Longest Electric Railway in North America

[Lock]

British Columbia Canada, 1910
[youtube]nqoDtrwW5ws[/youtube]

 

[spinningmagnets]

I think I remember electric trains were in Berlin (Germany) in the 1880's. I think they are great for cities. Although some may say that it just transfers the pollution to somewhere else, thats not a bad thing. The centralized pollution from a power plant "over-the-hill" doesn't clog city air, and its easier to add upgrades that make the plant run cleaner.

Once I was forced to use the light-rail in Los Angeles, and I was pleasantly suprised. They kept it cheap enough (and city parking expensive) so that a certain percentage of commuters stayed off the streets. I also was very happy with the light-rail system in San Diego and Manhattan. I was very disappointed in the San Francisco bay area, it seemed like a chain with many links missing.

For inter-state trains I still think series-hybrid diesel-electrics are doing a great job...

 

[Lock]

...some may say that it just transfers the pollution to somewhere else

BC actually has a lot of hydro-electric power. Fairly low polluting in theory (There's a "gold rush" happening there at the moment with their gov promoting run-of-river hydro projects and locals not liking the way these projects are being designed/developed...)

And is there anything with less rolling resistance than steel wheels on steel rails? (Yah, maglev, but there is an energy "hit" to levitate things...) And it's soooo much more civilized to get around reading the paper etc while someone else does the driving! hehe