...I'm not talking about 100mph multi-thousand tonne trains, but about those trains running safely at speeds dictated by the topography of the line not the state of the line.
...

The speeds on commercial railways will always be set by economics, not topography. Unless you can show that better maintenance will improve the bottom line, North American railroads cannot spend more money on track maintenance without upsetting shareholders and possibly even violating fiduciary obligation laws. Even railroad accidents have an economic cost for the owner of the railroad, and this is part of the economic calculation that will determine how much money is spent on track maintenance. When governments don't agree with this, they can (and have) set minimum track quality requirements. But these minimums are pretty low, as some recent photos on here show.

By some of the photos of really poor track Ive seen in here. Maybe its about time government set some track standards.

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[/quote]

Old James

It's cheaper to clean up after an accident rather than do constant maintenance.

Exactly. You have to find a balance. You could reduce highway fatalities a fraction of a per cent by doubling road construction costs, but you have to ask if that is a wise use of the money. You could spend that money on medical research and save more lives, etc. Not an easy choice, but one that has to be made.

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And this is a perfectly rational justification for the pipeline to get into action. They have their faults, to be sure, but anybody have any stats on the failure rate per millions of gallons shipped?
No, nobody wants to admit that. Rail has a high failure rate on tanking millions of gallons of crude. I'll admit that their failure rate per millions of miles traveled is indeed stupendously low. Much lower than highway miles.

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"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

...I'm not talking about 100mph multi-thousand tonne trains, but about those trains running safely at speeds dictated by the topography of the line not the state of the line.
...

The speeds on commercial railways will always be set by economics, not topography. Unless you can show that better maintenance will improve the bottom line, North American railroads cannot spend more money on track maintenance without upsetting shareholders and possibly even violating fiduciary obligation laws. Even railroad accidents have an economic cost for the owner of the railroad, and this is part of the economic calculation that will determine how much money is spent on track maintenance. When governments don't agree with this, they can (and have) set minimum track quality requirements. But these minimums are pretty low, as some recent photos on here show.

By some of the photos of really poor track Ive seen in here. Maybe its about time government set some track standards.

See the link I posted on Friday, two posts up from yours.

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David
Sitting on my butt while others boldly go,
Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri.

World's longest train route. China to Spain cargo train: Successful first 16,156-mile round trip on world's longest railway brings promise of increased trade

The first train to complete a journey on the world’s longest railway line, connecting Spain and China, has returned home. The 16,156-mile round trip on the new Yixin’ou cargo line through China, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Poland, Germany, France and Spain took four months. The train arrived laden with cheap goods and returned to China with expensive olive oil.

The 82-container cargo train began its journey in November in the eastern Chinese city of Yiwu. Packed full of Christmas trinkets and decorations, stationery and craft products, it arrived in Madrid on 14 December, in time for the thousands of small shops and Christmas markets to stock up on the cheap Chinese goods.

Before the Yixin’ou line was opened, goods traded between Europe and China depended on inefficient sea or air transport, meaning higher prices in Europe.

If it's cheaper than air or sea freight what corners do they cut?

The biggest corner cut is time. If you are not in a hurry (i.e. you are OK with the umpteen week delivery time) you don't have to spend capital on rail, rolling stock or locos. You add your cars onto local frieghts being run on existing lines anyways (with or without your cars) for a small incremental cost, and sometimes sit on a siding waiting for the next local freight going in the right direction.

Boats and planes are the same. If you can afford delays, and can live with having your freight switched between boats (or planes), the cost of the trip goes down as its duration goes up - to a certain point. Switching loads between boats or planes is much labour intensive, and therefore more expensive, than switching a few cars loaded with containers from one train to another, or even moving the 83 containers from one car set to another, so the potential cost savings from transhipping on rail is bigger than the potential savings on planes or ships for the same added time.

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Here is an interesting video shot in the old Electromotive Plant here in London before it closed. Some serious welding going on.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WokCyQAsh-E

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What I don't like is the impression the article gives that it's a whole new railroad built just for this purpose. I was thinking it might be the first time a complete train has traversed the entire route. If, as Bill suggests, it was just some cars being handed off from one train to another, I'm surprised it hasn't happened before and continuously.

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David
Sitting on my butt while others boldly go,
Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri.

I won't buy goods labelled made in China as a matter of principle.

Hope you don't have the same kind of money grubbers we have here, who buy containers of goods from China, all properly marked made in China so they clear customs, ship them to a factory in the USA that takes the made in China label off and slaps a made in USA label on, frequently with undocumented workers and sub-minimum cash under the table wages, and sends it out to the retailer. Totally illegal, but how can you detect it?

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I won't buy goods labelled made in China as a matter of principle.

And what makes you think that a label saying made in "other country" makes the product any different?

If it's an electrical/electronic device about all you can say is, that it might have been assembled in the "other country"

@Bill - yep good construction video, but a shame about the accent of the narrator which was irritating.

I have far more trouble with the writing than the accent.

