#infrastructure problems Germany

[littlebellesmama]

Deutsche Bahn Woes: Why Trains Are Often Late in Germany

When people think of Germany, they often imagine precision, efficiency, and punctuality. After all, this is the country known for its engineering excellence, orderliness, and structure. So it’s quite a surprise—sometimes even a shock—to find out that Deutsche Bahn, Germany’s national railway company, is notoriously unpunctual. For locals, it’s a running joke. For tourists and commuters, it’s a…

[klvrgavin]

I think actually the only way to reconcile the ace attorney japanifornia situation is to replace LA with tokyo

[reasonsforhope]

Pictured: Luis Cassiano is the founder of Teto Verde Favela, a nonprofit that teaches favela residents in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, how to build their own green roofs as a way to beat the heat. He's photographed at his house, which has a green roof.

Article

"Cassiano is the founder of Teto Verde Favela, a nonprofit that teaches favela residents how to build their own green roofs as a way to beat the heat without overloading electrical grids or spending money on fans and air conditioners. He came across the concept over a decade ago while researching how to make his own home bearable during a particularly scorching summer in Rio.

A method that's been around for thousands of years and that was perfected in Germany in the 1960s and 1970s, green roofs weren't uncommon in more affluent neighborhoods when Cassiano first heard about them. But in Rio's more than 1,000 low-income favelas, their high cost and heavy weight meant they weren't even considered a possibility.

That is, until Cassiano decided to team up with a civil engineer who was looking at green roofs as part of his doctoral thesis to figure out a way to make them both safe and affordable for favela residents. Over the next 10 years, his nonprofit was born and green roofs started popping up around the Parque Arará community, on everything from homes and day care centers, to bus stops and food trucks.

When Gomes da Silva heard the story of Teto Verde Favela, he decided then and there that he wanted his home to be the group's next project, not just to cool his own home, but to spread the word to his neighbors about how green roofs could benefit their community and others like it.

Pictured: Jessica Tapre repairs a green roof in a bus stop in Benfica, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Relief for a heat island

Like many low-income urban communities, Parque Arará is considered a heat island, an area without greenery that is more likely to suffer from extreme heat. A 2015 study from the Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro showed a 36-degree difference in land surface temperatures between the city's warmest neighborhoods and nearby vegetated areas. It also found that land surface temperatures in Rio's heat islands had increased by 3 degrees over the previous decade.

That kind of extreme heat can weigh heavily on human health, causing increased rates of dehydration and heat stroke; exacerbating chronic health conditions, like respiratory disorders; impacting brain function; and, ultimately, leading to death.

But with green roofs, less heat is absorbed than with other low-cost roofing materials common in favelas, such as asbestos tiles and corrugated steel sheets, which conduct extreme heat. The sustainable infrastructure also allows for evapotranspiration, a process in which plant roots absorb water and release it as vapor through their leaves, cooling the air in a similar way as sweating does for humans.

The plant-covered roofs can also dampen noise pollution, improve building energy efficiency, prevent flooding by reducing storm water runoff and ease anxiety.

"Just being able to see the greenery is good for mental health," says Marcelo Kozmhinsky, an agronomic engineer in Recife who specializes in sustainable landscaping. "Green roofs have so many positive effects on overall well-being and can be built to so many different specifications. There really are endless possibilities.""

Pictured: Summer heat has been known to melt water tanks during the summer in Rio, which runs from December to March. Pictured is the water tank at Luis Cassiano's house. He covered the tank with bidim, a lightweight material conducive for plantings that will keep things cool.

A lightweight solution

But the several layers required for traditional green roofs — each with its own purpose, like insulation or drainage — can make them quite heavy.

For favelas like Parque Arará, that can be a problem.

"When the elite build, they plan," says Cassiano. "They already consider putting green roofs on new buildings, and old buildings are built to code. But not in the favela. Everything here is low-cost and goes up any way it can."

Without the oversight of engineers or architects, and made with everything from wood scraps and daub, to bricks and cinder blocks, construction in favelas can't necessarily bear the weight of all the layers of a conventional green roof.

That's where the bidim comes in. Lightweight and conducive to plant growth — the roofs are hydroponic, so no soil is needed — it was the perfect material to make green roofs possible in Parque Arará. (Cassiano reiterates that safety comes first with any green roof he helps build. An engineer or architect is always consulted before Teto Verde Favela starts a project.)

And it was cheap. Because of the bidim and the vinyl sheets used as waterproof screening (as opposed to the traditional asphalt blanket), Cassiano's green roofs cost just 5 Brazilian reais, or $1, per square foot. A conventional green roof can cost as much as 53 Brazilian reais, or $11, for the same amount of space.

"It's about making something that has such important health and social benefits possible for everyone," says Ananda Stroke, an environmental engineering student at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro who volunteers with Teto Verde Favela. "Everyone deserves to have access to green roofs, especially people who live in heat islands. They're the ones who need them the most." ...

It hasn't been long since Cassiano and the volunteers helped put the green roof on his house, but he can already feel the difference. It's similar, says Gomes da Silva, to the green roof-covered moto-taxi stand where he sometimes waits for a ride.

"It used to be unbearable when it was really hot out," he says. "But now it's cool enough that I can relax. Now I can breathe again."

-via NPR, January 25, 2025

[jenovacomplete]

a failed update from billion-dollar cybersecurity firm crowdstrike has crashed windows machines worldwide today (july 19th 2024), leaving everything from airport terminals to checkout machines to delivery apps to banks stuck with a blue screen of death. here's a screenshot from downdetector (au) to illustrate:

the issue appears to be with crowdstrike falcon, a form of antivirus software widely used in the corporate world -- with emphasis on the world. there have been reports from the us, uk, australia, germany, india, france, japan and more. places affected include (but are not limited to) supermarkets, banks, basically every airline, public transport networks, major broadcasters, emergency services, corporate offices, healthcare providers and stock exchanges.

(woolies pic via archiestaines9 on twitter; s3pirion; akothari. yes that is masahiro sakurai of smash bros fame)

emergency service lines are currently experiencing problems within the american states of alaska, arizona, indiana, minnesota, new hampshire and ohio. similar problems likely plague other areas of the world, they just haven't been reported on yet. australian emergency services are operating, and critical infrastructure remains stable. be sure to check in with the local news stations still online for more updates.

welcome to y2k............................. 2!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[mariacallous]

In 2024, wealth concentration rose to an all-time high. According to Forbes’ Billionaires List, not only are there more billionaires than ever—2,781—but those billionaires are also richer than ever, with an aggregate worth of $14.2 trillion. This is a trend that looks set to continue unabated. A recent report from the financial data company Altrata estimated that about 1.2 million individuals who are worth more than $5 million will pass on a collective wealth of almost $31 trillion over the next decade.

Discontentment and concern over the consequences of extreme wealth in our society is growing. Senator Bernie Sanders, for instance, stated that the “obscene level of income and wealth inequality in America is a profoundly moral issue.” In a joint op-ed for CNN in 2023, Democratic congresswoman Barbara Lee and Disney heiress Abigail Disney wrote that “extreme wealth inequality is a threat to our economy and democracy.” In 2024, when the board of Tesla put to vote a $56 billion pay package for Elon Musk, some major shareholders voted against it, declaring that such a compensation level was “absurd” and “ridiculous.”

