Think about it before answering the following question, Are trains a nuisance?

Question

I was with a friend and I brought up the topic about trains. Well, since I am a train chaser, I told him about how cool trains are. Well he says that trains are a nuisance. I would like to get as many good things as possible, trying to make over twenty good things. He says that this is why we have cars to drive around. He says that this is why we have trucks and airplanes. Therefor I would like to get SOME good answers, but please put in the truth.

Answer 1

20 things, huh? I’ll try.

1. The freight rail network of North America is an essential, vital part of the American infrastructure. When a rail strike is legally sanctioned and called for by a collective bargaining member under the provisions of a “Section 6", the picket line never even gets set up. If the strike is called for Midnight on a certain date, there is a Federal Judge in Washington standing by to sign a “back to work order” into effect at 12:01 A.M. Always cited is that the rail carriers are vital to both national security as well as the national economy, so, there will be no strike. The last one I saw was in the late 70's.

2. Economy. Freight trains are the only logical system for moving massive amounts of tonnage, or bulky loads. The Ton Miles Per Gallon of Fuel is a very high number, especially when compared to highway transport systems. In this area, there is nothing nearly as efficient. Less fuel burned means a smaller carbon foot print.

3. Environment. Even with fuel efficiency set aside, railroads are better for the environment in a way many don’t recognize. If you’re going to move trucks on roads, you need roads. Of course these are usually a minimum of four lanes wide, which means that the roadway has to be a fairly large structure, which in turn means that when built through forests or along rivers much more land has to be used. This means more trees cut, etc. The railroad can run in both directions, on a single main track, using no more than perhaps 10% of the area required for a highway.

4. Practicality. If the rails weren’t here, you cannot begin to imagine how many more trucks there would be on our nation’s highways and secondary roads. If this were to happen, gridlock would take on a whole new meaning, and across the highway network.

5. Safety. When there is a train wreck or derailment or collision, the potential for major destruction is very high, owing in large part to the astronomical amount of Haz Mat that is moved each year. Of course a truck crash will result in less initial destruction, but that happens every day across North America. But, they only make the news if there is a large loss of life or damage to a waterway or such.

6. Maintenance. Do you know what is orange and sleeps six? A Cal-Trans truck. Our tax dollars go to maintain the road ways the 80,000 trucks tear the hell out of each day. Rail carriers maintain their own right of way rather than laying it on the backs of tax payers and vehicle license taxes and registration fees.

7. Diversity. Bulk commodities, finished products, production materials, fuel, lumber, inter-modal traffic all moving in tanks, boxcars, gondolas, flat cars, etc., etc. There is no shipment too heavy to move by rail.

8. Manpower utilization. One man, one truck. On the rails, two men and the equivalent of hundreds of trucks in a single move. If we were relegated to using only highway transportation to move this country’s gross national product, that $3,000 HD flat screen TV you’ve been saving for would likely be selling for well over $10,000 a copy, $12 for a head of lettuce and a separate savings account for meats and other comestibles.

9. Reliability. Though not the post office, rain, sleet, hail, snow, high wind, it doesn’t much matter. The trains will be running while the trucks are parked riding out a storm. Of course, during floods, nothing is going anywhere.

Well, I’m significantly short of 20, but I’m sure others will add more.

Answer 2

I suspect that your friend is angry because he's had to wait at level crossings for a train to pass. On the other hand, does he actually say why he thinks trains are a nuisance?

However, without those trains, there would be even more cars and lorries on the highways.

Trains transport people and freight with less carbon footprint than planes or cars.

Planes are quick between airports, but on the other hand, look at the actual time spent on an air journey - getting to the airport, checking in, going through security, plus all the other formalities at the other end. And if the weather is bad, your flight is more likely to be cancelled than the train.

Is your friend perhaps an ex-rail employee who for some reason has become disillusioned?

Does he work in some area that competes with rail? Cue: argument for integrated transport, i.e. rail and other forms of travel working together instead of competing.

Maybe your friend has looked at the truncated latter-day rail network and decided it's had its day, the car is here to stay. But who does he think was responsible for cutting back that rail network in the first place? Car manufacturers, oil businesses and their cronies in government...

