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Comment by jeffrallen | Hacker News Reader

Practical Engineering already explained the correct solution to this problem:

https://youtu.be/zqmOSMAtadc?si=UUlmnk9sI-leq0SV

But of course, American infrastructure was built on the cheap, and is not maintained correctly. This is why we can't have nice things.

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Why couldn't this also help with continuous-welded rail?

Your own video points out that it's still prone to trade-offs: rail breaks in the cold are better than buckling in the heat, but what if you could reduce the high point with white paint so you could expand the practical temperature range?

Or paint that turns black at low temp and white at higher temp?

This is what I want on my house and my car

> American [rail] was built on the cheap, and is not maintained correctly

edit: I'm not sure anymore; I know most of the network is well maintained, but there could be large sections that are not, I'm not up to date on it.

It's certainly been doing better since the previous US administration put some cash in the infrastructure jar.

2025 Infrastructure Report Card | ASCE

  The 2025 grades range from a B in ports to a D in stormwater and transit. For the first time since 1998, no Report Card categories were rated D−. Among the 18 categories assessed, eight saw grade increases.

~ https://infrastructurereportcard.org/

I dare say the next report card might not be so rosy.

Rail: B-

~ https://infrastructurereportcard.org/cat-item/rail-infrastru...

We have like 220,000 miles of railroad. We do have nice things: a working freight railroad system that helps reduce transit costs.

If the freight rail system were as good as it should be, long distance trucking would be a rounding error instead of the dominant freight mode.

Trucks and trains serve different purposes. My understanding is the US has a higher percentage than most of freight carried by rail. Indeed at the expense of its passenger rail

Airlines killed passenger rail, not freight. Prior to it all being rolled into Amtrak virtually every railroad was losing money on passenger service.

The Post Office shifting mail transport from trains to planes is what changed the economics.

The passenger trains also carried mail, which helped make them profitable. Then the mail, and the money, moved to passenger planes.

Canada is moving away from moving regular mail by air to cut costs.

Dunno if it will move by train or truck.

Probably too late to add much volume on the ground.

Long distance trucking gets heavily subsidized by all other road users. Damage is caused by the fourth power of weight, but trucking only paid 35% of maintenance while being responsible for 99% of the cost.

https://truecostblog.com/2009/06/02/the-hidden-trucking-indu...

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