In 2025, the fight against rising wealth inequality will be high on the political agenda. In July 2024, the G20—the world’s 20 biggest economies—agreed to work on a proposal by Brazil to introduce a new global “billionaire tax” that would levy a 2 percent tax on assets worth more than $1 billion. This would raise an estimated $250 billion a year. While this specific proposal was not endorsed in the Rio declaration, the G20 countries agreed that the super rich should be taxed more.

Progressive politicians won’t be the only ones trying to address this problem. In 2025, millionaires themselves will increasingly mobilize and put pressure on political leaders. One such movement is Patriotic Millionaires, a nonpartisan group of multimillionaires who are already publicly campaigning and privately lobbying the American Congress for a guaranteed living wage for all, a fair tax system, and the protection of equal representation. “Millionaires and large corporations—who have benefited most from our country’s assets—should pay a larger percentage of the tab for running the country,” reads their value statement. Members include Abigail Disney, former BlackRock executive Morris Pearl, legal scholar Lawrence Lessig, screenwriter Norman Lear, and investor Lawrence Benenson.

Another example is TaxMeNow, a lobby group founded in 2021 by young multimillionaires in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland which also advocates for higher wealth taxation. Its most famous member is the 32-year old Marlene Engelhorn, descendant of Friedrich Engelhorn, founder of German pharma giant BASF. She recently set up a council made up of 50 randomly selected Austrian citizens to decide what should happen to her €25 million inheritance. “I have inherited a fortune, and therefore power, without having done anything for it,” she said in a statement. “If politicians don’t do their job and redistribute, then I have to redistribute my wealth myself.”

Earlier this year, Patriotic Millionaires, TaxMeNow, Oxfam, and another activist group called Millionaires For Humanity formed a coalition called Proud to Pay More, and addressed a letter to global leaders during the annual gathering of the World Economic Forum in Davos. Signed by hundreds of high-net-worth individuals—including heiress Valerie Rockefeller, actor Simon Pegg, and filmmaker Richard Curtis—the letter stated: “We all know that ‘trickle down economics’ has not translated into reality. Instead it has given us stagnating wages, crumbling infrastructure, failing public services, and destabilized the very institution of democracy.” It concluded: “We ask you to take this necessary and inevitable step before it’s too late. Make your countries proud. Tax extreme wealth.” In 2025, thanks to the nascent movement of activist millionaires, these calls will grow even louder.

[genderkoolaid]

Hi. People listen to you more than they'll listen to me, so I hope it's okay to ask, but could you help share whatever mess is currently happening with the german elections & trump celebrating the nazi uprising. No one is talking about it and it's driving me insane.

“I’m devastated,” said David, 32. “And I’m scared and sad.” Preliminary results suggested that although the conservative CDU/CSU bloc had won the largest share of the vote (29%), likely to be the second force in the parliament was the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), which garnered about 20% of the vote. Polls had long predicted this result, said David, who declined to give his surname. But now the question was what exactly it meant for the millions of Germans who were either racialised, like him, or who are migrants. [...] Half of the country’s voters had chosen to cast their ballot for either the CDU/CSU bloc or the AfD, pointed out Gian Mecheril, 32. “That means that the coalition of fascists with the conservative party is possible,” he said. “It’s a danger.” On Sunday night Merz again insisted there was “no question” of entering into coalition with the far-right party. But for the millions of Germans who regard the AfD as an unprecedented threat, that is of little comfort, particularly after a campaign marked by political rhetoric against migrants, while issues such as country’s ailing economy, deteriorating infrastructure or housing crisis were seemingly ignored. “The campaign was just filled with racist diversions from the actual problems we face,” said Flo, 19. “I’m anxious about what comes next.” The result was a divisive election that had helped to legitimise the far right, said Ella, 30. “The CDU’s win comes on the shoulders of the AfD,” she said. “They worked with them, they normalised them.” Tens of thousands sought to fight back in recent weeks, taking to streets across Germany to protest against the far right and the AfD’s co-leader, Alice Weidel, as she backed the mass deportation of migrants and peddled a party whose ranks include members who have played down the horrors of the Holocaust and chapters that have been designated as “rightwing extremist” by security authorities. “I would say the AfD is the ridiculous monster our period needs to have,” said Willi Schultz, 32, in a reference to the oft-cited quote attributed to Antonio Gramsci: “The old world is dying, and the new world struggles to be born: now is the time of monsters.” He contextualised the AfD support within the wider, global surge of backing for rightwing populists – a link reinforced during the election as Elon Musk used his influence to tout the AfD, describing it as the only party able to “save Germany”.

In a post on social media — written entirely in capital letters — Trump did not mention either Merz or his party by name, referring to “THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY IN GERMANY,” but argued that the country’s swing to the right was part of a political shift that Germany shared with the U.S. “MUCH LIKE THE USA, THE PEOPLE OF GERMANY GOT TIRED OF THE NO COMMON SENSE AGENDA, ESPECIALLY ON ENERGY AND IMMIGRATION, THAT HAS PREVAILED FOR SO MANY YEARS,” Trump wrote. “THIS IS A GREAT DAY FOR GERMANY, AND FOR THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF A GENTLEMAN NAMED DONALD J. TRUMP. CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL — MANY MORE VICTORIES TO FOLLOW!!!”

[catenary-chad]

Non-exhaustive list of my increasingly batshit Caboose theories/interpretations

OLC- he got dumped by his railroad with the great caboose layoff at the time and became an agent of the trucking industry instead. He genuinely sympathizes with Dinah for being similarly abandoned, but ultimately crashes engines out of spite/for money.

Any- is a masochist who just loves crashing and/or wants “big strong engines” to beat him up. I mean, he gets jerked around a lot at the back of the train, he probably loves that. He would not be impressed by small steam switchers that can’t pull as hard and don’t accelerate nearly as quickly and gets pissed at Rusty getting in meaning one less full-sized engine to beat him up in an elaborate final crash

Red Caboose- is a Communist boogeyman who “could be anywhere” (also see Lavender Scare gay/communist link) and has ruined Russia, directly wants to wreck capitalism (Greaseball, strongly aligned with private railroads) and neoliberalism (Rusty, because bootstrapping and “only you”), and will take down what remains of the US’s electrified lines (Electra) too. Public ownership of commuter rail (and rail in general) was decried as “communism” post-WWII and that opposition is a major reason why the US has the train problems it does. Government ownership is often demonized despite being the norm elsewhere in the world.

(Either)- Caboose is a Russian agent up to some wacky spy nonsense to destroy US/UK/German infrastructure and keep them trapped in the past. This is done by directly sabotaging trains and making modernization (sorely needed in rail) look bad. May or may not be secretly colluding with Rusty (who he holds back rather than physically wrecks) to push a romanticized “good ol days” rhetoric to normalize regression. The Soviet Union deliberately neglected East Germany’s rail network (including using steam engines into the 80s) and they seem to be something of a symbol of infrastructure decline there.

Red Caboose- Represents John Hinckley Jr and wants to crash someone important thinking it will impress his celebrity crush, Electra. Almost kills Rusty as a Reagan stand-in (who has a similar comeback arc). He doesn’t really care who and doesn’t have any deeper ideology or motivation, he’s totally irrational because that’s how the actual guy was. He’ll even crash Electra directly.

[tomorrowusa]

Just so nobody can say this is out of context, here's a vid of the entire interview.

The Obama administration successfully contained the Ebola outbreak in the United States. The death toll for Ebola in the US was under a dozen. So before leaving office, the Obama National Security Council created a 69-page handbook on how to deal with a pandemic. Trump and his flunkies ignored it with disastrous results.

