think anyone is going to notice a 33μs delay to their train.
- bluGill 4mo agoThe speed of light is copper wires is fast enough that you don't need to factor this in. At least not for human purposes.
- extraduder_ire 4mo agoEven if you did, I think the time it takes to move the second+minute hand from a stop is longer than the time it takes the signal to get there.
- bauruine 4mo agoIsn't that propagating with around the speed of light? Switzerland is only about 1 light ms wide so even if they only have one master clock instead of one per train station the latency should be negligible especially in the 1950s.
- drcongo 4mo agoI came quite close to buying a tube carriage a couple of years ago but it was slightly too long for where I wanted to put it.
- herbst 4mo agoSome things are actually interesting and useable (as kinda normal human being, without the need for a new bridge or train)
- ez_mmk 4mo agoIf anyone is looking for a german train: https://www.db-gebrauchtzug.de https://www.db-gebrauchtzug.de
- PeterStuer 4mo agoUnfortunately no HO scale, so that's a pass for me.
- classified 4mo agoHoly fuck, they do have a bridge to sell you. Although it's only available from 2027-04-01. April fools?
- deleted 4mo ago[deleted]
- nairboon 4mo agoIt's available from 2027-04-01 to 2027-05-01, so basically deconstruction will be done during April. The bridge seems to be legit from 1876. Local news says they'd rather sell it to someone for cheap to support circular economy than throw it into the trash. https://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/sbb-verkauft-historische-bruecke-aus-hinwil-678862127108 https://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/sbb-verkauft-historische-brueck... You might be able to make a good deal here, buy a bridge for 100 bucks.
- fp64 4mo agoBut please note that the bridge will be available without the guard rail / fence, parts of the concrete might be missing, and the rust proofing needs a refresh!
- Leherenn 4mo agoI love how they clarify that it is used.
- secretsatan 4mo agoPretty sure that here in switzerland, demolition has to be as recyclable as possible, straight up selling the whole thing would be cost effective i guess.
- kylehotchkiss 4mo agoDo you think the Swiss have time for April fools?
- folli 4mo agoReminds me of this classic: https://youtu.be/tVo_wkxH9dU https://youtu.be/tVo_wkxH9dU
- 999900000999 4mo agoIf I was rich I’d go to a small town in a developing country and create a monorail. I’d buy up a 4km by 4km plot of land and create a car free city ( aside from emergency vehicles). Free public transport, bikes and shoes for everyone
- panick21_ 4mo agoMonorails suck and are properity garabage. Is a recepy for bad transit at increase cost.
- Zopieux 4mo agoThis. The general concept of "terrible public transport tech disguising as a good & novel idea" has a name: gadgetbahn.
- rsynnott 4mo agoThis one seems to work... surprisingly well, considering how bonkers it is: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wuppertal_Schwebebahn https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wuppertal_Schwebebahn I've always wondered why they've been so generally unsuccessful; conventional elevated rail works fairly well, and at least in theory they should be much cheaper and less obtrusive.
- panick21_ 4mo agoI didnt say they dont work. You just end up with highly costume properitery stuff.
- rsynnott 4mo agoSure, but there's no reason that _has_ to be the case. Like, there've been attempts at standards; the volume is just never really there to make any of them _the_ standard. Underground metro systems mostly started off as deeply weird and proprietary, as well (look at this one, weird gauge, tiny little trains, originally _cable_ operated: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glasgow_Subway https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glasgow_Subway), but nowadays they're _fairly_ standard, say.
- DubiousPusher 4mo agoIf you're in the US and this excites you, you'll probably enjoy GSA auctions. https://gsaauctions.gov/ https://gsaauctions.gov/
- thazework 4mo agothought these would be NFTs but i guess we're not in 2021
- kylehotchkiss 4mo agoWow CA HSR should just buy these and put them down between the lanes of the 5.
- adityamwagh 4mo agoThey are selling a bridge?? https://sbbresale.ch/offers/6a19702ea15ad61283c952ae https://sbbresale.ch/offers/6a19702ea15ad61283c952ae
- cybrox 4mo agoWhy not? I'm pretty sure they know roundabout what it would cost to tear it down, so why not see if someone is willing to buy it because they think they can get the work done cheaper and make a profit off the raw material.
