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I doubt that 3D printing will be a problem for railroads. You still need to transport for the raw materials, and most people will not have industrial-scale 3D

I doubt that 3D printing will be a problem for railroads. You still need to transport for the raw materials, and most people will not have industrial-scale 3D printers in their homes (any more than they have industrial-scale paper printers in their homes). There are also limits to what can be 3D printed, and those limits will remain in effect for the foreseeable future -- liquids, timber, food, and so forth are not things that will be easy to print, but they remain important and they are often transported by rail. If anything American railroads should be rejoicing about 3D printing, as it will encourage more domestic manufacturing and create new opportunities in transporting both raw materials and finished products. (Edit: I know it sounds like I am making the same argument people made in the 1960s about computers in the home. However, a key difference with 3D printing is that the size of the printer determines what can be printed. It is one thing to print forks, knives, and gears; it is quite another to print a car body.)

Spooky23 13y ago
I don't think that you're making a "computer in the home" argument. It's more like tools. In 1960, a typical handy homeowner had a hand tools. Sure, I could build a deck in the backyard, but it would take a long time and require more hands. Today, a typical handy homeowner has power drills, saws, etc at very low price points.
kposehn 13y ago
I was a bit dubious at first, but I understand what they're on about now: The concern is that goods will be finished much closer to PoS, resulting in more transport of bulk commodities and less of finished goods. Intermodal transport (which includes those loooooooong double-stack trains you often see) is primarily finished goods going to market. If railroads want to stay competitive, I do agree that they need to "skate to where the puck is going" and make sure they have the capacity to handle shifts in traffic patterns. A good example is the Powder River Basin. That is the largest coal producing region in the US and for about 30 years has received massive capital investment. However, coal is on the decline and crude-by-rail is on a massive upswing. The railroads got caught flat-footed there and have been scrambling to increase capacity for crude-by-rail. As far as bulk crude, how else are you going to transport it outside of a pipeline? In this the railroads are safe, but in the future they may not be.
a-priori 13y ago
I'm also not sold on household 3D printers. Maintaining and operating a 3D printer would be a hassle. But retail-level printers? That's a no-brainer. I'm certain people would be willing to accept a reasonable mark-up to have things printed for them. I'm seeing hardware stores that prints all the screws and nails on-site (or at a regional distributor, shipped just-in-time) rather than keeping inventory, and "here's a random part that broke on this obsolete product, could you replace it?" services. I'm seeing furniture stores that create made-to-measure furniture of varying dimensions or colours from a standard template to fit your room. Like made-to-measure clothing, as opposed to bespoke (custom furniture) or off-the-rack (furniture store). I'm seeing motorcycle/bike/hockey helmets made to fit a person's head, car seats moulded to a person's backside (currently only an option on super cars like the McLaren F1), and custom orthotics that are cheap enough to become mainstream. I'm seeing mall photo booths that produce figurines instead of photos. But no, I can't see people having a 3D printer in their basement to do any of these things in their house.
- tekalon 13y ago
  I can see it but only with the technology changing. My husband has a 3D printer and uses it all the time for little projects around the house. Once the technology advances, you can have printers that are the right size and the right interface for the common public, they can 'buy' or create a design and have it just automatically print. Think of having toys for kids or household products printed faster than driving to a store to get it. Right now 'makers' are already doing this. It's not very friendly for most people, but its been very helpful for household uses.

Spooky23 13y ago

I don't think that you're making a "computer in the home" argument. It's more like tools. In 1960, a typical handy homeowner had a hand tools. Sure, I could build a deck in the backyard, but it would take a long time and require more hands. Today, a typical handy homeowner has power drills, saws, etc at very low price points.

kposehn 13y ago

I was a bit dubious at first, but I understand what they're on about now: The concern is that goods will be finished much closer to PoS, resulting in more transport of bulk commodities and less of finished goods. Intermodal transport (which includes those loooooooong double-stack trains you often see) is primarily finished goods going to market. If railroads want to stay competitive, I do agree that they need to "skate to where the puck is going" and make sure they have the capacity to handle shifts in traffic patterns. A good example is the Powder River Basin. That is the largest coal producing region in the US and for about 30 years has received massive capital investment. However, coal is on the decline and crude-by-rail is on a massive upswing. The railroads got caught flat-footed there and have been scrambling to increase capacity for crude-by-rail. As far as bulk crude, how else are you going to transport it outside of a pipeline? In this the railroads are safe, but in the future they may not be.

a-priori 13y ago

I'm also not sold on household 3D printers. Maintaining and operating a 3D printer would be a hassle. But retail-level printers? That's a no-brainer. I'm certain people would be willing to accept a reasonable mark-up to have things printed for them. I'm seeing hardware stores that prints all the screws and nails on-site (or at a regional distributor, shipped just-in-time) rather than keeping inventory, and "here's a random part that broke on this obsolete product, could you replace it?" services. I'm seeing furniture stores that create made-to-measure furniture of varying dimensions or colours from a standard template to fit your room. Like made-to-measure clothing, as opposed to bespoke (custom furniture) or off-the-rack (furniture store). I'm seeing motorcycle/bike/hockey helmets made to fit a person's head, car seats moulded to a person's backside (currently only an option on super cars like the McLaren F1), and custom orthotics that are cheap enough to become mainstream. I'm seeing mall photo booths that produce figurines instead of photos. But no, I can't see people having a 3D printer in their basement to do any of these things in their house.

tekalon 13y ago
I can see it but only with the technology changing. My husband has a 3D printer and uses it all the time for little projects around the house. Once the technology advances, you can have printers that are the right size and the right interface for the common public, they can 'buy' or create a design and have it just automatically print. Think of having toys for kids or household products printed faster than driving to a store to get it. Right now 'makers' are already doing this. It's not very friendly for most people, but its been very helpful for household uses.