Trump team failed to follow NSC’s pandemic playbook

The US death toll from COVID-19 is in seven digits. Other industrialized countries with advanced technological infrastructure such as Canada, Taiwan, Germany, and New Zealand had lower fatality rates per capita.

Trump largely ignored the virus until well into March when it had a chance to spread across the US.

The missing six weeks: how Trump failed the biggest test of his life The president was aware of the danger from the coronavirus – but a lack of leadership has created an emergency of epic proportions

The Trump administration, at best, was in denial; at worst, it sabotaged the pandemic response.

Trump White House made 'deliberate efforts' to undermine Covid response, report says

Trump zombies who claim the economy was marvelous under Trump conveniently forget about everything that happened after February of 2020. Trump's early bungling of the pandemic plunged the economy into recession. The COVID supply chain problems and the economic stimulus required to prevent a depression led to the spurt in inflation which is finally receding.

People who are nostalgic about taking hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin, drinking bleach, and sticking UV lights up their butts must be excited about the opportunity to vote for Trump again.

[inposterumcumgaudio]

Please, tell me about the Executive Committee in the game? We meet them as Ollie and they've flown the cuckoo's nest, yet they're the ones supposedly running Wellington; but if they're all stoned as a common Wellie, doesn't that mean that the people running Wellington are people like General Byng and Dr. Verloc?

So I'm kind of two minds about the Executive Committee.

On the one hand, the ultimate reveal is a bit of a let-down. To finally get to the tip of the top only to find that the people in the ivory Broadcasting Tower not only aren't any sort of master overseers, but that they're actually on the lower end of able when it comes to Joy users? Disappointing.

On the other, I think this is very intentional. You know how, like, at the end of World War II, all the German leadership were hiding in bunkers, taking cyanide capsules, and shooting themselves? Well, maybe that's not what you do within the Village, but the end is still nigh. The charts say so. It rarely looks so bleak in the Village that suicide seems the answer, but certainly popping another Joy and pretending the problems aren't compounding to an final crescendo is.

Do any of the people in this office know how inevitable that end is? Hard to say. But if they did... well, it would make sense that you'd not exactly be spreading it around. It would only upset people and the end would only come that much sooner. And there's always still the hope that one of the lower tiers will come through, fix all the problems at once, and save the town.

So if the Executive Committee aren't actually running the show, then who is?

Note that the Executive Committee doesn't actually appear on this chart. Hmm. You might take away from that this is the Executive Committee, and maybe it is in actuality. But as far as rank goes, all these inter-connected and inter-dependent departments are a step down. This is who is doing the real work. And all of them believe in that work, much as what they know allows.

Even General Byng, who can see the horizon better than anyone, still thinks there's a chance to pull the town out of its nosedive. He's hedging his bets with his safehouse and his boat - he's no fool - but there's still the off chance Verloc or Faraday or Arkwright or or or will come out with something that buys the rest more time. Too, in the past that never was, when all was said and done, it was the grand admiral of the navy who ended up Germany's head of state. In that event, Byng is best positioned to assume control.

All of the rest of these guys, they all know about the low food production, the lack of trade, the plague encroaching on the Village. And all of them are still yet working tirelessly to their part of the effort. Verloc is still struggling for his permanent solution, Victoria's assuming more responsibility (taking up that Ministry of Paperwork) and overseeing civic morale, Penelope Snug is trying to keep infrastructure together. Ridgewell is trying to solve the problem of plague, or at least keep it contained. Even Hackney's finding new and inventive ways to make their emaciated townspeople look good enough not to worry.

It's like Byng says:

But a few people on top, doing their duty --us-- is the only thing that keeps us from savagery.

[darkmaga-returns]

The Fraser Institute just reported some startling data regarding the real costs of electricity produced from solar and wind facilities, compared to other energy sources. Here are the money paragraphs (emphasis added):

Often, when proponents claim that wind and solar sources are cheaper than fossil fuels, they ignore [backup energy] costs. A recent study published in Energy, a peer-reviewed energy and engineering journal, found that—after accounting for backup, energy storage and associated indirect costs—solar power costs skyrocket from US$36 per megawatt hour (MWh) to as high as US$1,548 and wind generation costs increase from US$40 to up to US$504 per MWh. Which is why when governments phase out fossil fuels to expand the role of renewable sources in the electricity grid, electricity become more expensive. In fact, a study by University of Chicago economists showed that between 1990 and 2015, U.S. states that mandated minimum renewable power sources experienced significant electricity price increases after accounting for backup infrastructure and other costs. Specifically, in those states electricity prices increased by an average of 11 per cent, costing consumers an additional $30 billion annually. The study also found that electricity prices grew more expensive over time, and by the twelfth year, electricity prices were 17 per cent higher (on average).

None of this is a surprise to anyone paying attention to the facts of what’s happened in Germany, for example, but the renewables industry and its promoters are fond of citing levelized costs analyses that don’t account for the myriad problems of intermittency when it comes to solar and wind. The two studies cited above do account for these costs and the results put an end to any suggestion green energy is affordable, let alone even close to competitive.

[alpaca-clouds]

Electric Cars Suck

There is some irony in how things turned out, right? Like eight years ago or so it was mostly the left who was like: "We need more electro mobility!" And the people on the right were like: "Noooo! We need our gas guzzlers that go VROOOOOM!" And somehow now the people on the right buy their stupid cybertrucks, while the people on the left have in large numbers converted to: "Actually, all cars fucking suck."

And hey, that's me. I am in that story. Because actually, all cars fucking suck!

But let's be a bit more serious: The main issue with cars is not even the CO2, the fine particles, or the microplastics they generate. (Yes, most microplastics in the environment originate with cars!) The main issue is, that we live in a car-centric society, that is so very much inaccessible for anyone who does not have a car.

And let's be honest here: In this regard I am complaining as someone with a lot of things going for me: I live in Germany and I live in a city here. We have actually somewhat working public transport, and even my physically disabled ass is capable of reaching the next super market, pharmacy, doctor's office and library within 5 minutes on foot. Sure, due to a lack of bus drivers (which again is due to a lack of proper payment for said bus drivers) they cut some of the bus lines here, making the time I need to get to the next hospital go up by a good chunk, but... What I am saying is: Hey, I am at least not living in the USA, where it is basically impossible to get around in a lot of places when you have no car, because the infrastructure is just so bloody car-centric.

And that is the reason why cars just suck so darn much. Because they need all that infrastructure that makes it harder for everyone to get around.

And the double issue with that is, that some people will still need cars no matter what, even if we try to improve that. I spoke about it before: Some disabled people will always need cars to get around, because they just do not have an alternative due to a variety of reasons. And some services (like ambulances, fire fighters and so on) will also just need cars. Which taken together means that we need to maintain some infrastructure.

Generally speaking I feel, a lot of folks within the Solarpunk scene do underestimate this issue, too. Especially in concern to the USA, Canada and some other colonizer cities in the global south, that have been created very much with cars in mind.

In Europe, most cities have been created with horse drawn carriages in mind and people who walk on foot. Sure, they have been retrofitted to allow for cars, but that retrofitting can easily be toned down in a way that would allow those cars that are needed to pass through, but allow the areas to be used otherwise. (I mean, we have several cities here were you can still see that the city originally has been build by Romans some 2000 years ago, because the city map features certain Roman city planning styles.) It is not really so hard to turn those cities into 15-minute-cities again.

