Informed but opinionated commentary and analysis on urban transportation topics from the Secret Worldwide Transit Cabal. Names have been omitted to protect the guilty.

Our Mission: Monkeywrench the Anti-Transit Forces

 
TRANS-SIBERIAN RAILWAY VISIBLE FROM SPACE!

Home of So Few Transit Links Than You can Possibly Check(tm), Unless you have no life other than websurfing

Great spirits have often encountered violent opposition from weak minds. Einstein

IMPORTANT NOTE: FOC's ("Friends of the Cabal") (you know, like "FOB's"--"Friends of Bill" [Clinton]) have now all been promoted to "Adjuct Scholars" of The Secret Worldwide Transit Cabal. You know, like Wendell Cox, Randal O'Toole, et al are "Adjunct Scholars" (sic) to the Reason Foundation, the Buckeye Institute, the Cascade Policy Institute, and 500+ other conservative/libertarian "Think (sic) Tanks". Congratulations, Dudes!

From the Cabalmaster:

Intrepid Websurfers may be familiar with the “Earthlights” webpage (www.cojoweb.com/earthlights.html) that shows a composite of NASA satellite photos of Planet Earth at night.

(NOTE: Large file; “may take up to five minutes to load” – but probably won’t unless you have a really slow connection.)

Remarkably, the route of the Trans-Siberian Railway stands out all the way from Moscow to Vladivostok – and so do other major rail routes in Russia. Helps to have a map if you’re not familiar with Russian geography.

It also helps to know that the previous lifeline of Russian civilization in Siberia was the “Great Siberian Post Road.” The “Great Siberian Railway” was built parallel to this road. To this day, there is no paved road connecting European Russia with the Pacific coast.

It is also possible to distinguish major rail corridors in Japan, notably the Shinkansen route from Tokyo westward to Fukuoka.

(And, if you check out this page, note the stark contrast between South and North Korea.)

posted by The Cabalmaster, Master of All Transit-dom 8/16/2004 05:45:00 PM

 
THE GREAT RAIL OF CHINA

Home of So Few Transit Links Than You can Possibly Check(tm), Unless you have no life other than websurfing

Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity: and I'm not so sure about the universe. Einstein

IMPORTANT NOTE: FOC's ("Friends of the Cabal") (you know, like "FOB's"--"Friends of Bill" [Clinton]) have now all been promoted to "Adjuct Scholars" of The Secret Worldwide Transit Cabal. You know, like Wendell Cox, Randal O'Toole, et al are "Adjunct Scholars" (sic) to the Reason Foundation, the Buckeye Institute, the Cascade Policy Institute, and 500+ other conservative/libertarian "Think (sic) Tanks". Congratulations, Dudes!

From the Cabalmaster:

The Secret Worldwide Transit Cabal continues its quest for interesting stories from places far and wide -- we are, after all, a WORLDWIDE cabal.

One of the world’s most difficult – and controversial – infrastructure projects is being built by China, to link its “Tibetan Autonomous Region” to the rest of the country. As you’ll see, this project has attracted reams of criticism.

We’ll start with a fact little known except perhaps to those who enjoy musty old books in musty old libraries. . . .

. . . hmm . . . Maybe it’s not so obscure after all: www.savetibet.org/Files/OpenFile.cfm?id=1968.

The idea for railways in Tibet did not originate as a nefarious Communist plot. Dr. Sun Yat-sen, founder of China’s Nationalist Party, proposed construction of 150,000 km (100,000 mi) of railways. Later revisions outlined a so-called “Plateau System” of narrow-gauge lines throughout Tibet, connecting with China proper, and with India.

Intrepid Websurfers wanting a good, concise overview of Tibetan history might want to check out the following page on the “Lonely Planet” website www.lonelyplanet.com/destinations/north_east_asia/tibet/history.htm.

Following the establishment of the People’s Republic in 1949, China pursued large-scale rail development as part of successive five-year plans. Mao Zedong twice ordered construction of a rail link to Tibet special.scmp.com/npc2001/misc/ZZZ1KJ265KC.html. The railway network did eventually reach the fringes of historic Tibet, but the technical and financial obstacles to building across some of the world’s most inhospitable terrain kept trains far away from fabled Lhasa, the Tibetan capital.

Then, in 1994, China announced plans to build from Gormo (aka Golmud) to Lhasa, 1,200 km (700 miles). The State Council gave the go-ahead early in 2001, and completion was anticipated for 2007. www.cnn.com/2000/TRAVEL/NEWS/12/15/china.traintotibet.ap. The project includes about 30 km (20 mi) of tunnels, 600 km (400 mi) of line built on permafrost and 960 km (600 mi ) of line 4,000 meters (13,000 feet) or more above sea level. Estimated construction cost: about $2.5 billion (= $2 million / km; = $3.5 million/mile).

We can’t claim credit for the “Great Rail of China” label – that came from a www.traintraveling.com/journals/06_qinghai_tibet.html) with links to various English-language stories produced by Chinese media outlets (sample: China Builds Clean, Green Qinghai-Tibet Railway, Xinhua, 15 April 2002.)

