Questions, answers, Google and Trolls.

[ezdays]

I had a couple of questions that I wanted to post here, then I remember back when someone would ask a question on a train forum and invariably, someone would reply, “hey, are you too lazy to look it up? Just Google it fool.” I don’t every remember seeing that kind of response on Big Blue or it’s predecessors. One of my questions was about the capacity of an Auto Carrier car; there is a vehicle staging yard that I drive by almost every day and frequently see some 50 empties waiting on one track to be picked up. There are several more tracks with empties and a bunch of cars inside the fence being unloaded. I’m guessing maybe 150 cars in all on any given day. Anyway, I decided to do a Google search first, and sure enough, I got my answer. Then, a few days ago I was watching a show on TV and it answered my second question, “how long can a train be?” I could have asked these questions here and I’m sure I would have answers within a short time, but it was fascinating to find that this information was lying around and I could have tripped over it if I wasn’t careful. The one thing that attracted me to these forums back when I started in the hobby, was that regardless of how simple or how often a question had been answered, someone would always jump in to help. The one thing I didn’t get from either Google or the TV was the good feeling or the little smile that goes along with reading an answer on Big Blue. So although those trolls may have been right, it really wasn’t the best answer.

What’s my point? Well, you can always find the answer to your question somewhere, but you miss out on the camaraderie, genuineness and friendship if you don’t ask on train forums where trolls may lurk, but don’t dare challenge. Thank you all for your participation, your insight, your knowledge and most of all, your friendly smiles....

Oh, the answers I got:
1. A two-tier car can hold around eight trucks, vans or full-size SUV’s, while a three-tier car can hold up to fifteen automobiles, depending the type. That means there could be between 1500 and 2000 vehicles on this lot awaiting distribution to parts of Arizona, which is why I was curious in the first place. That’s a lot of new cars.

2. A 1.6 mile consist with 240 iron ore cars in Canada is the longest pull in North America on record, and they’re doing it several times a day with two EMD F40’s and a mid-consist helper. The load is 24,000 tons.

Posted with a smile....