- extraduder_ire 4mo agoThere's an idiom in US english, "and if you believe that, I have a bridge to sell you", meant to imply that someone is gullible. It's usually what's being referred to when someone is talking about selling a bridge, and is a source of humour when someone actually sells a bridge. It's in reference to the criminal exploits of confidence man George C Parker.: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_C._Parker https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_C._Parker
- adityamwagh 4mo agoI'm not against it. It's just that it's the first time seeing a bridge being sold in my life.
- Symbiote 4mo agoThe opposite -- it said elsewhere they will accept a low offer if it means the historic bridge is preserved.
- Stevvo 4mo agoThe prices are really quite good for a country where everything is so expensive. Only 3000 for an aluminium rail car. Probably the scrap metal value is higher than 3000, although you could spend far more than 3000 transporting it to the scrap yard.
- throwaway85825 4mo ago3000 is the address not the price, which is "upon request".
- Stevvo 4mo agoThat is the RABe 520. On the 2nd page of vehicles there are ABt trains with a listed price of CHF 3000.
- TylerE 4mo agoThat last bit is the killer, from their website,machine translated: "The buyer is responsible for organizing loading, transport, customs clearance, etc., as well as any associated costs. The vehicles are available immediately and are delivered uncleaned from the storage location (Bonfol train station). " It's always the same deal with rail stuff. You can find old cars for cheap (locomotives not so much, they tend to be worth a lot more than scrap value in spares). The catch is always the transport. I've seen this more than a time or two on rail enthusiast forums. Somebody buys an old caboose or boxcar to just drop behind their house for a couple grand.... and then discovers it's gonna cost at least 3-4x that to move even a few miles. Usually need a heavy duty low boy trailer (https://heavyhaulers.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/lowboy-2-768x576.jpg https://heavyhaulers.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/low...) and a fairly heavy duty crane at both ends.
- lynguist 4mo agoThis makes me think of two things: 1: Everything can be bought and sold in this economy, and all the large and weird machines we pass by in our lives have whole production lifecycles where there are firms specialized in making them, and those that use them, and for money everything can be had. 2: In the 90s and 2000s in Switzerland the "warehouse sales" resulting from decommissioning companies and offices were rampant! There was a certain wealth and breadth and a minimum of equipment needed to do any work, and there was also a certain pride in using good equipment. The 90s/2000s switch to the neoliberal economy and getting by with less and less led to many mergers and obsoletions and the like and many beautiful products could be had. Some had also just ran their time. For example drawing tables from the pre CAD days. The world is grand and I'm nostalgic about the days of abundance and overengineering, but I don't mind they won't come back.
- s1artibartfast 4mo agoThe Swiss Federal Railways is a really interesting organizational model. It is run as government owened private corporation. it can issue it's own bonds and the swiss states (cantons) enter purchase contract negotiations with it for service. The federal goverment beurocrats provide arms length objectives, and the coorporation figures out how to acheive them. SBB profits do not feed into the government general fund, but must be used by the corporation to pay down its debt or invest in future infrastructure and services.
- s1artibartfast 4mo agoThis is different from the swiss air resuce and ambulence fleet Rega, which is entirely private. It is funded by volunatry insurance paid by the swiss citizens and the annual premium is about 40 CHF for coverage.
- Matumio 4mo agoNot quite, at least 50% of rescue costs will be paid via normal mandatory health insurance (just like when you need an ambulance car). Or 100% if you have a supplementary health insurance for transport. For CHF 40 you can become a Rega patron and then they will usually pay whatever the insurance didn't cover, I think, but technically they don't have to.
- amunozo 4mo agoAnd employee told me that SBB is the second biggest landlord in the country and real state is its most profitable branch. I cannot confirm it, though.
- mamonster 4mo agoThey are the 2nd biggest after Swisslife (I think?), but the profitability is kind of a bad metric because they are required to both fund their pension fund (36 thousand employees) and invest into infrastructure from this money. They make something like 250mio CHF before their commitments to infra + pensions and only have 30 million left over. There are now a lot of complaints/demands that they should be required to make more affordable housing with their portfolio.
- amunozo 4mo agoI wonder how usable are these trains for other European countries. Seems like a steal if any of them can fit your needs.