Cole Compton

Got my first time on electrified Caltrain and SMART

Screenshot showing the Amtrak app and car 9 selected on an Acela express train

Seat maps for the next gen Acela seem to be showing up in the Amtrak app now. One of my trips just got changed to a 9 car train

42 SENIORS IN ONE FACILITY!

Started at an engineering firm 3 years ago where the standard laptop is a pretty basic Dell latitude and I've been surprised by how well it's held up, all plastic but built like a tank at the same time l.

Got an ad on Google drive for two years of free Gemini pro for students, not a student anymore but it seems like they want every student using it to cheat.

A yellow Crayola branded locomotive and Amtrak coach class car on the platform at Baltimore penn station

Caught one of the Amtrak Crayola locomotives on my way out to see the NS Savannah in Baltimore

picture of nuclear ship savannah for open house

If you're ANYWHERE NEAR Baltimore, don't miss this chance to hop aboard the Nuclear Ship Savannah for National Maritime Day 2025.

Sunday May 18, 10am–3pm
4601 Newgate Ave, Baltimore, MD 21224, USA
www.ns-savannah.com/event-detail...

A stylized map showing 28 potential BRT routes across Northern Virginia.

A graphic from the report showing key stats: 28 routes 1.1M residents and 860000 jobs served Weekdays- 18 hours a day with 15 minute headways or better Weekends- 20/30 minute headways Service provided by jurisdiction pie chart with Arlington County at 12.8%

Arlington/Alexandria high-level map with type of BRT per segment.

A graphic showing types of BRT going from basic to dedicated

Feedback Opportunity: NVTA Draft BRT Action Plan

"NVTA’s draft BRT system includes up to 28 potential routes to expand connectivity across the Washington-Metropolitan Area."

Info: thenovaauthority.org/brt/
Survey (open through 5/18): gowba.info/BRTActionPlan

Played it last year with no expectations after 2.0 came out and had a blast. Seems to run pretty well on PC now

If walking a block to the coffee shop from my parents house didn't involve crossing an 80ft uncontrolled intersection or walking 3 blocks to use a controlled one it would increase the amount I'd walk when back home.
Also when I lived there seeing multiple serious accidents killed my desire to bike.

There have been multiple fatal accidents within a block or two of my parents house in Berkeley as almost every intersection is a 2 way stop crossing a major road. Since then I almost always go a few blocks up or down to cross or turn onto it while walking or driving to use controlled intersection.

Got to read it and he said he was confused because he had a "good driving record" other than maybe a few tickets a week.

The SZU Uetliberg Bahn S4 train at the terminus station on top of Uetliberg mountain.

The view of Zurich from Uetliberg

Waiting for the uphill Dolderbahn train to pass in a passing siding

An SBB RABDe 500 high speed train leaves the station at Zurich Flughafen

In Zurich we took a few interesting railways inlcuding the Uetliberg Bahn (the steepest standard gauge railway in Europe) and the Dolderbahn (A rack railway). Finally one more high speed train back to Zurich airport to complete the trip and make the most of our passes.

An RhB train enters the passing track in the Bernina Pass. Snow covered mountains and blue sky are in the background

Our train as it enters the spiral viaduct outside of Brusio

The Landwasser viaduct on the Albula portion of the line. This 65m tall bridge was constructed in 1901 and is considered one of the signature structures on the line

A map of the RhB network printed on the train tables. The UNESCO line and prominent landmarks are highlighted on the map.

Next we headed up to St. Moritz for the night to start our trip on Rhaetian Railways Albula and Bernina lines which have been designated a UNESCO world heritage site. We would take the entire length of the route from St. Moritz to Tirano, Italy and from St. Moritz to Albula on our way to Zurich.

The red and white ETR 610 high speed train operated by SBB parked at Munich Hbf on a rainy day

Vaduz castle in Liechtenstein, we visited after taking a Railjet through the country to Austria and a bus back to Vaduz. Liechtenstein has no rail service within the country on weekends so we could not get off the train in the country

Next our first Swiss train of the trip and the start of some of the most scenic train rides I've ever taken. This SBB ETR 610/RABe 503 would take us from Munich to the border of Switzerland where we'd transfer to a Railjet for a 10 minute trip to travel over 100% of Liechtenstein's railway network.