But in the US? In the US a lot of the cities have always been constructed with the car in mind, and the entire street plan is organized around the car. Lots of wide streets. Lots of parking lots. Lots of other facilities that are needed for cars. Sure, you can reuse some of the space. But that does not negate the fact that everything has this wide sprawl that makes it a lot harder to get around. And that really is a problem if someone tried to make 15-minute-cities here. Because frankly... In some areas there just would not be another way but to just tear it all down to rethink city planning once more.

Like, sure, in the city cores it is not that much of an issue. Turning Manhatten into a 15-minute-city is not the issue. But the wider area of New York city? Eh... And in other cities it is worse, of course.

And yeah, those issues - the stupid infrastructure cars need... It is still the same, no matter whether the car goes VROOOOOOM or BZZZT.

[squid-socks]

My “WHY???👀👀👀” list. If you are non-disabled or non-neurodivergent please read✨

(These are things that suck imo - the bare minimum is to be aware something isn’t fucking working and seeing it. Bcs the more you know the more you realise why you don’t see many disabled or neurodivergent people - spoiler; THEY CANT GO ANYWHERE)

constant building works. From fucking with your accessible journey to overstimulating the brain✨ I hate to imagine how much more id get done in a day if the constant drilling of building works literally everywhere didn’t take half my spoons to tune out.

Noise pollution in general. In a cafe people don’t use their inside voices, establishments don’t set up quieter areas or infrastructure that absorbs sound, main roads are always close to residential areas and buildings are not built to tune out their horrible noise. Sound✨

Heavily scented areas or perfumes. You are killing your fellow asthmatic and anyone with a tendency to have migraines👀👀 (you don’t need 10 lit candles in a non-personal area. And you don’t need to drink strong perfumes so it seeps out of all of your pores🫶)

Escalators being far from elevators and requiring staff assistance at all times. It’s just stupid. It is. It is just SO FUCKING STUPID AND I SHOULD NOT HAVE TO EXPLAIN WHY??? JUST PUT THE ELEVATOR BY THE ESCALATORS AND SHUT UP✨✨

Not having public bathrooms or putting them in weird places or making them by request only??? I shouldn’t have to run to the 4th floor of a far away mall bcs I have to vomit whilst my knees feel on fire??? And the more bathrooms the less gross each bathroom will be bcs LESS TRAFFIC???👀👀👀 like what????

Bit more random - but recluse spaces. There should be spaces people can hide away and recover from the noise and the bustle and the questions. I shouldn’t have to have a cigarette to be respected needing to leave and get some air👀 I shouldn’t have to smell shit and hear people farting to get away from everyone for a minute (bathrooms)👀

Those stupid tiny handled coffee cups👀👀 no. Just no. It could be the biggest cup but it still has that stupid little handle?? No. My hands hurt. Old people’s hands hurt. WHO IS THIS GOOD FOR. WHY DONT YOU HAVE ALTERNATIVES😂 (just a few mugs for people to request)

No brail anywhere. This is the dumbest of the dumb. Even more when I find brail it’s like 2 letters?? Granted - I don’t know brail but I imagine if I need like 100 words of information on my sandwich then 2 letters is not enough for them!??? What????👀👀 if you’re blind I hope you don’t have allergies or something?😀😀 (though I suppose not text to sprach exists which is wonderful✨)

The underground trains. I’m not explaining I think every single variation of a disabled or neurodivergent person can offer a litany of complaints and issues.

The sun. This one’s a me thing. But I hate that glowing satanic butthole in the sky😑 (good for plants tho…which is nice.)

Now this one may sound a bit much but - wheelchair paths. Or walking issue paths. We have the bike lane, the pedestrian area and on the most inner side to the wall or bushes (for safety reasons) a disability path. So wheelchairs or the slower can just do their thing no problem✨ we anyway should have less cars so…I mean…we could just replace the roads🌈 idk add those rope, electric carriage things I see in Germany all the time🫶

Why are the pedestrian paths in parking houses so skinny?? Anyone bigger than me is half out the fucking safety zone👀👀👀😀

Heavy doors. No bcs what the fuck. I don’t want to have to press my whole body against an icky door to open it. And now imagine I’m on my own in a wheelchair just fucking trapped👀 or I’m too germaphobic to touch the door or everything hurts 😑😑

Lamps where the switch is in the cable and not the lamp. Fuck that.

Sunscreen. I love her but the overstimulation is bullshit😭😭 I think I’d rather wear a balaclava

If I have to squeeze through an isle in a store - it’s too close together. Fuck you. 😀 and before someone tells me “it’s cultural” or “it’s a small store”. no it’s just inaccessible. Culture should not be an excuse for ableism👀 My grandma is German is it ok if she is out here hating foreigners. FUCK NO.👀👀👀

Information boards being so low down. Why? No one can see that. Some of them have brail but why should someone have to bend over all the way to touch it😑

Imma stop I’m getting too angry 😅😅

I realise this is on a disability blog with disability hashtags so no idea how helpful this will genuinely be. But for now it was nice to vent. Which may help no one but it helped me a little😀

[horsesarecreatures]

Hey, uhm, about that „horse riding is harmful – but they need exercise!“ thread: what is never talked about in these discussions (this is my impression) is how priviliged it is that we can even abstain from using horses for transportation and farming.

And while our lifes have become much more comfortable since machines have replaced horses in these fields, I would argue that this shift has been very bad for nature as a whole. Even if someone does not believe in climate change, they could still see how it was bad that we built (and are building) asphalt streets and railroad tracks through wildlife habitats. And big machinery driving over soil compresses the earth unnecessarily, which makes it more difficult for plants to regrow. This would not be a problem if we still used horses.

I’m also wondering what people who are against horse owning would say to people who live in circumstances where they are still dependent on their animals. People who maybe live somewhere were the infrastructure needed in order to be able to use fossil fueled vehicles is not yet present. Or people who are just poor. Should they also stop riding and driving horses?

All of that being said, let’s imagine the consequences of gradually stopping all horse ownership. All horses currently living with humans as pets will stay with their owners and be cared for until they die, procreation will be prevented. (The alternative would of course be to release them into the wild, but deciding on WHERE to do so is very difficult and let’s just not do that in this scenario, as to not disturb already established ecosystems). Horse breeds which have been living with humans for the past thousands of years will go extinct. All the knowledge about how to feed horses, about horse behaviour and how to interact with them and about how to safely train them to be driven and ridden in a sustainable way will only exist in books within a hundred years. We are talking about skills that, at the end of the day, are more efficiently learned if there are teachers whom actually are practicing the craft. Humanity as a whole lives a bit more removed from nature – although, that is just how I see it.

I hope it’s okay for me to unload my thoughts on this onto you – I’m too shy to write under the post directly, but I really want to get this out of my head.

I live in germany by the way and I own a little pony mare. I don’t actually know her breed, it must have not been documented when she was born. She probably is a german riding pony with a healthy dose of arabian blood in her. I’ve riden and worked with horses for 14 years now and owned my mare for 5. I bought her when she was 11 years old and noone had really cared for her for two years. She spend that time on a pasture with other horses and was slightly malnourished and apathetic then. These days her fur is sparkling and her muscles have developed nicely and she expresses more happiness overall.

Hey, I don't know about the original poster as I don't follow them, but @acti-veg actually addresses your first point quite frequently. There are many people who cannot afford to not eat meat, abstain from medications that have been tested on animals, use horses for farming or transportation, etc. But the definition of veganism is, "a way of living which seeks to exclude, as far as is possible and practicable, all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose.” If a person cannot avoid some form of animal exploitation because of their health or inability to make an alternative living, this does not preclude them from being a vegan as long as they do their best to limit their reliance on animals in other areas.

