Re: [DL] Random questions

["Vandemeulebrouck, Vincent" <Vincent.Vandemeulebrouck@disney.com>]

> -- I expect most rail lines are double lines; the logistical 
> problems otherwise seem pretty hairy to me.  But I could be 
> 100% wrong.
     
I would say that most lines were only with one track. There are a few reasons:
     
* The biggest cost is not the tracks, but the structures 
* Digging a two-tracks tunnel is twice more expensive
* Building a two-tracks bridge is also twice more expensive
     
* The train frequency (one a day, one a week?) allows trains to cross each other
at stations, where there are always two tracks, sometimes more.
     
* Trains where stopping for a long time at stations, like a few hours. It 
allowed passengers to go for a walk, a meal, and a drink before coming back on 
board. It allowed to refill the coal wagon, and make some water.
     
* Logistics for two tracks implies having more materials to do the repairs
     
* Due to the train frequency, maintaining two line would be a lot too expensive
     
     
Of course, there might have been exceptions, but I guess it was on the few 
really important lines back east.
     
In fact, it is still possible in some remote areas [even in France] to find one 
way tracks which are still in use.
     
     
> -- How often trains run depend on the commercial need/demand 
> for them. Trains probably pass through major destinations, 
> like Dodge City during cattle drive season, daily, or at least 
> several times a week.  At a relatively small town, the train 
> might only come through once a week or the like.
     
     
Trains were usually stopping in all stations on the line. The stations were not 
close enough to make this a problem. The reason for this was that the length of 
the travel was not due to stopping in stations, but to the speed of trains 
(around 30mph). So, on an important line, even small stations had trains 
stopping regularly (again, the real reason for these stops was usually water and
coal).
     
     
> ** 3) How many towns have a telegraph station?
     
Any town with a train station will have a telegraph - it was used to inform of 
the changes in train schedules, and it was a lot easier to build the line along 
the tracks.
     
     
Vincent Vandemeulebrouck
The French tinhorn with a Great name 
======================================================= 
http://www.webb.net/sites/vvandeme/Deadlands/index.html
---------------------------- Forwarded with Changes ---------------------------
From: Vincent Vandemeulebrouck at DISNEY-TVI3-LONDON
Date: 4/20/00 12:05PM
To: rdd@eGroups.com at FILM-INTERNET-BURBANK
Subject: Re: [DL] Random questions
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