Recent content by Green Maned Lion

Midtown direct also massively increased ridership of NJTs commuter lines. I think it should have included extra tunnels at that time, and it is not good that it didn’t. It really depends what one’s goals are when you wonder if a project is good or not. The Lackawanna Coalition, for example, is...

I don’t have any evidence of Budd gallery cars; my library Indicates only ex-CNW Pullman gallery cars. However, while during the Rainbow era and pre-heritage era Amtrak never had more than 2000 cars in active service, over 10,000 cars passed through their paper roster between 5/1/71 and the...

I have a number of books (one of them is really a binder) detailing Amtraks pre-heritage fleet fluctuations. It’s a fascinating subject on its own; I was going to write a book but I stumbled onto a rabbit hole doing it, ended up promising somebody I wouldn’t discuss what was in it, and decided...

This whole thing is a disproportionate response. The baggage car is always a buffer; somebody briefly attending to their pet in a baggage car that may possibly not have all the structural integrity it once did is not a sensible example of excessive risk. We have no safety inspection in NJ, and...

I was thinking of a menu I saw at a restaurant that called itself a diner but only sold a la carte (so not a Diner). Appetizers were $8-10, roast chicken was $19.99, a ny strip steak was $29.99, and a slice of entirely mediocre pie was $8, while a bowl (scoop) of ice cream was $7.50. $35.40-...

Dave is a contributing editor but not on the masthead; he would have made that known to me if it happened. I’ve known him for many years and I actually consider him a friend. He’s a very intelligent man, but he also has a number of opinions that I quite distinctly disagree with. I also have...

We have 750 employees with a combined 200 years of experience at misleading claims of experience totals. Which is why that statement is so transparent. I know some of the people who write for railway age personally. I think it is a microcosm of the American rail scene- a bunch of people with...

A friend of mine told me a friend of his had likened flex meals to MREs. I took the Cresecent TRE->NOL, the CONO NOL->CHI, and the Cardinal CHI->TRE. The Crescent and Cardinal was the same food and it was passable; I’m not writing a gushing review of it but having eaten quite a few genuine MREs...

The only thing vaguely valuable in the whole thing is my Fiio music player; my tablet is something like 6-7 years old.

I’m out of Chicago on the Cardinal tomorrow. I was planning on checking out of my hotel, and either checking my bags at the Metro lounge and going to Lou Mitchell’s or if needed vice versa, and then the art institute. I know there are Threads on this from years ago but couldn’t find a recent...

Oy. I have a 2/18 trip out of Chicago on the Cap. I have rebooked on the Cardinal. I guess I can take the Bus or an Uber home from Trenton.

Precooked food is generally not as good as fresh cooked food, and the best of precooked food is not a stitch on the best scratch cooked (and I really mean scratch cooked- bisquick is not scratch cooking) food. However, to answer your question on the French toast- like scratch cooked food...

Personallly I think service to Reading is imperative. It’s a beautiful and vibrant city and I feel not only should it have service to Philadelphia but be a central rail hub for eastern Pennsylvania with hourly service to Allentown, Scranton, Pottsville, and Harrisburg. This area of Pennsylvania...

Actually you’d need 4 full sets of passenger cars (call it 16), and four full sets of auto racks (30 each?) so 64 passenger cars plus 2 spares of each type you 75 pax cars, and 125 auto racks, versus the number they use now, plus construction of two extra sets of platforms and rack loading docks...

I’ve been using my AGR card exclusively or almost so basically since my credit finally got good enough to qualify for it. I have an Amex Green card I use for one recurring expense, I use my ConocoPhilips card for gas (25 cents/gal off cash price, and Conoco/Philips 66 stations are already...