I agree that industrialization has led to many advancements in society at the detriment of nature and biodiversity. But I would also point out that if people switched back to horses today, at our current population, that would also not be sustainable. There is not enough land to keep them properly without adding more to deforestation, and plowing with horses is less precise and worse for the soil than some up and coming alternatives, like laser weeding and using robotic seed planting, which can eliminate the need to plowing entirely.

You are right that if people stopped breeding horses many breeds would go extinct and knowledge in how to care for them would be lost. This is a downside that has to be balanced against the upsides, like no more halter horse monstrosities, no more horses being dumped & shipped to slaughter, and the potential for farmland to be re-wilded which would increase biodiversity.

It's totally ok to share your thoughts here, and your pony sounds super cute!

[mariacallous]

Nothing better illustrates the German political establishment’s lack of seriousness about strategy and defense than Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s reelection campaign. He portrays himself as a friedenskanzler, or chancellor of peace, who has successfully kept Germany out of the Russia-Ukraine war. To emphasize the peacemaking theme, one of his first acts after launching his campaign was to call Russian President Vladimir Putin—to the consternation of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Germany’s Western allies, who have begun to exclude Berlin and its lame-duck chancellor in their deliberations.

The conversation with Putin went nowhere, of course. Almost three years since the start of the war, Scholz and his circle of advisors appear unwilling to face a simple truth: Confronting aggressors and getting them to the negotiation table requires both carrots and sticks—in other words, diplomacy and military power. For many decades, Germany’s leadership, opinion-makers, and much of the policy establishment have primarily seen security policy through the prism of diplomacy, dialogue, and economic exchange. This remains a profound problem for Germany because it impairs Berlin’s readiness for the return of large-scale war to the continent—both the hybrid war that Moscow is already fighting against Europe today and the hot war that Western intelligence chiefs consider increasingly possible.

This raises the risk that Berlin reaps the opposite of what it intends. By avoiding any semblance of preparation for the eventuality of war, Germany has stripped itself of the ability to deter one. That makes war in Europe more likely, not less.

Scholz and much of the German elite seem to have precious little understanding of what a future war with Russia could look like. They appear to grasp neither how a war would be fought, nor the need for preparedness on the home front. This includes dealing with everything from the effects of missile and drone strikes to cyberattacks, assassinations, and widespread sabotage against German civilian and military infrastructure.

Least of all is there an understanding about the destructive potential of any future war. A Russian attack on the Baltic states or Poland, for example, could produce tens of thousands of casualties in the first few days. A war would likely wreak havoc on German seaports, railroads, the power grid, and other critical infrastructure, given Germany’s position as NATO’s central logistics hub and strategic rear area for any war in Eastern Europe.

When it comes to military capabilities, Germany’s leadership does not seem to recognize the changing character of modern warfare. A serious drone program, for example, was only begun after more than a decade of tortuous public debate. Today, warfighting is marked by the proliferation of precision-strike weapons, such as cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, and drones; these are supported by extensive intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities such as satellites and surveillance drones. This shift has major implications for military operations and deterrence.

The public debate in Germany around the potential deployment of new U.S. long-range strike capabilities in Europe neatly illustrates the confusion. There has been a knee-jerk reaction against these deployments by senior members of Scholz’s Social Democratic Party, reflecting an understandable uneasiness with embroiling Germany in a shooting war with nuclear-armed Russia. But the critics miss the broader purpose of these deployments: to provide conventional long-range precision fires as an integral part of NATO’s operational concepts for degrading Russia’s offensive potential in a high-intensity war. The reality is that the German Bundeswehr will need similar long-range strike capabilities in the future to effectively deter and, if necessary, defeat Russia in a conflict. Deterrence inherently requires some calculated risk-taking, but this would require German politicians to engage with military strategy and operational preparations for war.

In terms of capacity, the German government is also profoundly unserious about the size of the armed forces. Internal Bundeswehr calculations call for an active duty force of at least 270,000 and a reserve of around 200,000. But with the existing volunteer system, Germany will never get there; by the end of 2024, the shrinking Bundeswehr likely had fewer than 180,000 troops. Most leading politicians lack the stomach to seriously consider the reintroduction of a military conscription model to quickly build up a reserve force that could replace inevitable losses. These politicians still do not grasp that in a shooting war with Russia, it will ultimately depend on who can mobilize larger reserves to prevail—if escalation to the nuclear level can indeed be avoided.

Historical comparisons illustrate this deficiency. During the Cold War, West Germany could mobilize up to 2.3 million reservists, while today’s Bundeswehr barely has any immediately deployable reserves to make up for casualties. In a shooting war akin to that in Ukraine, Germany might struggle to sustain operations beyond a few days. Germany might take a cue from Sweden, which reinstated conscription in 2017, which not only bolstered national defense but also reinforced a society-wide commitment to military readiness.

For Germany, establishing the political, societal, legal, and infrastructure foundations for conscription and a viable reserve would take years and entail substantial costs. Yet little has happened to date, despite valiant efforts by German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius to push the issue with his colleagues in the government. Here, too, Berlin has preferred to keep its head in the sand.

Moreover, Germany lacks the readiness to deploy what little military capability and capacity it has, including the forces to be dispatched to NATO’s eastern flank in the event of war. Although Germany is no longer a frontline state like it was during the Cold War, it remains exceptionally vulnerable to precision airstrikes and other attacks in a war with Russia. The Kremlin would likely focus its efforts on degrading Germany’s critical infrastructure to disrupt the logistics supporting NATO forces in Poland and the Baltic states.

In a scenario of sustained precision attacks against Germany, targets would include airports, seaports, rail hubs, and energy infrastructure. These assaults would likely be large, repeated, and prolonged rather than isolated strikes. Covert operations by Russian agents or special forces could engage in sabotage missions across the country, derailing trains, damaging munitions factories, or destroying vital transportation links. Cyberwarfare operations could incapacitate mobilization efforts, while a barrage of Russian disinformation could fracture societal unity and erode public trust in Germany’s military and political leadership.

A few pieces, at least, have begun to move. The Bundeswehr is working on a new Operations Plan Germany, which takes a holistic approach to national defense and emphasizes homeland security. Still under development as of now, the plan delineates processes, roles, and coordination strategies among various government and civilian entities to protect Germany’s territorial integrity and citizens, safeguard critical infrastructure, and facilitate the effective deployment of allied military forces through German territory. The plan also envisions the establishment of six homeland defense regiments by the end of 2026, tasked with securing vital defense-related infrastructure within German borders.

Much more is needed. Six regiments will not be sufficient to defend Germany’s critical defense-relevant infrastructure in the event of war, according to high-ranking German military officers. Germany has yet to step up training to increase preparedness of homeland defense and civilian emergency services. To date, there have only been a few small-scale exercises to test the home front’s readiness for war and no large-scale exercises simulating complex, multipronged Russian attacks on infrastructure across multiple German federal states.

Deterring a Russian attack on Europe requires Germany to be prepared for one—by enhancing its military capabilities, capacity, and readiness. This will require the German political class to fundamentally redefine its relationship with military power and genuinely commit to engaging seriously in matters of defense. This means debating not only how to reduce the risk of escalation and war, but also how to fight and win one should the necessity arise—an idea that remains strangely sacrilegious in Germany’s political culture, considering that a massive land war is raging only a few hundred miles away.

