While the authorities propose half-measures like the Model 7000 Metrorail cars, we have looked at the future of DC’s mass transit, the Model 8001 (above). The Washington Post and other worry warts fret about Metro’s ability to carry an increasing passenger load, but NotionsCapital Engineering and others are working on the problem. Our most elegant solution, HPS (Horizontal Passenger Stacking), met with some petty objections, so we suggest this simple interior redesign:
Series 8001 Metro Meteor Series (concept, NotionsCapital Engineering)
DCist had a post yesterday on the 7000 Series Metro Cars. Yawn. Look pretty much like the old Metro Cars after someone’s ralphed on the upholstery.
NotionsCapital, of course, has previewed Metro’s wish-list rolling stock before, but today we have a really Sci-Fi Network (Psychic Network?) type exclusive. Not the ho-hum series 7000, but the 8000 series.
Exterior view above; interior below.
Well worth the fare increase..
Top image by Mike Licht, who would credit the bottom image but it’s in Japanese. It may be from some recreation company.
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[See update at end of post ]
An 89-car CSX Transportation coal train derailed at the Anacostia River railroad bridge in Washington, DC on Friday, November 9, 2007. There were no injuries reported.
Initial evidence suggests the train was stationary on the bridge when it was struck by another freight train. According to the Examiner, the bridge is owned by the National Park Service and leased to CSX Transportation, Inc.
On the wall of Washington, DC’s Union Station between Alamo Flags and the Discovery Channel Store hangs a gaudy gilded plaque honoring William Frederick Allen (1846 – 1915), railway magnate and civil engineer, for his role in establishing our national system of Standard Time. The ornament’s aesthetic value is questionable; so is its historical merit. Should this tribute have gone to Canadian engineer Sir Sandford Fleming (1827 – 1915) or Charles F. Dowd (1825 – 1904), a girl’s school principal in Saratoga Springs, N.Y?
When railroads multiplied after the Civil War, U.S. clocks still ran on local “sun time.” Noon in New York was 11:55 a.m. in Philadelphia, 11:47 in D.C., and 11:35 in Pittsburgh. Railroads used different standards so reconciling schedules was confusing, and at least five train wrecks a year were due to time discrepancies.
NotionsCapital 
