New England is barrier to high-speed trains

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Nothing was more exhilarating than hearing the announcement on the Acela Express last weekend: we were traveling at the train’s top speed of 150 mph. I was comfortable, and I was moving quickly. I was also pretty psyched about the incredibly friendly service (airlines, you could learn plenty from the Acela). So, I’d love to see more high-speed rail travel, not to mention a greater number of faster stretches on the existing Acela routes.

An increase in triple-digit time seems unlikely in parts of New England, despite the feds are committing $8 billion in stimulus cash to put more high-speed trains on the rails nationwide. According to the Associated Press:

But in populated areas of New England where city streets and railroad tracks intersect and trains must negotiate curves, hills and tunnels, travel at speeds as high as 150 mph are out of the question.

As early as this decade, passengers will instead board trains moving at between 65 mph and 80 mph. That’s slower than true high-speed trains.

This should be sufficient to cut driving, though, which is the main objective. Hey, it’ll also give us another alternative with flying, which I’m pretty happy about.

[photo by Mr. T in DC via Flickr]

Photo of the Day (9.28.10)

by Stephen Greenwood on
Does a 2,979km, 48 hour train ride across the Australian continent sound like your cup of tea? Then say hello the ‘The Ghan’ – Australia’s legendary passenger train that connects Darwin and the Northern Territory with Adelaide in South Australia. Completed in 1878, the service was nicknamed ‘the Afghan Express‘ as a homage to the many Afghan cameleers that supplied the construction of the railroad and telegraph lines in the harsh Australian desert.

The distinctive red locomotive and logo of the train is seen here thanks to Flickr user Kritta. Great shot!

If you’re in the region and riding in a train across the desert sounds too passive (and sane), then check out South Australia’s Simpson Bike Challenge! The race begins today and goes until October 2nd; covering over 590km of sand dunes and lots of other terrain you’d never want to bike through.

Tokyo hotel builds hotel rooms for train lovers

by Melanie Nayer on

Whoever said hotels aren’t creative enough clearly hasn’t stayed in a Tokyo hotel.

While some hotels focus on zen environments or Michelin-starred chefs, other hotels look for the unique and quirky to attract guests. Enter: The Washington Hotel in Tokyo, Japan, the first hotel to build a large train set inside one of its rooms.

The hotel took a twin room from its 13th floor and remodeled it with a train set and model Tokyo Tower, a mosaic of the city’s neighborhoods and the resort area of Hakone. You can bring your own train to the room, or rent one from the hotel for approximately $12 ($1000 yen). The ‘railway room’ goes for about $300 (25,000 yen) and even overlooks the Shinkansen bullet train railway. The room is decorated with photos of old locomotives and offers railway-related DVDs.

How’s that for in-room entertainment?

[via Reuters]

Photo of the day (8.5.10)

by Meg Nesterov on

This photo by narinnr from Kagoshima, Japan (the Naples of the East, says Wikipedia) captures a Ferris wheel built atop a shopping center next to the train station. How fun is that? Imagine if you could kill time between trains at Penn Station riding high above New York?! I’m partial to the Gravitron when choosing an amusement ride, although spinning around against centrifugal force is probably not so fun before a long train ride.

Even more interesting are the statues in front of the Ferris wheel, part of the Satuma students’ monument, dedicated to 19 Japanese students smuggled into Britain in 1865 to learn Western technology. Imagine being the first in your country to study abroad and being responsible for the start of the industrial revolution. Kinda makes a semester abroad in Prague drinking as much beer as humanly possible seem a little weak.

Do you have a photo that will inspire many Google and Wikipedia searches? Or maybe an interesting monument or an unusually-located amusement ride in your travels? Upload it to Gadling’s Flickr group and we might use it for a future Photo of the Day.

Own a mountain village in New Zealand!

by Kraig Becker on

Budding real estate moguls listen up, as I’ve got quite the deal for you. The New Zealand mountain village of Otira is up for sale, and is currently seeking new ownership. The asking price of NZ$1 million (roughly $690,000) gets you all kinds of amenities, including a hotel, town hall, fire station, and 18 houses, although the location may be ideal for everyone.

Otira is located at an altitude of 3445 feet in a remote corner of New Zealand’s Southern Alps. The mountains offer a beautifully scenic backdrop and a near by national park provides plenty of outdoor adventure. But in the winter months, heavy snow can hit the region, and the little town is regularly cut-off from the outside world, sometimes for days at a time, thanks to an untimely blizzard.

The village boasts a population of just 44 residents, most of whom rent the houses that are found there. Many of those work for the TranzAlpine railway which rolls through town twice a day, bringing tourists to the area. The local hotel, which is not much more than a bed and breakfast, is the only place to stay for miles around, and offers up a hot meal and a cold pint of beer to wash it down with. The fire station has been re-purposed as a workshop for the local mechanic, and the school hall has been abandoned for more than a decade.

The current owners, Bill and Christine Hennah, bought the town back in 1998, and have been running, and renovating, it ever since. They are now approaching retirement age, and although they have no plans to leave Otira, the do feel it is time to pass it along to a new owner. They have listed the town on the New Zealand auction site Trade Me, where you can place your bids for this prime piece of real estate.

Who knows, perhaps you’ll be retiring there one day too.

[Photo credit: ALAMY]