The inability or unwillingness to conceptualize war at a time when Europe’s post-1945 security order is already unraveling permeates German society as a whole. Indeed, fears of escalation have reached unprecedented levels as the country’s leadership seems to prefer the role of passive observers with little agency. For large swathes of the general public, the distinction between rearming with the intent to fight a war and rearming to deter one is often difficult to grasp. The good news is that the German public seems to be much further along than the political elite. According to a number of polls conducted in 2024, a majority of Germans support the need to rearm.

The German government made a deliberate choice in the early 2000s to diminish the Bundeswehr’s capacity for conducting conventional land warfare in Europe, depriving it of the essential equipment, personnel, and other resources necessary for large-scale land operations. Given Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine and repeated public threats against other Eastern European countries, it’s overdue for Berlin to reassess this decision. If the German leadership is serious about wanting peace, it will have to significantly increase the Bundeswehr’s capability, capacity, and readiness to engage in high-intensity warfare against Russia.

[catenary-chad]

My concept for an Americanized reimagining/revival of Starlight Express, based on actual US passenger rail history painfully relevant to the entire region around Broadway (the northeastern US)

ft. sacrilegious things like totally rewriting Starlight Sequence, roleswapping major characters, and cutting Rusty entirely (while also bringing Trucker Caboose and a heavily modified OLC Belle back) 

(long post btw)

I already made a whole long post about how a lot of “stupid and unrealistic” things about Electra (and Rusty) unintentionally take on a very different, deeper meaning in the context of US railroad conditions (and politics) of the 70s-80s.  But tl;dr, applying US rail context to the show bizarrely turns it into a colossal “immer pünktlich” sweater that you’ve snagged your nail on and the whole thing unravels into a weirdly specific and compelling allegory for US politics and railroads of the era in a way it was never intended to.  

Electra reads as a bizarrely specific conservative slander of Amtrak and the liberal policies that benefit it. And there’s weirdly convenient parallels for the social themes the original show tried to do. Electrified rail isn’t futuristic and bashing it isn’t punching up in the US, it’s actually been around since the turn of the century and perhaps the most visible and vulnerable symbol of how rail has been disadvantaged and “left behind” by the government in the US for DECADES.  And there’s actually a number of other things the show has attempted to do that click into place really nicely when you put them in this context.  Like Greaseball’s “coach sexism”- US railroads’ relationship with passenger services pre-Amtrak actually make a pretty good allegory for how “women’s work” is treated.  It had become monstrously expensive to run them without government subsidies and railroads tried to cut or downgrade them wherever possible- which is a solid parallel for how the likes of childcare and teaching are treated in the US.  

So you could actually do some really smart and meaningful things with an Americanized version of the show, it doesn’t have to be clunky pop culture references.  It’s almost kind of sad how well it works because most of the concepts are only relevant in the US, which has never taken to the show as much as the UK/Germany. 

While this is presented as an early 80s-era period piece, you only need to change some references to Control’s Grandpa and a few characters’ basis (Greaseball, Pearl, and Electra’s parental figure) to make it close to modern-day because 40+ year old rail equipment is so common in the US and a lot of the same problems exist on the modern rail system.  

If the theater is anywhere near NYC, there’s a high chance visitors will firsthand experience how old and ROUGH the surrounding rail infrastructure is and it doesn’t get more immersive than that.  There’s a major chance they ride in on a subway or NJT train old enough to have remembered the original Broadway Starlight run, and a considerable chance they deal with delays or cancellations due to aging infrastructure issues.  It’s like how Ruhrgold being “always timely!” is hilarious to anyone who sees the show in Bochum because they probably had an ICE run late just trying to get there, even if they’re a tourist.  

-Control is now used as a stand-in for the government/other rail authorities, whose complaints and praise about their toy trains mirror real-life sentiment.  Their “grandpa’s old trains and tracks” represent the oooold equipment and infrastructure Amtrak inherited/acquired at the beginning.  

-Greaseball is… unchanged lol he’s a solid representation of the conservative establishment hostile to rail investment and electrification.  Him being abusive to the coaches parallels US railroads’ mass downgrading and dropping of passenger services after WWII until Amtrak came in.  Him pulling passenger trains with UP’s livery in the 80s actually works out if you make him one of the corporate E9As in the Heritage Fleet.  Alternatively, just pretend Amtrak’s Rainbow Era (where everything had their chaotic original liveries) took a decade longer to end… it’s less anachronistic than literally everything about Rusty anyways.  

-Electra is now an actual threat to him he has actual reason to play dirty against.  As opposed to a switcher/shunter that would have a completely opposite skillset as him (engines like Greaseball went out of favor on US freight railroads specifically because they have no rear visibility for switching).  Not to mention the political divides associated with dieselization/electrification in the US and associated rural/urban divide. He should also be more deliberately group-oriented with his Gang- the first gen carbody diesel engines he’s based on were designed to run as several units attached together (and that’s still how diesel locomotives are used now). 

-Momma (now maybe just McCoy) is now the high-maintenance celebrity (Poppa would also work but I’m in favor of giving older women more roles). THAT is spot-on to the actual role steam engines had in the US (and UK) in the 80s, and still do today. She’s there to race to find out just what she’s truly capable of, since the real top speed of a lot of big late-era steam engines was never officially verified. She is not malicious, just accidentally causes constant confusion and delay based on actual mainline steam excursions’ issues in the 70s-80s US that led to them being heavily restricted (though you can probably use a lot of stuff from more recent ones elsewhere because it still happens a lot).  She can even get chased by paparazzi because people getting on the tracks to photograph famous engines has caused all kinds of problems!  Turn the components into the entourage railtours would have (head end power car/engine, various old coaches).  Give her Engine of Love. 

-She’s “Grandpa’s old choo choo and friends… ugh come on, you guys used to be great!  You were my favorite!  Why do you keep derailing and messing stuff up!”.  

-She’s far less politically written vs Electra and Greaseball, and mostly railfanservice, which fits how steam was pretty much off in its own preservation world by the 80s and not relevant in the much more bitter mainline revenue train politics.  Greaseball could be moderately hostile towards her to represent railroads becoming fed up with excursion incidents, but it’s for pretty legitimate reasons.  Electra probably just doesn’t care about her presence either way, unless she gets in the way.  As additional historical context for why Electra is steam neutral- the Pennsylvania Railroad, who built 41% of surviving electric lines today, phased out steam engines from the newly electrified southern Northeast Corridor in a relatively peaceful way, just moving them to other lines and not replacing them with more.  It’s a way more pleasant scenario than most irl jobs that have been outmoded and faced with mass layoffs.  And basically the hard opposite of what British Rail did in the 50s-60s (which is substantially featured in the Railway Series and probably where the original show got the “steam oppression” idea from… but it just was NOT that way by the 80s and when it did happen, diesel engines were a much newer and more experimental thing than electric ones… this is why I have so much beef with the original show’s premise as someone familiar with the RWS, which was generally really realistic) 

(I have my own idea of how to make a REALLY hateable Reagan figure steam engine but the above would be more palatable to a broader audience and require less modification)

-Pearl is also largely unchanged.  Make her a then-new Amfleet coach, maybe a converted Metroliner.  Now she can be both new and naive and indecisive and REALLY want to go fast.  As a bonus, the Amfleets were among the first coaches to be electric vs steam heated and she would not be directly physically compatible with steam or older diesel/electric engines without head-end power.  Perfect fit for a reverse Cinderella. 

-Since Electra isn’t a terribly romantic character, I think it’s more compelling to frame Pearl’s arc as being about discovering your real orientation after years of the media saying what you should be attracted to.  She’s had steam romanticized her whole life but it just physically isn’t compatible or appealing to her.  Tbh this is a possible reason to make McCoy male instead.  