Not everyone shares the enthusiasm expressed by Xinhua and People’s Daily. The project has attracted much criticism on grounds that the rail link will lead to increased migration of ethnic Chinese into Tibetan-populated areas and, in addition, increased damage to Tibet’s fragile environment ( www.tibet.ca/en/wtnarchive/2001/2/9_4.html). The Dalai Lama, Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, says that the rail project is one of the factors that threatens his country’s cultural survival www.abc.net.au/religion/dalailama/intviews.htm.

The report we mentioned above (Crossing the Line, International Campaign for Tibet, www.savetibet.org) is an impressive work, but we disagree with a key premise. Strictly speaking, what China is building is not “a railway,” but “increased surface transport capacity.” If that sounds a bit like Orwellian “Newspeak,” consider:

--The Gormo – Lhasa railway will closely parallel the existing Gormo – Lhasa road.

--Roads can be widened to increase capacity, and can be realigned to permit higher speed.

--Rather than build the railway, China could have decided to widen and upgrade the Gormo – Lhasa road instead.

--We Opinionated Ones share a nagging suspicion that a road-widening project would not have attracted the same criticism that the railway project has.

China has a lot to answer for re. its actions in Tibet over the past five decades, as even the current leadership has been known to acknowledge. But a widened Gormo – Lhasa road would not necessarily be more “green” (or less “bad”) than the railway. Skeptics are invited to read up on the country locally known as Republica Federativa do Brasil www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/br.html and the environmental impacts of its Transamazonia Highway www.ddbstock.com/amazonroad.html, news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/2193172.stm. We think the relevant question for ANY route or corridor is 1.) whether any additional surface transport capacity should be provided, and 2.) if so, then how much additional capacity, and by what mode.
posted by The Cabalmaster, Master of All Transit-dom 8/16/2004 05:25:00 PM

 
If You Can't Beat Them (in Making an Income Off Your Blog), Join 'Em!

Home of So Few Transit Links Than You can Possibly Check(tm), Unless you have no life other than websurfing

Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity: and I'm not so sure about the universe. Einstein

IMPORTANT NOTE: FOC's ("Friends of the Cabal") (you know, like "FOB's"--"Friends of Bill" [Clinton]) have now all been promoted to "Adjuct Scholars" of The Secret Worldwide Transit Cabal. You know, like Wendell Cox, Randal O'Toole, et al are "Adjunct Scholars" (sic) to the Reason Foundation, the Buckeye Institute, the Cascade Policy Institute, and 500+ other conservative/libertarian "Think (sic) Tanks". Congratulations, Dudes!

From the Cabalmaster:

IMPORTANT NOTE: FOC's ("Friends of the Cabal") (you know, like "FOB's"--"Friends of Bill" [Clinton]) have now all been promoted to "Adjuct Scholars" of The Secret Worldwide Transit Cabal. You know, like Wendell Cox, Randal O'Toole, et al are "Adjunct Scholars" (sic) to the Reason Foundation, the Buckeye Institute, the Cascade Policy Institute, and 500+ other conservative/libertarian "Think (sic) Tanks". Congratulations, Dudes!

But no dollars yet, we're afraid, for either Cabalmaster, NumberMan, or our increasing stable of Adjuct Scholars!
posted by The Cabalmaster, Master of All Transit-dom 8/05/2004 03:36:00 PM

 
AY QUE LADRONES! - UPDATE

Home of So Few Transit Links Than You can Possibly Check(tm), Unless you have no life other than websurfing

Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity: and I'm not so sure about the universe. Einstein


From the Cabalmaster:

As reported previously, Correros de Cuba (the Cuban Post Office) “borrowed” images off the Internet (“Electric Transport in Latin America” site /www.tramz.com) for a set of commemorative stamps showing Cuban tramcars. This CdeC did without consulting the webmaster, and without crediting any of the photographers or collectors. Black-and-white images were colorized and, in some cases, background details were changed, but the origin of the images is unmistakable. Now, webmaster Allen Morrison has updated his “Cuban Tram Stamps” page to include a “Flash” version (www.tramz.com/cu/st/stf.html), and also a “Flash” version in Spanish www.tramz.com/cu/st/stfs.html). Now, with a mere click of the mouse, Intrepid Websurfers can “fade” back and forth between the “original” photos and the CdeC postage stamps.

It is against U.S. law to import just about anything of Cuban origin into the U.S. (without “special license”) and this includes postage stamps.

“Which government – U.S. or Cuban – is more ridiculous?” asks webmaster Morrison.

Well, in this case at least, it appears that the U.S. government wins first prize for ridiculousness.

Your Favorite Transit Pundits have been advised by a savvy Cabal Adjunct Scholar as follows: had the webmaster granted permission to Correos de Cuba to use the Cuban tramcar images he posted on the Internet, he could in theory be prosecuted for violation of the 1963 Cuban Assets Control Regulations, adopted under the 1917 “Trading With the Enemy Act” – even if no money was paid. That, we admit, sounded far-fetched, but we checked out the official “overview” text (www.ustreas.gov/offices/eotffc/ofac/sanctions/t11cuba.pdf) and we invite skeptical Websurfers to do likewise. No, it doesn’t specifically say that Americans can’t provide anything to the Cuban government that might help it make money – say, for example, through sale of postage stamps to overseas collectors – but that intent is clear.

posted by The Cabalmaster, Master of All Transit-dom 8/05/2004 03:20:00 PM