Where does your friend buy his car from? Chances are, that car when new was delivered by rail. No truck can deliver cars in bulk in the quantities a train can, ditto oil, ditto raw materials to make cars (steel, copper, etc.), ditto the materials to make roads, ditto the scrap metal once the car has outlived its usefulness.

A train can last 100 years or more. How many cars are there around that have lasted that long? (Bit of a rhetorical question, but at least it'll make him think... :->).

Answer 3

The amount of wasted energy in a passenger car is absolutely shocking, and that extends to tractor trailers as well. Consolidating cargo and moving it with two or three units is amazingly fuel efficient, and that's where trains come in. locomotives use diesel-electric power instead of straight mechanical, which is even more efficient. For the amount of cargo moved, their fuel efficiency is through the roof and their pollution is on the low side.

Trains take trucks off the road, which is also beneficial for highway departments and taxpayers. Railroad tracks are a lot easier to maintain than roads! Also, small towns with large industries have less noise and interference when rail service is available. There's a Target warehouse in my area that takes 700 trucks a day, and they actually refused rail service. 700 tractor trailers translates to two or three trains in a 24-hour period. Talk about effective!

Answer 4

No, trains are not a nuisance. if I can think of twenty things. I will put them up.
But a couple of things to think about:-

A train can run twenty four hours a day, so goods can be delivered quicker.
One loaded grain train weighing 13 000 tonnes,carries the same amount as 433 loaded semis, so that is keeping wear and tear down on the highways, It is also more environmentally friendly.
Railways employee lots of people. So helping to put taxes into the government coffers!!!!!

Answer 5

He is talking about cars to dlrive around so I am guessing he is mostly talking about passsenger travel and not interested in freight trains using about 1/4 the fuel and a corresponding less amount of emissions than comparable truck traffic.
Trains are far safer per passenger mile than personal autos. reduce highway congestion, far less polluting.
A more relaxing way to travel on long journeys, and becoming increasingly better than airline travel for short distance.
If your friend likes to travel by car, fine and dandy, most people do, at least some of the time, but why in the world would he want to take the option away from others that dont feel the same.
Mass transit is one of the solutions the world is going to depend on more and more as time goes by to reduce pollution and congestion.

Answer 6

Trains will be the most desirable way to transport goods and people in the future once again as they were about 150 years ago. They have the best ratio of volume of cargo moved to fuel used of any method of transport except maybe freighter ship. Fuel prices will make trucking and air transport very expensive. The private car may go another 10-20 years before it again becomes a toy for the rich as it once was.

High energy prices will do this.

Answer 7

As far as I am concerned...Trains are best way to travel...You can sit relaxed ...You can sleep when ever you feel like...In India you will even find good company for chatting...you can read books in peace if you like... You can take a walk almost eintire length of the train because it is vestibuled and all the compartments / coaches are interconnected.( In Airplanes you have to wear seatbelts and sit upright before take off and landing) where as in train you can still be sleeping even if your destination is approaching and your co-travellers would wake you up because you already told them where you are getting down, So much comfort you cant find anywhere. In Cars you have to sit in a cramped place through out your journey.

Answer 8

Trains transport large quantities of consumer products like cars and stuff for making paper. I know because I live just yards away from a railroad. What's a train chaser?

Answer 9

like all the others said...they keep more semi's off the road..trains can carry a lot more than semi's...trains can go faster than semi's and dont make as many stops..trains are more environmently friendly...they also use less fuel..they are neat to watch..they carry many passengers as apposed to greyhound buses...trains very seldom are bothered by bad weather as apposed to semi's or even planes...trains are more cost efficiant than planes and trucks...i.e...100 car loads versus 100 trucks with trailers going thru weigh stations and stopping for refuel and meals...plus the future trains are becoming even more cost effitiant..most all are going to be totaly electric....

Answer 10

ask him if he likes it when whatever he may want is stocked in a store for purchase at his convenience.

Then have him think about how empty all those shelves would be or how the pickings would be really slim if rairoads weren't there to haul all the things that most people take for granted.

sounds like he has a severe lack of knowledge as to how the world works