-Bonus: style Pearl like a flight attendant and have her make passive aggressive jokes about air travel (there are no middle seats!  Please leave your tray tables down and seats in the reclined position) in reference to the Amfleets being deliberately styled after planes, and Amtrak ads of the time mocking airlines

-Dinah needs very little change herself, other than being aged up to 30s-40s to reflect being an older car.  Pearl Twirl makes a lot of sense with Pearl being clueless about the depth of such things and reflecting how older passenger cars were replaced with new Amfleets around this era.  Rather than get back with Greaseball at the end, she runs off with McCoy’s entourage in reference to old cars like her getting a second life in museum settings. 

-Lotta Locomotion is less demeaning in the context of Amtrak’s motive power crisis of the 70s-early 80s.  They had oooold stuff and struggled to get functional new engines so it really is something coaches would be concerned with.  

-Freight as an argument perfectly suits the tensions between freight and passenger service in the US since WWII (relevant in the 80s, still relevant now outside the NEC).  Tl;dr passenger trains got painfully deprioritized because freight made way more money, and freight trains becoming absurdly long and physically unable to move over and let passenger trains through has wrecked arrival times in more recent decades.  I don’t have really hard ideas of how I’d tweak most of the Freight characters, I think you could mostly carry over the originals, but you could also work in aspects of industrial decline or unions’ relationships with railroads at the time. Honestly you could do a whole separate musical about the woes of US freight rail, they go deep, just not in ways that work into the other themes in this rewrite.

-Power cut before AC/DC- Control complains that “the new train I got for Christmas sucks!  It doesn’t even work!” and their mom interjects “No, it’s your grandpa’s tracks and wiring from the 30s causing problems, let’s try and clean them up.  Maybe you can ask for some new ones for your birthday instead of more toy cars.”

-Electra is now the new AEM-7s Amtrak ordered in the late 70s-early 80s.  Make them as aggressively small as possible for maximum realism, those things were infamously tiny (~50 feet long).  Making Electra genderblind would be very appropriate for this version.

-Rather than unconfident, Electra is incredibly defensive, yet smug about knowing what they could do in proper conditions and kind of a bitch.  Self centered and prone to changing their mood on a whim.  Actually not that far off their canon personality, but now in a light that explains just why they make such a big deal of being electric and seem so short-fused- they’re a minority that’s been overlooked and screwed over for years.  Greaseball also treats them as hysterical over any legitimate complaints and dogs them for constantly asking for money.  There’s an almost endless well of “damn liberals” jokes for him to use against Electra.  It’s a bitter, much more even rivalry compared to Greaseball vs Rusty.

-Other than making the Japanese Engine less egregiously offensive, the Nationals can be largely unchanged, I think they’re all electric models anyways and at the time, all from nationalized rail networks.  

-Have Electra fail in the first heat due to powerline failure, Greaseball’s sabotage, or McCoy’s genuine bumbling, and go full No Comeback and blame themself for it when it was due to outside factors

-How do the comparatively mediocre US engines win?  Mix of Greaseball/McCoy doing the above, and the race being on tightly curving tracks in notably bad condition that a lot of the Nationals wouldn’t run well on. Cue Control being in constant dismay at how many trains keep derailing or failing and getting mad at them too.  

-Also made a previous post about this, but in place of where Momma/Poppa usually is… bring back the general concept of OLC Belle the Sleeping Car, and turn her into Belle the GG1.  That was the nearly 50 year old electric loco class that largely ran the NEC until the AEM-7s.  The Ella Fitzgerald angle aligns perfectly with them working out of NYC starting in the late 30s and being known for a sense of effortlessness.  The “fallen star” narrative also works with their full history, they were the symbol of what US electrification was posed to become- and got cut off by WWII and the railroads’ fates afterward.  They also ran their absolute last excursions in 1984 and her blowing a transformer after her win exactly matches what happened to one of them.  In a much more morbid twist, there’s no question of her faking it, the GG1s were on their absolute last leg and so trashed physically at the end that they’re one of the least likely engines to ever run in preservation.  

-This is a BOLD choice (that would NEVER work in Bochum), but turn Dustin into a uranium flask (concept art here).  I’ve gotten the impression that Hydra wanted to be nuclear-coded because he’s alternative energy, green, and seen as scary and untrustworthy.  But while nuclear submarines and boats are long established, nuclear steam engines are far less practical on rails so you can’t really go that route… unless you make it about nuclear power plants supplying electrified lines.

-Uranium flasks are HEAVY and being quiet is a main PR policy of the nuclear industry, so Dustin’s size and shyness is a super fitting trait.  They also have a really fun history of being crash tested to play with.  They smashed a whole diesel loco into one in the UK and it was totaled but the flask was fine.  You can even give them There’s Me because “I may not be the one you want to see” and “I am always there” are a funny double entendre for nuclear power’s negative rep but constant generation.  Also free opportunity for a female or genderblind freight role if you call them Curie.  

-Slick and/or OLC style trucker Caboose would both work really well as saboteurs.  The oil industry sure doesn’t want to move away from diesel engines.  And road vehicles are the #1 enemy of ALL trains in the US.  Also, while Caboose acting like a British brake van gets laughed at, cabooses were and still are used to remote control trains irl (Locotrol), so there IS some justification for him to control an engine’s braking!  And even better/worse?  What do you get when you combine one of those with a bunch of oil tankers?  The Lac Megantic Disaster.  

-Greaseball and those two deliberately destroying powerlines and other infrastructure to sabotage Electra and basically any of the Nationals both works on a practical level and a symbol of “government not investing in things so they fail” just like irl Amtrak

-Bring back Dinah’s Disco but with lyrics explicitly revealing that the “whistle” thing Electra lacks is… steam heat to keep her warm at night because she’s an older style car!  That mismatch was a legitimate issue at the time.  An earlier passenger diesel engine like Greaseball would have a heating boiler so it’s still compatible with him not being an actual steam engine.  Slick/Caboose can still attack Electra and throw the uphill race riding with Greaseball or McCoy.  McCoy could think Slick will get her but the tanker goes after Electra instead, because she “could be converted to an oil burner… remember the Big Boy on the Union Pacific” and is therefore not her enemy.

-Right Place Right Time also works on a much deeper level when the Rockies are turned into SEPTA Silverliner I/II/III EMUs, they’re from the infamously underfunded transit system of… Philadelphia, which fits the movies.  Being mean but genuinely helpful is also kind of a Philly stereotype too.  You’d have to reshuffle the freight/components a bit for this version so eh, throwing in some quick-change costumes for this isn’t out there.  

-Yeah, the Starlight Sequence’s lyrics need a massive redo.  I go into it in the initial Electra post, but it just inherently preaches themes associated with the politics that repeatedly hampered electric rail in the US.  Make the new lyrics be about that “you alone are an engine, not a train”, joining together as a group is how you actually make systemic change, not bootstrapping and individualism,  One of the major advantages of rail IS how much you can link together and move at once.  Which is a nice segue to Electra reaching out to uranium flask Dustin for the final.  

-As a nod to Jeffrey Daniel, a shortened version of this song is a perfect Electra/Pearl duet instead of the ballads. 

-Instead of the control and conversion speech, the trains all get together as Control discusses what to ask for their birthday “Slot cars?  Tanks? Planes?” and the group together yells “TRAINS” and Control goes “yeah TRAINS!”

