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Doug

@doug.city

Not actually a train. Personal account, views mine. He/they. 🏙️🚇🚍🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

4906 Posts1825 Follower467 Folgt
Marco Chitti@chittimarco.bsky.social · 2d ago

When you look globally, there are many more countries that consistently abandoned street-running railways in the postwar years than ones that retained them. The simpler answer is that technology, decaying infras and the zeitgeist killed streetcars everywhere but in a bunch of countries.

Christof Spieler@christofspieler.bsky.social · 2d ago

I think the conspiracy is comforting to people -- "a few bad guys did this." The reality -- "electeds, planners, and most of the public believed that the car was the future and rail transit was outdated" is actually more unsettling since it raises the question of what we're getting wrong now.

Christof Spieler@christofspieler.bsky.social · 2d ago

I think the conspiracy is comforting to people -- "a few bad guys did this." The reality -- "electeds, planners, and most of the public believed that the car was the future and rail transit was outdated" is actually more unsettling since it raises the question of what we're getting wrong now.

Jake Berman@lostsubways.com · 3d ago

this is not true. there was no conspiracy. it didn't matter whether the streetcars were publicly owned (seattle, detroit) or private (los angeles, atlanta). a thread (because i wrote a whole-ass book on this): 1/?

David Ho@davidho.bsky.social · 3d ago

Is everyone aware of the General Motors streetcar conspiracy? In the mid-20th century, auto and oil interests bought up electric streetcar systems across the US and systematically replaced them with bus routes and paved roads, funneling commuters toward private cars.

Doug@doug.city · 3d ago

Google hotel rating scale (in North America): >4.5 stars: Very nice (for the class of hotel) 4 stars: Nice enough 3.5 stars: Barely acceptable 3 stars: You probably won’t get bedbugs 2 stars: You probably will get bedbugs 1 star: You probably will get murdered and the bedbugs will eat your corpse

Doug@doug.city · 4d ago

The thing everyone is dunking on is not only bad, it’s mind-numbingly predictable in its badness. It doesn’t even have the decency to be interestingly or entertainingly bad. Anyone familiar with the oeuvre could write the whole thing just from the headline.

Doug@doug.city · last wk.

This one is architecturally notable for, among other things, a set of doors not made for this building (or even *a* building) at all.

Doors of the Lost SS Normandie are at a Brooklyn Church - Untapped New York

Residing unsuspectingly at the Our Lady of Lebanon Maronite Church are doors that were once part of the French ship the SS Normandie.

untappedcities.com

Churches of New York@brooklynwandering.bsky.social · last wk.

Our Lady of Lebanon Maronite Catholic Rite Cathedral, 113 Remsen St, Brooklyn, NY 11201

Uday Schultz@a320lga.bsky.social · 3w ago

Been thinking a lot about this timetabling concept lately. So many rail operations problems in the Northeast work their way back to the locations we choose to allocate slack in timetables, and (by consequence) the locations where operators end up having low/high schedule reliability

Screenshot of PDF with text: In Switzerland the state owned TOC Schweizerische Bundesbahn (SBB) has with the introduction of their integrated fixed interval Bahn2000 timetable in December 2004, divided their railway network into two categories of areas [7]: - Capacity bottleneck areas: Areas operating at or near their capacity limit - Non capacity bottleneck areas: Areas with spare capacity To achieve the highest punctuality levels the SBB has used a new application strategy of running time supplements. Capacity bottlenecks are turned into the so called “condensation zones” and non capacity bottlenecks are called “compensation zones”. This is in regards to applying running time supplements. In condensation zones the trains are planned with their maximum allowed speed and a minimum of time supplements in the timetable. This is to ensure that trains take up a minimum of capacity in the bottleneck areas. Whereas in compensation zones they are planned with big time supplements to make sure that the trains arrive on time at the start of the next capacity bottleneck zone [7]. The Bahn2000 timetable is based on the concept of a series of larger station/hubs where all trains meet on the hour, quarter past the hour, half hour, quarter to the hour or combinations hereof. See Figure 9. Scheduled running times between station hubs must fit with the scheduled meeting times of trains. The selected hubs and their immediate railway sections are defined as condensation zones and the line section between them as compensation zones [7].
Doug@doug.city · 3w ago

It’s really nice out right now and all I can think about is how it won’t be next time I’m outside… 🥵

Dennis Hogan@dennismhogan.bsky.social · 3w ago

Official editorial communication: The New England Review of Boats, a handmade regional zine about the vessels and people who go down to the sea for adventure, work, or pleasure--seeks submissions for its inaugural issue.

SUBMIT YOUR WORK TO THE NEW ENGLAND REVIEW OF BOATS! The New England Review of Boats—a handmade regional zine about seaborne vessels and the people who go down to the sea for adventure, work, or pleasure—seeks pitches and submissions for our inaugural issue. What we are looking for: Pitches for short, light, or humorous essays (1200-1500 words) about boats or ships or any aspect of the watery part of the world, whether contemporary or historical. Art: paintings, drawings, photographs or scrimshaws depicting ships, sailors, or creatures of the deep. Brief reflections, anecdotes, or dockside gossip. Evaluative reviews of recent books, films, or music about boats, or, preferably, of boats or ships themselves. Interviews with salts, seamen, and fisherfolk young and old, or first-person accounts of seagoing life. Testimonials from people possessing specialized knowledge about ships, shipping, sailing, and seaborne logistics. Items highlighting New England’s maritime culture. Any other material about any part of the maritime world within or outside New England. Short or artistic pieces can be submitted complete. For longer essays, pitches of 150-200 words are preferred, but full drafts will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Please direct submissions, pitches, and inquiries to editorial@nereviewofboats.com by July 31. NERB is an entirely volunteer-run publication. While contributions are accepted and published on a voluntary basis, contributors will be invited to join the editorial collective at a launch party this fall.
Doug@doug.city · 3w ago

It is so deeply frustrating to read an otherwise good piece of writing let down by apparently nonexistent or incompetent copy editing.

Doug@doug.city · 3w ago

I am always grateful that in NYC we are saved from this by window air conditioners being temporary and thus allowed by LPC (and most buildings having windows that can accommodate them), given how much of the city is landmarked. (Of course, not a concern in most of the US.)

Dan Kaszeta FRHistS@dankaszeta.bsky.social · 4w ago

The American mind can’t comprehend that you can spend £6million on a house in my neighbourhood that won’t have air conditioning and little easy prospects of legally installing it