[PRCo] Re: Why did trolleys take the business?

[Fred Schneider]

Regarding the discussion about gasoline in Europe being $9.00 a  
gallon.   I had a conversation with my German friend this afternoon  
in which we crunched numbers a different way.   How long does a  
person have to work, on average, after taxes in Germany in the U. S.  
and in Germany to buy a gallon of gasoline.   We both wrote down our  
answers for the average working man.   In both cases he and I had  
numbers close to 20 minutes!   He also pointed out that a huge tax  
bite has been added to diesel oil since I was over there last October  
making it slightly more expensive than gasoline instead of  
significantly cheaper in German and Austrian markets, which in turn  
is shifting the market for automobiles.   Last October 70% of the  
cars titled in Germany were diesels.

But my friend did admit that the only reason he could afford to take  
two vacations in the United States within twelve months ... long  
vacations that is ... was because our dollar is so weak.   We rode  
the Hudson Bergen Light Rail today.   I was paying 95 cents a pop for  
senior tickets.   He was effectively getting the same thing because  
the dollar was so weak against the Euro ... he was paying about Euro  
1.15 for a $1.90 adult ticket.  I think he had something like a $90  
room at the Newark Airport Days Inn which, in Euros is about 55.  A  
similar hotel in Germany today might be 100 Euros.  It's a great  
bargain for our friends from over there who come here.   To him  
that's like me paying $45 for Motel 6 in Washington PA!

His token gift for coming to see him was a copy of the Munich coach  
repair shop.   As the Northern Bavarian General Superintendent for  
German Rail, this man is responsible for running 800 passenger trains  
every day.   That coach repair shop maintains the cars.   It is just  
a small part of the German fleet.   I asked how many coaches does  
Deutschebahn run  ... he said he thought the number was somewhere  
around 12,000 including DMUs and EMUs.  I think that is just a few  
more than Amtrak plus MBTA, Caltrans, Metro North, SEPTA, Metro Dade,  
Chicago's METRA, Los Angeles, New Jersey Transit, etc., etc.  And  
Germany only has a population of 80 million people to our 330 million.

While I'm giving the bad news, I'm also trying to tease Mark into a  
vacation because I know he wants to see it......

And until you see it, you just cannot imagine such things as a center  
city commuter tunnel in Munich with S-Bahn (suburban) commuter trains  
dashing through downtown at 50 mph (ooops, 80 km/hr) on 2 minute  
headways.   It is just beyond the comprehension of most Americans who  
would be prone to say, "It can't be done."

fws




On Jul 6, 2008, at 9:46 AM, John Swindler wrote:

>
>
> I don't know why you would say that the American dollar is  
> worthless, Fred.  Apparently didn't stop Dennis from visiting Paris  
> and Rome, and we are already considering a second trip to Europe  
> this year.  And Phil and his wife were in Spain/Portugal just a  
> couple months ago.  There are some great deals out there - and they  
> are priced in American dollars.
>
> John
>
>> From: fwschneider at comcast.net> Subject: [PRCo] Re: Why did  
>> trolleys take the business?> Date: Sun, 6 Jul 2008 08:58:04 -0400>  
>> To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org> > However, Dennis,> >  
>> remember that the American dollar is > worthless. When the Euro  
>> was first created it was deliberately > issued on par with the  
>> dollar .. one for one. The dollar has > slipped to the point where  
>> it now costs more than $1.60 to buy one > Euro. So 1 Euro 54 per  
>> gallon in terms of the hours an Italian needs > to work is cheaper  
>> today than our $4.00 a gallon. About $3.75. > And you probably  
>> noticed that most people are driving diesels because > #2 diesel  
>> in earning power over there equates to about $3.25 and gets > 50  
>> miles per gallon. We're the ones being screwed, not them.> > I'm  
>> leaving in a few minutes to have dinner with a friend who is an >  
>> executive in Munich with German Rail. He vacations here twice a >  
>> year because the exchange rate is so good that he "can buy the  
>> whole > U. S." I could!
>   not get angry when he said that because I could > remember back  
> in 1959 when the dollar was worth four times the German > Mark in  
> spending power. And I know John Swindler remembers when he > earned  
> more in a few days driving a bus in Chicago than a London > subway  
> motorman earned in a month. But that has all changed.> > Fred the  
> Third> > On Jul 6, 2008, at 7:53 AM, Dennis F. Cramer wrote:> > >  
> Henry Ford gave the country what it wanted, or at least he > >  
> convinced us that> > is what we wanted; Independence. The  
> streetcars gave us the first > > suburbs> > and then the post WWII  
> housing boom created suburbs to the suburbs > > and we> > just  
> continued to grow. The peak of the electric age was circa > > 1918  
> and> > peak bus ridership was in the early 1950's. Our country  
> continued > > to move> > farther and farther away due to incredibly  
> cheap fuel prices and > > now we are> > beginning to see the  
> mistakes that were made.> >> > We got spoiled and now want to  
> complain. The talk!
>   everywhere is > > about the> > price of fuel, but I see few  
> people pa
> rking their large vehicles. > > There was> > a brief bit on the  
> news this morning that a developer is making > > condos out> > of  
> the old Horne's and Murphy buildings in Pittsburgh because > >  
> people are> > wanting to move back into town.> >> > I just got back  
> from Italy and fuel there is 1.54 Euros a litre. > > That comes> >  
> out to about $9.00 a gallon at the current rate. A Ford Focus is a  
> > > large> > car and flying into both Paris and Rome show few  
> sprawling suburban > > areas> > like we have. I bought a 24 hour  
> pass on the Rome system for 4 > > Euros. That> > covered bus,  
> Metro, trams and their regional rail line; much > > cheaper than a>  
> > taxi at morning rush.> >> > Europe and Asia want more fuel than  
> ever before. Our gas is still> > relatively cheap and we still are  
> unhappy. When I started working > > 33 years> > ago, gas was close  
> to $2.00 a gallon and it has doubled. My salary > > went up> > over  
> 7 times in the same position. Is the glass half full or half > > empt!
>  y? I> > have had a wonderful weekend: drove home from Delaware  
> County on > > the 4th,> > played a wedding with my quintet in  
> Clarion and came home to barbecue> > outside on the 5th; and will  
> finish the weekend off today by > > driving 120> > miles round trip  
> to volunteer at PTM. Now if I can just get Air > > France to> > get  
> my luggage to me from Paris I will come home to a much more > >  
> relaxed> > wife.> >> > I bought a new Nikon D60 before I left for  
> Europe and have posted > > the raw> > images here:> >> > http:// 
> picasaweb.google.com/altotrombone> >> > Dennis F. Cramer> >  
> Trombone> >> >> >> >> >
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