-Belle the GG1 miraculously comes back as Control’s mom whispers “don’t tell anyone I just stuck the old shell on a whole new motor and frames, they were beyond saving” as a snarky reference to what would be needed to actually run one again.  

-How to make Light At The End Of the Tunnel mostly work: return the duet aspect, where McCoy starts praising steam and the newly revived GG1 Belle finishes the lines to be about… steam power plants and electrification.  

[high-on-stickbugs]

I sent an ask in a comunity about this but I wanna share it with the whole tumblr cause yes

this is also long as fuck, bear with me

so WELLCOME TO

Ollie Tells Stories

or fairytales as I remember them from my childhood

and the first one I am covering will be

The Piper of Hamelin

many centuries ago, on the place we now call Germany, existed a city called Hamelin, and you might like to know this city exists today still, so fun fact for you there

but this was not today, and probably it was not even Germany yet, because we are going back to the Late Middle Ages, when Hamelin was but a tiny city surrounded by tall walls as often cities in the Middle Ages were

and Hamelin had a problem

again, as many cities in the Middle Ages, Hamelin had one very. very. serious problems

rats

almost like New York today

so, Hamelin was infested with rats. which, ya know, probably was caused by the terrible hygiene and infrastructure of the city but who are we to judge

anyways, the people of the city tried everything, from cats to traps to straight up hunting, and nothing worked, the rats ruled the city

to the point where the Mayor of the city proclaims that anyone that solves the problem of the rats will get a large sum of money, and be considered a hero among the walls of the city

and here sources vary a bit

sometimes, our hero is a traveler, in other times, he lives in Hamelin, but alas, there's a young man

the age of the guy is never specified, but I headcanon him as being anywhere between 17-21, for reasons that will make more sense later in the story

so let's say our hero is a 19 year old kid, who is traveling to the roads of Future Germany with nothing but a backpack, a heart full of hope, a mind full of wits, and... a pipe

not a smoking pipe, a music pipe, which is another name for a tiny flute, in case you didn't know

cause our guy, out man, he is a musician

a bard if you will

so, he gets to Hamelin, and the city is chaotic, and he hears about the plea to get rid of the rats, and he thinks

"well, what is a kid like me to do about such a major problem?"

and he sits in the border of the fountain in the middle of the market place in the middle of the city, and lay down his coin pouch, and picks up his flute, and starts playing, as he did in every city he passed through

and boy oh boy, was he good

the people in the city mostly ignore him, maybe once or twice stopping by to toss a coin or listen to him a bit (tough croud), but the guy keeps playing

and then, he notices the rats

there's a rat in front of him, balancing its little body in the back legs to get taller, analysing, paying attention, listening to the music

soon, that little rat is joined by another, and another, and another, and as the piper keeps playing, more and more rats swarm the marketplace, surrounding the fountain, surrounding the young man, listening to the piper play that beautiful song

in some sources, the guy got a magic pipe

I like to think he was just That Good

but anyways, pretty soon the guy is surrounded by every single rat in the whole damn city, all entranced by his music

so the piper got an idea. a wonderful idea. the piper got an amazing, wonderful idea.

he got up, still playing, and started walking to the gates of the city

and the rats followed him

he passed through the walls, and the rats followed him

he danced down the road, and the rats followed him

he crossed the wheat fields, into the grasslands, and the rats followed him

and he kept playing, and guided the rats out of the city, down to the smallest of mice, and let them all free on the plains, away from Hamelin

he went back to the city, pretty satisfied with himself, and walked to the people of the city

"I got rid of your problems" he said, maybe waiting for the money, or really even just a thank you

but the people of the city were angry

"you didn't fix shit" they said, as real adults often do when teenagers and young adults find a solution to a problem in a way that is not what was expected "you didn't kill a single rat! what's to say they won't come back, and swarm the city once again?!"

"well in that case" the piper said, "I will just play my pipe again, and drive them away once more! or I can teach you all the song, and you can do it yourselves!"

but the people of the city were having none of it, they wanted the rats dead, and as the piper hadn't killed them, he was not entitled to not a single nod or smile in his direction

so, the piper sat back on the border of the fountain, his head on his hands, no money on his pouch, and his heart tight

the night soon fell, and the people of the city all went to their houses to sleep, but no house wanted to welcome the young piper

so, he sat underneath the moon, thinking

then the piper got an idea. an awful idea. the piper got a wonderful, awful idea.

he picks up his pipe once again, and starts playing a new song, at a low volume

the adults of the city, tired from a day of labour, didn't wake up. and those who did, just got back to sleep, annoyed at that piper and his music

but the kids, oh the kids, they listened to that song that called them out of their beds and close to the windows

soon, all the kids of the city were perched on the windowsills of their houses, listening to the piper play his song

"play louder, mister piper" asked a girl of maybe twelve

"come closer" said the piper, "so you can hear it well"

so the kids, young and old, tiptoed pass their parents, older siblings woke the younger, and teenage sisters held their baby brothers in their arms, and they all left the houses to meet the piper in the market, to listen to the song and dance under the moonlight

the piper rose up from his seat at the fountain, and danced through the city, surrounded by children

he crossed the marketplace, to the gates, and through the wall, and the kids followed him

he crossed the fields of wheat and grain, the plains ahead of grass and flowers, into the forest of birch and pine, and the children followed him

never had any of them been out this late at night, and if it wasn't for the moon and the stars and the music on the pipe and the laughter in the air and the dance in their steps, maybe they would have been scared, but they were all together, playing and singing and everything was good

they got to a cave in the middle of the forest, and there they played and partied till all of them were tired

and then, in the early morning, way before the sun ever got up, they laid their bodies in the moss beds below, all curled up together, and slept the sleep of the innocent

the piper however, left the cave, left the forest, the plains and the fields, and he walked through the walls across the gates into the city and sat on the fountain, a wicked smile on his lips

the sun rose, and the city was very quick to realise that they had a new problem

in every house, a kid was missing, from months old babies to older teenagers, there was no one there

mothers wept, fathers cursed the heavens, and the piper simply laughed with himself

"you!" the Mayor said, his face red with anger "where are our children!"

and the piper simply laughed

the people of the city surrounded him with torches and pitchforks (metaphorically or not, you can choose), ready to kill him in his anger, but he smiled

"I am the only one who knows where your children are, and the only one who can bring them back"

and the people in the city got afraid, for it was true

the sun was already high when the people finally relented

"what do you want," the mayor asked "to bring our children home?"

"the money of the rats, as you promised, for I have fixed this problem" He paused "and a thank you would be good"

"then bring back the children" the Mayor said "and we shall give you what was promissed"

"so you can get the children and then arrest me for having stole them? I don't think so" the piper said "give me the money now, and the kids will return"

so the Mayor gave the piper the rat money, and the piper got up

he left the city, crossed the fields, through the plains and into the forest

he got to the cave, and played a short melody in his pipe

the kids were soon tho show up from every direction, from climbing high up the trees, picking berries in the bushes nearby, or playing in the creek just by the side, they all came, smiling and happy

"it is time to go home" the piper said, and the kids all nodded, and followed him out of the forest of pine and birch, crossing the planes of flowers and grass, and the fields of grain and wheat, and through the walls across the gates

the mothers wept and hugged their children, fathers thanked the heavens above, and the piper smiled sheepishly, leaning against the gates of Hamelin

he tossed the coin pouch into the air, heavy with gold, and left the city in the setting sun, playing his pipe along the way, until he disappeared in the horizon

the rats never came back to Hamelin

if you got this far into the story, pls tell me if you had ever heard this story before, and if my version is anything like what you remember