A room at Hotel du Train with bunkbeds in the style of a classic night train cabin, wood paneling, and a curved ceiling in the shape of a train car.

The hallway of Hotel du Train, evoking similar design motifs to the rooms with a curved ceiling and wood panels

After spending a few days in Vienna and taking day trips to Bratislava and Budapest we took our last long Railjet of the trip to Munich on our way to Switzerland. While not actually a train we had a great time staying at Hotel du Train in Munich with rooms modeled after classic night trains.

An OBB railjet at Vienna Hbf. The picture shows the red and black cab car which also contains the business and first class seating

A meal of pork shoulder, mashed potatoes, and pilsner served at your seat on board the Railjet train from Prague to Vienna

An almost empty car on the Railjet service from Vienna to Budapest. Showing black and red seats in a 2-1 configuration

Leaving Prague for Vienna we took our first of five Railjet services for the trip. The first train was operated by ČD and the next three operated by ÖBB. The onboard restaurant cars all featured good food, especially the Czech one with pork shoulder and Pilsner on tap.

Two red and white Prague trams approaching a station in the median of a street

A České dráhy (ČD) intercity train leaving Prague main station in the late afternoon

Next stop was Prague where we didn't end up using the pass until we left as we mainly walked and took Prague buses, trams, and the metro which aren't covered under the pass. However, an overlook near the train station provided great views of the quad-tracked approach viaduct.

DB ICE train (a white high speed train with green stripe down the side) stopped at Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof

Interior of the train after boarding at Frankfurt Airport. Shows two black leather seats and a wood table

Almost all the trains in the areas we were visiting were reservation optional. So why not start the trip taking a high-speed ICE train from Frankfurt Airport into the city. A bit more luxurious than your average S-Bahn train. However, most S-Bahn lines in all the cities we visited were included too.

Map of train travel from the Interrail/Eurail app. Shows a trip beginning in Frankfurt, then from Prague to Vienna with day trips to Bratislava and Budapest, then on to Munich, St. Moritz, and Zurich

Didn't end up posting during the trip but I figured I'd post a thread of interesting train highlights from 2 weeks of traveling around Europe on a Eurail pass with @seriousprotectn.bsky.social

IFE screen showing the location of the wreck of the USS Thresher and flight path of a flight over the Atlantic

Swiss deciding to highlight maritime disasters on their inflight map on a transatlantic flight is an interesting decision (USS Thresher pictured, a nuclear submarine implosion that led to the introduction of the Navy subsafe program)

A Lufthansa 747-400 parked at the gate

My ride over to Frankfurt this evening, 25 year old Lufthansa 747-400, D-ABVX.

View of the IAD main terminal from the metro platform with sign in the foreground

Metro train departing the IAD metro station

Last @wmata.com trip for two weeks, easy ride out to IAD on the silver line. Time to see how many trains you can take on a 2 week Eurail pass.

Would be nice if it were louder than the traffic next to the platform

Our congressional delegation pursuing oversight on reports of Elon Musk’s illegal activity at USAID was just barred from entering the building on the orders of Musk and the Trump Administration.

Nobody elected Musk — this is illegal and corrupt and we will keep fighting it.

My metro statistics for the year, top 3% ridership, 354 trips taken, 3,927 miles traveled, 1210 kg of CO2 offset, 35 stations visited, and "The Explorer" archetype

My 2024 @wmata.com rewind. Aiming for 400 trips and 4,000+ miles this upcoming year.

Caltrain EMUs 325 and 327 parked at San Francisco station

Northbound Caltrain EMU pulling into San Mateo station

Interior of the train as it takes a turn out of San Francisco station

Back in the bay for the holidays and checking out the new @gocaltrain.bsky.social trains getting lunch in San Mateo with @road29.bsky.social