M-1 rail discussion

**royce** · December-18-16, 01:31 AM

Originally Posted by ferndalescotty23

I drove downtown last night and came across three cars parked with hazards on in the rail lane. One was a MSP patrol car. This reprograming of drivers and pedestrians in the Midtown/Downtown areas is going to take awhile. I predict a QLine/car accident in the first month of operation and I am shocked a jaywalker hasn't been clipped yet with all the increased foot and vehicle traffic. I almost hit two clowns in the road last night.

Well, for reasons stated above and for some others, why was it so important to place the Q-Line tracks in the parking lane on the southbound side of Woodward and not in the second lane like those in the northbound lanes? I'm sure you will hear fewer, if any, problems or complaints about the Q-Line on the northbound side. Maybe when the complaints become so numerous that in 10 years when it's time to redo the tracks, they'll decide to move the southbound tracks to the second lane after all.

BTW, why are the stations being done piecemeal as opposed to one being completely done at one point and then the next one being completely done and so on?

**professorscott** · December-19-16, 12:52 PM

Originally Posted by royce

BTW, why are the stations being done piecemeal as opposed to one being completely done at one point and then the next one being completely done and so on?

Because it's cheaper. If you were building a dozen houses all at once, you wouldn't build one house, then the next, and so on. You'd do all the foundations at once, so your foundation guys only had to be on site for a short time, then you'd frame all the houses for the same reason, and so on. Same deal here.

**Detroit Stylin** · December-19-16, 07:35 PM

Plus its faster

Originally Posted by professorscott

Because it's cheaper. If you were building a dozen houses all at once, you wouldn't build one house, then the next, and so on. You'd do all the foundations at once, so your foundation guys only had to be on site for a short time, then you'd frame all the houses for the same reason, and so on. Same deal here.

**warsaw7** · December-20-16, 11:36 AM

Originally Posted by Detroit Stylin

Plus its faster

Hmmm explain your logic on how it is faster. Those shells have been sitting like that for months.

**MSUguy** · December-20-16, 11:58 AM

Originally Posted by warsaw7

Hmmm explain your logic on how it is faster. Those shells have been sitting like that for months.

Is it really necessary to explain why building something in an assemby line fashion is faster? Just thinking logically with the season there may be some items they're waiting until later to install.

**warsaw7** · December-20-16, 12:21 PM

Originally Posted by MSUguy

Is it really necessary to explain why building something in an assemby line fashion is faster? Just thinking logically with the season there may be some items they're waiting until later to install.

They have been sitting like that for months!!! How is that fast?!

**professorscott** · December-21-16, 11:10 PM

There is a very nice video, which got posted to my wall on Facebook, showing one of the streetcars leaving the Penske Tech Center under its own power, and Matt Cullen gives a little talk, and one or two other people also speak. It's very nice, and I spent a considerable bit of time trying to figure out how to make it available here, to no avail. Perhaps someone younger than your kindly old professor might give it a try. It might be on the M1 Rail Twitter feed, but since the advent of a certain billionaire [[maybe) New York based President-elect, the prof has been steering clear of Twitter.