- starts off by giving the impression that there is only ever one at the front (and sometimes one at the rear), whereas standard practice over here is at least two on the front and often more
- while passenger locos are designed more for speed, the difference is mainly in the gearing; horsepower is about the same as freight, and passenger units of the 1960s-80s were pretty much just modifications of freight designs (some of Amtrak's retired F40PH units have found second careers hauling freight, since they're basically just GP40-2s with boxy bodies)
- I have never heard a locomotive referred to as "a heavy haul"
- "where tracks are wider and stronger than in most other parts of the world"??? stronger, maybe, but standard gauge (as established by the silly Brits)
- how can you weld the other side of a round object that you weld all the way around?
- I have never heard of a wheel-axle-gear assembly or WAG; I know it as a wheelset
- bogeys (or is it bogies?) are called trucks in North America
- 10,000 Amps? maybe the total for all of them at maximum load and also running the air compressor, cooling fans, and every other electrical accessory all at once... but I still doubt it
- great how just as she talks about the statistics and capabilities of a freight loco, they show footage of passenger units

[Off topic, but on the subject of accents, why do you suppose this commercial's star has a British accent?]

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David
Sitting on my butt while others boldly go,
Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri.

(as established by the silly Brits)

Standard truck wheel separation a least as long ago as the Romans.

- "where tracks are wider and stronger than in most other parts of the world"??? stronger, maybe, but standard gauge (as established by the silly Brits)

Likely means rail profile, not gauge.

- how can you weld the other side of a round object that you weld all the way around?

Easy when it passes all the way through the flat object you are welding it to. The other side of the flat object, not the round one.

- 10,000 Amps? maybe the total for all of them at maximum load and also running the air compressor, cooling fans, and every other electrical accessory all at once... but I still doubt it

Inrush surge.

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The narrower the gauge the tighter the curves can be.

Gauges

Nothing to do with the Romans!

Romans

Are you sure, because the Romans did put artificial ruts in their roads, one, to control traffic though narrow places, like town gates, and two, to stop heavy laden cargo wagons slipping off the roads.

And I assume a heavy cargo wagon would probably be about the same width as a horse drawn coal wagon then then ruts would probably be about 4' 8½"

It doesn't really matter what the standard is, so long as there is a standard, else you need different locos and trucks for different parts of the country, which gets expensive and complicated.

Edit. This comic comes to mind:

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Life on earth is the global equivalent of not storing things in the fridge.

The narrower the gauge the tighter the curves can be.

Gauges

Nothing to do with the Romans!

Romans

Would you adam & eve it, a year old already, time flies when you're having fun...

Wheel spacing

I have far more trouble with the writing than the accent.

Picky picky picky. A few comments, based on having worked for a supplier of EMD here in London.

- I have never heard a locomotive referred to as "a heavy haul"

That's what EMD called them in the plant. I suspect the TV people picked it up from them.

- "where tracks are wider and stronger than in most other parts of the world"??? stronger, maybe, but standard gauge (as established by the silly Brits)

Well, maybe, there are lots of narrow gauges around the world too.

- how can you weld the other side of a round object that you weld all the way around?

When the round object penetrates a hole in the flat frame plate. Full fillet weld one side, flip the frame plate and full fillet weld on the other side. EMD was known for thick plate welding. Half the plant is still in business, building armoured vehicles for General Dynamics.

- I have never heard of a wheel-axle-gear assembly or WAG; I know it as a wheelset
- bogeys (or is it bogies?) are called trucks in North America

Again, standard terminology within EMD.

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Simonator, as a member of several SAE, SCC, and ISO standards development committees, I have to say I resemble your cutting post.

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From an article on trains.com Newswire--

DARIEN, Conn. – Genesee & Wyoming Inc. has agreed to acquire 95 percent of the shares of Freightliner Group Limited from Arcapita and other shareholders for about $755 million and to assume approximately $13 million in net debt and capitalized leases. Headquartered in London, Freightliner is an international freight rail operator with operations in the United Kingdom, Poland, Germany, the Netherlands, and Australia.

Get ready to see garish orange paint on everything there.

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David
Sitting on my butt while others boldly go,
Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri.

I have far more trouble with the writing than the accent.

Picky picky picky. A few comments, based on having worked for a supplier of EMD here in London.

- I have never heard a locomotive referred to as "a heavy haul"

That's what EMD called them in the plant. I suspect the TV people picked it up from them.

- I have never heard of a wheel-axle-gear assembly or WAG; I know it as a wheelset
- bogeys (or is it bogies?) are called trucks in North America

Again, standard terminology within EMD.

I'll take your word for it.

- "where tracks are wider and stronger than in most other parts of the world"??? stronger, maybe, but standard gauge (as established by the silly Brits)

Well, maybe, there are lots of narrow gauges around the world too.

Granted, but someone unfamiliar with the subject could get the impression that we have a wider gauge than anyone else in the world.

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David
Sitting on my butt while others boldly go,
Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri.